Individual Counseling

Goal Setting

During each individual counseling session, I help the student set goals for the current session and future sessions. The goal can be to get better grades, improve assessment scores, building positive relationships, dealing with stressful/emotional situations, etc. Students are better able to achieve goals that they set themselves and take pride when they achieve their goals, no matter how small.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a mental state that you can be achieve by being aware of the present moment. To achieve this, you must focus on your feelings at the time, your thoughts, sensations, and acknowledge how you are feelings. For students who are actively in a crisis, using a mindfulness activity can help them to refocus and achieve a more relaxed state of being. One activity that I use is a "Mind Jar". I usually have the students create one for themselves. This is a great tool that can help kids calm down and meditate to become aware of how they are feeling at the present time. It also a lot of fun!

Restorative Justice Practices (RJP)

I was fortunate to participate in and complete a Restorative Justice Practices (RJP) training with the District. The goal of RJP is to get individuals to understand how their behavior affects others and what they can do to correct the behavior. Often, when students get in trouble it is very difficult for them to verbalize their emotions and even harder for them to be empathetic to others. Using the RJP practice in individual counseling is very helpful in getting students to acknowledge and correct their behavior. During the counseling session, the student will be asked to respond to the following questions: (1) What happened? (2) What was I thinking at the time? (3) What do I think now, after the event? (4) Who did my behavior affect?/who did I hurt? (5) What can I do to fix it?/How can I make it right?

"I Need to Talk" / "Bully-Box"

At Benjamin Franklin K-8, we strive to be a No-Bully School. We want to eliminate and prevent any bullying issues, including cyber-bullying. Students can use the "I Need to Talk" box to safely report any bully incidents they are seeing or involved in. All they need to do is fill out the information on the pre-printed report forms. As the School Counselor, I am the only person who sees what the students write on the report forms. I will then speak with the student(s) to gather more information about the bullying incident. Additionally, students can also use this box to report anything else that is bothering them, including attendance, behavior, academic issues as well as physical and/or sexual abuse, and neglect.

Sandy Hook Promise

Each year we will participate in the District's Start With Hello activities, which are inspired by the non-profit organization, Sandy Hook Promise. Sandy Hook Promise aims to raise awareness and educate students on how to reduce social isolation and create a more connected and inclusive school and community overall. I design a series of daily activities and events that encourages the students to get to know each other to encourage a more united school and community.

Using Miniatures & Sandtrays

Many students have trouble expressing themselves or opening up. This past summer, I took a Play Therapy course at FIU. One of the skills I learned is the use of sandtrays with miniatures. Using sandtrays with miniatures allows students to use objects rather than words to express emotions and situations that are difficult to discuss. It is a safe way that allows for distance between the counselor and the student as it allows the student to express his/her own world.