Schoolcounseling Podcasts

Happy December! Holiday season is in full swing which means it’s a great time to pull some holiday and winter themed activities into your counseling sessions. This is a great opportunity to mix things up a bit, keep students excited to see you, and practice some important skills your students need! One winter activity idea I absolutely love is a se…

As a school counselor, you’ve likely worked with a student who needed a little sensory support. But how can we help to support these students with sensory issues? Today I am joined by therapist and brain science expert Jessica Sinarski, who is giving us some wonderful insight into the eight senses and helping our students who benefit from various t…

You know I am all about showcasing your work and impact as a school counselor! And midyear is the perfect time to do just that. One way I love to show the impact that school counselors make is by including student progress data on a data wall that shows how much students have improved because of counseling services. Now, this may sound a little int…

You know I love having other school counselors join me to share their experiences and insight with you! And I thought it would be fun to share my experiences as a school counselor so you can hear a little more about my background and how I got started. Today, I am giving you a glimpse into my path to becoming a school counselor and what my role loo…

Can you believe we are getting close to the end of the semester already? As we approach the midpoint of the school year, this is the perfect time to showcase your amazing work! I absolutely love creating a data wall to show parents, admin, and other stakeholders just how much of an impact school counselors have on the students. Putting a school cou…

When it comes to supporting our kiddos with special needs, there are some things to consider that you may not have thought about. We know these students may need extra support and working collaboratively with the special education teachers can help us understand how to provide this support and ways we can help our students get the most out of our l…

At this point in the school year, you are likely seeing lots of referrals coming in for social skills. But, teaching social skills can be beneficial for all students, not just the ones being referred to you. I actually LOVE teaching social skills preventatively as a class lesson and then as needed in small group and individual lessons. Now, you may…

Teaching small groups doesn’t have to be scary! When you have a consistent routine and amazing activities planned, small groups can be super fun to teach. But don’t worry, you don’t need to figure it all out on your own. In today’s episode, I am explaining how you can spice up your group counseling sessions so you can engage your students and make …

October is Bully Prevention Month and unfortunately we all know that bullying is everywhere. Regardless of the socio economic status of the school, population, or even the country of the school, there is likely bullying happening. The good news is that we, as school counselors, can address this issue with our students and help to bring awareness to…

It’s spooky season which means it’s the perfect time to bring some Halloween and fall fun into your counseling lessons! Our kiddos absolutely love when we bring in props and tie the seasons into our lessons. Plus, it makes our lessons more memorable and engaging. And the best part is it doesn’t need to be complicated or take lots of time to prepare…

We’ve all heard about how important it is for educators to practice self-care, especially in the past few years. But oftentimes when we hear “self-care” we think of it as indulgent or selfish. What we as school counselors really need is true, radical self-care that will help us prevent burnout. Brittany Blackwell is joining me today to share some i…

Is it really possible to meet with EVERY student in your school? We know it’s important to check in with students to see how they are doing but how could you possibly sit down and talk with every single student? Our guest today, Dr. Heidi MacDonald is a school psychologist who uses “minute meetings” to talk to every student in her school and is sha…

You know I absolutely LOVE using data as a school counselor! But why is having a data driven school counseling program so important? Well, first it allows us to see if what we are doing is actually working and helps us tweak things when needed. Second, it’s an amazing way to advocate for our role as school counselors. And I know it’s early in the s…

Do you feel overwhelmed when it comes to teaching class lessons? You are not alone! One of the things I hear most often is that school counselors want to feel more prepared and competent when it comes to teaching class lessons. I want to help you to love teaching class lessons so I am sharing how I became obsessed with teaching class lessons! You m…

I made a lot of mistakes when I first began as a school counselor. But, everyone makes mistakes and mistakes are amazing learning opportunities. Obviously, if mistakes can be avoided, we’d all prefer to avoid them, right? So to help you avoid the same mistakes I made, I am sharing four mistakes I made when teaching classroom lessons and what I lear…

How can you easily gather data during class lessons? We know how important it is to collect data during our small group and individual sessions, but it is also important that we gather data from our class lessons as well. The good news is, collecting data from a whole class doesn’t need to be time consuming or complicated! An easy way to collect da…

Teaching class lessons can be nerve wracking and stressful if you aren’t confident in your ability to teach a whole class. But, just because you may not have been a teacher before, doesn’t mean that you need to dread teaching classroom lessons! I am sharing my favorite tips for feeling more confident when teaching class lessons. When you have a bet…

Have you struggled to keep students engaged during class lessons? Over the years, I have tried out many games, activities, and strategies to keep students engaged. Through this, I have found a framework for creating class lessons that are engaging and are also rich in content! Creating engaging class lessons for your students doesn’t need to be dif…

How can we possibly meet with every class every month? I get asked this question all the time! Thinking of all the class lessons you need to teach on top of the individual and group lessons can be a bit overwhelming. I totally get it! That is why I am sharing my favorite scheduling tips to help you manage all your lessons this upcoming year. When i…

I think most of us want to get better at being culturally competent and ensuring that our students feel included, welcome, and safe in our classroom and schools. But it can definitely be a struggle if we aren’t sure how to make this happen. The truth is that we don’t know what we don’t know and when we do know, we do better. I am so excited to have…

One of my absolute favorite tools for scheduling is Google Calendar. There are so many things to keep track of as a busy school counselor and Google Calendar just makes it so easy to keep it simple and organized. Today, I am sharing some of my favorite tech hacks for maximizing your Google Calendar features to simplify your counseling calendar. The…

I know I’ve said it before but I absolutely LOVE connecting and hearing from counselors with different backgrounds. I feel like they share such an inspiring and different view on school counseling that we can all learn from! Today I am joined by Leslie Jones whose journey to school counseling included being an adult outpatient therapist, youth past…

As busy school counselors, our time is incredibly valuable! So how can we ensure that we are making the most of it? We’ve previously discussed the importance of completing a time audit but there is another way that I have found to be incredibly helpful in finding time to get everything in during contract horse. We set aside time on our calendars fo…

One thing that counselors always ask me is how are they possibly going to squeeze in all the things they have to do. It can be incredibly overwhelming! But I have found a way that you can look at what needs to be done, streamline your day, and make the impact we know you can make! Summer is the perfect time to step back and take a look at how you c…

If you’ve ever had a student who struggled with separation anxiety and cried as they got out of the car, you likely wished you had some strategies you could use to help the student. As counselors (and mothers), a lot of us have experience with children who struggle with separation anxiety and could really use some practical tips to help when our ki…

Trauma affects everybody, not just certain communities. It is so incredibly important that school counselors are able to support our students who have experienced trauma in positive and impactful ways. Knowing how to best support our students who have childhood trauma can be challenging and I am so glad that Joyce Harduvel is joining me today to sh…

Books are an incredibly powerful tool, especially when it comes to counseling. They allow for students to relate to the characters, help them to find solutions to problems, and so much more! Our guest today, Laura Filtness is a self-proclaimed book nerd who has found amazing ways to incorporate books into her counseling to help students be more eng…

You know I am all about simplifying your job as a school counselor and helping you to make the best use of your time. We can all benefit from more tips and tricks to maximizing our productivity in the little amount of time we have without students. That is why I am so excited to have efficiency and productivity expert, Khristen Massic joining me to…

You know I am super passionate about data and I LOVE a good end of the year report! There is so much data that you can put on your end of the year report to show your stakeholders just how big of an impact you are making. You know the importance of including how many students you served, time spent with students, and how many lessons you taught to …

Our days as school counselors are busy! Regardless of what grades we work with, how many students are on our caseload, or how perfectly planned our schedule is, school counselors have a lot on our plates. My guest today, Laurel Whitehead, is giving us a glimpse into what her days look like as a 6-8 school counselor. Laurel is making a huge impact o…

How can we gather student progress data in an efficient and helpful way? We’ve talked about tracking how many students we see and how many hours we’ve served them, but an equally important piece of data is how students have progressed or not progressed after services. In today’s episode, I am sharing two ways that you can measure and track student …

Where has this year gone? The school year is wrapping up shortly which means that it is a great time to dive into your data and use it to advocate for your role. If the thought of collecting and looking at data seems overwhelming to you, don’t fret! In this episode, I am sharing two tools that I recommend using to easily track services provided. I …

Have you heard of an advisory program before? It’s similar to implementing a school wide SEL program and is so beneficial to our students! Leslie Cuprill of Informed Decisions is joining us today to share all about starting an advisory program in your school. Whether you’ve considered starting an advisory program at your school or you aren’t even s…

I have some EXCITING news! We’ve recently surpassed 300,000 downloads of the School Counseling Simplified podcast! I can’t believe it! I want to give a big thank you to YOU for listening to this show by doing a giveaway. I’m giving 30 counselors 30% off of my IMPACT school counseling membership for 3 months! The offer will expire after the first 30…

Have you considered providing mini PD to your teachers? You might be thinking that there is no way you are getting in front of your colleagues and teaching something. I completely understand that! But you can still support your teachers by providing easy PD for them about SEL strategies and counseling strategies that they can do in their classrooms…

School counselors come from all sorts of backgrounds and it is so interesting to hear how their previous roles play into their role as a school counselor! Making the transition to school counseling can be a process that takes time or, like for our guest Stephanie Hubbard, can be fairly quick. Stephanie is joining us today to talk all about how she …

Teachers are experiencing burnout at an alarming rate but we as school counselors may be able to help. We know that our students are best served when school counselors, teachers, and parents are collaborating together and that is one of the reasons supporting our teachers is so crucial for student success. In this episode, I am sharing some ways th…

Are you needing some motivation and inspiration from another school counselor? We are continuing our birthday celebration with another counselor interview and our guest today is sure to leave you inspired to make big impacts at your school! Carey Hughes is sharing all about her role as an elementary school counselor and giving some helpful tips alo…

No school counselor role looks exactly the same and I absolutely love hearing from different school counselors about how they organize their days and the impact that they are making! Plus, We all know that there are parts we love about being a school counselor and parts we find challenging and it is so reassuring to hear that we are not alone. As w…

Every school counselor’s role is unique based on their school, on their district, and so many other factors. Sometimes, a school doesn’t have a counselor and another staff member steps up to support students who need the support of a school counselor. Dr. Natasha Tumbarello is joining us today and sharing how she wears many hats, including the scho…

Whether you are a new school counselor or have been one for years, it’s always great to hear from other school counselors. To celebrate 2 years of IMPACT, we will be hearing from IMPACT members every week in March. I know hearing from these school counselors will leave you feeling inspired! Aimee Garcia is joining us today to share what her role as…

Just how important is it to have healthy meals as a busy school counselor? We hear about eating healthy all the time but making sure our bodies and minds are properly nourished helps us to maximize our productivity and just feel good! If you’re not sure where to start when planning out nourishing lunches, dietician Sandra Gentleman is here to help!…

All students are bound to have conflicts at some point or another. It is so important that our kiddos know how to resolve conflicts in a respectful manner because it’s a skill they will use while in school and carry through life. Today, I am sharing how we can teach conflict resolution skills across all three tiers so our students are prepared when…

As school counselors, it seems we never have enough time to do all the things we want to do. Meeting with students, putting on programs and activities, being in meetings, and all the other duties that are put on us spread us so thin. I am so grateful that Rhea Parks is joining us today to share about how she is managing everything on her plate as a…

February brings so many fun things for school counselors including National School Counseling Week and Valentine’s Day! One thing I love to cover in the month of February is healthy relationships and friendships and this ties in great with Valentine’s Day. If you are looking for some fun ways to combine the Valentine’s theme with healthy relationsh…

Do you work in a Title 1 school or support low income students and families? Working in a low income school can come with unique challenges and supporting these students and families may look a little different. It is so important to understand each unique student and family and find ways to best support them. Today we are joined by Megan Polk who …

Are you finding that you are feeling burned out or that your mindset just isn’t great right now? Our mindset and thoughts impact us more than we realize. If you aren’t loving your job or are feeling overwhelmed, a mindset shift may make a huge difference! Luckily, there are things we can do to improve our mindset which may lead to rediscovering our…

Looking to feel inspired as we take on the second half of the school year? I am so excited to start having current school counselors on the podcast more often so you can hear what they are implementing at their schools. Jessica Weinberg Zeff is joining us today to talk about her role as a 3rd year school counselor and what it’s like being an IMPACT…

Cue the confetti because I have such an exciting announcement to share with you! Impact 2.0 is here! This episode is a replay of the live launch party I held to unveil all the new features of Impact. I know what it's like to have the heart and desire to want to help as many kiddos as possible as a school counselor. But here’s the problem. You end u…

Join me LIVE TONIGHT, January 10, 2023 at 6:00pm EST for a huge announcement! I cannot wait to share this with you! We are launching something BIG and I am so excited to finally give you the details. We will be giving away gift cards, door prizes, and 3 people who are there live will receive unlimited access to all of my counseling resources for 1 …