"Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself."
| Rumi
COUNSELLING IS ABOUT CONNECTION. Counselling is a space where people are seen and heard through the creation of a safe and collaborative relationship guided by empathy and nonjudgement.
COUNSELLING IS ABOUT SELF-WORTH. Counselling serves to uphold the confidence and dignity of all people by holding space and honouring their stories and experiences.
COUNSELLING IS ABOUT EMPOWERMENT. Counselling reflects the strength and power within each of us, and facilitates sustainable change that comes from self-awareness, growth, and worth.
Counselling is about you! When students meet with us, you decide what you want to talk about, what changes you might want to make, and ultimately what our time together will look like. As counsellors, we will ask you questions to try to help find out what is going on for you and/ or determine activities that may work to support you. As a student, you can choose to answer, not answer, pause, take a break, or end the session(s) whenever you feel ready to do so.
When we meet, you have a say in what that looks like... sometimes we'll give you ideas or ask questions to help the process... this makes sure we spend our time together helping to make the changes that you need.
Counselling can be emotional and thought-provoking... it can bring up a lot of "stuff", so it's good to know that it's up to you what you share, when you share, and how you share it. In sharing personal information, it can be hard and it is important to know that those emotions are sometimes a part of the process. On the flip side, we hope by you sharing your thoughts and feelings, it can help you feel better or work towards changes you want to make. These are the good parts and tricky parts of counselling.
Below are some of the way in which we support students at KRSS.
Discussing informed consent with students ensures they know what counselling is about, that they agree to the private and confidential nature that comes with counselling, and they understand the process of how a counselling session is conducted between a student and school counsellor. Informed consent is discussed so you can understand the process and nature of counselling as well as the associated risks and benefits, in order for you to make an informed decision about whether you want to participate or not.
Students conversations with counsellors are confidential and private. This means if you're talking about your thoughts, emotions, peer/sibling/parent conflict, et cetera then the conversation stays in the room, between the student and the counsellor. Sometimes, we might think it's a good idea to share some of your thoughts and feelings with others (parents, siblings, friends, doctors, teachers) and we will ask you how to best go about doing that.
Further, if a student discloses information about hurting themselves, hurting someone else, or any kind of abuse then, as counsellors, we have a duty to report this information and it can no longer stay confidential. If a student reports this information about another student or anyone else under the age of 18 we also have to report that and can't keep it confidential. The following section has more information about the Duty to Report.
As counsellors, we have a key role to play in helping to keep children and youth safe. As such, if a student reports directly or indirectly information about harm to self, harm to others, or any abuse or any information that warrants involvement by other parties we have a duty to report this information. This is probably our least favourite part of the job; however, we recognize it as an important step to help students and families receive the appropriate supports they need during a potentially difficult time.
If you have reason to believe a child is in need of protection, anyone can call 1-800-663-9122 any time of day or night. If a child is in immediate danger, please call 9-1-1
If a child or youth would like to talk to someone, the Helpline for Children number is 310-1234 (you do not need an area code). You can call any time day or night and you do not have to give your name.
The B.C. Handbook for Action on Child Abuse and Neglect - this handbook is a comprehensive guide and helps inform us as to how we can support students and families when dealing with suspected or reported abuse and neglect
We try to provide education and information to students seeking or receiving counselling services. As school counsellors, we do not diagnose mental health conditions.
We work to help students understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.
Conflict Resolution Help Guide
Conflict can be a part of a healthy relationship. As such, we engage students in learning to resolve and or manage conflict in a healthy way.
As counsellors, we offer students academic support that refers to a wide variety of educational services and needs. From this, we may help students with course selection, time management skills, consider future vocational paths, and work with teachers to help students meet their learning needs and generally succeed in school.
As school counsellors, we are not able to diagnose mental health conditions. Considering this, we will do our best to work with students to determine a best fit when we think or feel a student may need further services beyond our scope of practice. We often refer students to a Child & Youth Mental Health Clinician at the Ministry of Children and Family Development or Valley Community Services when a student needs services that are more than we can offer.