Counseling services

If you are looking for the college counseling page and GALS Futures, click here.

GALS houses a robust and innovative counseling program, which is unique in the public school system. We offer:

• Individual and group counseling
• Family support and parent education
• Resources and referrals

As GALS is committed to holistic education and so that students may reach their full academic potential, social and emotional development is valued. Our school based mental health team offers a range of services from wellness and prevention, supporting students with the short-term problems of growing up, to more intensive support including crisis intervention and responding to family challenges and emerging mental health issues that may require outside referral. In keeping with the movement focus at GALS, the director and lead counselor are dance/movement therapists, incorporating a trauma informed, somatic approach to counseling.

Our team offers support in emotion regulation so that students may focus in the classroom while also supporting students to develop healthy relationships and self-advocacy skills.

The GALS school pledge begins with “I know who I am. I know that I matter”, which is aspirational. The reality is that most adolescents do not yet know who they are, and many do not feel that they matter. Our team works with students on self- awareness and creative expression to explore emerging identity. Students learn what feels good and what does not, how to set boundaries when necessary and how to best take care of themselves physically and emotionally.

How to access counseling:

Students may request counseling support or be referred by a teacher or parent.

Collaborative model:

Counseling staff is integrated into the school environment, supporting students academically in the classroom, teaching sexual health and GALS curriculum, participating in morning movement and special events, and staffing lunch and recess. This collaborative approach allows for counselors to witness and address concerning behaviors in the school environment as they arise, in addition to ongoing counseling support outside the classroom.

Our team this year includes:

• Director: Yolanda Dandridge, MA, LPC, R-DMT
• School Counselor: Ashleigh Davis, MA
• Mental Health Counselor: Sollita Lucero, MA, LSCW Candidate
• Graduate level counseling interns who exchange their services for the opportunity to work under supervision in this dynamic educational setting: 

For additional information, please contact:

Yolanda Dandridge at 303-282-6437 x111 or yolanda.dandridge@galsdenver.org

Or stop by the Counseling Office (The Rachel Carson room, 101F, in the back corner of the front office suite).