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SCHOOL COUNSELORS: Strengthen Student Mental Health Supports With Strategies That Work!
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School Counselors Working with Grades K-12: Elementary School Counselors, Middle School Counselors, High School Counselors, School Counseling Interns, Directors of School Counseling, and School Psychologists
- Tiered support systems to meet the mental health needs of all students with intention and structure
- Practical techniques that will improve your confidence in supporting students with anxiety, anger, social struggles, and academic challenges
- Ways to improve your service delivery for students with high-level mental health needs
- Receive an extensive digital resource handbook packed with strategies to help busy school counselors strengthen student mental health supports
Practical Ideas and Strategies
Are you struggling to meet students' mental health needs while juggling your many school counselor roles? Worried you've missed signs of emotional distress? Do daily demands pull you from what matters most – supporting students' well-being? Laura Fortson-Williams will share evidence-based, practical ideas and strategies she has successfully used throughout her many years as a school counselor. Save time, reduce burnout, and strengthen your school counseling program. Whether you're new to the field or a seasoned professional, you'll leave with clear, effective, use-tomorrow techniques you can easily adapt to any grade level. You'll also receive Laura's extensive mental health supports digital resource handbook packed with tools, templates, and strategies you can implement right away.
Join Laura for a day full of effective ways to strengthen your mental health supports – without adding more to your already "full plate." Leave feeling confident, prepared, and equipped to strengthen student mental health supports.
Ten Key Benefits of Attending
- Become a Stronger Mental Health Responder
Recognize early signs of emotional distress to reduce student crises and disengagement … Discover how to respond with short-term, solution-focused interventions so students feel heard, supported, and stabilized before concerns escalate
- Build a Referral System That Supports Your Students in Need
Develop an effective referral and follow-up process to save time and refocus on the students who need you most … Strengthen your counseling program with a system that ensures students receive consistent, mental health support without barriers
- Help Students Navigate Key Issues Impacting Their Mental Health
Learn how you can teach students specific skills to successfully navigate bullying, self-esteem, depression, and trauma … Walk away with ready-to-use solutions to more effectively address these pressing issues
- Mental Health Techniques for Short-Term Individual Counseling
Expand your repertoire of interventions and strategies designed specifically for the important work you do with individual students … Learn solution-focused school counseling techniques to help students better manage mental health challenges in the school setting
- Help Students Overcome School Avoidance
Address the emotional drivers behind school refusal and anxiety-based absences … Guide students and families to reconnect to school through compassion-centered, mental-health informed strategies, plans, and reintegration supports
- Plan and Facilitate Robust Tier 2 Mental Health Supports
Map your current Tier 2 action plans based on patterns in behavior, attendance, and academics to better support students' mental health needs … Prepare small group activities, check-in systems, and progress tools so students with elevated needs receive timely, targeted emotional support
- Guide Families Through the Mental Health Support Process
Gain tools, scripts, and communication strategies to express mental health concerns and referrals in a clear, supportive way while respecting caregivers' roles … Help families feel empowered – not overwhelmed – as they take a more active role in providing consistent support for their students
- Address Compassion Fatigue and Vicarious Trauma in Yourself and Staff
Gain practical tools to manage secondary trauma, reduce compassion fatigue, and support your own well-being and that of your staff … Explore ways we can remain at our best and avoid burnout, so we can continue to help students
- Respond to Grief, Loss, and Crisis with Confidence
Be prepared with short-term counseling strategies and referral protocols when students experience grief or sudden crisis … Provide emotional first aid that will help students feel safe and supported in challenging times
- Receive an Extensive Mental Health Supports Digital Resource Handbook
You'll receive an extensive digital resource handbook filled with practical methods, ideas, evidence-based strategies, and classroom lessons designed specifically for busy school counselors to strengthen student mental health supports
Specific Topics
Here's what you'll learn:
- Early mental health red flags and short-term, solution-focused interventions to provide timely support before challenges escalate
- Proven resources for developing interventions, home-school communication plans, and a coordinated mental health plan
- Innovative ways to embed Tier 1 counseling into classrooms and schoolwide programming to strengthen students' emotional regulation, resilience, and belonging
- Mental health-focused strategies to boost attendance by addressing anxiety and school avoidance with supportive, non-punitive approaches
- Strategies to reduce mental health service gaps … Identify and address barriers that keep students from getting the support they need to thrive
- Actionable ways to lead change through schoolwide efforts, staff training, and advocacy for lasting improvements in student mental health support
- Executive functioning supports to improve organization, time management, and task completion … Increase success for students with mental health challenges
- Family-centered communication strategies for discussing student mental health needs and referrals to build trust, partnership, and consistent home-school support
- School culture shifts that reduce reactive discipline and promote stronger relationships, emotional safety, and belonging
- Age-appropriate mental health supports and interventions tailored to the developmental and emotional needs of students across all grade levels
- Mental health goal-writing strategies for 504s and IEPs to ensure school counseling contributions are meaningful, measurable, and aligned to support students' emotional and academic success
- Short-term grief, loss, and crisis response protocols, intervention tools, and next-step resources to stabilize students in moments of acute emotional need
- How to develop a student-centered referral and follow-up system to connect students to the right supports quickly
A Message From Your Seminar Leader
Dear Colleague:
As an experienced and current school counselor, I know firsthand the daily balancing act you perform. Your time and energy are pulled in countless directions. I've been there, and I understand how discouraging it can feel when non-counseling tasks keep you from building the kind of meaningful, responsive mental health supports your students need.
That's exactly why I created this seminar. I want to provide us with the opportunity to step away from the daily challenges to focus on strengthening student mental health supports in real, practical ways. We know when students struggle with mental health, their academics, attendance, and peer relationships suffer, and everyone around them feels the impact. Teachers, caregivers, and administrators look to us for solutions and guidance, and we need tools that are responsive and easy to implement.
Whether you're looking to refresh your knowledge, solve ongoing challenges, or just get reinspired in your current work, this seminar will equip you with tools you can use the very next day! You'll gain proven strategies and ready-to-implement school counseling techniques that reflect the real needs of today's students. You'll feel more confident in leading mental health conversations with staff and families, supporting your students with higher-level mental health challenges, and providing direct services that are compassionate, useful, and grounded in best practice.
I can't wait to help you enhance and strengthen your school counseling program with mental health supports that are proactive, responsive, and create lasting change. Together, we'll explore tools, strategies, practical steps, and case studies to simplify your systems, strengthen your role as a school mental health leader, and make meaningful progress across all three tiers of support. You will leave feeling confident, prepared, and equipped to strengthen student mental health supports.
Sincerely,
Laura Fortson-Williams
P.S. Invest a day with me and learn practical strategies that can make a real difference in the lives of your students.
Who Should Attend
School Counselors Working with Grades K-12: Elementary School Counselors, Middle School Counselors, High School Counselors, School Counseling Interns, Directors of School Counseling, and School Psychologists
Special Benefits of Attending
Extensive Mental Health Supports Digital Resource Handbook
You will receive an extensive digital resource handbook specifically designed for this seminar. Included in the handbook are:
- Strategies for better supporting students' mental health needs, including those who are experiencing bullying, low self-esteem, and depression
- Timesaving, effective Tier 1 lesson plans you can use to deliver meaningful mental health instruction in the classroom
- Effective, evidence-based Tier 2 Group counseling activities to improve coping skills, anxiety, self-esteem, and self-advocacy
- Ways to recognize warning signs of emotional distress
- Techniques for dealing with the increase in challenging mental health needs in schools
- Check-in/check-out techniques that strengthen adult-student relationships and provide consistent support for improving students' behavior and emotional regulation
Share Ideas
This seminar provides a wonderful opportunity for participants to share ideas with other school counselors interested in strengthening student mental health supports.
Consultation Available
Laura Fortson-Williams will be available at the seminar for consultation regarding your questions and the unique needs of your own school counseling program.
Semester Credit Option:
Graduate level professional development credit is available with an additional fee and completion of follow up practicum activities. Details for direct enrollment with University of Massachusetts Global, a nonprofit affiliate of the University of Massachusetts, will be available at the seminar.
Meet Inservice Requirements:
At the end of the program, each attendee will receive
a certificate of participation that may be used to verify hours of participation in
meeting continuing education requirements.
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