So often, finding common ground with your administrator feels difficult. You can't see eye to eye. You feel like they just don't understand where you're coming from and no matter how much you talk, no matter how much you try to convince, no matter how much you try to advocate, your efforts fall on deaf ears. In this episode, we'll walk through the essentials of establishing common ground with your administrator. Common ground allows you to work together efficiently, effectively, and with collegi...

You don't need any tips or tricks, and you don't need any tools of the trade this week. You need something appropriate for National School Counseling Week. In this episode, I'm talking off the cuff: no outline, no preconceived thoughts, and no edits. Straight from the heart. I just want to tell you how much I appreciate what you do each and every day. ****************** Our goal at School for School Counselors is to help school counselors stay on fire, make huge impacts for students, and catalyz...

The biggest source of division in the school counseling world rears its ugly head this time of year in the form of National School Counseling Week. Why is it divisive? Why should you care? Listen to discover the real culprits and what school counselors can do to change the direction of contentious conversations. Mentioned in this episode: School for School Counselors "Get the Job!" School for School Counselors Mastermind ASCA Promotional Toolkit & Advocacy Toolkit Our goal at School for School C...

Many of you are getting started in your spring semester internships, or you may have aspiring school counselors on your campus that could use a little bit of help and- guidance. In this episode, we'll walk through what I see as the four most IMPORTANT components to a successful school counseling internship. And what you hear may surprise you... Mentioned in this episode: School for School Counselors "Get the Job!" Get the Job Podcast Rock Your Internship Cheat Sheet (free download!) Résumé Bootc...

About this time of year, you will start seeing lots of folks talking about job interview advice. It will be everywhere. There will be people popping out of the woodwork from this way and that, telling you all the best ways they think you should interview, all the things you should do with your resume... all of the things... based purely on their own personal (and often limited) interviewing experiences. In this episode, I walk through the content one such "expert" and all the things I heard in t...

Let's start planning for Random Acts of Kindness Week! This year, RAK Week falls February 14th through the 20th, which is right on the heels of National School Counseling Week. I personally love both of those weeks: the combo is a great opportunity to show the power (or potential) of a comprehensive school counseling program in conjunction with a visible demonstration of how the concepts school counselors emphasize can be implemented in real life for real change. With that in mind, let's get our...

*BONUS- Listen to the end for an exclusive sneak peek of an awesome upcoming addition to the School for School Counselors world!* So many school counselors love the start of the spring semester! It feels like a chance for growth, some fresh perspective, and it gives a feeling of potential coming up: that's super exciting! The start of a new semester also prompts us to take a moment to reevaluate where we stand, where we're headed and what we want to do to get there. In this episode, we walk th...

Feeling completely exhausted as the semester comes to an end? We often want to attribute our feelings of exhaustion or overwhelm to things such as, "It's been a long semester," or, "December is always tough- this is no exception," or, "I'm serving an insane caseload... of course I'm tired!" But really, the roots of your exhaustion run much deeper. This episode strives to take a moment to validate where you are and empower you to move forward. You can do this! Mentioned in this episode: School fo...

Ever run across parents that you just cannot seem to figure out? Parents who are quick to blame, won't return calls, or show no follow-up at home? Parents who rarely make an appearance at school? Or how about the "helicopter" and "lawnmower parents" that just absolutely insist on paving the easy route for their students, no matter what? These kinds of parent situations can feel frustrating, for sure, but there are some things you can do to better understand the dynamics of the relationship and ...

It sometimes takes one or two different ways of approaching a difficult administrator to provide a change in perspective and develop a good working relationship with that person. Or many of you may just need to figure out how to just get along with a difficult boss until you can find another campus to move to or different district to work in. You may not have the luxury of moving on if the school climate does not suit you. This week we add to the profiles of the difficult personalities we discus...

We spend more than half our waking lives at work. When you have to spend that time working with a difficult personality, it can make the days go by so slowly! In this episode, I outline three difficult principal personality types and how school counselors can approach each in a way that is mutually beneficial. Mentioned in this episode: Better Than Black Friday Event "Get the Job!" Interview Prep Program Our goal at School for School Counselors is to help school counselors stay on fire, make hug...

The longer you work in school counseling, the more you'll meet. Disgruntled parents that CANNOT be pleased or have completely unrealistic expectations about your job scope and time. It's frustrating when you're giving your all to serve your students but get told you're not doing enough, or you're not doing the right things. Or worse yet, they don't tell you. They go straight to your principal. This episode is a letter* to “THAT parent": a cathartic manifesto, straight from the heart, intended to...

School counselors, let's talk about how to plan ahead proactively for the holiday season. So if you've been in school counseling for any amount of time, you know that this time of year is when things really start to get interesting. Students may start experiencing more stressors than normal. Family relationships, financial stress, differences in routine, structure, and schedules: there are all kinds of things that go into creating holiday feelings tornadoes. And while some students handle it w...

What's your counselor-to-student ratio? If you're like the majority of school counselors, it is nowhere near the recommended 1:250. Take a listen to this episode for a few shifts that will help you find peace with a large caseload while ensuring that you're taking care of yourself. Our goal at School for School Counselors is to help school counselors stay on fire, make huge impacts for students, and catalyze change for our roles through grassroots advocacy and collaboration. Listen to get to kno...

From the moment that you begin studying school counseling, you're told about "comprehensive school counseling" programs. They're touted as the holy grail for school counselors: the ultimate achievement. The problem is, there are many of you that are feeling defeated as you strive to meet all the qualifications of a truly comprehensive program, even though the statistics show it's not an attainable solution for the majority of US school counselors. So if you're feeling "less-than" because you can...

In this episode, I focus on the types of burnout school counselors typically experience, how to recognize them, and what to do about them even if you feel there's nothing you can do. It's so important for school counselors to be thinking about this even if you aren't feeling burnt out because remaining vigilant and proactive can help insulate us from the effects of vicarious trauma, unhealthy school environments, and the stress that comes from working in education. Also- have you joined Eight Ha...

It seems everywhere we turn, school counselors are being reminded to engage in "self-care." But if you're anything like most school counselors, typical self-care suggestions may leave you angry and irritated because they're so out of touch. In this episode, we'll look at different burnout personalities to give us a bit better idea of how to hold burnout at bay with meaningful, practical self-care efforts. Also- have you joined Eight Habits of Amazing School Counselors yet? Go get signed up for ...

So many conversations in the school counselor world these days are about burnout, and this talk seems to really be hitting earlier in the school year than usual. In this episode, we're going to take a walk through the idea of burnout and uncover the reasons why you might be feeling that way- plus, we'll give you an action plan to help cope when things feel difficult- or to work to keep burnout at bay altogether! In this episode, we talk about: Eight Habits of Amazing School Counselors (Free even...

Do you have students on your campus currently that are having difficulty "remembering" to go to school? We've seen so many students struggling with attendance since the covid shutdowns- even students that we previously were not worried about! In this episode, I'll bringing the four primary reasons students refuse to attend school, as well as what the research says are best practices for addressing students' school refusal and encouraging them to jump back into attending daily. Our goal at School...

This week's podcast episode is for any school counselor that's been at their wit's end with a crying, screaming, perhaps running, student at the start of almost EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. It's for school counselors who've tried all the advice they've seen elsewhere but are still shaking their head, wondering why they can't get a certain student to class without a fight. It's for the school counselor who braces themself when a particular student is dropped off at school, who tries desperately to manage...

So much noise! So many people battling to be seen as the "expert." Our school counseling world is drowning in noise and people who are desperate to be heard on social media. It's creating a very dangerous environment for school counselors. In this episode of the School for School Counselors Podcast, I'm going to give examples of some dangerous and misleading information that I see on social media A LOT and how many school counselors are even being manipulated in these groups! I'll also show you ...

School counselors are constantly being instructed to advocate for our school counseling programs, but there's one big elephant in the room that no one's talking about. No one is telling you HOW to advocate. You hear lots of little one-off one liners about how to advocate for your program, but this info don't even begin to scratch the surface of what successful advocacy actually looks like. In this episode, we'll look at advocacy through the lens of negotiation, and I'll reveal the four ingredie...

In this episode of the School for School Counselors Podcast, we take an unusual perspective on school counseling program data: how it's collected, what we do with it once we have it, and why it's important in the first place. Folks with a little more life experience will giggle as we walk down memory lane a bit and pull back the curtain for our more youthful school counselors to give a glimpse of what life- and documentation- used to look like "back in the day." If you're struggling to get motiv...

So much of the feedback we hear from school counselors centers around feeling overwhelmed, particularly when we feel like's there's too much to do and no way to get it all taken care of. In this episode, we'll look into: - the common phenomenon of overscheduling - how too much planning can actually lead to overwhelm and burnout - a simple strategy for addressing overwhelm - resources for bringing everything into place Our goal at School for School Counselors is to help school counselors stay on ...