By Phaedra Dunn, LSW, Sage Certified Clinician™ What is Trauma? Trauma can be defined as a person experiencing or witnessing a deeply distressing or disturbing event or repeated events that may involve death, threatened death, serious injury, or a threat to someone’s physical safety, or others and may involve fear, helplessness, feeling powerless and having […]
Mental Health in Education Blog
The Benefits of Embedded Therapeutic Services
Adolescents spend more time in school than in any other structured environment. When mental health challenges arise, having access to embedded therapeutic services in that environment allows students to continue to receive the social, behavioral, and relationship benefits of remaining in-district. The opportunity to participate in school plays a key role in the development of […]
Distinguishing Between Appropriate and Inappropriate Uses for Home Instruction
Home instruction is a useful tool for certain behavioral and health challenges, but it should be considered a restrictive environment and be utilized when there are no other viable options that will provide the student with access to education. Learning without the social and mental health benefits of an accepting community and school-based counseling services […]
The Benefits of a Trauma-Informed School Community
Some students face the effects of traumatic experiences which cause mental health issues that have a significant effect on their ability to succeed in school. Creating a trauma-informed school environment will provide a teacher, counselor, or school-based clinician with the awareness to recognize students at risk and give them tools to provide support for students […]
Taking Charge of School Refusal: 10 Warning Signs and 8 Interventions
By Zack Schwartz, MSW, LCSW, PsyA | Director of Thrive Services 10 Warning Signs of School Refusal School refusal in children and adolescents is a significantly growing issue that impacts not only the student but the entire family, school personnel, and mental health professionals working with the student. Although school refusal may appear to be […]
School Refusal: 8 Effective Intervention Strategies
School refusal impacts between 2 and 5% of students.1 This anxiety-based mental health issue ranges from mild separation anxiety to more severe cases of anxiety or depression that can cause young adolescents to miss weeks or months of school each year. School-based counseling can provide effective interventions that help students improve attendance and enjoy learning […]