Affective vs. Ineffective use of Candyland for Therapy

A few weeks ago I was watching YouTube To try to find a video about play therapy and I came across a video of a therapist using Candyland. It was an awkward session to say the least. And not one that I would share on video to the world on YouTube. Looking past the therapist not addressing screaming behaviors or engaging the child in any discussion, I really noticed that his use of Candyland was pretty weak-sauce.

While he had some general theme of emotions related to the colors, his questions were very broad and did not engage the child in responding…to any of them. It was pretty much just asking a young child for the definition of emotion words. While the child did essentially play the game, he was definitely not  listening to the therapist. He also was not gaining any new skills or learning any information about emotions through playing the game.

At best the therapist was building rapport, which is good. But, I really think that the therapist felt that the child was receiving “therapy”, which he was not. It was, in my opinion, a waste of time. I value time! If you also value both your time and the child (or student’s) time, then playing a regular game of Candyland, Uno, or Jenga is really not going to cut it if you want the child to make real progress.

 If you’d like to see this video of what not to do for yourself watch below:

Getting Inspiration for Creating a Better Therapy Tool

 This video did, however, inspire me to make better and more therapeutic Candy Land games for my counseling students. I started off making one that focused on learning different emotions. and then I made ones for all of the various  counseling goals that I am supporting my students with this school year. these topics include coping skills, social skills, emotional regulation, and unexpected behaviors.

Here is how to make Candy Land MORE Therapeutic

Currently I have made six different Candyland games. I make each one with a specific theme and topic that helps Target my students IEP goals or Behavioral goals. the first game that I made was to help younger children learn about different emotions.

Next, I made a rapport building version of Candyland with lots of fun and silly types of prompts and questions. this will be a great activity to use at the beginning of the new school year with my students.

I currently have many students that I support with behavioral problems.  You know the ones. These students range from emotional outbursts (crying, screaming, eloping) to acts of aggression at school. Yep. I’m talking about your “friends” who hit, kick, choke, and throw things at school. Those are my “friends” too! So, the next Candyland that I made was the “Expected versus Unexpected Behaviors” Candy Land.

 I also have students working on COPING SKILLS, learning to build Empathy, as well as improve their general SOCIAL SKILLS. Here are the individual games (seen below) that address these specific areas of social or emotional skill building. If any of these games would also be helpful to your students, just click on the pictures and they will link you to my store. Every game is under $5, sometimes under $4 if there is a TpT sale.

Click HERE if you want to join my email subscription, so that you can always get an email alert when there is a Teachers Pay Teachers Sale. I always make my store the full 25% off during the TpT sales:)

 So far, I have been using these games the last 3 months of the school year. I even used this game as my “party game”  for the last counseling session of the year. Yes, I gave each kid some fruit snacks, popcorn, and gave them a prize from my prize box on their way out the door.  I’m nice like that. 

 Why you don’t even need a CANDY LAND Game Board!

If you are interested in one of these Candy Land games, you actually DON’T NEED to buy a Candy Land! This is because I created an imitation Candy Land game board that is printable. I’m calling it “Color Land”, however. I don’t know if the Candy Land creators have any muscle, but I don’t want to risk it, so I made my own board that will also work with the game. Also, I’m all about saving counselors $$$. If you have to go and then buy a Candy Land, it defeats the purpose of providing you with inexpensive counseling tools.

How to Get Counseling Activities for FREE!

You can get more games, counseling tips and tricks, and other fun activities for FREE by signing up the counselingfannypack.com email subscription! With the subscription, you can get access to the Free Resource Library as well as tips on when Sales are happening in the Counseling Fanny Pack of Fun Store! Just Click HERE to sign up for access!

 If you would like any, or all, of these games to help you add some fun and learning to your counseling sessions, please click the pictures within this post and they will all link you to the product in my Counseling Fanny Pack of Fun store.

The post How to Turn Regular CANDYLAND into a GREAT Therapy Tool the Right Way! appeared first on The Counseling Fanny Pack.

Providing mental health support to children, especially if this is your first year, can be very challenging. From providing services and attending meeting, to grouping students and time management, here are three common mistakes that you might be making and some tips for avoiding them.

Mistake #1… Not taking the time to build TRUST and RAPPORT

Building rapport with students can be easy sometimes, but tough other times. Often students will be sent their way by their teachers or parent. This means that they may not necessarily be eager to attend counseling with you. While some students will be eager to get out of class to go to their counseling session, others may not want to miss instruction. Just be patient and take time with the rapport building phase of counseling when needed. This may mean 2 sessions. It may mean 2 months!

While you don’t have to just do “rapport building activities” in this long time frame, you will have to be patient if the student does not open up and share during your activities. This is also why I like groups for counseling. If a quieter student is not sharing, at least the other students can model discussion of difficult topics and the resistant student can listen.

If you are looking for Rapport Building activities, click HERE or on the pictures of the products below. I have tons of games, worksheets, and even virtual activities in my store, Counseling Fanny Pack of Fun, that can help you to build rapport with your students in a fun and engaging way.

Mistake #2…Giving advice or making recommendations before listening

I love giving advise. Hence, blogging. But I’ve learned the hard way over the years that kids, and adults, really don’t want advice. They want to be listened to and counseling is all about being a good listener. So while you may have advise that is amazing and helpful, you might need to slow down. Often the advice that I want to give has to be sneakily trickled in to my counseling sessions. Yes, I sneak in my advise and recommendations for many of my counseling students.

This can be done through videos of other people, cartoons, etc. that can be found on YouTube. Kids like videos, right? So, watching others in an entertaining format, such as a cartoon, songs, games, and other kids talking, can make a better impact than a live person saying the exact same thing some times.

Advise and recommendations can also be snuck in to my sessions through playing games that facilitate discussion about behavior or a specific topic. For example, in my Expected vs. Unexpected Behaviors UNO game, my students are given questions that might engage in learning about their behavior in the classroom. For example, one question for a “Green 7” is, “Is it expected or unexpected to yell at your teacher if feeling angry? ” To check out my UNO Therapy games that can help you to engage your students in therapy, click on the picture below.

Mistake #3…Not Managing Time Well!

Ah, time management. In a typical day as a school psychologist, have 10-15 things to accomplish within a typical day…Observations, testing, counseling, meetings, and so forth and so on. Then a crisis happens, and none of what I planned gets done! Luckily, there are several strategies that you can use to help keep yourself organized, so that you can see all of your students on a weekly or bi-weekly basis and hopefully have time to finish your coffee.

One way that you can manage your time is through using a variety of systems for planning your sessions, keeping your sessions at a consistent day/time of the week, and keeping all of those meetings straight. For specifics on my tips for building your executive functioning skills as a school counselor or psychologist, check out my YouTube Video below.

Another key time-saving tip would be to have ready-to go, pre-planned, minimal prep counseling curriculums. As a TpT Counseling materials creator, I have made a few for a variety of topics. These topics include a Anger Management, Coping Skills, Social Skills, and Self-Regulation.

Having curriculums can save you so much time with planning your sessions! If you print and prep all of the games at the beginning of the year, you will never feel rushed with finding a last-minute activity for your different counseling groups and individual sessions. Prep includes printing, laminating gameboards, and cutting out game cards when needed. That’s it really. To check out the curriculums that I have available, click on the picture of the topic that you are interested in below.

You Can Get Counseling Activities Today… for FREE!

If you are hoping to find not just inexpensive, but FREE Counseling Activities, then you are in the right place!

Subscribe to CounselingFannyPack.com and gain access to the Free Resource Library! In it, you will get new counseling activities that are updated monthly for subscribers! Just Click HERE to sign up for access!

 If you are OK with spending $3-$5 on a few fun counseling activities for your students, please just click the pictures within this post and they will all link you to the product in my Counseling Fanny Pack of Fun store.

The post 3 Mistakes that School-Based Counselors Can Easily Avoid appeared first on The Counseling Fanny Pack.

25 Rapport Building Questions for School Counselors, Therapists, and Teachers (Plus My Favorite Games and Tools from the Counseling Fanny Pack of Fun Store on TpT!)

One of the biggest mistakes new counselors make is trying to jump straight into solving a student’s problem.

I get it. We want to help. We want to teach coping skills, improve social skills, or help students manage their anxiety and emotions. But after 18 years as a school psychologist, I’ve learned that before any of those interventions will truly be effective, you need one thing first:

Rapport.

If you’ve ever had a student who answered every question with…

• “I don’t know.”
• “Nothing.”
• “I don’t care.”
• Shrug…

…you’re definitely not alone. It’s my favorite past-time as a school psychologist who provides counseling. And, I encounter it every school year by more than one of my counseling students.

I’ve worked with students who refused to make eye contact, hid under the table, sat silently for an entire counseling session, or insisted they didn’t need to be there. Some children come to counseling because they’re anxious. Others have experienced trauma, struggle with anger, or simply don’t trust adults yet. Most are pretty much not sure why they’re there, but they’re good with getting out of class every week, so they’ll come to your office without complaint. That is, until you try to talk to them or get them do do an activity with you to build rapport.

Before children are willing to share their worries, fears, and feelings, they need to know they’re in a safe place with someone who genuinely cares about them.

That’s why I believe rapport building isn’t something you do just during the first session—it’s something you continue doing throughout the counseling relationship…and if you make it fun, rapport will build pretty quickly.

Kids Don’t Care What You Know Until They Know You Care

One of the easiest ways to build trust is simply by showing genuine curiosity. Starting with specific questions that are below, and build from there through a genuine interest in knowing about their life. Here are a few general topics to get started.

Ask about their favorite hobbies.

Ask about their pets.

Ask about their favorite video game or YouTuber.

These conversations may seem small, but they’re actually laying the foundation for every counseling session that follows. When students realize you’re interested in who they are instead of focusing only on the behaviors that got them referred, they begin to relax.

One thing I’ve also learned is that it’s okay to let students get to know you, too.

When it’s appropriate, I’ll tell students about my favorite hobby (sailing), my favorite foods, funny stories about my kids, or places I’ve traveled. I have pictures of my kids and when their interest or hobby reminds me of one of my own children, I share that I have my own kids and what my own child may have that is like their interest. The goal is help them feel more at-ease, and to turn your rapport building session into a conversation, instead of an interview.

Turn Rapport Building Into an Activity. Not just a “talk”.

Here’s my biggest secret…

Don’t make it feel like counseling.

Most students don’t get excited about answering a list of questions.

But they absolutely love games.

Instead of sitting across from a student asking question after question, I almost always use games to spark conversation. Students become so focused on playing that they forget they’re practicing communication skills, expressing emotions, and building trust.

Some of my favorite rapport-building games include:

• Jenga
• UNO
• Candy Land
• Conversation Cards
• Would You Rather cards
• Question Cubes
• Feelings Dice

The games create laughter, reduce anxiety, and help even the quietest students begin talking. But even better, convert one of these regular games, into a “rapport building” game by adding these questions to them. This is what I’ve done in my games below, including Jenga, Uno, Beach Ball, and Candyland games.

25 Rapport Building Questions Kids Love

These are some of my favorite conversation starters that I’ve used with elementary and middle school students over the years. These questions are woven into my Jenga and Candyland games that make rapport building fun and easy.

1. What do you like to do for fun after school?
2. Do you have a nickname?
3. What’s your favorite movie, TV show, book, or video game?
4. What’s your favorite outdoor activity or sport?
5. What’s one rule at school that’s important to follow?
6. When was the last time you felt really happy?
7. Who are your closest friends at school?
8. If you could be any cartoon character, who would you choose?
9. What makes someone a good friend?
10. What do you think makes you a good friend?
11. Do you have a pet? If not, what pet would you love to have?
12. Tell me one interesting fact about yourself.
13. What’s one goal you have for this school year?
14. Which subject at school is the hardest for you?
15. Which subject is your favorite?
16. If you could change one thing about school, what would it be?
17. What’s something you enjoy doing with your family?
18. What’s your least favorite chore at home?
19. If you won one million dollars, what’s the first thing you’d buy?
20. If you had one magical wish, what would you wish for?
21. What always makes you laugh?
22. What’s your favorite breakfast food?
23. What’s something you’re really good at?
24. What’s your favorite food—and your least favorite?
25. What’s a hobby or skill you’d love to learn someday?

Other Activities to Help Break the Ice

Restorative Circles Prompts CARDS for Grades K-8; Classroom SEL Activity

For classroom teachers or group counseling session, create a safe-space for discussion, improve classroom behaviors, and increase learning of SEL skills with the Restorative Circle Question Cards. Circles can be an important tools for nurturing relationships and feelings of community and can have a profound impact on bullying.

“All About Me” 1 page WORKSHEET for Getting to know your Students Grades 1 – 8

Use this “All about me” worksheet to get to know your students, as an icebreaker activity, and/or build rapport with your counseling students. Students can draw pictures or write words in each shape and then share with the class or group what they put for each topic (Family Members, Favorite Color, Favorite Food, Pet or Favorite Animal, Favorite TV show, and Something they are good at.) Then use the completed worksheet to decorate your classroom or office.

Final Thoughts

Rapport isn’t built in a single session—it’s built one conversation, one shared laugh, and one meaningful interaction at a time. When children feel heard, valued, and accepted, they’re much more willing to participate, listen to your advise, make changes, and grow.

Some of the most impactful counseling moments don’t happen because of the “perfect” intervention. They happen because a child realizes there’s an adult who genuinely enjoys spending time with them. They’ll have someone who holds them accountable and wants the nest for them…and it’s YOU!

So don’t worry about rushing into the hard topics. Play a game. Ask a few fun questions. Share a laugh. Those simple moments are often the beginning of a trusting relationship—and that’s where the real work of counseling begins.

Here are some Engaging RAPPORT BUILDING GAMES and Activities that are Fun, Pre-Made, and Under $4 in the Counseling Fanny Pack of FUN Store on TpT:

Just click on the picture to learn more or purchase the activity.

JENGA Rapport Building and OTHER THERAPY TOPICS (Anger Management, Empathy, Social Skills, Coping Skills, and Behavior) Games!

All of these rapport building games and worksheets are available in my new book (April 2022), The School Psych’s Handbook for the Best School Year EVER! Available as PDF download on Teachers Pay Teachers. Just click below to learn more!

The post 25 Fun Rapport Building Questions for School-Based Counseling appeared first on The Counseling Fanny Pack.

Planning is a Key to Success

Collect Information about the Student WAY Before Your First Counseling Session

Before ever meeting your new counseling student, there are several steps that you must take. A good therapist or counselor is highly prepared and has all of the needed information. Collecting information from both the student’s teacher(s) and parent can help you to determine how best to build rapport with your new client.

Step One… A Great Counseling Referral Form

The first step is to use or create a great Counseling Referral form. Sometimes districts or schools provide a basic referral form. These generic forms are often years old and are rarely are designed to provide the information that I need. That’s why I have created my own! It’s pretty simple for teachers or parents to complete, but gets to the point. Here is my sample for you to see have download if you like it! Just add your own school’s letter head at the top to look more official.

Free Download

Step 2… Parent Contact for Intake Prior to First Counseling Session

Give those parents a ring and say “hello.” Some parents are comfortable with their child getting counseling, and some a re not. By introducing yourself and sharing your counseling experience and/or typical session activities, you can put them at ease. Many people think of counseling as having their child tell you about problems with the home life. In my experience, school-based counseling is about skill building. So, sharing some of your activities and goals will help them understand what their child will be doing when he or she is pulled out of the classroom.

Talking to parents will also help you collect information about home life and any home factors. Knowing your student before meeting him or her can help guide your initial few sessions. Since children spend most of their non-school time with their families, getting some background is great information.

Step 3…Classroom Observation and/or Teacher Consultation

This is more data collection for your student’s benefit. Sometimes teacher’s perspectives on behavior are a little different from reality. Sometimes they are completely accurate. The goal for your school-based counseling should be to help the child function “in school.” Hence, working with the teacher before and during the student’s counseling can be very helpful for building rapport and being an effective counselor.

Building Rapport through CONSISTENCY

It’s time to meet your student! Did you check with the teacher on some preferred times to pull him or her? There’s usually no good time, right? But, trying to find an ideal and consistent time slot can help your student feel more at ease with coming to your office weekly. Routine and consistency also help with building trust and reducing anxiety.

Just imagine being your student and wondering daily, “When will the counselor pull me from class?” Thoughts like this can create anxiety and stress for sure in students that are already suffering from anxiety, particularly students with Autism. This is because students with Autism can be very fixed mindset and routine based. Any change in routine can lead to anxiety and even classroom disruptions, as they often will ask their teacher multiple times when they can go to counseling if you do not call or send a pass for them.

Tips for Keeping on Schedule

There are two to three things that you can do to keep a consistent counseling schedule. I know it’s hard, but it’s what’s best for your students.

The first is that I create a schedule that I pin up next to my desk. It includes the student’s first name (Confidentiality if someone were to be in my office. It’s rare.), grade, time, IEP monthly minutes, teacher, Room, topic, IEP annual date, and Case holder. I also color-coded the groups just to help. (See Below)

I also put all of my designated time slots on my personal phone calendar. This way, I can check for the tenth time every morning who I am counseling and plan if I hadn’t already. Also, letting my significant other see my schedule helps him to know not to call (aka distract) me prior to or during a counseling session. This is helpful also because if something does come up that makes you need to move your session, you ca move it in your calendar to help you remember that you did not yet see your student that week.

Extra tip… If moving your student’s regular schedule, please let him or her know by calling the teacher or telling him/her in person at some point in the day. It will show that you value their time and want to see them, but have to change their time slot a little. It’s all about building, and maintaining rapport, right?

Finally, I will sometimes use my cell phone alarm. Does this seem extreme? I don’t know. Depends on if you juggle two schools and 10 or more psycho-educational assessments at a time like I do. My daily schedule can be hectic and varies daily. By setting an alarm, you can be sure to have a 3-5 minute reminder to stop chit chatting to your colleague or send a testing student back to class. It’s all about taking the remembering of everything that you have to do in your school day off the table just a little.

Step 4…Choosing your Rapport Activity

THE THREE GOALS FOR RAPPORT BUILDING ACTIVITIES

Goal #1 is getting to know your student. You may already know the presenting problem and some basic history, but getting to know your student from their perspective will help you understand their point of view and empathy for them. It also helps them to like you because all people, not just children, like talking about themselves and feeling listened to. We are the center of our universe. It’s a narcissistic perspective on humans, but its proven by research. Have you ever heard that the best way to get someone to like you is by asking them to do you a favor? I read that somewhere, but have found it to be true. The same principal applies here.

Goal #2 is to building trust. Go over confidentiality in your first counseling session. Explain that you will not share information that is discussed in counseling without their permission with generally two exemptions. The first is that they are in danger or may harm someone else and the other is a court order. When something comes up that you think might help them if you discussed it with their parent or teacher, talk about it and ask permission. Students will often agree, depending on the situation, as it may be something that they want the adult to know, but have difficulty sharing themselves. This has been my experience.

Goal #3 is convincing them that counseling is something that they will enjoy doing. Here’s where picking an activity comes into play. It should be based on what you have learned about your client, and factor in age and if it is group or individual counseling. Here are a few of the different activities that I use often.

In-Office Therapy:

If minimal talking and coloring is you or your student’s speed, here is my “All About Me” activity that helps build rapport while decorating your office. Children like seeing their artwork displayed, so this activity can give them a sense of pride every time they visit your office.

Have an old Jenga set sitting around your house? If not, you can buy an imitation one on Amazon for about $5. Then you can write some questions on them that can help you get to knw your student.

Want some fun questions to write on your JENGA? Check out my article on the 25 Fun Rapport Building Questions for School-Based Counseling

Have a deck of cards or a beach ball? The beach ball you will need to purchase and make, but it can be used for several other of my games (Anger Management, Coping Skills, Social Skills, Behavior, etc.) in my TpT store. The beach ball game is great, however, for in-person therapy and can be played outside for social-distancing counseling. If students get a little wild, just have them sit and roll the ball. The beach ball game, or any game, is also great for combining rapport building with working on social skills (turn taking, communication, etc.)

If you don’t have a deck of cards, not to worry!

Just use your phone and go to http://random-cards.com/1-shuffled-deck/ to play the rapport building questions game with virtual “cards”. A regular deck will work as well.

Teletherapy:

If you are providing counseling via telehealth or teletherapy, this virtual “card game” with rapport building questions can be played using your share screen.

Step 5…Meeting your Student

This is all you. Just be kind, smile, and play your fun activity. Try to engage with your student in discussion when a question from one of your activities brings up something of interest. This is how you will show your student or students that counseling does not have to be this uncomfortable thing that they have to do every week where they just talk about their bad behavior. That’s why games and novel activities are so important for building rapport and providing therapy services. It puts them at ease that counseling can be something enjoyable.

When the Student is Resistant to Counseling

Sometimes students are very resistant to participating in your games or other activities. They just don’t want to talk. I’m talking lots of “Ums”, “I don’t know”, and the silent treatment. It’s the worst! For this rare occasion, I wrote a whole blog article about this (Click here), but in essence, be create with your activities, provide sensory items for comfort, and/or add a peer if individual is just not working.

How to Get Counseling Activities… for FREE!

If you are hoping to find not just inexpensive, but FREE Counseling Activities, then you are in the right place! Subscribe to CounselingFannyPack.com and gain access to the Free Resource Library! In it, you will get new counseling activities that are updated monthly for subscribers! Just Click HERE to sign up for access!

 If you are OK with spending Under $5 on fun counseling activities for your students, please just click the pictures within this post and they will all link you to the product in my Counseling Fanny Pack of Fun store.

Would you like to provide your ENTIRE SCHOOL with Social and Emotional Learning for grades TK through 6th grades for under $300?

The Summit SEL program is a Social and Emotional Learning Curriculum that is grade-specific and designed to provide developmentally appropriate SEL as a Tier 1 support for schools and classrooms. Each grade is divided into five essential topics that address areas of Social and Emotional well-being.

Students will have fun on their “hike” to the top of the summit of SEL Mountain every year as they learn important skills needed for success in school…and beyond!

These skills include:

1. Social Skills, such as making friends, playing with others, conflict resolution, communicating with others, teamwork and collaboration, and using empathy
2. School readiness and learning skills, including transitioning in the classroom, listening to the teacher, executive functioning skills, growth mindset, and academic motivation
3. Emotional Regulation, including skills such as using coping strategies, mindfulness, identifying emotional triggers, and anger management
4. Behavior regulation
5. Improving Self-Care and Self-Esteem

How do I enroll my school in the program?

The program is available through a purchase of an annual school membership to the counselingfannypack.com 2023-2024 Summit SEL Membership Program.

With the annual membership, you will have access to all of the curriculum materials, including videos, worksheets, printable games, classroom behavior tools, social story coloring books, and other included activities that are in the Summit SEL program for Tier 1 SEL.

In addition, the membership will give your school-based counselor and/or school psychologist access to 30-40 Tier 2 (small group) counseling materials that are individually for sale in the Counseling Fanny Pack of Fun store on Teachers pay Teachers.

How do I sign up my school?

Currently, this link, gives schools access to the pre-sale of the Membership Program. By signing up your school today, you will receive $50 off the $299 annual price for the 2023-2024 school year. There is no payment until the program becomes available on August 1st, so signing up during the pre-sale does not obligate your school to participate. However, as schools enroll, they will be able to lock-in their annual membership for future years, reducing the costs of access in the long-term. Terms of use of materials will indicate that all materials used within the Summit SEL program without current membership status will be in violation of the copyright of those materials.

If you’d like to Pre-enroll, click HERE!

If you have more questions about the program, please stay tuned to the Counseling Fanny Pack of Fun YouTube Channel to learn more and see some of the included videos and activities within the program.

The post How to Build Rapport with Counseling Students appeared first on The Counseling Fanny Pack.

I was talking to my counseling intern the other day about some of the challenges of counseling children. She was asking me about how to build rapport and have a conversation with a client of hers who really did not want to go to “counseling” and just gave shrugs and “I don’t know” when she asks a variety of questions during her rapport building activity.

I explained to her that the tough part about school based counseling is that students are often not coming to your office voluntarily, at least not at first. Many times, they are not aware that they even have something to work on. Whereas with adults, they mostly come to counseling voluntarily to work out their personal, emotional, or behavioral difficulties. It’s a little bit different with children, particularly children with disabilities.

Start by Building Rapport

My recommendation was to keep it to a minimum on the discussion about the child’s difficulties, and just focus on building rapport. I recommended that she can do this by introducing fun activities, such as an “All about me” art activity, a game, or other activity that is more fun. This will hopefully help him to feel more relaxed and comfortable with coming to see her.

The goal is to help the child become a willing participant. This may take a few weeks, however. With adults and children who want the individualized adult attention, it might be easier to jump right in to why they are coming to counseling. With reluctant children, who do not want to leave the classroom or have adult attention, it can take much longer.

Use Videos

My next recommendation was to have him watch videos related to the concerns that his mother and/or teacher indicated that he was having. In addition to some rapport building games or activities, videos might be your next best option for the reluctant talker. When a student won’t talk or acknowledge any areas of personal concern, I will often use videos.

This way, they are being provided information that they are there for, even if they don’t want to talk about it. Above is my handy-dandy list of video topics that includes topics, such as coping skills, emotional regulation, social skills, self-esteem, or using positive thinking. I use it to support teaching skills and facilitate discussions

Provide Sensory Items for Comfort

For students who are really resistant to participating with even just watching a video, I will give them a fidget, kinetic sand, or paper to draw on while playing the video. I will then pause the video on occasion, to check for listening comprehension and attempt to engage them in discussion about their own related behavior.

Add a Peer (Go from Individual to Group Counseling)

Pairing the student with a peer or putting him/her into an established group if possible may also be a way to encourage counseling participation. Peers can model how to participate in counseling as well as modeling the targeted skill that you are working on with your client. It might not work for every students, or you might not have a perfect fit, but even getting permission to “invite” one of their friends on occasion may help get the ball rolling and improve motivation.

In conclusion…

Counseling children can be a very challenging at times. It takes patience, creativity, and the ability to not take it personally when a child does not want to jump right in to talking with you. All we can do as their counselor or school psychologist is keep showing up and show that we care. That is really the best way to build rapport and trust, which is just a slower process for some children more than others. Hang in there Counselors!

The post 4 Ideas for Counseling Students that are Resistant to Counseling appeared first on The Counseling Fanny Pack.