School-Based Interventions

I particularly enjoy communicating program progression, behavior changes and therapeutic interventions with Senior Therapists and parents to discuses the next steps in the children’s treatment plan. While working to meet the needs of the children for whom I provide therapy, I realized that each of them had an interesting story and a need for personalized interaction, education and compassion. I am enthusiastic about working hard to help meet students’ psychological needs, and I feel the best way to do this is to pursue an education in School Psychology.

My pursuit of becoming a School Counselor led me to apply to the School Counseling Master’s Program at University of Maryland, College Park. I am a former student at University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. After graduating and teaching for two years in Prince George’s County Public Schools, I discovered my true passion lies not only in the classroom and students’ academics, but playing a pivotal role in the growth of their career, social, and personal development. Although I am no longer teaching full-time at the moment, my interaction with students from diverse backgrounds left an indelible responsibility to continue making a difference in our students. The objectives and mission of the School Counseling Master’s Program at University of Maryland can best help my goal of becoming an effective counselor and leader who is an agent of change to students and service the mental and emotional well-being of the younger generation.

“Nearly 5 million children in the U.S. have some type of mental illness” (Goldberg). It is agreeable that there are many young children that deal with mental illness every day. Schools should be concerned for every student’s well being. Moreover, mental health is a part of a person’s overall “well being.” Therefore, schools need to make the mental health of students a stronger focus and implement plans to keep students mentally well and educated. To help create a positive, mental health aware environment where students feel open to seek help, high school students should be educated on how to be mentally healthy, be given a safe place to seek help, and be encouraged to monitor and maintain their mental health. Mental illness and mental health care need to be a more eminent priority in our society, starting with high schools.

School psychologists are prepared to intervene at the individual and system level, and develop, implement, and evaluate preventive programs. To do this, they perform valid assessments and intervene to promote positive learning environments which children and youth from diverse backgrounds have equal access to effective educational

Examining the information obtained in the interview and the roles and functions of the school psychologist in Burr Elementary School, I would first like to investigate the client basis in Mrs. Montgomery’s practice. With the client focus centered on the children and teachers, as well as the social system, it can be seen through Mrs. Montgomery’s open door policy that she puts herself out there so that students and teachers know they can come to her for guidance and support. Not only does Mrs. Montgomery’s spend time with a student in a 1-to-1 setting, she also meets with students through the many instructional, social skills and outreach groups. For example, she incorporates small group meetings during lunch, to confer with students on various grade levels. This allows Mrs. Montgomery’s to cycle through students who are not on her caseload. Spending observation time sitting-in in classrooms, Mrs. Montgomery is able to consult and collaborate with teachers and administration about students who are struggling or who need extra

Hennessy, K. D., & Green-Hennessy, S. (2011). A review of mental health interventions in SAMHSA 's national registry of evidence-based programs and practices. Psychiatric Services (Washington, D.C.), 62(3), 303-305. doi:10.1176/ps.62.3.pss6203_0303

Comprehensive developmental school counseling programs provide education, prevention and intervention services, which are integrated into all aspects of children’s lives. Early identification and intervention of children’s’ academic and social/emotional needs is

A school counselor’s role is vital in many schools across America. Many students see their counselor, to work on any emotional stressors, academic changes and challenges. This may include, interventions, group therapy and changes in class schedule, but sometimes with all the implementations given, students do not succeed in school. Perhaps one needs to take a closer look at the programs being implemented and its success rate. In addition, a counselor should guide itself using the ASCA (American School Counselor Association) to provide evidence based practices in schools.

All of the therapeutic interventions discussed place an emphasis on the importance of providing family support, parent training and intervention. One of the more difficult aspects of school counselling is the limited contact with parents. Attempting to provide support for families, find outside agency support and convince parents to access that support can be an onerous task. Cohen et al.’s idea for a trained therapist to provide services inside the school is an interesting one. More research would be helpful to ascertain if therapists are actually working together with schools and if any studies have been undertaken to explore the effectiveness.

The school system uses the FRC Coordinator, School Based Social Worker, Family Therapist, Behaviorist, and Mentors to implement interventions to achieve the goals that’s established by each student/family. These professionals bring their own distinctive understanding and expertise to the school system while servicing the students and their families. These professionals address students’ mental health concerns, behavioral concerns, while offering positive behavioral support, academic and classroom support, consultation with teachers, parents and administrators as well as individual/group therapy. Implementing interventions addresses the social issues that affects the students’ wellbeing, accomplishing the FRC’s mission, improving

The notion of a school counseling program has been developing for over a century. In the 1920s, the program began a metamorphosis. Fueled by mental hygiene and child study movements, a clinical approach to school counseling began to emerge. The 1930s would introduce Pupil Personal Services. This would

While many different studies have found positive outcomes when examining specific tools, interventions, and perspectives (in and out of school contexts), there is a lack of research that describes factors affecting

Pre-adolescence is a crucial stage in a child’s life because it is during this stage that kids can learn the coping mechanism that can prevent complications later on in life (Britton et al., 2014). Some children and adolescents may not have the opportunity to seek proper mental health care during their childhood. This may be due to parents overworking or simply not being able to afford quality mental health care services (Bucci et al., 2016). However, schools can serve children and adolescents as a

Throughout the years, schools have had to take on much more responsibility than just making sure that students are learning the material. Schools are now facing new challenges such as violence in schools, children that may be mentally or emotionally challenged, and basically being a caretaker for hundreds of kids, 365 days out of the year. With the new challenges, comes more responsibility and accountability which means adjusting accordingly. This is where the job of a school psychologist is of upmost importance. In the past, the role of the school psychologist has been solely to work with mentally challenged children. However, with the constantly changing demands that schools are facing, school psychology has broadened the field by transitioning from working with students individually to putting more focus into evidence-based work with families, classrooms, home-school partnerships, consultation and etc. (cite). The role of a school psychologist includes working with students, teachers, and other staff to help students excel academically, maintain healthy social relationships, manage emotions, exhibit healthy behavior and overall, create a supportive learning environment. They may also work with families, community, and school administration to make sure that students are in a safe school climate and explore ways to improve student success (American Psychological Association, 2016). School psychologists have had to broaden their training and expand their reach and

Research indicates that schools continue to lack the resources to help students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) become successful. Students with EBD tend to be the most time consuming in terms of school financial, programming, and staffing resources. Any strategy to help students with EBD must begin with helping professionals in schools continue to be the social change agents that are working towards positive change behaviors for the students. Helping professionals are the staff in schools providing direct services to the children with EBD. This may be in the form of counseling, behavior plan writing, family and community outreach, or response to intervention and crisis intervention (Agresta, 2004). The helping professionals in schools generally have undergone rigorous training in working with children, and they also tend to be the center of services, often working with administration, educational staff, community and family (Agresta, 2004).