Counselor’s Corner – November 8, 2019

College & University Counseling

Chonnam National University on Thursday, Nov. 14th.

On Thursday, Nov. 14th  University of Chonnam representative will visit BIS from 12:30 – 1:20pm in the CCC. Sign up with Indra in the Counseling Office if you’d like to attend this presentation: counselorsecretary@baliis.net

Here are the top Three things to know about Chonnam:

– Chonnam is one of the best National Universities in Korea. As it’s national university, it has reasonable tuition fee.( 1,700USD/Semester)

– Ranked 2nd in Job placement rate among National Flagship Universities(2017 Korean Educational Development Institute)

– Ranked 1st in assessment of Quality of papers among National Flagship Universities (2018 Leiden Ranking)

Social Emotional Counseling

Sleep

This week Mr. Ferris and I gave a joint presentation on sleep, wellness, and organization for the students in grades 10-12 with the aim of providing them with some skills to help them through their final MYP and DP years. The goal is that students thrive, not just survive the DP experience, and that they develop these skills early on for university and life in general beyond high school.

Here are some tips from the sleep foundation and other sources on creating a good sleep environment:

• Turn off Tech devices one hour prior to sleep time, remove from bedroom

• Dim the lights one hour before sleep, use a blue light blocker

• Make your room dark- no blinking, power lights, no cell phones, no tech

• Choose peaceful colors for your room that relax you and calm your mind

• Keep your room clean & uncluttered

• Set temperature between 60-67 degrees

• Use a sound machine or fan to block out external noise

• No violent games or scary movies before sleeping

• Use your bedroom for sleeping not homework. Create a separate workspace.

• Use soothing scents (like lavender) to help you relax

• Do mindful breathing, body scan if restless before sleeping

• Create a regular sleep routine, go to bed at the same time each day

• Make your bed everyday!

Teen Mental Health Parent Info Session

I also gave a Parent Presentation on Monday: Teen Mental Health- Signs and Symptoms, How to Support your Teen, and Where to Get Help.

Here are some key takeaways from this presentation:

Teens are often overwhelmed and have little down time. Some of the causes of overwhelm are: being over-committed, feeling pressured through social media, school commitments and homework, perceived need to please their parents, and feeling disconnected (too much time on tech and not enough quality face-to-face interactions with people who care about them), among other reasons.

Signs and symptoms, might be anxiety, anger, sleep issues, eating issues, isolation, withdrawal from normal activities, and being easily upset.

If you notice your teen experiencing any of these concerns, please reach out for help. I regularly check in with students throughout the day to see how they are coping and we meet weekly as a student support team to be sure we are looking out for any students in need of help. In addition, we have an online referral form where students can report concerns about other students or themselves and can request a mediation- an opportunity to sit down with someone they are in conflict with and resolve conflicts peacefully with win-win outcomes.

I have lots of resources in my office and encourage students and parents to reach out for support whenever they need it.  Students and parents should know the limits to confidentiality and know that I will get outside help for them if they are hurting themselves, hurting someone else, or are being hurt by someone.

Here is the link to my presentation on Teen Mental Health with suggestions and resources for supporting your teen.

We encourage parents to model presence and calm, supportive behavior by not being on cell phones at key pick up and drop off times, and by taking good care of themselves as role models for Teens, by exercising, practicing mindfulness, eating healthy foods, and finding down time- all of the things we know will help our Teens to stay self-regulated.