In the main office, hidden in a side office, you can find Amber. A therapist dedicated to helping the students here at Waterford High School.
Although she is located inside the school, she doesn’t work for Waterford. Amber works for a company called UCFS (United Community & Family Services). They have the slogan “compassionate and quality care regardless of a person’s ability to pay,” showing that the company wants better.
The same rules from traditional therapy apply. HIPPA will still protect you in this office, and nothing you say can be told to the teachers, unless you want to hurt yourself or others. Amber makes sure you know this, as she wants you to feel comfortable and safe when you’re venting about your personal issues.
Amber quickly adjusted to the school’s environment. She made her office her own, decorating it with some photos and plants and even has some fidgets for you to play with during sessions. She genuinely cares for her clients, and she shows this by always listening to you and never making you feel wrong. Even if your session is over, she loves hearing more of your story, and will go past the time mark. Even if you didn’t see her that day, she loves when clients pop up to her office for surprise visits. She never declines the visit, unless there is another client inside the office.
These sessions are mostly scheduled during non-academic classes, meaning you are usually pulled out of classes like study hall, and extra curricular classes.
Once you step into the office, you can feel the energy change. It’s not like you’re in school anymore, you’re in a safe, relaxed environment. She tries her best to make sure people are comfortable, and it genuinely helps.
In the school, UCFS has more to offer than just the therapy sessions. They have an office in the nurse’s office where you can get things like physicals for school. This is convenient for the students, instead of finding time outside of school they can just do it inside of school!
Amber offers more than just one-on-one sessions. She sometimes hosts groups when she sees fit. Inside the groups, she carefully picks clients that she sees fit into the group. Meaning, she picks clients that have similar troubles, and she thinks being in a group session may help them.
Inside these groups, everyone is expected to be respectful, honest, and non judgmental. If that’s not the case, Amber would edit the group for a better environment.
If you or someone at the school ever needs support, or just a quick moment of silence, Amber and UCFS are there for you, and will help in any way fitting for you. Not as a part of the school, but as a resource for you that is available inside the school.
