Guidance Counsellor Role at Mary's

The role of Guidance Counsellor is to provide counselling, student support, classroom support and assessment services to assist students in our Catholic schools. Students may be referred for brief intervention either individually or via small groups, to assist with a range of challenges such as social skills, emotional regulation strategies and grief/loss. The Guidance Counsellor may also be involved in the delivery of education sessions/programs throughout the year to support key initiatives for social/emotional wellbeing.

Secondary school students can self-refer to see the Guidance Counsellor. They are fully informed at the initial consultation that although conversations with Guidance Counsellor are typically confidential, there are circumstances in which matters cannot be kept confidential (E.g. student safety/self-harm/child abuse or neglect) and in those cases information may need to be provided to a Parent/School Principal/Child Safety or other agency. 

Students may also be referred for psycho-educational assessments although a formal written referral (developed by the Inclusive Practice Teacher) with parental consent is required for these referrals to proceed. 

Support provided by Guidance Counsellors is not a replacement for psychological therapies and students requiring intensive support may require a referral to a private psychologist or alternatively to one of the publicly available services.

Please see here  for access to the Guidance Counsellors in Secondary School Brochure.