15-Minute Focus Series

Brief Counselling Techniques That Work

15-Minute Focus is a series that aims to help school counsellors and educators overcome three of the biggest challenges they face:

• Limited Time to manage the number of students for whom they are responsible
• Mental Illness Stigma
• Budget Constraints for Ongoing Training

Each week, students are spending more time at school than they spend with their parents. Because of this, teachers, counsellors, and other school staff are often among the first to notice changes in behaviour that could signal a mental or behavioural health issue.

According to the American School Counselor Association, students’ unmet mental health needs can be a significant obstacle to academic, career, and social-emotional development and even compromise school safety. Most students in need do not receive adequate mental health supports. Research indicates 20 percent of students need mental health services, yet only one out of five of these students receive the necessary services.

Working alongside experts in various fields of mental health counselling, NCYI has developed a series of research-based, brief counselling books that home-in on a specific mental health topic, signs to look for, practical intervention and classroom management strategies, and effective ways to communicate and collaborate with internal staff, outside referrals, and student families.