School for School Counselors Podcast
Ready to cut through the noise and get to the heart of what it really means to be a school counselor today? Welcome to The School for School Counselors Podcast! Let’s be honest: this job is rewarding, but it’s also one of the toughest, most misunderstood roles out there. That’s why I'm here, offering real talk and evidence-based insights about the everyday highs and lows of the work we love.
Think of this podcast as your go-to conversation with a trusted friend who just gets it. I'm here to deliver honest insights, share some laughs, and get real about the challenges that come with being a school counselor.
Feeling overwhelmed? Frustrated? Eager to make a significant impact? I'm here to provide practical advice, smart strategies, and plenty of support.
Each week, we’ll tackle topics ranging from building a strong counseling program to effectively using data—and we won’t shy away from addressing the tough issues. If you’re ready to stop chasing impossible standards and want to connect with others who truly understand the complexities of your role, you’re in the right place.
So find a quiet spot, get comfortable, and get ready to feel more confident and supported than you’ve ever felt before.
For more resources and to stay connected, visit schoolforschoolcounselors.com.
Episodes
216 episodes
What To Do About Executive Functioning
How in the world can a student demonstrate every executive functioning skill you practice in a counseling group perfectly...and still fail their classes because they don’t turn anything in?Happens all the time.Because kn...
Why Are You Calling Everything “Executive Function”?
“Executive function” has become one of those phrases we use ALL THE TIME in schools.Kid’s disorganized = Executive function.Missing assignments = Executive function.Can’t get started = Executive function.Impulsive = ...
The Behavior Plan Failed... And Everyone’s Looking at You
Whodunit? It's time to open the case file, y'all.We’ve got a student who keeps leaving class, a behavior plan that is NOT working, and a school counselor whose fingerprints are all over it.So... who’s actually responsible f...
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 important steps.In this episode, I'm talking about a commo...
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 role, show your data, cite the standards, make the case.THEN we ...
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 your role, bring the data, cite the standards, and make a compelling cas...
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- what are you...
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, sometimes the whole campus seems perfectly happy to let you do ALL ...
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 program. Then you walked onto a campus with an impossible caseload, unc...
.png)
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, I watched over a hundred school counselors simultan...
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 fit.But that's exactly why so many carefully built plans fall apart...
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 meetings. The fifty small things that happen before 9:00 a.m.But ...
.png)
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 second half of that story.If technology is part of the problem.....
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 the platforms helped create a student mental health burden schools ha...
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 resource from one of the big teacher marketplaces and ran my paper ...
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 reviewed a state-sponsored training that handed school couns...
.png)
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 seeing.Not what students needed.Not what kept support from...
.png)
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. It took me years to understand what it actually revealed.Th...
.png)
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’re mentally saturated, emotionally exhausted, and trying to crawl...
“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 referrals like October problems will burn you out
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, it’s like none of that exists.This episode looks at why t...
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 manageable. If you were really cut out for ...
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".You're saying yes because, in that moment, saying yes ma...
