Reposted from 2013 When my kids were younger we would watch the Top 100 Scariest Movie Moments (now, we watch Halloween Baking Championship instead). We laughed at some of the older movies with their low-budget effects—The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes which never fails to crack us up! But there are also moments when we cover our eyes, like when The Exorcist comes on and things get truly terrifying. Inspired by the spooky season, I decided to share my own collection of scariest moments—not from horror films, but from my life as a school counselor.  Disclaimer: These are my real-life ex ..read more

In 2005, the Association for Conflict Resolution created a special day to promote conflict resolution in organizations. Conflict Resolution Day occurs on the third Thursday of October and its purpose is to: promote peaceful means to settle conflicts. encourage the use of conflict resolution in schools, businesses, organizations, and communities. recognize the contributions of conflict resolvers. Conflict Resolution Day is a great way to promote your school's conflict resolution program to students, staff, and the community.  If you have a peer mediation program, c ..read more

Have you ever been out and about—maybe on a trip or just running errands—when your "counselor senses" suddenly start tingling? It’s that feeling in your gut telling you something isn’t quite right. This has happened to me more times than I can count. Often, by the time I realize I might be on to something, the moment has passed, and I’m left wondering why I didn’t catch on sooner. And if I had, what could, or should I have done? As educators and mandated reporters, we've all had those moments where we feel helpless—when we suspect something’s wrong but aren’t sure what. It’s tough to know yo ..read more

Good grief!  I can't believe that I been away from my blog for four months.  A lot has been going on both personally and professionally (that is a discussion for another day), but I wanted to touch base with you amazing school counselors as we end the first half of 2024 (how did that happen?).  If you work in a school, I hope you had a good, or at least tolerable year.  On side note, I ended my final workday as an independent school counselor this past week and I am looking at trying something different next year (it's a little scary!). So, as we get closer to the 4th of ..read more

Are you a high school counselor coordinating a peer mediation program?  Running a peer mediation program has been a joy for me and these students make a difference in our school.  However, I find that my students' skills are often underappreciated.  In 2008, I joined the Association for Conflict Resolution and met some really fantastic conflict resolution trainers and specialists who turned me on to the idea of peer mediation tournaments.  Since 2008, I have had the privilege of judging many college tournaments and coaching students in tournaments. Now, I am coordinating ..read more

Happy New Year, School Counselors!   At the end of each year, I like to share the top 10 blog posts that people are reading from this blog.  Although I have not been able to write and share like I would like to each month, I love looking at what school counselors are interested in reading.  Over the last 11 years (yikes!), many of the posts have remained the same, but there were a couple of new posts that made it to the top 10.  I hope you will enjoy going back and checking these out!  10 Duty to Warn: When Does It Apply When Informing Parents About Teenag ..read more

Want to learn more about trauma informed practices and how to practically employ them in your school? Join me and Nichol Webb for our December #scchat on X regarding Trauma Informed Practices as School Counselors.   If this is your first time joining X for a chat, make sure read below to see how you can join in on the fun ..read more

Within the last several years, one of the buzzwords in education has been trauma informed practices.  If you are unsure about this practice or just not sure what it means to be trauma informed, you are not alone.  Since I am still a novice to trauma informed practices, I assume that many of my school counseling colleagues may be still learning their role as a trauma informed practitioner.   School counselors have a part to play in trauma informed systems.  The American School Counselor Association issued a position statement in 2016 defining our role. Even if you s ..read more

It is really hard to believe that my summer is over!! The ASCA conference has passed, the Summer Counselor Conference is this week, and school begins next week. I can't believe how time has flown!  Since I had a little time over the summer to reflect on last year, one change that I really want to make is to my college counseling program.  Okay, confession time -- college counseling has never been my area of strength and more of an afterthought than a priority.  Well, now that you know one of my many weaknesses, my plan is to "beef" up my college counseling program for the fal ..read more

Recently, I had the privilege of attending the Trauma Informed Educators Conference!  I had an amazing experience learning from many of the "disruptors" or  leaders in trauma informed practices in schools.  Also, I had the opportunity of presenting on one of my favorite topics, peer helping.  The subject of my presentation included how to make a peer helping program a part of any school counseling program and an addition to a trauma informed program. For a moment, I would like to make a pitch about considering the possibility of adding a peer helping program as an extensi ..read more