Signs your Student Might Benefit from Therapy
Teachers and school administrators are usually the first to detect immediate shifts in a student’s participation, conduct, and achievement. But how do you differentiate between what is normal and what requires outside intervention?
Beyond familiarizing yourself with the signs your student might benefit from therapy, effective communication and collaboration between educators and parents is vital. You may wonder how to approach these delicate topics without making things worse or feel ill-equipped to know what to say. Our blog today reviews some helpful tactics for talking with parents and students themselves about all things mental health and will prepare you for when these situations arise.
It is important to know that while conversations between parents and educators are essential, teachers and school administrators should never advise parents on specific mental health diagnoses or suggest specific prescription medications. That’s why it’s also important to have on hand some referral sources that you can connect your students with.
Helpful Tips & Signs to Pay Attention To:
Pay close attention to students who have a change in routines, retreat from peers, decline in social or academic functioning, somatic complaints, disruptive hyperactivity, excessive sadness, or irritability
Always assume goodness – children want to be good, being “bad” is a reaction (symptom) of a strenuous situation
Know the resources available at your school if you need to discuss a student’s behavior: principal, nurse, psychologist, or social worker
Set aside time for monthly check-ins with your students
This will enhance your relationship with students
Understand what each of your students is going through, how they are feeling about it, and what is happening in their lives
Students get used to verbalizing their feelings
Have a functioning knowledge of age-appropriate mental health problems and related symptoms
Commonly diagnosed in children and adolescence:
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Forgetting to start or complete assignments
Classroom disruption
Difficulty maintaining focus
Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
Noncompliance
Irritated or argumentative
Hostile toward authority figures
Anxiety
Somatic symptoms: stomach pangs, shaking hands or legs, racing heart
Increased absences
Continues to be avoidant toward specific situations
Depression
Noticeable change in eating patterns
Withdrawal from peers and class activities
Changes in sleep patterns (sleeping in class)
Benefits of Mental Health Therapy for Students:
Strengthens interpersonal techniques and emotional intelligence
Form and maintain stronger relationships
Rise in self-awareness, decision-making skills, self-regulation, emotional regulation, direct communication, empathy, assertiveness, memory, and confidence
Reinforces relationship with parents and siblings
Improves academic performance
Better concentration, productivity, and reduces the number of absences
Betters quality of life
Reduces suicidal ideation, irritation, behavioral outbursts, and self-destructive behavior
Feel heard and supported by trusted adults
Therapy is a gentle and non-threatening space to inspect their thoughts and feelings
Learn how to engage in and implement self-care
Recognize and deal with symptoms
Identify negative or unhealthy thought patterns and how to handle them
Learn how their thoughts influence their temperament and behavior
Teaches and instills strategies for coping with individualized problems
Increases resilience and reduces the impact of traumatic events
Freely discuss partners, sexuality, sexual orientation, or gender identity
Discover how to adjust to complex life circumstances or dramatic and sudden changes
Group therapy offers an opportunity to hear about other students’ experiences and receive peer feedback
Facilitates compassion, appreciation, and acceptance of challenges others face
Learn how to talk to parents about a difficult topic
Conversational Tactics for Speaking to Parents about Mental Health Concerns:
Don’t introduce the conversation alone
If you believe a student may have a mental health issue, speak with the mental health staff at your school (guidance counselor, social worker, or other mental health professionals). As a team, you can talk about the best strategy for sharing concerns with the parents, identify local resources (names, locations, and phone numbers), and any next steps
You may not be the best person to offer additional assistance because you aren’t in a clinical context or a mental health practitioner – that is okay! Sharing resources is just as valuable!
Take location into account
Provide a quiet room to discuss sensitive issues
Use “we” to establish you are working together as a team
Collaborative relationships are made with trust, clear communication, receptiveness, and acknowledgment of common goals
Reassure they are doing the right thing by requesting additional support
Be prepared and aware that some parents may not believe in or accept mental illness
Have an open mind when listening to the parents’ perspectives and priorities
Don’t make presumptions about the student’s home life
Talking to Students about Mental Health:
Be receptive
Take the lead and show initiative
Sit in a relaxed position – positive body language will encourage both parties to relax
Mention the behaviors/actions that you’ve noticed and are causing you to ask about their mental health
Ask open-ended questions
Normalize talking about mental health
Destigmatize mental health by pointing out that it touches all of us
Model healthy habits
Share with your students how you take care of your physical and mental health as well as how you practice self-care
Empathize rather than advise
If a student opens up to you about their concerns, validate their experiences rather than try to “fix” their problems and refrain from directly sending them to speak with someone else
Demonstrate healthy communication skills
Self-awareness
Emotional self-management
Social awareness
Positive relationship skills
Responsible decision making
Teach students how to anticipate and recognize their feelings via Zone Regulation Chart
Affirm, support, and compliment students as they make effective changes
Quick Facts:
20% of students aged 9 to 17 have a diagnosable mental health disorder that leads to some impairment
1 in 10 young people have a mental health challenge that is severe enough to impair how they function at home, school, or in the community
70% of children nationwide receive mental health services at their school
Over 40% of school-aged children have revealed problems serious enough to warrant intervention, such as a history of trauma, grief, and loss, or family mental health problems
Suicide is the third contributing cause of death in students aged 10–24, with 90% of those dying by suicide having an underlying mental illness
Over 50% of students with emotional and behavioral disabilities ages 14 and older drop out of high school
Early identification and treatment can greatly reduce suffering and improve outcomes
Comorbidity is frequent in children with depression: about 3 in 4 children aged 3-17 years with depression also have anxiety (73.8%) and approximately 1 in 2 have behavioral problems (47.2%)
The onset of major mental illness may occur as early as 7 to 11 years old
More than 5% of American teenagers report experiencing a substance use or alcohol problem