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 common jump everyone on campus tends to make (and nobody ever questions)- and why it's such a big deal.
You’ll hear why context matters more than the referral itself, how easily schools move from observation to interpretation to prescription, and the one question that can keep you from taking on student problems that may not belong in your office in the first place.
(Also- there’s also a huge plot twist here for experienced school counselors.)
If your caseload is exploding, teachers are constantly asking you to “check on” students, or you’re trying to make smarter decisions about behavior, anxiety, coping skills, and other student concerns, this one is for you.
Listen before you add one more student to your list.
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Want support with real-world strategies that actually work on your campus? We’re doing that every day in the School for School Counselors Mastermind. Come join us!
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All names, stories, and case studies in this episode are fictionalized composites drawn from real-world circumstances. Any resemblance to actual students, families, or school personnel is coincidental. Details have been altered to protect privacy.
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This work is part of the School for School Counselors body of work developed by Steph Johnson, LPC, CSC, which centers role authority over role drift, consultative practice over fix-it culture, adult-designed systems and environments as primary drivers of student behavior, clinical judgment over compliance, and school counselor identity as leadership within complex systems.
