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Counseling Needs & Concerns of Gifted Students

Self-Knowledge and Awareness

    1. Recognizing my behavioral impact on others
    2. Seeing how mistakes are learning experiences
    3. Understanding my personal options and choices
    4. Understanding the reciprocity of healthy relationships
    5. Seeing how inner conflict is often a part of growth
    6. Learning how to restructure negative thoughts into more positive and realistic ones
    7. Recognizing my different learning styles and preferences
    8. Noticing how people change and develop
    9. Developing the ability to view myself and events/situations with a sense of humor
    10. Accepting others’ strengths and weaknesses
    11. Accepting my strengths and weaknesses
    12. Establishing a desirable balance between work (school), family, and social/recreational activities
    13. Understanding that perfectionism is often unhealthy
    14. Understanding the difference between the “pursuit of excellence” and the “pursuit of perfection”
    15. Learning how to fit in
    16. Knowing what it is like to be different
    17. Recognizing how others perceive me
    18. Understanding how I feel about myself
    19. Recognizing my assets and talents
    20. Knowing the triggers that cause me to be unhappy or nervous
    21. Identifying values by which to live
    22. Identifying and correcting distortions in my thinking
    23. Overcoming resistance to beneficial advice or suggestions
    24. Attaining social maturity

Personal and Interpersonal Skills

  1. Developing problem solving skills
  2. Establishing desirable friendships
  3. Developing conflict resolution skills
  4. Communicating effectively with others
  5. Dealing with hostility or jealousy from others
  6. Setting appropriate interpersonal boundaries between myself and others
  7. Completing projects that I started
  8. Coping with the stress of daily living
  9. Giving myself affirmations and positive self talks
  10. Developing leadership skills
  11. Taking another person’s perspective
  12. Learning and using relaxation exercises
  13. Sustaining motivation
  14. Visualizing worst and best case scenarios
  15. Using humor to defuse conflict
  16. Identifying things or situations that are in or out of my control
  17. Developing core standards of behavior by which to live
  18. Identifying and pursuing short and long term goals in my life
  19. Developing positive and lasting family relationships
  20. Developing independence and self regulation of behavior
  21. Learning how to manage time, organize, and prioritize
  22. Managing sensitivities, intensities, and moral issues
  23. Developing creative thinking skills

Pursuit of Excellence

Understanding my school’s and/or parents’ definition of “gifted” and/or “talented”

  1. Recognizing my desire or need for perfection
  2. Dealing with loneliness and isolation
  3. Understanding what it is like to be a person with a gift or talent
  4. Resisting the pressure to hide my gifts or talents from others
  5. Recognizing the pressure to achieve
  6. Dealing with depression
  7. Dealing with anxiety or worry
  8. Recognizing issues of justice and fairness
  9. Producing a high level of work (creative, scientific, etc.)
  10. Recognizing the expectations I have for myself
  11. Seeing the expectations that others have for me
  12. Recognizing my contribution to society
  13. Learning how to deal with frustration
  14. Developing self determination and passion to help fulfill my potential
  15. Understanding the value of sustained effort, persistence, and struggle
  16. Learning how to study and take tests
  17. Seeking mentorships
  18. Self-advocating for educational acceleration
  19. Designing a career path which includes timelines, talents, interests, and future goals.
  20. Accessing opportunities for community service and/or volunteer work
  21. Developing a high level of quality of life 

Gifted with a Disorder and/or Disability (2-e) – Twice Exceptional

  1. Task initiation and completion
  2. Sustained attention
  3. Working memory
  4. Time management
  5. Procrastination
  6. Organization
  7. Planning ability
  8. Cognitive flexibility
  9. Establishing routines
  1. Ready to begin the day
  2. End of day
  3. Homework completion
  4. Homework plans
  5. Paying attention
  6. Desk cleaning/room cleaning
  7. Long term projects
  8. Organizing notebooks, homework
  9. Taking notes
  10. Stress reduction
  1. Controlling anger and other emotions
  2. Controlling impulsivity
  3. Managing anxiety
  4. Managing changes in plans or schedules
  5. Achieving goal directed persistence
  6. Shifting from one task to another
  7. Developing good social skills
  8. Learning good communication skills
  9. Developing sensory integration
  10. Taking advantage of academic coaching
  11. Developing assertiveness

 

Variables in the Counseling Relationship

  1. The counselor understood “giftedness” and had knowledge of gifted education and resources.
  2. The counselor was empathetic toward your concerns
  3. Your concerns were dismissed
  4. The counselor genuinely desired to understand you
  5. You were misunderstood
  6. The counselor implied something was wrong with you or your concerns
  7. The counselor took time to truly listen
  8. The counselor understood your desire to understand things
  9. The counselor understood your personal philosophy, i.e., what you believe to be important in life
  10. The counselor understood your love of learning
  11. The counselor understood your drive and motivation to achieve
  12. The counselor understood that not all parts of you work at the same level
  13. The counselor understood your level of ability and potential
  14. The counselor understood that further assessment of your abilities, skills, and characteristics may be beneficial
  15. You were supported and encouraged
  16. Your time was well spent

Many items are from Wood, Susannah, “Best Practices in Counseling the Gifted in Schools: What’s Really Happening?”  Gifted Child Quarterly, 54(1) 42-58