SERVICES
School Visits
At Bright Star Counselling, we work with children and youth in many ways, from one-on-one counselling to occupational therapy. We strive to support the success of every child that comes through our door, and we’re proud of how many we’ve been able to help. However, one place where your child may need some extra support is in the place where they spend almost a third of their time: at school.
School is often challenging for children, particularly if your child or youth is already grappling with challenges as they grow and mature. That’s why our therapists offer school visits.
How do our school visit counselling services work?
We’re proud to serve the schools in our community of Port Moody BC and beyond. Normally, our child therapists work with the school's support staff to implement intervention strategies, behavioural plans, or occupational therapy suggestions. We come in to do a daycare, preschool, or school observation. This helps us in our assessment and treatment planning processes. We do daycare observations and write support plans for preschoolers for daycares.
We also attend individual education plan (IEP) meetings and meet with the school counsellor(s). We go to any school our clients attend, even outside of the Tri-Cities.
We also offer training for teachers and are often asked to speak at professional days and community mental health events. We typically speak on various childhood mental health disorders in our communities.
Social skills groups
These small groups are a safe space for your child to learn and grow these vital social skills, helping them to foster and practice social skills as they navigate and develop new peer connections. Learn more about our social skills support here.
Occupational therapy assessments
If your child has sensory difficulties, challenges with emotional regulation, or challenges with attention, an OT assessment will explore what sort of changes in your child's is needed to help with sensory processing and self-regulation. We offer occupational therapy assessments for children in school, acting as an observer to help educators learn more about children and how they can be better supported as they learn, develop, and grow. The in-school OT assessments offered by Bright Star include:
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Sensory-Based Assessments
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Full Comprehensive Occupational Therapy Assessments
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Writing Assessments
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Consultations with parents and healthcare professionals (e.g. speech-language pathologists, counsellors, educational assistants, teachers, board-certified behaviour analysts, etc.)
Our registered occupational therapist will use standard assessment tools and measures filled out by parents and teachers to support a child's learning and development. In-clinic occupational therapy treatment may also be recommended.
Benefits of occupational therapy can include:
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Improved fine motor skills
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Building emotional regulation skills
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Help with overcoming fears
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Learning to manage frustration, anxiety, boredom, etc.
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Improved focus