Pastoral Care & Wellbeing

Counselling Service

The College Counsellor supports the student wellbeing team and is available to students.

The Counsellor at St Brigid’s Catholic College is:

Susan – available Monday-Friday.

Counselling Orientation

We meet with new students either with a year group or on an individual basis to introduce them to the office location, purpose and benefits of counselling. This is followed by parent engagement and partnership for ongoing sessions guided by combined consent and confidentiality with the exception of risk of harm.

Initial Assessment and Brief Intervention

We meet with students for initial assessment and brief intervention around mental health, learning, communication and social skills. This involves a parent interview, student interview, initial screening within a four-six week annual intervention typically across two terms. The intervention summary is then returned to student, parent and allied health providers for further referral and uptake. Examples of standard research-based interventions used are https://www.orygen.org.au/Training/Resources/Brief-interventions/Toolkits/Orygen-Brief-Interventions-in-Youth-Mental-Health.aspx and https://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/Resources/For-Clinicians.

The assessment process is currently under review and as such it is recommended to seek external psychological support for cognitive assessments.

Groups

Pending with parent and student consent and sessions tailored for common presentations such as social and emotional regulation.

Be Still

Milo’s Garden and the reflection room are offered for an individual student to socially and/or emotionally regulate for a period of 15 minutes before returning to class. This typically involves self-directed listening to a meditation, practising a breathing exercise, fidget toys and mandala colouring within the context and use of a time-out pass, with the collaboration of the College Psychologists, external allied health providers and teachers.

The College Counsellors support the Leaders of Wellbeing to facilitate contemporary well-being programs for our students. Referrals can be made to the College Counsellor via a Leader of Wellbeing or by contacting the school office.