The last 18 months of highly modified school days have provided welcome relief for students who present with School Refusing Behavior (SRB). However, school professionals know that this respite did not cure school refusal but just provided a way for it to lay dormant. Come the new school year, when schools will likely be entirely […]
Mental Health in Education Blog
How Can School Staff Help With Student Mental Health Issues?
Schools are ground zero for identifying student mental health issues. That’s why it’s imperative that school staff have the tools to recognize students who are in distress. Mental health professionals, clinicians, and school counselors receive support and training through their education to learn the effective ways to intervene and provide direct counseling services to students […]
Mental Health Training Prepares Schools to Meet Growing Needs
In our last blog, we discussed the need for mental health support as a prerequisite to close the academic gap caused by interrupted learning during the pandemic. (Here’s a link in case you missed it.) Not every school can afford to bring in clinical mental health experts to counsel students. If you’re in a budget […]
School Refusal: a Plan for Reintegrating Students
It’s official. As we turn our calendars to May, schools are beginning to reopen and will reopen fully in September 2021. Many students will be excited about returning. However, students who have struggled with the social and emotional issues that cause school refusal behavior (SRB) will have very different feelings about returning to the classroom. […]
Mental Health is the Prerequisite to Closing the Educational Gap
Thanks to Linda McGovern for providing the content for this article. There is a lot of talk and concern regarding the potential learning loss during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is understandable that schools and parents are nervous about how much content students may have lost during school closures, virtual and hybrid learning. As we begin […]
PODCAST: Demystifying Mental Health for School Staff
Chris Leonard: Welcome to our podcast, Conversations About Student Mental Health. I’m Chris Leonard, clinical social worker, working with adolescents for over 25 years. In this podcast, I talk with school administrators, educators, clinicians, and parents to open a dialogue that will help the growing number of students struggling with mental illness. As we record […]