I have so appreciated the camaraderie and exchange of ideas made possible by the blogs and websites shared by our school counseling colleagues around the country. With the encouragement of some of them, and with gratitude for the spirit of generosity that exists within our profession, School Counseling by Heart will offer some of my techniques, lessons, materials, insights, experiences, humor, and struggles. I have been a school counselor for 16 years and regularly supervise graduate student interns and mentor new counselors. I am passionate about collaborating with colleagues and helping to prepare new counselors for the joys and challenges of our field. I hope that what I have to offer will be useful to counselors in far-flung places (from here in Vermont, almost everything is pretty far-flung) as well as to those who come to my school.Some of you have asked for more information about lessons and activities that my counseling partner and I highlight on our school blog for parents, dbsschoolcounselor.blogspot.com. School Counseling by Heart will expand upon some of those and be written specifically for school counselors. You’ll get more nitty gritty here — you know, the important stuff, like how to deal with a glitter explosion, temper tantrum, newsletter deadline, demanding colleague, 4th grader on work strike, lunch duty, parent phone call, some kind of body fluid, meeting facilitation, and “you have what in your backpack?” all at once. Oh yeah, and the network is down.
Thanks so much to all the school counselors who contribute so generously to our profession, and who have inspired me to do the same. I am most particularly grateful to the tireless Danielle Schultz of School Counselor Blog, who has shown tremendous leadership in sharing with and connecting school counselors, and to Andrea Burston of JY Joyner Counselor, for techie advice and encouragement. (Be sure to check out her tech info at School Counselor Resources). I am so glad to join the conversation!
