Brier Creek School Counseling Program 

     Our School Counseling Program  

     We would like to extend a big welcome to all our Brier Creek families, we are glad you are here! We look forward to working with each of you to ensure student success at Brier Creek Elementary.  As your school counselors, we are dedicated to supporting students in their academic, social/emotional, and career development.

​ The comprehensive school counseling program is delivered through classroom lessons, groups counseling, and individual sessions.  We also support student success through referrals to resources in the community, as well as consultation and collaboration with parents, teachers, other educators, and community organizations.

     School Counseling is for EVERYONE! We work with all students in the school to learn about topics such as coping skills, self-regulation, friendship, self-esteem, positive school behavior, conflict resolution, bullying prevention, study skills, test anxiety, and diversity.

Classroom Lessons

Classroom Guidance is when the school counselor meets with the whole class to teach specific lessons that will help students in and out of school. Classes are preventive in nature and designed to foster students' academic, personal, emotional and social development. Guidance is taught through a variety of methods including stories, discussions, role-play, games, puppets, and other fun activities.  Classroom Guidance is an integrative way to reach the highest number of students. Counselors collaborate with classroom teachers to determine the needs of the class and can change topics accordingly.  

Small Group Counseling

​Small group counseling may be based on schoolwide data, parent referral, teacher referral or self-referral from children. Students work in groups of 4-6 on a particular topic or skill during small group counseling. Though small groups are led by the counselor, students have the opportunity to share ideas about specific issues and help each other resolve conflicts.  We have a variety of small groups available. Groups allow children to develop coping skills, a sense of belonging, and to realize that they are not alone in their concerns. 

Individual Counseling 

Individual counseling may occur during a single session or a few consecutive sessions. Because of the nature of being in a school setting, school counselors meet with students individually  1-6 times. Sessions usually last about 15-30 minutes and are goal oriented. 

If your child’s classroom teacher feels as though he/she needs to see the school counselor, the school counselor will ask that they contact you for permission. However, if your child makes a self-referral, the school counselor will probably not need to contact you unless there is a particular issue that is recurring or affects the child’s safety and well-being. School counselors will also work with students individually if it is part of their IEP or Behavior Intervention Plan. 

School counselors do not provide therapy or long-term counseling in schools to address psychological disorders. When students require long-term counseling or therapy, school counselors work with families to recommend resources for their children and how to access those services. ​

Confidentiality 

A trusting relationship is essential in the counseling relationship and confidentiality is taken very seriously. The law requires that student's rights are protected, but confidentiality will be broken if a student indicates they are being harmed, they have a plan or thoughts of harming themselves, or they want to harm someone else. Confidentiality may also be broken when the student gives permission. ​