Individual Counseling

There are times when students may need to see the school counselor on an individual basis. Parents or teachers may refer a student to see us or the student may ask to speak with us directly. The session is kept confidential unless the child discloses that he/she is being hurt, is hurting someone else, or wants to hurt him/herself. In these cases we are legally obligated to report the information. If the student shares other information we feel the teacher or parent needs to be aware of, we discuss it with the child and contact the pertinent parties.  To clarify our role, school counselors are not therapists. We are trained to work with students briefly, using Solution Focused Counseling.

There are five main steps we follow:

1. Identify the problem to be addressed.
2. Identify the desired change or goal related to the problem.
3. Encourage the student to recall times he has been successful in solving similar problems.
4. Encourage the student to identify his strengths or "what worked" in that situation.
5. Help the student develop and carry out a plan of action.

Typically, we may work with a child on an individual basis one to four sessions, 15 to 20 minutes a time. If we feel that a student would benefit from further counseling services, we may refer him or her for a support group at school or make other recommendations to the parents.