Welcome to Gunston Counseling

Counseling Staff

Madeline LaSalle, LCSW

Licensed Clinical Social Worker
HILT Resource Counselor and Minority Achievement Coordinator
E-mail: madeline.lasalle@apsva.us

Education:

BA in Sociology and Black and Latino Studies, Hunter College, NY, NY
Master’s in Clinical Social Work, Hunter College School of Social Work, NY, NY
Leadership Certification, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Counseling Activities:

Classroom Guidance	Individual	Groups
Bullying Prevention Sexual Harassment Prevention Academic Planning Stress management	Personal Development Reunification Problem solving Goal Setting andAchievement Cultural Adjustment	Boys Group Latinas Leading Tomorrow Sister Circle 7^th grade boysTA

Background:

This is my fourth year as a full time counselor at Gunston. Prior to coming to GMS, I worked for five years as a counselor at Wakefield High School in their Truancy prevention program. Before that I dedicated myself to the management of social service programs in New York City that included the administration of Asthma SMART, a multimillion dollar Department of Health program

dedicated to decreasing childhood asthma and the utilization of emergency rooms as the intervention of choice for parents. I’m a big believer that leadership development needs to begin early on and to that end I founded the Latinas Leading Tomorrow organization which serves Latinas ages 11 to 18 and aims to develop leadership’s skills and provide new experiences with the goal of high school graduation and college preparation. In my spare time Ilike to read, take long nature walks, travel, rummage through flea markets and hangout with my family. I have a 16 year old daughter in high school, who is getting ready to attend college.

Counseling Philosophy

Ibelieve that in order to be effective as a counselor I must consider all students’ ethnic, cultural, racial, sexual orientation and special needs when I’m working with them. I believe that a child’s diversity is to be respected and appreciated while at the same time I must foster unity among our school community. I also believe learning can only happen when you consider the whole child’s needs. All my students can learn and have to be given the opportunity to do so in a nurturing space that is also safe, healthy and organized. Finally, I believe, education extends beyond the classroom environment and needs to include opportunities to develop life skills. I welcome parent visits and consider them essential for the success of my students.