ELEVATION COUNSELING IN APS SCHOOLS

Who Are We?
Elevation Counseling works with Albuquerque Public Schools to provide counseling in APS schools, on site.  Counseling in the schools allows children to get the benefits of therapy without missing additional class time traveling to an outside provider’s office.

All children and families can receive counseling, regardless of insurance status or documentation.  We will never ask for information such as social security number or immigration documents.  We never give information to immigration officials.

See Elevation’s contracted School Therapists below.

Information We Need from Families
In order to begin counseling, we will need signatures showing consent to therapy from a parent, a legal guardian or the child themselves (if 14 or older). These documents are available in paper or electronic form, in both English and Spanish.  Forms available on our FORMS page. 

We also need insurance information for your child, if available.  The sessions at school will be billed to insurance, if such insurance exists.  If you have any questions about billing, please feel free to contact our office staff.  We would be happy to answer any questions you have.

Who Do I Contact?
If your child is not currently seeing an Elevation Counseling therapist, please let the APS school counselor know you would like to seek services. The school Health and Wellness team will coordinate and determine if services are available.  If your child is currently in therapy, your primary contact person is your child’s therapist. When your child enrolls in counseling you will get contact details for our staff.  However, at any time, if you want to contact our office, please feel free to do so.  We would be happy to help you.

What We Don’t Do
We only offer counseling – we do not offer medication management.  If your child needs medication, we have can refer you to professionals who work with children.

We do not offer higher levels of care – if our staff member determines that your child needs more care than we are able to give, we will give an appropriate referral.

We do not mediate divorce or custody cases.  We can give you referrals for appropriate people if needed.  We can see your child for issues of their mental health surrounding divorce and custody.

We Are Confidential
While we provide support in your child’s school, we are not employed by APS. Therapists do not tell school officials the details from sessions except as required by law and/or for your child’s safety.  The things therapists might communicate with the school is whether your child is receiving services and how often they are being seen.

Things that your child says in counseling remain confidential, except in a few limited circumstances.  If your child says that they might hurt someone or someone is hurting or sexually abusing them, the law requires therapists to report this to the appropriate authorities.  If your child reports that they are suicidal, therapists have to report this to the appropriate person within APS.  APS has a particular protocol that goes into action to help ensure your child is safe while at school.  Your child would continue services with their therapist once this protocol is in place.

Children 14 years of age and older may consent to services and determine who will view their documents.  Unlike medical records, which allows this at the age of 18, mental health records become the ownership of the client at the age of 14.