School Resources and Counseling Support
For Teen depression

Author:

Jemma Strain

B.S. Psychology

Editor:

Emma Loker

B.S.

How schools support students with mental health issues can play an essential role in teen well-being and academic success.

On average, students in the United States spend 1,231 hours in school each year – with teenagers spending the most time in a school-based setting. For this reason, school-based mental health services can be important for identifying mental health conditions such as teen depression. These services can also help reduce depression’s impact on mental and physical health, and create better academic outcomes.^1,2

If you’re concerned about the signs of depression in yourself or someone you care about, speaking to an educational professional can help ensure you get the support you need. This article can also help by highlighting:

How schools support students with mental health issues
Academic resources for students with depression
School counseling services for depressed teens
Therapy options for teen depression
When to seek help for depression in adolescence

How Schools Support Students With Mental Health Issues

As teenagers spend such a large amount of time in schools each year, school staff are well placed to identify early behavior changes, and spot the signs of mental health issues such as depression. By supporting students with depression, schools can also foster an increased sense of safety, prevent depression from getting worse, and help promote brighter outlooks for teens.

Each district and school may have different policies in place to protect student mental health, but the majority aim to implement the following steps:³

Open Discussion and Awareness of Mental Health Issues:

School staff openly discuss the mental health challenges that teens often face, helping to reduce stigma and promote teens’ ability to speak about their challenges.

Access to Mental Health Services:

Schools usually promote open speech about mental health and offer access to services both in and nearby the school, such as community providers and resources.

Staff Training:

Staff typically receive regular mental health training and can promote students’ mental health vocabulary by sharing their knowledge in classroom-based activities and set curricula.

Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Learning Programs:

Schools can teach students healthy ways of coping with social and emotional challenges, allowing them to learn positive life skills for the future and promoting healthy and adaptive behaviors.

Recognition of Trauma:

School staff frequently receive updated training on recognizing the signs of trauma or abuse in teenagers. This includes understanding how trauma can affect teens’ emotions and behaviors, and how to respond to a student in this situation.

Connecting Systems:

Schools understand that teens need to feel safe and secure in order to thrive academically, so they often promote a culture of connectedness between families and the learning environment.

In addition to these steps, schools often liaise with teams of licensed mental health professionals who can provide on-site therapy to teens with depression. This way, a teenager may not need to be removed from the school environment to address their mental health needs.

Academic Resources for Students With Depression

If you’re concerned that you or someone you know may be showing signs of depression, contacting the school can help. Although they won’t give a diagnosis of depression, school-based health centers or nurses can offer depression screenings, which can be important for early intervention. These screenings can also mean that timely referrals to doctors and mental health professionals can be made.⁴

Schools may be able to offer depression screeners such as:

Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale (KADS)
Columbia Depression Scale
Patient Health Questionnaire
Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children

If such screeners signal depression in a teen, educators can put steps into place to protect a teen’s well-being. These steps might include making an appointment with a school counselor, suggesting peer support programs, or talking to family about making a referral to professional mental health services.

Peer Support Programs for Depressed Adolescents

Many schools offer peer support programs for depressed adolescents. These programs can help teens with depression better understand and regulate their emotions and develop their social skills. Peer support programs can take many forms, including:

Peer Mentoring

Peer mentoring offers teens with depression the opportunity to speak to someone of a similar age. This form of mentoring can be beneficial if a teen doesn’t feel ready to speak to an adult about what they’re going through.

Self-Help Groups

Self-help peer groups are run by peers with mental health training and promote sharing experiences, ways of coping, and educational and practical activities.

Mental Health Campaigns

Young people can help raise awareness of how to access mental health support in schools and the community.

Drop in Sessions

Peers can set up designated areas in schools where teens know they can call in to talk about how they’re feeling or ask for support.

Peer support programs have shown to be highly effective in managing the symptoms of teen depression. Therefore, talking to a school counselor about these services and how to access them could benefit you or someone you care about.⁵

School Counseling Services for Depressed Teens

Many schools partner with outside resources such as mental health professionals to provide on-site therapy for teens with depression. Alternatively, there might be a full-time member of staff who is trained in delivering mental health services, such as school counselors. These counselors are trained and licensed educators who promote well-being and student success, and their services have shown to be beneficial to teen mental health for the following reasons.⁶

Benefits of School Counseling Services for Depressed Teens:

Treatment can take place during the day, relieving time burdens for many teens and their families
School counselors can improve other staffs’ awareness of mental health issues. This way, such staff can become an important part of delivering treatment strategies to students
School counseling services for depressed teens have shown to reduce symptoms of distress and improve their outlook for the future
These services can teach skills for managing emotions and improving interpersonal skills
School counselors can help a teen identify short and long term goals and provide them with academic achievement strategies

Additionally, if a school nurse or counselor suspects that depression is present in a teen, they can ensure that a teen is supported by the systems in their life. These systems might include the school, family, community, and mental health services. This way, depression in a teen can be addressed before it becomes worse.

For the reasons mentioned, if you or someone you care about is finding coping with the symptoms of depression challenging, it may be a good idea to speak to a school counselor. It might feel daunting to approach someone in school about your mental health, but they are in a good place to understand why you might feel the way you do and provide support.

Accessing School-Based Mental Health Services

If you think that speaking to a school counselor about depression could help, you could:7

1. Arrange a Meeting With Them:

The steps to arranging a meeting with a school counselor might differ from school to school, but you may have been made aware of these steps early in the school year. For example, you could have a school advisor who might arrange the meeting for you, or you may be required to book the appointment through a school nurse. You don’t have to explain why you need the meeting to the person arranging it – it’s just important that they do it. Additionally, some schools might have an area on their website that you can book through.

2. Share How You’ve Been Feeling:

You don’t have to come right out with how you think you might have depression if you don’t want to. You can simply let them know how you’ve been feeling, such as by saying “I’ve been feeling very sad lately and the feeling won’t go away. I think it might be something more serious.” From this, a trained counselor will recognize the symptoms of depression and empathetically guide you through the session.

Alternatively, instead of opening up the session with how you’ve been feeling, you can start with the problems or challenges you’ve been facing. Again, the counselor will give you the opportunity to explain how these issues have been affecting you.

3. Let Them Know How You Want to Be Supported:

School counselors might only be able to support you within their ability and training – and they won’t diagnose depression. While they may ask to see you routinely to check in on your well-being, they might also ask how you would like to be supported in other ways. For example, they may give advice on how to talk to a parent, or support you in doing so. They may also recommend making an appointment with your doctor or a mental health professional for more specific depression treatment.

Although a school counselor might not be able to make a diagnosis of depression, they will care about your well-being and support you to the best of their ability. What’s more, they’ll also be able to support you academically or refer you to other mental health services who can give you more intensive support.

Therapy Options for Teen Depression

Educators and school staff are well-placed to help teens with depression recognize and manage their emotions. They may also help refer a teen and their family to community-based mental health services, such as professional mental health treatment.

A mental health professional can talk to a teen about their symptoms and needs, as well as give them effective options for treatment. They may talk you through the following therapy options for treating depression:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT is proven to be effective in treating teen depression. It helps teens identify and challenge negative thoughts, build healthy ways of coping with them, and transition these skills into the world outside of therapy. A school counselor may also use CBT techniques.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

Sometimes, a teen may be more prone to developing depression if they experience negative events such as trauma. EMDR changes the way trauma is stored in the brain and helps a teen build more positive self-beliefs and ways of coping with life’s challenges.

Interpersonal Therapy

A teen’s relationships can contribute to feelings of depression. Interpersonal therapy can help them work through these issues and figure out better ways of coping to improve their mental health.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

TMS can be effective in treating treatment-resistant anxiety and depression. It’s a non-invasive treatment that uses magnetic fields to activate nerve cells in targeted areas of the brain – improving outlook and mood.

A school counselor could also explain these therapies to a teen and their family. They may also describe how they can be used to treat depression as part of residential mental health treatment programs and outpatient programs. A doctor may also talk about the option of medication for teen depression. Yet, it’s important to bear in mind that antidepressants work best when accompanied by therapy.

When to Seek Help for Depression in Adolescence

If you’re worried about the signs of depression in yourself or someone you care about, it’s important to seek support. Educational professionals such as school counselors are very familiar with depression and how it can affect a teen’s emotional and physical health, as well as their academic success. Talking to these professionals can help ease the effect of depression on your life – as well as help you understand whether consistent mental health support is needed.

Mission Prep’s depression treatment for teens is available in various locations and is delivered by a team of trained, empathetic professionals. With our support, a teen can start to heal from depression and recognize that a bright and positive future lies ahead.

References

Kraft, M. A., & Novicoff, S. (2025). Time for school: Assessing the inequality of access to instructional time across the United States. Education Next, 25(1), 32–39. https://www.educationnext.org/time-for-school-assessing-inequality-access-instructional-time-united-states/
Panchal, N., Cox, C., & Rudowitz, R. (2022, September 6). The landscape of school-based mental health services. KFF. https://www.kff.org/mental-health/issue-brief/the-landscape-of-school-based-mental-health-services/
SchoolSafety.gov. (n.d.). Mental health. Retrieved February 27, 2025, from https://www.schoolsafety.gov/mental-health
American Academy of Pediatrics. (n.d.). Supporting students with depression in school. Retrieved February 27, 2025, from https://www.aap.org/en/patient-care/school-health/mental-health-in-schools/supporting-students-with-depression-in-school/
Pfeiffer, P. N., Heisler, M., Piette, J. D., Rogers, M. A., & Valenstein, M. (2010). Efficacy of Peer Support Interventions for Depression: A Meta-Analysis. General Hospital Psychiatry, 33(1), 29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2010.10.002
Fazel, M., Hoagwood, K., Stephan, S., & Ford, T. (2014). Mental health interventions in schools 1: Mental health interventions in schools in high-income countries. The Lancet. Psychiatry, 1(5), 377. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(14)70312-8
Rock, W. (2022, September 1). The school counselor’s role in student mental health. American School Counselor Association. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/Magazines/September-October-2022/The-School-Counselor-s-Role-in-Student-Mental-Heal

School Resources and Counseling Support For Teen depression

How Schools Support Students With Mental Health Issues

Open Discussion and Awareness of Mental Health Issues:

Access to Mental Health Services:

Staff Training:

Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Learning Programs:

Recognition of Trauma:

Connecting Systems:

Academic Resources for Students With Depression

Peer Support Programs for Depressed Adolescents

Peer Mentoring

Self-Help Groups

Mental Health Campaigns

Drop in Sessions

School Counseling Services for Depressed Teens

Benefits of School Counseling Services for Depressed Teens:

Accessing School-Based Mental Health Services

1. Arrange a Meeting With Them:

2. Share How You’ve Been Feeling:

3. Let Them Know How You Want to Be Supported:

Therapy Options for Teen Depression

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

Interpersonal Therapy

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

When to Seek Help for Depression in Adolescence

References

WE ACCEPT MOST MAJOR INSURANCES

We Also Work With Many Other Insurance Carriers

PLEASE REACH OUT TO VERIFY YOUR BENEFITS

ARE YOU OR A LOVED ONE STRUGGLING

with anxiety, depression, or other mental health concerns?

QUICKLINKS

Facilities

What We Treat

What Makes Us Different

Privacy Policy

Phone: 866-845-1391

Email: info@missionprephealthcare.com

Corporate Office: 30310 Rancho Viejo Rd. San Juan Capistrano CA 92675

Copyright 2024 © Mission Prep Healthcare. All Rights Reserved

School Resources and Counseling Support
For Teen depression

ARE YOU OR A
LOVED ONE STRUGGLING