Mental health support seems to be getting more and more light shone on it in recent years; however, there is still a long way to go.
In order to do their part to help support the mental health of students, Prairie Spirit School Division has school-based counsellors available at each of their schools. This year, an additional resource was added due to the complexity of the current world state. PSSD has added one full-time Virtual Mental Health Counsellor that is available to support students and families across the division during general school day hours.
“Virtual supports can include inquiries and general consultation with caregivers, help accessing resources, and/or short-term counselling for registered PSSD students. Virtual counselling support may be offered via telephone or video-conferencing technologies, and in most situations, is focused on issues that impact students during their school day,” Brenda Erickson, PSSD Communications Manager, explained.
Although this support was put in place to help students during this time, it is important to remember that this is not a crisis line. When the needs of students are deemed to require longer term counselling, or involve issues not impacting the student at school, the Virtual Mental Health Counsellor will work with the students and families to access community mental health services.
Families and students can email virtualMH@spiritsd.ca or call or text (306) 371-4214 to request an appointment. Virtual counselling support will be available Monday to Friday during general school day hours until June 29, 2021.
In an emergency, call 911. In a crisis, please consider the following supports above.
