Author Archives: Jennifer Morrison

5 Issues in Elementary Counselling

Posted by: Jennifer Morrison on June 1, 2015 9:01 am

In my last blog I wrote about 5 things to consider when looking at elementary school counselling (http://www.ccpa-accp.ca/blog/?p=4194). This time I would like to look at what I consider 5 main issues that children deal with in elementary school. These issues (in no particular order) would be Bullying, Anxiety, Disruptive Behaviour, Friendships and Family problems. This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but I have found them to be fairly predominant in all schools I have worked in.

We all know that bullying is a huge issue in public education and the early elementary years is often where it starts. We all know the reasons why kids bully but what we have to do is work with the child to help them understand positive and negative behaviours and how they affect others. Telling a child they are being a bully makes no sense as they often don’t see themselves in that manner. Instead, work on positive behaviours and showing respect.

Anxiety, whether diagnosed or not, has become one of the biggest issues in school today, leading to low self-esteem, depression and sometimes school refusal. If we can work with student early on and help to develop positive coping techniques for students and parents we may be able to help decrease the likelihood of anxiety becoming overwhelming for students, staff and parents. Allowing students to stay home or have parents pick them up can cause serious and negative effects such as avoidance and school refusal.

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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Elementary Guidance Counselling: 5 Things to Know

Posted by: Jennifer Morrison on May 26, 2015 8:00 am

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Have you ever considered working as an elementary school counsellor but were not sure how to implement your program? How do I connect to 5 to 11 year old? How do I go about making the biggest impact I can? Here are 5 things to think about if you want to work with younger children in the school setting.

Kids do not always know or understand why they need to see you. Many students get referred to the counsellor by family and/or staff members. Perhaps it is for bullying, friendship issues, disruptive behaviors, or personal issues at home. Whatever the case, not all students will understand and so it becomes your job to work on the specifics, and do not assume anything.

Class lessons work very well for larger school issues. Bullying, friendship, respect, listening are all areas in which students can use a little extra support. Rather than pointing out the few in the class that need attention in this area, it works effectively to implement classroom lessons that all students can participate in. Classmates get to see other children’s points of view and help each other when they see issues arising. Also, class lessons can build into bigger class rules and incentive programs that can be used for everyone.
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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Making the Time for Yourself

Posted by: Jennifer Morrison on May 7, 2015 9:07 am

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I am sitting here at my desk thinking about how excited I am about getting the opportunity to write for Counselling Connect. It is something I have wanted to do for some time and only now am I finding the time to get to it. Perhaps finding the time is not the correct term to use. I think I am now allowing myself to make the time to do it. As a school guidance counsellor in a grade 7 to 9 middle school with just under 600 students, time is not something that I have complete control over. Yes I have a planner with scheduled meetings with parents, students and staff, and I do my best to keep to that schedule. However, when a parent walks into my office with their teenage child looking to register for school, or I receive a phone call from DCS regarding a student I counsel, the next hour of my schedule is suddenly pushed up. What happens instead is a long process of filling out paperwork, looking for legal documentation and finding appropriate educational programs for the student so they can start as soon as possible. This is not something that can wait a few days. The longer a student is out of school, the more education they are missing. The point I am trying to make is that school counsellors often must work on the immediate issues in front of them and this immediacy can create stress and anxiety in the workplace.

For years I spent hours of my day preparing for my job, doing my job, and then continuing to do work related duties well after my work day ended. I became tired, and began to dislike the work I was doing. The counselling aspect of my job seemed to take the back burner to the immediate administrative duties. Don’t get me wrong, I loved being a school counsellor, but I no longer felt fulfilled. This changed when I decided to take the active step of taking my scheduled breaks throughout the day and leaving my work in my office. The first time I did that was the beginning of a new journey for me. Suddenly I was able to come to work, do my job and love it again. Yes it is difficult to leave work and not worry about what needs to be done. However, now I am home at a good time, able to make supper and spend time with my family without thinking about the needs of my students. This leaves me plenty of energy to tackle the next day. I now feel less stress and more love for what I do.

So, the point of my very first Counsellor Connect blog is simple:

IF YOU WANT TO LOVE YOUR JOB, MAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF!

*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA