School-Based Services
Bringing Expert Care to the Classroom: Our School-Based Therapy Services
High-quality mental health support shouldn't depend on a family’s ability to navigate traffic or leave work early. By bringing our private practice expertise directly into the school environment, we bridge the gap between academic success and emotional well-being.
Our school-based services offer the clinical depth of a private office with the convenience and integration of an on-campus resource.
Interested in partnering with us? Send us an email to set up a virtual or in person meeting to discuss how we can serve the students in your district!
The Private Practice Advantage in Schools
Unlike traditional school counseling, which often focuses on short-term crisis intervention or academic scheduling, our model provides consistent, long-term clinical therapy tailored to the individual student.
Our licensed therapists are trained in specialized modalities like CBT, DBT, and EMDR. Your student is receiving therapy from the same professionals they would in our traditional office setting, without the hassle of getting to the office.
Clinical Excellence
Students receive services on a consistent basis, based on the frequency determined during their assessment, ensuring a stable therapeutic relationship. No missed appointments due to transportation issues, sibling schedule conflicts or forgetfulness.
Consistency
We work alongside teachers, administrators, and parents to ensure the skills learned in therapy are able to be practiced and generalized to life experiences outside of the therapy session.
Seamless Integration
Privacy & Comfort
Sessions are held in a confidential, safe space on campus, reducing the stigma often associated with “leaving for an appointment”. The same confidentiality rules apply to our school-based sessions as do our in office sessions.
The Benefits
We partner with schools to provide a turnkey mental health solution that relieves the burden on school staff while enhancing student outcomes. Here are some ways that our services help bridge the gaps impacting both families and the schools.
Benefits for Families
Elimination of "The Logistics Gap"
Parents no longer need to leave work, pick up their child early, drive to a clinic, and find parking. This preserves family time and parent PTO.
Consistency of Care
Students are far less likely to miss appointments due to transportation issues or scheduling conflicts, leading to better clinical outcomes.
Increased Positive School Experience
Students whose mental health needs are being met, whether during school or outside of school, will be more emotionally regulated and ready to learn. Feeling more in control of your school experience and less “fight or flight” will result in a more focused and calm student and an overall better school experience.
Destigmatization
When therapy is just another part of the school day—like speech therapy or tutoring—it feels less like a "medical event" and more like a standard support.
Benefits for Schools
Direct Referral
Identify the student who could benefit from services. Follow the protocols within your district. Make a referral directly to us and we will take it from there! No more giving out cards and hoping someone follows up. Connect the families to the services they need!
Improved Attendance
Students stay on campus for appointments, reducing late arrivals, early dismissals, and missed days. Addressing mental health issues reduces school refusal and truancy issues.
Improved Academic Performance
Emotional regulation is the foundational "gateway" to learning, acting as a prerequisite for cognitive engagement rather than just a byproduct of it. Helping students access the mental health services they need will directly impact their ability to be successful in the classroom.
Direct Communication
With proper releases, therapists can communicate directly with teachers and administrators to gain insight, share techniques or make suggestions that may help that student be more successful in the classroom.
School-Based Services FAQ
Here you will find some of our frequently asked questions about our school-based services. If you don’t find your answer here, feel free to e-mail us at info@iccsohio.com and we would be happy to help!
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School-based therapy services provide counseling and mental health support to students directly on school grounds, but services are delivered by licensed therapists (not employees of the district). This model allows students to access care conveniently during the school day while maintaining the quality and confidentiality of private practice therapy.
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School counselors are often responsible for a wide range of academic and social emotional learning tasks for a very large amount of students. Our licensed therapists are able to provide consistent, individualized clinical interventions to your student to help them deal with their more complex mental health issues. Our therapists do not replace school counselors, they are intended to compliment the support services already being provided.
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Our office accepts a wide variety of commercial health insurance plans as well as Medicaid. We will bill your insurance just as if you came into our office.
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Absolutely, yes! Parents or legal guardian must give informed consent prior to our therapists providing support to any student, except in emergency situations as defined by state law.
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Yes. Therapy sessions are confidential between the student and our licensed therapist. Information is only shared with parents or legal guardians as appropriate or when required by law (e.g., safety concerns). With a valid Release of Information on file, limited updates may be shared with school staff to support the student’s academic and emotional well-being.
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Referrals could come from:
-Parents/Guardians
-School Staff/Teachers
-School Counselors/Social Workers
-Student self referrals for older students (with consent from a parent, for minors) -
Our therapists work with the students, teachers and their families to determine the best time of the school day to have sessions. We do our best not to interrupt your child’s academic time.
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We know that mental health doesn’t get summers off. Since we are a private practice, seeing students in a school setting, we are able to continue care during breaks via telehealth or at our office.
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If it’s determined appropriate and necessary by the student and their therapist, family may be involved in sessions from time to time. In these cases, the therapist would schedule a family session that would take place at our North Royalton office, during a time that was convenient for all parties.
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If it is determined that your student requires a higher level of care (eg. hospitalization, intensive outpatient, psychiatric care) we would work collaboratively with the school support team to connect you with the appropriate resources.