Merici College offers School Counselling on campus throughout the school year and is delivered by qualified mental health professionals with experience working with young people who have mental health concerns. As school counsellors, it is their role to serve the educational enterprise of the school by fostering conditions that maximise educational equity, student wellbeing and the learning success of all students. Merici College has two dedicated school counsellors. Chelsea is at Merici Monday-Friday and Xian is at Merici on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
What is school counselling?
- School counselling is a short-term, goal-focused therapy available to support students to reduce the impact that mental health challenges may be having on their participation at school.
- School counsellors work collaboratively with school staff, parents and carers and external agencies to support student learning and wellbeing outcomes.
- All counsellors are professionally qualified Social Workers or Psychologists who participate in regular clinical supervision and professional development.
- School counsellors are not employed as specialists and at times will suggest referrals for specialist services. School counsellors do not provide cognitive or learning assessments, or court reports. Families requiring these will be referred to other services.
School counselling referral process
- Speak with your child’s PC Teacher and House Coordinator as a first step so they can ensure your child can be holistically supported throughout the school day. For example, anxiety about coming to school may be related to not understanding how to navigate SEQTA, and this can be addressed in a timely manner by the right person.
- Submit a referral for school counselling via the link – https://forms.office.com/r/ER9DpqM3Ww
- Parental consent is required for students under the age of 14. Students 14 and older can access school counselling without parental consent.
- Once the referral is received, it is reviewed by the counsellors who will contact you about the next steps. In some instances, the school counsellors may ask for additional information regarding the student before commencing school counselling sessions.
- In some cases, we may recommend options for external support avenues (e.g., a specialised mental health service) if a student’s needs fall outside the scope of school counselling (please see Important Considerations for School Counselling).
- As we are a short-term support, students may also be referred to external mental health services following the cessation of school counselling sessions. The need for ongoing mental health intervention is assessed throughout the school counselling process.
**Please note, all referrals received in 2024 have been closed, regardless of previous engagement each student will require a new referral for 2025 if they wish to engage in school counselling.**
For more information regarding school counselling, please email us at counsellors@merici.act.edu.au
