Some of you are probably wondering why a middle school counselor has a blog in the first place. I thought this would be a great way to share news, tidbits, information, and more with parents. It will be a great way to get to know the happenings at school and better understand the counseling program at the middle school.
I thought I would start with my role in the school. Although I am trained in counseling techniques, I am not quite the same as a mental health counselor you might see outside of school. First off, there are 318 students and only 1 of me, so my time spent with individual students is more limited. This is why you will see me do more solution-focused brief counseling with students than the long, drawn out therapy you might imagine. Sometimes this looks more like playing games, writing plans, coloring, or talking... but rest assured there is always hard work happening in my office!
One other big difference between my role and a regular counselor is that my focus is on school - so I help students with issues that affect their school day, academics, etc. For issues that are more outside the school day, I will refer students out to community resources.
One thing you will notice is that I never refer to myself as a "guidance" counselor. This term is old, outdated, and doesn't really encompass what I do at school. The "guidance counselors" of yesteryear had very different training and roles than I do - so the job title has evolved as well!
I also juggle a LOT of other roles at school - 504 coordinator for the middle school, monitoring attendance, helping with interventions in the classroom, teaching an elective, helping with testing, and more. You could say I have my hand in a lot of things here at Kestrel.
Parents, tell me... what would you like to see me write about? Would you like to see videos, book reviews, how about a book club? Information about issues your child might be facing? Community announcements? Let me know in the comments!
