Responsive services include individual counseling, small group counseling, and consultation/collaboration with parents, teachers, principals and community agencies.
Individual counseling occurs when a student self refers or is referred by a teacher, administrator or parent to receive services about a concern. Counseling sessions could be one time over the course of the school year, check ins as needed, or weekly/bi-monthly sessions. After meeting with a student for the 3rd time through self-referral or staff referral, I will contact parents. Of course, if needed I will contact parents at any point in working with their child if the concern is more than a typical friendship or behavior concern. As a School Counselor, I follow a code of ethics. Within this code, I have rules of confidentiality that I share with students. The rule is "What you say in here, stays in here, unless someone is hurting you, you want to hurt someone, you want to hurt yourself, or you give me permission to share with a trusted adult." It is important that our students feel they can trust me to listen to their concerns without worry, however, there are many situations that I encourage students to share their concerns with their parents and/or teachers.
Small group counseling occurs when a certain number of students are having concerns about a similar issue. Small groups can be self-referral or a referral by a teacher, administrator or parent and can take place one time, as needed or weekly/bi-monthly sessions. Topics of small groups typically include social skills, study skills, or family concerns (moving, deployment, divorce). The confidentiality rules listed for individual counseling apply to small groups as well. I share these rules as a group and remind students at each meeting that they can share what they said with anyone outside the group, but they cannot share what other group members said with anyone outside the group.
Consultation/collaboration with parents, teachers, principals, and community agencies is available at anytime. Students need a team of supportive adults to get through tough school situations. Feel free to contact me at anytime to set up a meeting if you are concerned about situations your child is experiencing.