Listen to the full episode below:

Do you ever feel like you’re just winging it during individual counseling sessions? When I first got started in individual counseling, I felt overwhelmed and unsure of what I was supposed to be doing during sessions with my students. 

I felt comfortable and confident during group sessions, but when it came to one-on-one sessions with students, I always felt like I was doing it wrong. I wanted to be confident that I was meeting the needs of my students during individual sessions, but I just felt a little lost. 

Fortunately over the years, through lots of trial and error, I’ve developed some systems and planning strategies that really work when it comes to individual counseling.

In this episode, I share step-by-step how you can plan out your individual counseling sessions so you can feel confident and prepared that you’re making an impact and a difference as a counselor. We’ll discuss how to create simple, yet effective, strategic plans that align with the ASCA standards. 

I’ll share how I batch this planning so it’s not overwhelming and saves time. Creating a simple outline gives you a clear vision for what you’re aiming for with your students. I even give you tips for involving the parents and/or teachers who referred the student, so they are clear on the student’s counseling goals and know what you’re working on with them. 

Once you have your clear vision set, you come up with the core content you’ll cover in each session. I share with you the order of events I follow for each session and show how easy it is to plug in activities that meet specific student needs. With a solid plan in place, I have come to love individual sessions.

If you’re feeling inspired by this episode but thinking you don’t have time for one more thing, I have the perfect tool for you. My Individual Counseling Super Bundle has just been released, and it includes 11 of the most common counseling topics. For each topic, you’ll get individual counseling activities, student journal prompts, data tracking tools, an implementation guide and more!

Some topics covered in this episode are:

  • How creating a simple plan for individual counseling can save you time and help you be more effective during your counseling sessions

  • Examples of objectives you can set and why it’s important to include the parents and/or teachers who were involved in referring the student to counseling

  • The two main reasons it’s important to set goals with our counseling students

  • A quick and easy way to cross reference standards with your objectives to ensure alignment

  • The 3-step order of events I use to deliver the core content to my individual counseling students in each session

  • Engaging low-prep counseling activities you can use with your students available to you in my Individual Counseling Super Bundle

Resources Mentioned:

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More About School Counseling Simplified:

School Counseling Simplified is a podcast offering easy to implement strategies for busy school counselors. The host, Rachel Davis from Bright Futures Counseling, shares tips and tricks she has learned from her years of experience as a school counselor both in the US and at an international school in Costa Rica.

You can listen to School Counseling Simplified on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and more!

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Small Group Planning Start to Finish (Part I)

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