Individual Counseling

School counselors provide individual counseling opportunities for students who need extra support academically, socially, and emotionally. Individual counseling is often brief and will aid in students overall success at school, at home and in the community.

Topics discussed during individual counseling:

Control

• Often times people feel stress over things that are not within their control such as what other people say or do, or a change in their schedule.
• We remind students that while they don´t have control over some things, they do have control over three very important things; what they think, what they do, and how they feel. Students feel a sense of empowerment when they remember what they can control, which can help them reach their goals and can help them reduce stress.

Communication

• Students can control what they do, and that includes how they communicate with others. We practice using ¨I messages¨ which is a way to talk with someone in order to express feelings and resolve conflict. The format for using I messages is as follows:

I feel ___________________ (say the feeling word describing how you feel)

when you ______________ (say what the person did that made you feel that way)

I want __________________ (say what you want that will resolve the conflict)

• Students are encouraged to use ¨I messages¨ with peers, family members, teachers or anyone else in order to resolve a problem.
• I messages are to be said using a calm respectful tone of voice, and one must allow the other person to use an I message as well if they so wish.