School for School Counselors Podcast

What to Do When Everyone "Needs" Counseling

When a student is struggling, school counselors often hear, “Can you talk to them?” But in determining if a student needs counseling, we tend to skip some very  importan

How School Counselors Become Influential

It doesn’t work. And if you’ve tried it, you know it's true. The school counseling advocacy model most of us were taught was supposed to be simple: explain your ro

The School Counselor Advocacy Trap

School counselor advocacy is supposed to create change. But what if some of what we’ve been taught to call advocacy is actually doing something else? You can explain you

School Counselors: You’re Advocating... So Why Isn’t Anything Changing?

You’ve explained your role.  You’ve shown the data.  You’ve pulled out the appropriate and inappropriate duties list.  You’ve advocated.  But... nothing changes. So-

Four Decisions to Make Before the School Year Starts

Everything difficult or weird on a school campus somehow gets shuffled to the school counselor. And nobody is likely to stop you from taking it all on. In fact, someti

Why You Need Sanity-Based School Counseling

School counseling on paper and school counseling in real life are not the same job. You were trained to support students, build relationships, and run a comprehensive pr

When Good School Counselors Go Quiet

The educational system doesn't need to plot to keep you quiet. It just needs to keep you tired. And after that, the silence takes care of itself. A few nights ago

You’re Planning Your School Counseling Program Backwards

Most school counselors plan their programs in the same order they were taught: start with the data, identify the need, choose the intervention, and try to make the model

What Makes You a Remarkable School Counselor?

Most school counselors can describe what they do all day. Crisis response. Small groups. Student check-ins. Parent calls. Schedule changes. Behavior support. Data meetin

The Student Mental Health Bot Nobody Asked For

Last week, we looked at what happens when schools finally put a price tag on the mental health fallout of social media. This week, we're looking at the strange seco

Social Media Drama Just Got a Price Tag

Social media drama has a price tag now. A Kentucky school district recently settled a lawsuit against social media companies for approximately $27 million, arguing that

I Broke My #1 School Counseling Rule (Here's What Happened)

I don’t buy printable counseling resources anymore. Haven’t for years. But to test a theory on the air, I broke that rule. I bought a popular, well-reviewed anxiety res

Is It an Intervention, or Theatre?

If somebody else could do exactly what you're doing after reading the same slide deck- Why did you go to grad school?  That's the question that hit me after I

When They Want Your Spreadsheets, Not Your Insight

On the last day of school, the district sent an email about spreadsheets. But not one person asked what you needed to do your job better next year. Not what you were se

The Kids Just Like You Too Much

A school administrator once told me the reason I couldn't finish a single classroom lesson was because the kids just liked me too much. She meant it as a compliment

3 Decisions You’ll Regret Not Making Before August

Most school counselors think the new school year starts in August. I don’t think it does. I think a huge part of your August gets decided right now… in May… while you’r

“It's Been Happening All Year.” So Why Is It a Referral Now?

You’re about to get a referral that says: “It’s been happening all year.” And somehow… now it’s urgent. This episode is about why that happens, and why treating May re

No One Knows What You Do- And That's Dangerous

You’re doing meaningful work. You’re supporting students. You’re handling things no one else on campus is equipped to handle. But somehow, when big decisions get made, i

This Isn't Burnout. It's Gaslighting.

You know the feeling. The one that says: If you were better at this, it wouldn't be this hard. If you had advocated more effectively, the caseload would be managea

A Year Full of “Yeses”… and a Lot of Regret

You’re not overwhelmed because there’s too much work; You’re overwhelmed because too much of it is not your job. You're not saying yes because you "lack boundaries