As school counselors, we know there are SO many things that are constantly pulling us in different directions – juggling lessons, groups, admin tasks, supporting parents and teachers, special events during the even-busier times of the year, the list goes on and on! This often leads to us feeling behind all the time, completely exhausted, […]
Bullying Prevention Activities (That Aren’t Talking About Bullying)
Bullying prevention is all the rage. There are special weeks and months devoted to it, and I’m often asked what my favorite “bullying prevention activities” are. Here’s the thing: bullying prevention isn’t simply “A lesson”. Bullying prevention is a lot more than that, and most of it 1. You are already doing and, 2. Doesn’t […]
How to Avoid Burnout as a School Counselor
Burnout is real. Burnout is hard. And as school counselors, we are especially susceptible to it for reasons we are all too familiar with and unfortunately, accustomed to. While many of those factors are beyond our control, the goal of this post is to provide you with actionable steps (backed by research!) to avoid burnout […]
Helping Kids Be More Resilient and Bounce Back
Research about resiliency is often about more long-term concerns. Studies and theories are about what factors promote resiliency in order to prevent mental health problems and other negative outcomes despite trauma or life challenges. That’s really valuable and as educators and counselors, we can intentionally develop some of these traits in the children we serve. […]
Group Counseling Behavior Management
Small groups can indeed be an effective tool for school counselors to explicitly teach skills, create space for processing difficult life situations, and provide opportunities for in-the-moment learning. It is also true that this effectiveness can be impacted (maybe even lessened) by challenging student behaviors, which can be frustrating for school counselors. In this blog […]
How to Structure Small Group Sessions in Elementary School
In case you missed it, we previously talked about using a consistent structure in classroom SEL lessons. In this post, we will shift our focus to how to structure small group sessions! Groups are an effective and evidence-based way to provide psychoeducation, intervention, support, processing opportunities, and connection with more than one student at a […]
Structuring SEL Lessons in Elementary School
How many lessons do you teach each month? Each week? Was learning how to create and/or teach those lessons part of your school counseling education? Whether it was or was not, delivering (and sometimes developing) core curriculum lessons is a primary piece of many school counseling programs. Because it’s something we dedicate so much time […]
Teaching Children How to Make and Keep Friends
If you are reading this, you likely spend a significant amount of time thinking about children’s friendship skills and providing instruction or intervention. Post-Covid this seems to be an even more prominent piece of our days! You probably search for or use activities aimed at teaching children how to make and keep friends regularly. Imagine the […]
4 Questions to Ask Yourself When You’re Considering Adding Something to Your Counseling Plate
Have you seen something SO cool and creative that another counselor is doing and wondered, “Hey, should I try that too?” Or, felt pressured to help with a new initiative, event, committee, program, etc.? If you’re a school counselor, the answer to that question is likely, “yes, of course I have!” Though our plates are […]
