Counseling

Hello! As your school counselor, here are some of the things we can help you with:

Social/Emotional Counseling
Academic Needs and Concerns
Career Exploration
Connection to Community Resources
Student Advocacy and Support

Meet the Counseling Crew

Self-Compassion

Evidence from research is on the rise that self-compassion enhances well-being, motivation, resilience, relationship, and physical health among adolescents and young adults.

Dr. Thannhauser from University of Calgary shared three self-compassion activities you can do in the classroom in 5 minutes:

1. Take a mindful moment

2. Motivation: Love is more powerful than fear

3. Yin and yang of self-compassion

Click here for details: https://taylorinstitute.ucalgary.ca/resources/self-compassion-in-the-classroom

Word United shared this FREE printable worksheet on Being Kind to Yourself:

https://wordunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/KS1-WEL001-being-kind-to-yourself-worksheet.pdf

Check out this short video clip, Let’s Learn to be Kind to Yourself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3VMZUY4DxI

Kindness

Research shows that a regular practice of kindness, in as little as two weeks, can improve our well-being. We can send kindness to others, as well as ourselves. Let’s learn how-to from these students:

Kindness Video

Window of Tolerance

Mindfulness Activities

1. Greater Good Science Center provides a lot of FREE, research-backed resources on forgiveness: In this video, you’ll learn how to help students understand forgiveness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw7UgAIcu4s. You can introduce students to forgiveness with these steps: https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/introducing_kids_to_forgiveness (K-6th) or https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/nine_steps_to_forgiveness (7th-12th & for you).

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFuHL6Izk6E (K-6th; what is forgiveness?)

3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwETkqEERKc (7th-12th; reasons to forgive others)

4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rOmWuQndQU (7th-12th; how to forgive with mindfulness activities)

Breathwork

Breathwork refers to all conscious and systematic breathing techniques. It helps reduce stress and anxiety and promotes deep relaxation. Before we go any further, let’s take a few minutes to learn how to breathe organically: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldNnKVGxabA.

Once you get the hang of it, check out the Why’s and How’s of 4-7-8 breathing technique in Dr. Andrew Weil’s 2-minute video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8fjYPC-k2k.

Then practice breathwork for yourself with these ideas:
4-7-8 breathing gif: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpSkoXRrZnE.
Bunny Breath: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8-MrO-so0Q.

Grounding Exercises