Home of Gary Bruce Counselling, GBR Coaching and MHFA courses
Coaching for Success
Whilst a tutor can help you with one subject, we increase the self-efficacy in our students by developing their executive function skills. This includes:​​
​Time management​​
Organisation skills​​​
Prioritising
Initiating​​​
Long- and short-term planning​​​
Maintaining balance​​
​A major part of our program is learning to control negative emotions and how to effectively manage stress and anxiety.​
We also have programs for screen time obsession, for those who just can’t get a handle on social media.
​​Our programs are developed for the individual and we take the time to get to know you and build a program that will result in an independent, confident student empowered to achieve positive outcomes.​
Civil Engineer
GBR started working with Tom when he was in Year 10 at Iona College. He was already a strong academic student but wanted help in managing his time better and maintaining balance.
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Here is Tom and his Dad Michael's story...
​Tom Firth back in Year 10:
” I am only doing a little bit more time in study, but I am so much more focused I get a lot more work done. I have so much less stress as I am more aware of my upcoming commitments.”
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Tom’s dad Michael Firth:
“What attracted me to the academic coaching program was being able to provide Tom with skills and programmes that will not only benefit him during his schooling but also provide him a rock-solid foundation for tertiary study as well as when he enters the workforce. The GBR programme provides that. It is also very much student focussed with the relationship and interaction being between student and coach.
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The benefits for Tom have been very apparent with better planning skills, great time management and most importantly coping activities to ensure that he copes when the ‘heat’ comes on during peak semester assessment.”​​
Law
​The goal in our counselling / coaching is to empower our students with techniques, attitudes, skills, and knowledge (TASK) that serves now and into the future.
Lulu was a year 12 student in 2020 when I worked with her. In 2024 she is in her 4th year of Law at QUT.
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Here is Lulu's story...
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“I can comfortably say that after working with Gary, I have become a more confident, capable person both with my academics and in everyday life. Gary has gone above and beyond what I expected, inviting me to reflect on my week and manage my stress, transforming me into a version of myself I am very proud of – one who is now able to take the steps needed to manage my anxiety in the classroom and beyond.”
“I feel that through Gary’s help, I have most significantly learnt to be a more self-assured person – I no longer believe that difficult = can never be done, and I now welcome those tasks that are out of my comfort zone, something that I do not feel I would have discovered without his guidance.”
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“I thank Gary for his hard work and aid he has given me since working together, and I could not recommend him more highly to any prospective student.”
Case Study
Over One Semester Going Beyond Results empowered a group of Senior Secondary students to achieve positive outcomes. The program of 1 on 1, personalised academic coaching resulted in students who were more organised, less stressed and achieving academically.
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The techniques, attitudes, skills and knowledges developed have assisted them this Semester but will also serve them into future study and the workforce.
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The students in the cohort were a mixture of male and female, from public schools, independent single sex schools and faith based single sex schools in Brisbane. A range of academic abilities was also present.
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Prior to commencing each student undertook a benchmarking exercise which included a self-audit of “academic skills”; an analysis of academic strengths and areas for improvement identified through interviews with the student and parent/s; and analysis of past reports and results.
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The program involved a series of personalised coaching sessions that focused on developing techniques, attitudes, skills and knowledge that would support the student to achieve positive outcomes in their schooling and wider life.
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Overall outcomes were incredibly positive with:
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An average increase of 1.7 GPA points
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An increase in perceived self-efficacy in the students demonstrated by elevated ratings in the self-audit.
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Positive feedback from both students and parents
Achieving Career Dreams ...
"Working with Gary, I went from a perpetually stressed, emotional and disorganised teenager, to an independent student who self-regulates, sets smart goals, and ultimately feels an immense sense of pride at how far I’ve come. For me, talking to Gary for even an hour every week, I was learned to start reflecting more on everything; on what was going well, what hadn’t gone so well, and what I was grateful for. However, I feel that, most significantly, Gary helped me rediscover the person I was before I let the stress of school and constant pressure take over my life.
I know that life will not always be smooth sailing, but now I know that I am equipped to handle anything which is thrown in my direction. For instance, during one of my final IB exams I felt myself start to panic when I no longer felt capable of the task. However, I was able to almost immediately reign in my anxiety and return to tackle the exam head on. I’m not sure how well I did in that exam overall, but I was so proud of myself for being able to regulate my feelings like that, and I would have never been able to do that without Gary’s help".
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J - student
What our students say ...
“This week in my reflection I gave myself a rating of 9/10. I am really happy with how well my study is going, I’m just working so much better, I’m more focused and when I’m in class I really know what I’m doing.”