Guidance Counseling Services present professional, systematic and psychological help

to the students at BLIS.

The major aim of Guidance Counseling Services is to encourage students’ academic,
social, emotional and personal development. To reach this aim, guidance counseling
services help students get to know themselves better and find effective solutions to their
daily problems. They also help students improve themselves in all areas and be full-
functioning individuals. Counselors monitor students’ development and according to
their needs they give students necessary support such as helping them to understand
themselves and their needs, to solve their problems, to make realistic decisions, to
improve their abilities and skills, and to adjust themselves and their environment in a
healthy way.
While implementing guidance counseling services, showing respect to individual
differences is essential. Continuity and willingness are vital in guidance, and also
confidentiality is essential in psychological counseling.
In the guidance and counseling services, the student and his/her needs are in the
center. While supporting him, counselors cooperate with the administrators, teachers,
parents and the other staff members if it’s necessary.
Working with the teachers and administrators is another service which is given by the
counselors. Preparing handouts, trainings for the faculty or contacting outside experts to
get consultation and trainings; preparing handouts/trainings for the parents about
parenting related topics or inviting outside experts to do the trainings can be defined
under these services.
The programs that the Guidance and Counseling Services run are as follow:
 Orientation Program
 Growth and Development Program
 How to Cope with Bullying
 How to Cope with Peer Pressure
 How Can I Improve My Organizational Skills?
 Strategies for Effective Learning
 Transition to Upper Grades / Divisions
 Career Guidance
 Social Skills Program
In the Light of Guidance Counseling Services’ major aims, you can find specific
divisional information in the following tabs.
BLIS Elementary School Guidance Counseling Services
During elementary school students begin to develop their self-understanding (self-
awareness and self-acceptance), emotion identification, academic self-concept and
their feelings of competence and confidence as learners. They also build decision
making, communication, friendship building and interpersonal skills, as well as acquiring
attitudes toward school, study habits, peers-social groups and family. As Elementary
Counseling Service, our goal is to foster this growth by creating and implementing a
comprehensive developmental school counseling program which enhances the
knowledge, attitudes and skills that our students acquire in the competencies of
academic, personal, social and career development.
The essential elements of Elementary Counseling Service can be summarized as
follows:
Working with children
Assessment of individual students is the major role of the counselor. For this reason,
the elementary counselor observes the students in the school setting, makes individual
and group counseling interventions when needed, prepares and conducts
developmental and preventive counseling services focusing on personal and intellectual
development of students (e.g. peace education, coping with bullying, friendship building
skills, conflict resolution skills, problem solving skills, social skills counseling programs).
Individual, small-group, personal, and crisis counseling are available to all students.
Additionally, the elementary counselor is responsible for preparing PSE Lessons
(Personal Social Education) to provide the students with knowledge of personal, social,
academic, and career development. The PSE guidance curriculum consists of
structured developmental experiences presented systematically through group activities
in Pre K through Grade 4. Classroom teachers implement these lessons with the
cooperation of counselor every week.
Working with parents
Consultation with parents is an important part of our support process as we all work
together to create a safe and caring environment for students in and out of the school.
-When do you contact the school counselor?
   Academic, social and emotional concerns
 Family transitions such as divorce, death or moving
 Requesting evaluations
 To inform the school of outside supports in place for your child
The elementary counselor also informs the parents about the development of their
children in the school, conducts guidance sessions for parents to improve their
parenting skills and enhance their relationships with their children when needed or
requested.
Working with teachers and administrators
The elementary counselor collaborates with teachers and administration to identify
barriers to academic and personal growth and develop interventions to address areas of
need. We attach importance to identify the talents and uniqueness of each student as
early as possible. Additionally, in-service trainings are given to the teachers when
needed. Furthermore, Elementary Counselor Division work together with administrators
and regular meetings are hold with the principals and vice principal to assist with
identifying and resolving student issues, needs and problems.
Working with other experts
If required or requested, the elementary counselor refers resources outside of school to
help support our students. We contact with other professionals such as clinical
psychologists, psychiatrists and special education experts when children have any kind
of behavior problems or learning difficulties. Also, the counselor may bring an expert to
the school to give in-service training to the school personnel when needed.
Please feel free to contact us with questions about services available or concerns you
may have regarding your student.
Elementary School Psychologist Contact Information:
Esin MEFTUN, MSc. (Pre-kindergarten)
+90 312 290 8270
[email protected]
Elementary Clinical Psychologist Contact Information:
Özlem Başaran, MSc. (Grade 5 -6)
Kindergarten: +90 312 290 8222
Grade 5: +90 312 290 8235
[email protected]
Elementary School Psychologist Contact Information:
Melike AYBAR, MSc. (Grade 2 & 4)
+90 312 290 8910
[email protected]
Elementary School Counselor Contact Information:
Ceren DİLEK ERDEM, MSc. (Grades 1 & 3)
+90 312 290 8918
[email protected]
BLIS Middle School Guidance Counseling Services
BLIS Middle School Guidance Counseling Services held its services as follows:
Psychological Counseling:  Individual and group counseling sessions are the content of
psychological counseling. According to the students’ needs which are mentioned by
their teachers, parents, or administrators, sometimes by the request of students,
individual or group counseling sessions are held by the guidance counselors. The aims
of individual counseling session are to get to know the students better, to identify their
needs and to give support according to their needs. The guidance counselors can also
have meetings with the students’ parents or teachers. The aims of these meetings are
to be preventive about students’ needs and if it is necessary to discuss the intervention
strategies with the relevant parties. According to the students’ needs, the guidance
counselors also have group sessions with students for conflict resolution or to train them
in social and emotional skills. To encourage new students’ orientation period to school,
the guidance counselors also have individual counseling sessions with the students.
Monitoring and encouraging students’ development:  Collecting information about
students’ development is the content of this heading. Administrative files, Counseling
files, report cards, attendance records, parent and teacher conferences, individual
counseling sessions with the students, any kind of inquiries or questionnaires that are
implemented by the Guidance Counseling Services according to the students’
development are the major factors that are used by the guidance counselors to get to
know the students. These records also used to monitor and encourage students’
development by the guidance counselors.
Communication and cooperation with parents and the others in relations (teachers,
educators, psychologists, psychiatrists etc.) It is essential for guidance counselors to
communicate and cooperate with the students’ parents and the others in relations
because when all the information is gathered together about a student, guidance
counselors have a clear opinion about the student’s need. Either the guidance
counselors can ask for a meeting about the student’s development or the student’s
parents and teachers can. Parents may also ask for an appointment from the guidance
counselors to discuss their child’s academic, social, emotional development or to give
information about the changes in their family life or the changes in their child’s
development. These meetings are confidential.
Educational Guidance: These are the services that are given to the students by the
guidance counselors individually or as a group of student to improve their study skills,
time management skills, learning strategies, growth and development.
PSE (Personal, Social Education) lesson is another content of Educational Guidance.
This lesson is from grade 5 to 8 in BLIS Middle School. The program of PSE lesson is
structured and has been developed according to the students’ developmental needs.
The major themes that are held in PSE lesson are educational achievement and
development, interpersonal relations, family and community life, secure and healthy life,
emotional development, career development and coping skills. Under the content of
these major themes, there are subheadings such as study skills , problem solving &
conflict resolution skills, respect to diversity, how to improve friendship, improving
communication skills. PSE lessons are held by the homeroom teachers who are
supervised by the guidance counselors. In the PSE lesson, there are also assemblies
and presentations about variety of subjects which are held by the counselors or guest
speakers.
School Profile
Please click here for BLIS School Profile
Career Guidance: This service includes monitoring students’ career development and
giving individual and group guidance to the students to identify their aptitudes, interests,
abilities, skills and personality. Giving information about high school and occupations/
professions is also implemented under the content of this heading.
Middle School Guidance Counselors Contact Information:
Yasemin DURAK
290 82 89/ Office: Middle School Building, 103
[email protected]
Özlem OĞUZ, M.Sc.
290 82 83 / Office: Middle School Building, 300
[email protected],  [email protected]
BLIS High School Guidance Counseling Services
BLIS High School Guidance and Counseling service is committed to a student-centered
developmental guidance and counseling program for every individual. The counselor
serves as a resource to students, teachers and parents in meeting
 personal,
 emotional,
 social,
 educational
 and career needs of our students.
This is accomplished through individual/ small group counseling sessions, classroom
presentations, career guidance and Personal and Social Education (PSE) lessons to
develop self-awareness, problem solving skills, communication skills, decision making
skills, coping skills, anger management skills, time management skills etc. Special guest
speakers are also invited to speak on relevant topics of concern at the secondary level.
This comprehensive guidance program supports personal and academic growth of each
individual student in attaining their maximum potential by helping each student identify
their strengths, weaknesses, interests and intellectual abilities.
Career Guidance
In high school we put more emphasis on career guidance. Career guidance activities
carried out through various ways such as:
 PSE activities:  Different PSE lesson plans and activities are prepared to help our
students get a clear picture of who they are and what they want at this stage of
their lives. Career planning process includes examining 4 aspects: Personality
(What Makes Us Unique), Interests (What We Like/Dislike), Values (What’s
Important To Us), Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (What We’re Good At).
 Career tests: In various times, Personality Type and Career Interest related career
tests are given to our students in Turkish and English. The results of these tests are
discussed with our students in private counseling sessions.
 Professions Day: “Professions Day” event is organized twice a year. While
organizing the first one in the fall, we cooperate with Bilkent University academic
staff. That’s why we call this day as “Bilkent University Day”. The second
“Professions Day” is organized in spring with the help of our parents and graduates.
During these events, Bilkent University academicians, our parents (from elementary
to high school) and graduates make short presentations about their professions.
The survey conducted with our high school students reveals that they enormously
benefit from this activity.
Academic follow up system
In high school, we have rigorous academic programs (IGCSE and IB) and high
academic expectations. Therefore, it is expected from the students to develop very
good organizational skills, time management skills, note taking skills, listening skills etc.
to be able to meet these expectations. In that sense, high school counselor works very
closely with the administrators, IGCSE coordinator, IB coordinator, grade coordinators,
subject teachers and the parents to follow up the academic development of the students
and to identify their needs. Once their needs are identified, the counselor meets with
each student to help them develop necessary skills and/ or develop a study plan for
themselves.
Turkish University Entrance System
High school counselor gives information about the Turkish University Entrance System
(ÖSYS) to the students and parents through seminars and individual meetings. “College
Nights” is one of these informative meetings organized in the fall and spring semesters.
During these College Nights, college counselor and high school counselor make
presentations about university entrance systems and Universities in Turkey and abroad
to our parents and students. Moreover, the process related with university applications
to Turkish universities carried out by high school counselor, too.
Psychological Counseling
In high school; the physical, social and emotional changes in adolescence period, in
addition to the high academic expectations, make life difficult for the high school
students. Therefore, the high school counselor meets with the students regularly to
check their needs. The counselor holds counseling sessions according to the needs of
the students and sometimes asks for feedback from the teachers and parents to follow
up the specific cases. In some situations, the counselor refers the students and their
parents to an outside expert. It’s necessary to emphasize the importance of cooperation
between parents and counselors which is crucial for the efficient fulfillment of counseling
position. The parents are expected to contact the counselor anytime they need to talk
about their child. Certainly, the personal information about the students and parents are
kept confidential.
High School Guidance Counselor Contact Information:
Necmiye Berfin Ertem (Grade 9 & 10)
Öykü Altıntaş, (Grade 11 & 12)

 Oversee and fulfill a guidance program designed to allow

students to voice concerns without fear of punishment or
judgment.
 Analyze student performance in class and identify sources of
problems.
 Get to know students and their unique needs to offer specialized
solutions.
 Help students develop a plan for their academic career that
corresponds with their skills and interests.
 Host crisis intervention and prevention programs.
 Facilitate communication between parents, Teachers,
administrators and students about behavior and academic
problems.
  Assist with school programs and events
Were do you envision

-You can also find all three working in community settings, such as a hospital or the health
department. Often professionals in these settings would assist individuals with diagnostics and
referrals for further treatment.

Professional counselors do not practice in a vacuum. Counselors practice, regardless of the setting,
in community with others. Counselors practice in neighborhoods, in schools, in mental health
agencies, in inpatient mental health hospitals, in colleges, in homes, in homeless shelters, in
assisted living homes, in prisons, and the list goes on. All of these areas of practice are in
communities. Therefore, we must be aware as counselors of the issues that affect the communities
where we practice.

Communities are often affected by traumatic events and experiences such as community violence,
drug and sex trafficking, police shootings, crime, substance and alcohol abuse, and parental abuse
and neglect toward children. As a licensed professional counselor, I work primarily with children and
adolescents who have extensive trauma histories. I provide trauma therapy in the form of trauma-
focused cognitive behavior therapy. I also work within my community to provide trauma education to
organizations such as day care centers to help these educators understand trauma’s effects on
young children. My goal is to provide more community outreach through education and training to
enable communities to become more trauma informed and resilient.

In this article, I will discuss the pivotal role that professional counselors can play in developing
resilient communities through outreach. Counselors possess the expertise, experience and training
to help communities develop programs necessary for addressing and ending the adverse effects of
events that have taken place within these communities.

Adverse childhood experiences

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been shown to have an impact on future health
implications and violence victimization. These experiences can include:

 Abuse
 Neglect
 Witnessing violence in the community
 Witnessing domestic violence in the home
  Having a caregiver or loved one experience a prolonged illness, mental health crisis or death
 Having a loved one die by suicide
 Being separated from biological parents
 Being in the foster care system
 Having a loved one engage in substance or alcohol abuse

Each of these experiences can lead a child to feel unsafe and to struggle with stability and
attachment.

Early ACEs will have long-term impacts on children well into adulthood. ACEs have been linked to
unsafe behaviors, chronic health problems, poor academic achievement, lower rates of graduation,
more lost time at work, and early death. The original ACEs study was conducted by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Kaiser Permanente from 1995-1997 in Southern
California. The conclusion of the study was that those who had experienced four or more ACEs were
more likely to experience increased health risks for alcoholism, drug abuse, depression and suicide.
These individuals were also more likely to experience poor physical health, have multiple sexual
partners, contract sexually transmitted diseases, experience obesity, have limited physical activity,
and engage in smoking. Among the physical problems noted among adults who had experienced
four or more ACEs were ischemic heart disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, liver disease and
skeletal fractures.

Another study, the Philadelphia Urban ACE Study, was conducted to determine how ACEs affected
those in a large urban city with a socially and racially diverse population (the original ACEs study
from the CDC and Kaiser Permanente involved mainly individuals who were white, middle class and
highly educated). The Urban ACE Study found that 33% of adults in Philadelphia had experienced
emotional abuse in childhood, while 35% had experienced physical abuse in childhood. Other
findings included that 35% of adults in Philadelphia had grown up in homes with a family member
who abused substances, whereas 24% had lived in homes with a family member who was mentally
ill. About 13% of adults had childhood experiences of someone from their household being
incarcerated.

These two studies demonstrate a need for a) early intervention trauma treatment and b) outreach to
provide collaborative support to build more resilient communities. For communities to become
resilient, there must be support for the well-being of children and their families. This is where
professional counselors can become strong advocates for the clients they treat. Many of the
children, adolescents, adults, families and couples that we treat are currently experiencing problems
that may be related to ACEs. So, what can we do as counselors to build resiliency within our
communities?

1) Understand the trauma response. Counselors should do what they can to become more trauma
informed. This means understanding what trauma responses are and what these responses look
like. In my own practice as a trauma-informed child and adolescent counselor, many children come
to me with diagnoses of attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder, oppositional defiant disorder,
depression, anxiety, conduct disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, developmental disorders,
intermittent explosive disorder, and pervasive disorder. Many of these children have been seen by
multiple mental health providers who have worked to extinguish the challenging behaviors that
accompany these disorders. Parents are at their wits’ end because “nothing seems to work.”

What I often find is that no formal assessment of trauma symptoms has ever been performed to
determine whether these children might be experiencing a trauma response. Understanding how
trauma affects the brain can provide counselors with an awareness of where certain behaviors are
originating. Traumatized children are not able to regulate emotions, tolerate distress or learn
because the centers of the brain that control these functions have not developed appropriately. The
body is in a constant state of stress, and the child is in the fight, flight or freeze state. So, the
behaviors and emotional problems that we are seeing may actually be stress responses from
trauma.

2) Screen for trauma symptoms. Trauma screening should be done on all clients whom
counselors see. It should be a part of every intake. Not every client will screen for trauma symptoms,
but when they do, counselors will have the information needed to begin trauma-focused therapy or
to refer to other counselors who have that training.

Counselors can conduct outreach to their communities by providing trauma screening to

organizations or by teaching those within organizations to screen for trauma. Trauma can be
screened for in physicians’ and pediatricians’ offices, day care centers and schools. I conducted an
in-service training in which I taught educators at a local day care how to recognize behaviors that
might be a result of trauma and understand why these behaviors occur. The training was well
received, and these educators are usually among the first to recognize when children are having
behavioral or emotional difficulties. Once communities can conduct an initial screening, then an
assessment for trauma symptoms can be made that will lead to recommendations for treatment.

3) Advocate for appropriate mental health services within schools and communities. Budget
cuts in many organizations within the communities where counselors practice often target mental
health services, resulting in the discontinuation of services. In my area of practice in Pennsylvania,
when the educational budget needs to be trimmed, school counselors are usually cut. This leaves
one or two counselors to serve a school with hundreds of students. Some schools do not have the
benefit of having other mental health professionals in their buildings. There may be one or two
school psychologists to serve a district of five to 10 schools. Thus, the ability to screen for trauma is
nearly nonexistent due to the absence of personnel to conduct those screenings.

Professional counselors can reach out to collaborate with school districts in the areas where they
practice. In my practice in both agencies and private practice, I enjoyed working with many school
counselors who asked me to help support their students. I always reached out to coordinate with
school counselors to plan how to best help my clients. This is very beneficial for clients because they
then receive collaborative support within the school. Counselors may also have the opportunity to
contract with schools to provide supportive mental health care to students.

4) Advocate to build more trauma-informed communities by reaching out to

lawmakers. Counselors can reach out to legislators when issues of mental health come up.
Counselors can advocate for more school counselors and for trauma-informed training of school
personnel and personnel in other social services agencies, including children and youth agencies,
foster care agencies and welfare services. Counselors can advocate for their clients by encouraging
legislators to work within their districts to develop mental health programs that are more accessible.
Many adults cannot afford mental health services. Counselors can be on the front lines advocating
for affordable health care that includes mental health parity.

5) Support the integration of mental health care in pediatric medical offices and physicians’
offices and training for first responders. Counselors can reach out to pediatricians and medical
providers to raise awareness of the need for trauma screenings. Some already conduct these
screenings. Some may conduct these screenings but offer no referrals for help. Partnering with
these medical services and working collaboratively with medical personnel will encourage greater
screening of trauma among patients and allow medical personnel to provide their patients with
referrals to mental health services. In addition, counselors can offer to provide trauma training to
organizations that train medical workers. The more trauma training that medical professionals have,
the more resilient the community is likely to become because referrals for mental health services will
be made earlier.

One trend that is occurring is more first responders being trained to identify trauma symptoms. First
responders are often the first to arrive when someone is in a mental health crisis. Unfortunately, the
news is too often filled with stories about law enforcement personnel shooting and killing individuals
who were having a mental health crisis. Teaching safer alternatives for first responders to engage
with and de-escalate those in crisis is another area in which counselors can provide outreach to their
communities. Creating more mental health crisis teams within communities can be effective in
reducing the number of deaths that occur when individuals suffering from a mental health crisis meet
untrained first responders.

6) Advocate for trauma-informed schools. Professional counselors can collaborate with schools

to train all school staff on trauma-informed care. Helping school staff to recognize when a student
might be exhibiting trauma responses will allow them to provide needed support until the student can
be evaluated by the school counselor or a mental health professional.

Counselors can also collaborate with schools to develop anti-bullying programs and sexual assault
awareness programs. Bullying and sexual assault cause trauma to many students and will result in
emotional and behavioral problems in school. Traumatized students are unable to focus and learn
and will tend to isolate themselves. Students may exhibit acting-out behaviors such as tantrums or
oppositional behaviors. Some students may hold their trauma inside and exhibit depression and
anxiety symptoms.

In my experience working with adolescents where anti-bullying and sexual assault awareness
programs are already in place, I often hear reports that these programs are ineffective. I see this as
an opportunity for professional counselors to develop evidence-based programs that are
truly effective.

Conclusion

Studies have demonstrated the long-term effects of ACEs, particularly in communities where
poverty, substance abuse, alcoholism and violence are the norm. Counselors can provide outreach
to their communities and advocate for their clients and communities to develop trauma-informed
programs and early intervention.

The ACA Code of Ethics tells us that advocating for our clients is an important part of the work we
do. My challenge to you, my colleagues, is to think about the many ways that you can advocate for
your clients and your communities.

****

Denise Takakjy is a licensed professional counselor, national certified counselor and licensed
behavioral specialist working in private practice in Harleysville, Pennsylvania. She specializes in
providing trauma-informed care to children and adolescents with extensive trauma histories. Contact
her at [email protected].
Counseling Today reviews unsolicited articles written by American Counseling Association
members. To access writing guidelines and tips for having an article accepted for publication, go
to ct.counseling.org/feedback.

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