School Counseling Referrals and How to Manage Them

I get a lot of questions about how to handle school counseling referrals. Referrals are a necessary part of the counseling program, but finding the right way to do it can depend a lot on your building and your personality. In this article,  I’m going to walk you through several different ways to collect referrals.

Why Collect Referrals

When someone suggests that a student come to see you for counseling, that’s called a school counseling referral. It can be by word of mouth, on paper, email or even a phone or zoom call. Anyone can refer or suggest that a student see a counselor. However, it’s from that point that you can touch base with their parents and see if weekly counseling is a good fit for their children. 

Referral on Office Door

I go back and forth with this one all the time! So, let’s talk about it first. I love the idea of having a “mailbox” on my door so students can self-refer when they need to see me. In fact, some years I do have a mailbox station on my door. The number one question with this is… “will I be able to check it 100% of the time?” What if a student tells me something that’s an emergency on the mailbox slip and I’m not there or don’t see it? Also, being aware of the proximity of the mailbox to other students. Can others grab the notes out? Can others see the person’s name? Etc.

So… if it is a year where I feel like the “mailbox” is necessary, I teach and re-teach the procedure to my students. I heavily explain what the mailbox is for and that it is NOT for emergency’s. I also make sure to check my mailbox every time I walk through my door. It’s an annoying habit, but it has to happen.

Staff Email Referral

Honestly, this is my favorite one! I check my school email multiple times a day, so if they refer a student through email I will usually see it right away. There’s nothing fancy or extra I have to do besides my normal routine.  Once I get school counseling referrals by email, I take the students name and write them in my planner so I remember to get to them. I do ask that they use initials if they discuss any concerns through email. However, I usually have teachers say something like “I need to talk to you about A.A”. This way, I can head down to their room and get the details. 

Referral on Google Form

This would have to be another one of my favorites because I can leave this tab open on my computer and see right away who refers, whether it be staff, student or parent. Also, I can see this on my phone if I’m away. I am in the elementary setting, so for me there are not a lot of student referrals. However, the other counselors in my district who work with middle and high school students love this system for student self-referrals! Here’s a closer look at my Google Form Referral.

Walk-In Referrals

Walk-in referrals are great, if I’m in my office. However, there’s a lot of times where I’m not in there or I’m already with a student or a group. The years I have my mailbox up, they can leave me a note, otherwise they have to return to class and have their teacher let me know or they can catch me another time. I always like explaining this to kids when we talk about referring because I don’t want to miss any of them. 

Parent Referrals

I love school counseling referrals from parents because it usually means we’re all on board for the well-being of the student! I usually get phone referrals from them because it seems to be the easiest. Occasionally, I will get an email or note. But, then again, it all depends on the year! Also, by having a Google Referral Form, parents can refer anytime they are thinking about it. So, if a parent is thinking about the need for counseling at night while talking to their child. They can pull it up right then and refer, making it easier on them.

I’m sure there are other ways students, staff and families can refer. I just wanted to quickly share some of the ways I do it with my school building and hopefully provide some insight into different ways you can implement referrals and provide some caution questions when thinking about a referral system.