The Counseling and Wellness Department at Rivers reflects the school’s relational approach to student development within a community in which students are known, valued, and understood. School counselors embody the Rivers Excellence with Humanity philosophy by getting to know individual students who seek counseling and then tailoring therapeutic treatment to meet each student’s needs. This may take the form of short-term support, ongoing therapy, student/family outreach and advocacy, and/or team collaboration. Counseling services are provided by trained mental-health professionals and comply with national standards of care. The Rivers School counselors take a proactive and preventative approach to both direct counseling services and systems-level interventions, as part of a comprehensive school-counseling program that both helps individual students build skills and enhances the emotional climate of the school environment. School counselors collaborate as part of a larger Rivers wellness team to promote student well-being at the individual, grade, school division, and community levels.
The Counseling and Wellness Department at Rivers works to enhance the many systems of support that are ingrained into the school’s culture, such as the advisory program, DEI initiatives, and student-life programming. At The Rivers School, wellness education for all students and voluntary individual counseling services complement one another. School counselors collaborate with the student advisory system, the school nurse, athletic trainers, and the deans’ office to promote student well-being at multiple levels within the Rivers school, student, and family communities.
The department, in partnership with McLean School Consultation Service, provides multi-tiered and targeted services to equip individual students with the skills needed to cope with the stresses and pressures of modern adolescence, while cultivating a school-wide culture of positive mental health in which all students can thrive. Please
click here to learn more about Rivers’s partnership with McLean School Consultation Service, launched in fall 2021.