Counselling

Waverley College recognises that many things can impact on a student’s performance and prevent him from being happy and achieving his best in school and in life. School Counsellors are registered psychologists. The School Counsellor deals with the social and emotional wellbeing of students at Waverley College.

Contacting the School Counsellor

The Senior School Counsellor is available any day of the week during school hours. The Junior School Counsellor is available Thursday and Friday at the Junior School.

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What does the School Counsellor do?

The School Counsellor is available to talk with students about any aspect of their lives that is affecting them (and therefore is, directly or by default, affecting their school performance). This includes:

• school issues (e.g. school performance, motivation, goals, and study practices)
• behavioural issues (at school or home)
• emotional issues (e.g. depression, anxiety, anger, loss and grief)
• relationship issues (e.g. social isolation, peer and opposite sex relationships)
• family issues (e.g. conflict with parent or sibling, unhappiness at home, family breakdown)

The school counsellor is available to talk with parents about such things as:

• concerns they have for their child
• difficulties they are having at home
• parenting an adolescent

Finally, the school counsellor spends time talking with teachers and assisting them ing understanding and/or dealing with student’s behaviours and needs.

Is it confidential?

Counselling is a confidential process.

However, sometimes it may be deemed appropriate to talk with others:

• in the school system – this is a “team” approach to confidentiality where those working with a student work together to improve his school experience and performance. Therefore information may be shared with, for example, a teacher or Year Master. This occurs after discussion with and approval from the student involved.
• in clinical supervision – this is professional supervision of the counsellor. It is a process of talking about the work of the counsellor and aims toward the latter providing the best possible intervention for the student

There are instances where the counsellor is, by law, bound to share information with others even without their consent. According to the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 a counsellor has a mandatory reporting responsibility where there are reasonable grounds to believe that:

• they are at risk
• a serious crime has been committed
• there is serious risk of harm to self or others
• there has been a subpoena served to present documents to Court
• there has been a formal complaint that requires investigation

Free services and places to go for help outside of school

• The Adolescent Service at Prince of Wales Hospital – ph: 9382 4327
• Waverley Action Youth Services – ph: 9388 955 www.ways.org.au/
• Private Psychologists – Go through a GP to get a referral to a private psychologist. If you go through a GP; you can claim a medicare rebate. The doctor may have someone that they recommend? Or try…
• Mindright Clinical Psychologists – Ph: 02 8065 0326  www.mindright.com.au
• Lifeline (24 hrs) – Ph: 13 11 14 www.lifeline.org.au
• Kids Helpline (24 hrs) – Ph: 1800 551 800 www.kidshelp.com.au
• The Line – Ph:1800 695 463  www.theline.org.au/get-help
• Youth Beyond Blue – Ph: 1300 22 4636 www.youthbeyondblue
• Reach Out Australia – www.reachout.com
• Black Dog Institute – Ph: 9382 2991 www.blackdoginstitute.org.au