Counseling, Prevention and Intervention
Skills and Practices
(A) Demonstrates self-awareness, sensitivity to others, and the skills needed to relate to each diverse individual, group, and classroom;
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In fulfilling my multicultural competency graduate requirement, I was
given the option and seized the opportunity to travel to New York for a multicultural institute experience. Along with classmates and several other university groups, we visited various cultural hubs of New York and met with community leaders who shared their cultural heritage and what their experience has been growing up in a culturally diverse environment. These are my reflections on my experiences and my own cultural self awareness from that trip. |
From my professional experiences I have worked with
people from many different cultures. I have learned about other cultures and have reflected on my own cultural background as a result. The link to the left connects to an entry from my professional reflections on one of those experiences. |
(B) Provides individual and group counseling and classroom guidance to promote the academic, career, and personal and social development of students;
I regularly meet with students to help them determine their post-secondary options, find solutions to academic struggles and work through interpersonal issues. I worked with a student individually who was struggling with
completing work. We worked together and created this study schedule he could follow in his daily study hall period to support his time management skills. |
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In conjunction with my internship experience at Centennial High School I completed an
action research project which focused on supporting the academic achievement and peer connections for freshman male students new to the Centennial school district. My research design utilized a small group intervention for identified students from which we explored students' short term goals, long term goals and their plans of action to reach them. I looked at student GPA, attendance and connection to their community as determined by a short survey administered before and after the intervention to identify intervention outcomes. You can find the accompanying research paper through the link to the left. |
At my elementary school internship after working individually with a few
kindergarten students in supporting their transition to the school setting and social environment, I decided to support their social growth by forming a small group. The focus of our group centered around friendships, what good friendships look like, and how we play. Here are a few examples of student work as we talked about what they like to do at recess. |
My elementary school internship site utilized the Second Steps social
and emotional skills curriculum as a school wide guidance lesson plan. I taught the Second Steps curriculum to 4th and 5th grade classes. To the left you will find links to the school wide curriculum schedule and an example of an activity on accepting differences which was done with the 5th grade class. |
(C) Designs and implements prevention and intervention plans related to the effects of: Atypical growth and development, health and wellness, language, ability level, multicultural issues, and factors of resiliency on student learning and development;
Using the PBIS model, I helped to create, implement and monitor behavior plans for students
presenting with yellow zone behaviors. I collaborated with the counselor, teachers and parents to develop a plan that adequately supports the student and is supported by all stakeholders. The behavior plan is based on clear expectations of behavior with incentives for achieving a target behavior goal at periodic times of the day. Here you can find an example of the targeted behaviors for the behavior plan. |
I completed a course about counseling individuals with diverse needs as
part of my graduate program of study. With a group of students, we wrote a paper and gave a presentation centered on what autism is, what the autism spectrum looks like, best teaching and intervention practices when working with a student with autism and the role of the school counselor in supporting such students. Here are links to our paper and our presentation. |
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During my graduate studies, I had the opportunity to participate in a
grant funded program called Transition Plan-to-Action (TPAT). Using person-centered planning, the program aimed to support students in transitioning from the special education system to independent adult life where they can achieve their personal life goals. In person-centered planning the student leads the team and shares their goals and vision for themselves rather than the team speaking for the student's needs. I worked with the team and our student both by facilitating planning meetings and joining our student for community skill building activities. You can see our team activity log and my certificate of completion for this experience to the left. |
(D) Demonstrates the ability to use procedures for assessing and managing suicide risk; and
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As part of Centennial High School's counseling department classroom guidance curriculum, I taught this suicide prevention lesson to 10 freshman health classes.
The presentation is meant to teach students about risk factors and preventative factors for suicide and how each set of factors can balance with one another. Students are presented with case scenarios to identify those risk and preventative factors. Finally, students learn about general as well as critical warning signs that might suggest imminent risk of suicide and what they can do to get help for themselves or intervene with a friend or loved one. |
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A two-quarter clinical counseling practicum at Portland State
University's community counseling clinic was an integral piece to my education and training. I worked with a variety of clients and helped them with various presenting concerns. During this time I also worked with clients thinking about suicide with whom I conducted a suicide assessment and worked with them to develop a personalized safety plan. Here is my personal reflection on my assessment process. |
(E) Demonstrates the ability to recognize his or her limitations as a school counselor and to seek supervision or refer
clients when appropriate.
clients when appropriate.
My internship supervisors completed an evaluation of
my development as a professional school counselor for each quarter I worked with them. I sat down with them to review my strengths and weaknesses and determine in which areas I needed to gain additional experience. Here is an evaluation from each internship supervisor from the first quarter of the year. |