Classroom Counseling
School Counseling curriculum lessons are guidance lessons or activities with the purpose of promoting the attitudes, knowledge and skills in three core content areas: academic achievement, social/emotional growth, and career development. Classroom lessons are a time where we can get to know the students and they get to know us. All students receive a lesson each year on the signs of suicide and career awareness. Additional lessons may be provided on bullying, conflict management, kindness, etc. Small Group Counseling Small group counseling can enhance the development of a student’s self-confidence, self-discipline, study skills, ability to cope, and ability to interact positively with others. Students are recommended for small groups by the counselor, teachers, or parents. Groups typically consist of 6-8 students and meet for 30 minutes on a weekly basis for about 6-8 weeks. The timing of group is coordinated with the classroom teachers so minimal instructional time is missed. Parent permission is always required for students to participate in counseling small groups. Possible small groups include: Resiliency, coping skills, friendship, conflict management, changing families. Individual Counseling Sometimes students benefit from working one-on-one with the school counselor to enhance various skills. Our counselors can support students with anxiety, social skills, self-esteem, resiliency, and more. Confidentiality A school counselor, who is in a counseling relationship with a student, has an ethical and legal obligation to keep information contained within that relationship. Confidentiality is the ethical and legal term ascribed to the information communicated within the counseling relationship, and it must be maintained unless keeping that information confidential leads to foreseeable harm. “Serious and foreseeable harm is different for each minor in the school setting and is determined by students’ developmental and chronological age, the setting, parental rights and the nature of harm” (ASCA, 2022). Exceptions to confidentiality exist, and students should be informed when situations arise in which school counselors have a responsibility to disclose information obtained in counseling relationships to others to protect students, themselves or other individuals. Privileged communication between a school counselor and a student is a legal term granting protection to information shared in a counseling relationship only if said privilege is granted by federal or state statue. If privilege applies it can provide additional safeguards to confidential information. |
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