Organize: Individual Counseling Sessions with Students

When I first started counseling, I wanted to keep notes on my students, but had been advised in grad school to be careful about what I kept. My professors cautioned me that if I were ever subpoenaed, I would need to hand over office notes. I am not a legal expert, but wanted to be able to refer back to a brief note on a student when I followed up with them.  In addition, I am a data fanatic and I wanted a way to document how many individual counseling sessions I conducted each school year.

So, based on my theoretical orientation of counseling (Solution Focused Counseling), I developed this handy individual meeting summary for us School Counselors.  It allows you to document the student's info, how they self-identified on the feeling rating scale, make notes, and notate when you will follow-up with them.  I keep this in my contact binder, along with my School Counselor's Phone Log.  I find it helps me stay organized, and also serve my students better.  I don't write down anything too personal in the notes section, just enough to jog my memory! I hope this helps you...please let me know if you have questions/suggestions.  Get the Individual Meeting Summary Form HERE.