What is a School Counselor?
School counselors provide social-emotional education, prevention, and intervention services to help students achieve academic success. I collaborate with parents, staff members, and the community to create a safe and caring school climate that supports all students. Throughout the school year, I work with students individually, in small groups, and in K-4 classroom lessons. Common areas of focus include: feeling identification, social skills, conflict resolution, coping skills, stress management, academic and behavior support, anger management, career awareness, family stressors and changes, and parenting guidance. If you would like to talk more about how counseling services may benefit your child, please contact me by phone or email. I look forward to working with your child and family!
Individual Counseling
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Classroom
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Small Group
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Individual counseling is a service offered to K-4 students. Students may be referred for individual counseling by a parent, teacher, staff member, or themselves. Counseling may be ongoing or short-term based on the problem or situation. If a student requires on-going counseling, I will contact the parent or guardian to discuss the situation. Occasionally, I may refer families to an outside agency if the situation requires more in-depth counseling with a licensed professional counselor. Click the link below to view the referral list for outside counseling.
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Classroom counseling lessons are the best opportunity to impact the largest amount of students. Throughout the school year, I will visit K-4 classrooms approximately once a month to provide lessons on social-emotional topics. Topics addressed in classroom lessons include: feelings and self-esteem, coping skills, conflict resolution, making and keeping friends, problem solving, teamwork, and career exploration.
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Small group counseling is a service offered to K-4 students. Group sizes typically range from 4-6 students of similar ages and are formed throughout the school year based on students’ needs. Small groups benefit students because they allow peers to share ideas, give and receive feedback, increase awareness, and practice new skills in a group format. Groups typically run 6-8 weeks and are structured based on social-emotional learning objectives. If your child is invited to participate in a group, a letter will be sent home with more information.
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School Counseling Newsletter
School Counseling Office Tour
School Therapy Dog - Luna
Whitehouse Primary became the the proud recipient of Luna, a school therapy dog, in the fall of 2019. Luna is a golden retriever who completed 2 years of training in the Canine Student Teacher Program through Assistance Dogs for Achieving Independence. This program has been specifically designed to train puppies to work as school therapy dogs. Throughout Luna’s training, she was exposed to new experiences and learned obedience skills. Luna also spent a year training in a school setting with a counselor prior to being placed at Whitehouse Primary.
School therapy dogs are able to help children in many ways! They boost school morale and can be used as a tool to help meet students’ social and emotional needs. Therapy dogs can also be utilized in classrooms to help motivate students academically and bring extra excitement to learning. We are grateful to have Luna as a staff member at Whitehouse!
School therapy dogs are able to help children in many ways! They boost school morale and can be used as a tool to help meet students’ social and emotional needs. Therapy dogs can also be utilized in classrooms to help motivate students academically and bring extra excitement to learning. We are grateful to have Luna as a staff member at Whitehouse!