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In middle school, the class is filled up with teen students, which means they will be full of raw emotions. The concerning part is those teen students do not even know which event or situation might have impacted them badly and they might exhibit disruptive behaviour.
 

Source: liveabout.com

As an educator or school counselor if you are also dealing with these kinds of students in middle school, and don’t know how you can support them. Then, don’t worry, we have got you covered.

In this blog post, we will be exploring some of the best effective counseling techniques for school counselors and school educators which you can use to support your middle school students to connect the dots between thoughts, behaviour, and feelings.

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Reframe the Situation

Middle-school students are teenagers and they might get hurt or offended in any way like -

• Not performing well on the test
• Getting excluded from the group of their peers
• Not getting invited to a birthday party of a peer

As a responsible school educator or counselor you can encourage your middle-schoolers to see the situation from different angles. For example - It might happen that who’s having a birthday party didn’t exclude him/her intentionally and it just slipped out of his mind. Or a group of peers didn’t exclude him/her but they think you didn’t like to hang out with them.

Change Their Negative Perception

It’s very common for middle-schoolers to be in denial that they never lie to themselves, but in reality, they do, because it’s human nature. They tend to pick out the negative in any situation where plenty of positives can be found.

For example - When they are done with their presentation, teachers have given plenty of positive feedback and some points of scope for improvement. Instead of focusing on the compliments, they will focus on the criticism that they have received.

Learn, about the role of a school counsellor, here:
 

Validate Their Thoughts

Whenever middle-schoolers make comments like- I am not capable of clearing the exam, nobody wants to play with me, etc. After hearing this kind of statement, generally, teachers tend to refute these comments. Instead of this, you must validate their comments.

Below we have shared an example of validating students’ thoughts.

Ex- You can say, I also get upset when nobody wants to play with me. It happened to me also in my school days. However, I made an effort to make friends with my peers and then everyone started to invite me to play.

Provide Them Psycho-Education

The rate of mental illness is increasing day-by-day among middle school students. There are school counselors assigned to students with which they are not connected deeply and they don’t share their feelings with them clearly. However, by pursuing courses like the Certificate in Counselling Course for Teachers, you will get to know how important it is to teach your students about mental illness and mood fluctuations, which hamper one’s emotions, feelings, and thoughts.

Ask Open-Ended Questions

Instead of putting behavioural expectations on your student, consider asking open-ended questions to them. You can make 10-20 minutes per week and have open communication with the middle-school students and ask questions like-

• If any situation bothering them?
• Are they having a good experience in the class?
• What kind of progress do they expect to make in the classroom?
• What do they like?

By asking this kind of open-ended question, you will let them express their thoughts, and feelings with you and you will be able to provide any assistance if they require any.

Help Them to Connect Their Feelings with Thoughts

Mid-school students become able to concentrate better when they are able to label their feelings. You can instruct your students to make a chart and write whatever emotions they are feeling and also the reason behind why they are feeling like that.

You can have your students explain why they are in a bad mood, and then brainstorm with classmates about what they can do to feel better. Don't forget to recognize their excitement as well. If a student appears overjoyed, encourage them to enjoy the good emotion for as long as feasible.

Help Your Middle-School Students with Counseling Techniques

Middle-school students have to deal with lots of uncertain situations in school, which may lead to negative thoughts and feelings. To ease their life and help them to deal with their emotions, feelings, and thoughts, you can utilize the above-mentioned effective counseling techniques for school counselor and educators to achieve it.

If you want to learn more effective and latest counseling techniques through which you can help students deal with their thoughts and feelings, then consider pursuing courses like the Certificate in Counselling Course for Teachers, where you will get assistance from top expert trainers.

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