Last year, I had the opportunity to interview Ms. Rosie Bancroft from Pine Lake Middle School. Through our conversation, I gained valuable insights and learned a lot from her experiences. I’m excited to share this interview with you!

What’s your name and where do you work? Additionally, can you tell me about the role you play in supporting the mental health of students? 

So my name is Rosie Bancroft, and I work at Pine Lake Middle School. My role in supporting mental health with students is providing individual and family counseling in the school setting. So for students who don’t have access to outside counseling or therapy, I provide that here at school. 

What are some of the most common mental health issues you encounter among the students you see?

The most common are anxiety, depression, and disordered eating. 

How do you assess and diagnose mental health conditions in students? 

Yeah, so I use interviews with students and with families as well, to kind of get, like, a history and current symptoms and current functioning. I don’t usually give a mental health diagnosis unless there is a reason that it’s needed, but mostly focus on symptoms and kind of, like, daily functioning and problem solving within that. 

Are there any trends or patterns you’ve noticed regarding mental health issues among students, especially in recent years? 

So I do notice anxiety increasing most years. During COVID, like, during the time that we were seeing students online and then, like, the year after that here, I definitely noticed an increase in disordered eating for lots of reasons, I’m sure, but that has kind of stayed on, like, that has not dissipated after we kind of went back to a regular routine. And I also notice more anxiety and worry with parents and families as well.

What are some common triggers or stressors that impact the mental health of students?

Yeah. So, stress about schoolwork, stress about friends or family relationships. I would say, like, academic slash, like, vocational pressure in terms of, like, college admissions and future opportunities. And at the middle school level, you know, the most common is, like, peer social relationships, friends and social dynamics and social media.

You said that many students experience academic related stress or pressure. How do you support those students? 

So part of it is kind of concrete problem solving about, like, managing six different classes and six different teachers and different styles and just kind of like the executive functioning piece of kind of managing that. And then part of it is also managing the anxiety that comes from that. So learning how to, like, take care of ourselves, take breaks, find stress relievers in daily life, like time outside, time in nature, time spent exercising, time spent socializing. And I think also just, like, normalizing some of that. I think a lot of times students think that they are the only one or that it is much worse or harder for them than others. And so I try to normalize some of that.

 How do you address the stigma surrounding mental health among students, and how do you encourage them to seek help?

Yeah. So, part of it is just by keeping confidentiality, making sure that things are not shared without students’ knowledge or permission. Part of it is trying to be out in the general milieu of the school more often and kind of talking about these things all the time as opposed to just when something really intense and stressful comes up of, like, we all have worries, we all have things that are hard for us. We’re all kind of, like, honing our skills about how to manage those things when they come up. To me, the concept of mental health is less about being happy and relaxed all the time and more about managing those feelings and situations that are inevitably going to arise.

You talked about confidentiality. How do you handle that and privacy concerns when working with students in a school setting? 

Yeah. So there, you know, are laws in the state of Washington that I am guided by. Generally, I make sure to talk with students about confidentiality in advance. So instead of waiting until something sensitive comes up or a privacy concern arises, I try to talk about it in advance of, like, here are the circumstances under which I would share something, and here are the circumstances under which I would not share anything that you tell me and just kind of letting them feel some, like, ownership over them. 

How do you differentiate between typical teenage behavior and signs of a more serious mental health issue?

 That’s such a good question. So a big one is just kind of, like, a change from previous. So, like, you know, in elementary school or in the grade before, what has been kind of typical normal baseline for someone, of, like, how much stress they feel or how much they are enjoying the activities that they do, when those things change drastically in a short period of time, that is when it’s kind of more than just the typical stress. So, like, not enjoying the things that used to really bring you joy, you know, sleeping much more or much less, eating much more or much less. It’s kind of like, what are the things that are going on day to day, and how much are they impacting? Like, feeling stressed, but still being able to, like, do well in classes and go to sports and go to activities and socialize with friends. That tells me that that person is functioning. Whatever the tools they are using are working to some extent that they are able to keep doing those things. But when relationships start falling apart or, academics or kind of like personal care in terms of eating and sleeping and bathing and all that is when we know that there is something bigger, more urgent going on. 

How do you adapt your counseling approach to meet the diverse needs of students from different cultural backgrounds? 

That’s such a good question. So, you know, there’s lots of training and, like, educating that is done in this field of social work, especially for white people, I think the biggest way is just like curiosity, just like being open to what students and families have to teach me about what makes sense as like a therapeutic intervention within the context of their culture, within the context of, like, how they do things at home, or what kind of contact they have with extended family members, or splitting time between different places that they live. And so just, like, maintaining kind of openness and curiosity about that and, like, being flexible about how things can fit into people’s lives and, like, make sense for them. A lot of times kids and families will generously educate me on what I need to know to help them. 

How do you collaborate with other professionals such as the teachers or school administrators to support the students’ mental health needs? 

So when a student is bringing something that I think would be useful to collaborate with another adult, I will talk with them about why I think that and kind of gauge their openness to that, ask for their permission to talk with those people, whether it’s a parent or a teacher or a counselor, and invite them to be part of that conversation. A lot of times people are okay with those things happening as long as they can be there to, like, know how it’s going.

And lastly, what advice do you have for parents or guardians who may be concerned about their child’s mental health?

Yeah. My advice would be to trust your instincts. Like, you know your kid and you might not know exactly what is wrong, but you know when they’re just not themselves. I would advise that, you know, we kind of have this saying at Pine Lake with, like, kids about don’t suffer in silence, and I would say the same thing to, like, parents and families too is, like, use the resources input and offer ideas about, input and offer ideas about your student. And I would say just, like, communicating with your students, like, asking them for ideas about what might be useful to them or what they think might be appropriate discipline or how they would like to be communicated with, like, collaborating with them about those things, offering options when you can. So, a lot of that can happen in schools now where we can do some kind of, like, triage about that of, like, what are the options and what would make the most sense for your family. I think also for parents, like, making sure that there is time spent together outside of discussions about schoolwork or the future and just enjoying time together. 

END OF INTERVIEW