Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast School for School Counselors Podcast

I went into school counseling with some pretty big dreams.

I was going to help kids, change lives, make a difference… and finally be able to go to the bathroom whenever I wanted.

(Don't judge, friend. You know you thought it, too.)

As it turns out, that wasn't the only thing I had completely wrong about this job.

In this episode, I'm confessing six things I used to believe about school counseling that made perfect sense to me at the time.

Some are a little embarrassing.

Some took me YEARS to figure out.

And I'll bet at least a couple of them will sound very familiar to you.

Come laugh at my expense. Just don't be surprised if you recognize yourself along the way.

Plus: Grab my free Secrets of Sanity-Based School Counseling guide to rethink what's possible in the school you're actually working in.

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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.

Why do schools keep celebrating the same kinds of helping, even when students keep having the same problems?

You know the frustration: You're working to implement meaningful student supports, consulting with teachers, and trying to address what's actually driving a behavior concern. 

Meanwhile, somebody takes the student for a walk and gets a standing ovation.

In this episode, we're looking at the psychology of helping, the surprising ways schools reinforce quick fixes, and why evidence-based school counseling interventions don't always get the recognition they deserve.

Plus, I'm sharing a personal experience I've never discussed publicly- and what it taught me about professional recognition, school counseling expertise, and the work nobody sees.

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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.

You know what a comprehensive school counseling program is supposed to look like. 

You've studied the model, you've advocated for your role, and you've done everything you know to do to move your program forward.

So why won't your school let you do it?

An administrator that doesn't listen, a schedule exploding with responsibilities...

And every time you think you're finally making headway, something (or someone) knocks you right back to square one.

After a while, you start wondering why the heck you even keep showing up.

Here's what you need to know-

A school counseling program that doesn't look the way you want isn't necessarily a program that's failing.

If you're tired of pushing the same boulder uphill, questioning whether anything you do makes a difference, or just trying to make it through the school year without having a full-blown come-apart, I've got a few things I want to talk through with you.

So pull up a seat.

Or better yet, hop in. You're riding shotgun today.

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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.

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.

How in the world can a student demonstrate every executive functioning skill you practice in a counseling group perfectly...

and still fail their classes because they don’t turn anything in?

Happens all the time.

Because knowing how to do something is not the same as actually being able to do it when it counts.

In this episode, we’re looking at why planners, checklists, and executive functioning small groups don’t always translate into better functioning in the classroom, and what we need to be looking at instead.

Because the goal isn’t to get kids better at “executive functioning.”

The goal is to help them function better where it actually matters.

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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.

“Executive function” has become one of those phrases we use ALL THE TIME in schools.

Kid’s disorganized = Executive function.

Missing assignments = Executive function.

Can’t get started = Executive function.

Impulsive = Executive function.

ADHD... Well, obviously, executive function... right?

Maybe.

But what the heck are we actually SAYING when we say a kid “struggles with executive functioning?”

Because- as it turns out, that answer is a whole lot more complicated than the cute little executive function group plans would have you believe.

And- some of the things we’re confidently calling “executive function problems" might not be executive function problems at all.

So before we make another assignment tracker or study skills sheet, or start wondering about ADHD...

we probably ought to figure out what the heck we’re looking at.

Y'all, this one sent me down a research rabbit hole, and I did NOT end up where I thought I would.

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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.

Whodunit? It's time to open the case file, y'all.

We’ve got a student who keeps leaving class, a behavior plan that is NOT working, and a school counselor whose fingerprints are all over it.

So... who’s actually responsible for the mayhem?

Because when campuses start talking about behavior plans, the details get complicated fast:

Should the school counselor be involved?
Are you actually qualified to write the plan?
And if you do write it, does that make you responsible for whether or not it works?

We’ve got a whole lineup of possible suspects: the student, the staff, and the school counselor.

And by the time we close the case, you may be surprised to learn that “Who wrote the behavior plan?” is the least important question of all.

Grab the companion guide at schoolforschoolcounselors.com/plan

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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.

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.

It doesn’t work.

And if you’ve tried it, you know it's true.

The school counseling advocacy model most of us were taught was supposed to be simple: explain your role, show your data, cite the standards, make the case.

THEN we were supposed to be able to MAKE THINGS HAPPEN.

The problem is- information isn’t influence.

So in this episode, we’ll talk about how school counselors can become influential long before "advocacy" meetings ever happen.

We’ll talk about why your principal does NOT need to care about school counseling as much as you do, why constantly sharing information can keep you stuck, and how a little out-of-the-box school counseling thinking can completely change your situation.

There’s a HUGE difference between being the school counselor who's always asked for more effort, and being the person they stop in the hallway to ask:

“Hey- what do you think?”

One is asking for your labor, but the other is asking for your judgment.

THAT’S influence.

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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.

School counselor advocacy is supposed to create change. But what if some of what we’ve been taught to call advocacy is actually doing something else?

You can explain your role, bring the data, cite the standards, and make a compelling case...

And still walk out with the same testing assignment, MTSS responsibility, impossible caseload, or non-counseling duties you walked in with.

This episode takes a hard look at the advocacy model our profession has inherited, why school counselors can do everything they’ve been told to do and still end up stuck, and three questions that may completely change how you approach advocacy on your campus.

If you’ve ever stated your case, watched admin nod in agreement, then wondered why absolutely nothing changed afterward- this one is for you.

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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.

You’ve explained your role. 

You’ve shown the data. 

You’ve pulled out the appropriate and inappropriate duties list. 

You’ve advocated. 

But... nothing changes.

So- what are you supposed to do now? Just advocate harder? 

(Spoiler: Nope.) 

In this episode, I’m questioning one of the biggest assumptions driving school counselor advocacy.

Because there’s a big difference between someone not understanding what your job is supposed to be, versus someone understanding your job... but not changing anything. 

Which means: we may all have been working to solve the wrong problem all along. 

Before you print that list yet again, listen to this.

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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.

Everything difficult or weird on a school campus somehow gets shuffled to the school counselor.

And nobody is likely to stop you from taking it all on.

In fact, sometimes the whole campus seems perfectly happy to let you do ALL the things.

So before the school year really gets rolling, there are four decisions worth making.

These aren’t decisions you can make with a list of “appropriate” and “inappropriate” duties or another lecture about setting better boundaries. 

They require a better way to look at what keeps landing in front of you, and a way to decide when something really deserves more attention or effort from you.

Bottom line: caring deeply about your students and your school does NOT mean you are responsible for fixing everything that needs fixing.

Make these four decisions now, before the year starts making them for you.

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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.

School counseling on paper and school counseling in real life are not the same job.

You were trained to support students, build relationships, and run a comprehensive program. Then you walked onto a campus with an impossible caseload, unclear expectations, constant interruptions, and demands coming from every direction. So you did what good school counselors do: you worked harder.

But what if effort was never the missing piece?

In this episode, I'm looking at:

• three places where school counselor training collides with campus reality
• why self-care, better boundaries, and repeated advocacy cannot fix a structurally misaligned role
• why capable counselors so often end up questioning themselves instead of questioning the expectations placed on them

And I'll give you three questions that can change how you make decisions this year, starting with your first week back.

You do not need another program, planner, or motivational poster. You need a way of doing school counseling that works in the school you actually have.

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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.

The educational system doesn't need to plot to keep you quiet.

It just needs to keep you tired.

And after that, the silence takes care of itself.

A few nights ago, I watched over a hundred school counselors simultaneously go quiet.

It was weird.

They'd been engaged in my presentation. They were animated and alive. The conversation was popping. 

But then... I changed the subject from talking about the problems to talking about what to do next... and suddenly the entire room changed.

Some people instantly started explaining why it wouldn't work.

But most just...stopped talking.

I left that session asking myself:

What just happened here?

Why did so many dedicated, talented school counselors suddenly retreat?

If you've ever wondered when you stopped speaking up- or why- it starts here.

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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.

Most school counselors plan their programs in the same order they were taught: start with the data, identify the need, choose the intervention, and try to make the model fit.

But that's exactly why so many carefully built plans fall apart by October.

In this episode, Steph explains why school counselors may be planning their programs backwards — and the two questions that should come before goals, calendars, initiatives, or action plans.

Because the goal is not to reach May with the most comprehensive school counseling program.

It is to reach May still recognizing yourself in the work you do each day.

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"Best Year Ever!" happens July 21-24. Get your ticket today.

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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.

Most school counselors can describe what they do all day.

Crisis response. Small groups. Student check-ins. Parent calls. Schedule changes. Behavior support. Data meetings. The fifty small things that happen before 9:00 a.m.

But ask a school counselor what makes them remarkable, and things can get quiet fast.

In this episode, Steph talks about why it can be so hard to name the specific instincts, patterns, and abilities that make you unusually effective in your role. 

This is not about generic compliments or personality quizzes. It is about learning to identify the thing you do in a way almost nobody else on your campus can.

You’ll hear why confidence in your own ability actually changes what you do on campus, and why using what you’re good at is completely different from just knowing it exists. You’ll also hear how years of being second-guessed or undervalued can make you stop seeing what is remarkable about you at all.

You'll hear three places your remarkable work may be hiding: interpersonal skill, data and pattern recognition, and the counseling approaches you naturally reach for when the work gets real.

Because if you cannot name your value, the system will keep naming it for you.

This episode will help you start answering a question most school counselors have never been asked directly:

What makes you a remarkable school counselor?

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"Best Year Ever!" happens July 21-24. Get your ticket today.

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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! 

********

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.

********

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.

Last week, we looked at what happens when schools finally put a price tag on the mental health fallout of social media.

This week, we're looking at the strange second half of that story.

If technology is part of the problem... why are some schools turning to even more technology as the solution?

Across the country, districts are adopting AI-powered mental health tools that monitor students, flag concerning behavior, and even carry on conversations with kids in emotional distress. 

The marketing promises earlier intervention, greater access, and support at scale.

But what does the evidence actually say?

In this episode, we look at the research behind AI mental health tools, a new Nevada law that draws a legal boundary around their use in schools, and why one of the biggest questions facing school counseling today may not be whether AI belongs in our profession- but where the line should be.

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Join our new Skool for School Counselors community 

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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! 

********

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.

********

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.

Social media drama has a price tag now.

A Kentucky school district recently settled a lawsuit against social media companies for approximately $27 million, arguing that the platforms helped create a student mental health burden schools have been forced to absorb.

But school counselors didn’t need a lawsuit to know this was costing something.

The screenshots.
The group chats.
The parent emails.
The cyberbullying investigations.
The friendship blowups that started online and landed in your office before first period.

In this episode, we’re looking at what these lawsuits are actually arguing, why the research on social media and student mental health is more complicated than the headlines suggest, and what happens when someone finally starts counting the work school counselors have been absorbing for years.

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Join our new Skool for School Counselors community 

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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! 

********

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.

********

Ready to spend a few days this summer with me, geeking out over school counseling and preparing for your best year ever? Grab your ticket here before this limited-seat event sells out!

********

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.

I don’t buy printable counseling resources anymore.

Haven’t for years.

But to test a theory on the air, I broke that rule. I bought a popular, well-reviewed anxiety resource from one of the big teacher marketplaces and ran my paper test on it live.

I expected to find junk.

I didn’t.

It was polished. Thoughtful. Well-organized. It even cited real research.

And that’s what made the problem harder to ignore.

In this episode, I look at what happens when a school counseling resource looks right, sounds right, and checks the boxes we’ve been told to trust… but still may not contain the thing a student actually needs.

This is not a takedown of one creator.

It’s a closer look at a much bigger question in school counseling:

If you took the worksheets away, would there still be an intervention?

Fair warning: this one may change how you look at your shelf.

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Join our new Skool for School Counselors community 

********

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! 

********

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.

********

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.

If somebody else could do exactly what you're doing after reading the same slide deck-

Why did you go to grad school? 

That's the question that hit me after I reviewed a state-sponsored training that handed school counselors a watered-down counseling model and called it evidence-based. 

And once I saw it, I couldn't unsee it. 

But this episode isn't really about one training. 

It's about what happens when a profession starts confusing the appearance of counseling with counseling itself: the slides that look clinical, the activities that look like interventions, the worksheets that look like the real thing. 

I'll give you one simple question to tell the difference.  

And fair warning- a lot of your favorite materials won't survive it.

[Part 1 of 2. This week, the rule. Next week, the test.]

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Topics: solution-focused brief counseling (SFBC) in schools, evidence-based school counseling, treatment fidelity, the limits of printable counseling resources and TPT materials, and protecting the clinical role of the school counselor.

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Join our new Skool for School Counselors community 

********

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! 

********

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.

********

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.

On the last day of school, the district sent an email about spreadsheets.

But not one person asked what you needed to do your job better next year.

Not what you were seeing.
Not what students needed.
Not what kept support from reaching kids faster.

Just the spreadsheet.

There’s a name for that kind of silence.

This episode is about why nobody asks school counselors what they’re observing… and what it costs all campuses when the people seeing the most are treated like support staff instead of strategic professionals.

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Join our new Skool for School Counselors community 

********

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! 

********

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.

********

Ready to spend a few days this summer with me, geeking out over school counseling and preparing for your best year ever? Grab your ticket here before this limited-seat event sells out!

********

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.

A school administrator once told me the reason I couldn't finish a single classroom lesson was because the kids just liked me too much.

She meant it as a compliment.  It took me years to understand what it actually revealed.

This episode is about the gap between the job we were trained to do and the job we're actually allowed to do. How that gap gets handed to counselors as personal failure. And what happens to a profession- and to the people in it-  when nobody's willing to name that out loud.

I'm talking about how I accidentally became a school counselor, what I've had to publicly un-say after saying it to audiences, why so many counselors silently believe they're failing, and the framework I've spent years building in response to all of it.

This one is different. And if you've ever sat across from a student carrying something you couldn't have imagined- you'll know exactly why it matters.

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Join our new Skool for School Counselors community 

********

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! 

********

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.

********

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.

Most school counselors think the new school year starts in August.

I don’t think it does.

I think a huge part of your August gets decided right now… in May… while you’re mentally saturated, emotionally exhausted, and trying to crawl to the finish line.

Because the things you leave unresolved this time of year have a way of following you right back into the building.

The role conversation you keep avoiding.
The administrator dynamic you replay in your head at 2 a.m.
The resentment.
The confidence hit you still haven’t fully recovered from.
The professional expectations you never actually agreed to but are somehow still responsible for.

That stuff doesn’t disappear over the summer.

It waits for you.

In this episode, we’re talking about the three decisions that quietly shape your next school year long before summer even starts.

Because what you carry into August becomes your August.

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Join our new Skool for School Counselors community 

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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.

You’re about to get a referral that says:

“It’s been happening all year.”

And somehow… now it’s urgent.

This episode is about why that happens, and why treating May referrals like October problems will burn you out fast.

Because most of what’s hitting your desk right now isn’t new.

It’s late.

We’re talking about:

•  The predictable end-of-year referral surge (and what’s actually driving it) 
•  How adult burnout reshapes what gets labeled a “problem” 
•  The one triage question that changes everything
•  And how to protect your time without feeling like you’re failing kids 

You don’t need to do more right now.

You need to decide better.

********

Join our new Skool for School Counselors community 

********

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! 

********

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.

********

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.

You’re doing meaningful work.
You’re supporting students.
You’re handling things no one else on campus is equipped to handle.

But somehow, when big decisions get made, it’s like none of that exists.

This episode looks at why that happens... and why it keeps happening.

The school counseling profession has made its impact almost impossible to see.

So in this episode, we’re talking about the visibility problem in school counseling…
how confidentiality plays a role in it…
and why showing up with passion and position statements isn't enough to protect your position when it matters.

Because when the work can’t be seen, it can’t be defended.

********

Join our new Skool for School Counselors community 

********

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! 

********

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.

********

Ready to spend a few days this summer with me, geeking out over school counseling and preparing for your best year ever? Grab your ticket here before this limited-seat event sells out!

********

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.

You know the feeling.

The one that says:

• If you were better at this, it wouldn't be this hard. 
• If you had advocated more effectively, the caseload would be manageable. 
• If you were really cut out for this work, you wouldn't be sitting in your car wondering if you can walk through the doors.

That feeling has a name. And it isn't burnout.

In this episode, Steph Johnson makes the case- through peer-reviewed research and a story she's never told publicly before- that the school counseling profession systematically produces that feeling. 

This is what institutional gaslighting looks like. 

And once you see it, you cannot unsee it.

This Isn't Burnout. It's Gaslighting.

********

Join our new Skool for School Counselors community 

********

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! 

********

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.

********

Ready to spend a few days this summer with me, geeking out over school counseling and preparing for your best year ever? Grab your ticket here before this limited-seat event sells out!

********

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.

You’re not overwhelmed because there’s too much work;

You’re overwhelmed because too much of it is not your job.

You're not saying yes because you "lack boundaries".
You're saying yes because, in that moment, saying yes made sense.

And that’s the problem.

********

Join our new Skool for School Counselors community 

********

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! 

********

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.

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.

You sat in the circle.
You heard the apology.
And you knew… nothing actually changed.

Restorative justice can work in schools- the research supports that.

But the versions most campuses are implementing...

Are something else entirely.

Research describes restorative practices as structured, resourced, and time-intensive.

What most schools are doing is faster, lighter, and handed off.

That's how school counselors end up in the middle of things:

• Facilitating conversations that aren't meant to be rushed
• Trying to facilitate a process you were never really trained to lead
• Knowing the outcome doesn’t match what the promises of true restoration, but not having the language to explain why.

In this episode, we take a hard look at what restorative justice actually requires... and how to know if your campus is falling short.

Because this isn’t just about whether you believe in restorative practices.

It’s about whether what’s happening on your campus even matches what the research is measuring-

And what that means for the role you’re being asked to play.

Referred to in this episode:
Ep. 191, "Your Campus Runs on a Pyramid of Lies"

********

Join our new Skool for School Counselors community 

********

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! 

********

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.

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.

There’s a reason the same explanation keeps showing up in every staff meeting, every training, every conversation about struggling students.

It feels good.

Problem is- It wasn’t built on evidence.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs became one of the most widely accepted frameworks in education without ever being meaningfully tested the way we use it. 

In this episode, we go back to where the pyramid actually came from, walk through what the research has (and hasn’t) found, and take a hard look at why it spread anyway.

Because if the foundation isn’t solid, it doesn’t matter how good your intentions are.

You’re still building on it.

Referred to in this episode:
Ep. 106, "TPT's Dirty Truths & Why You Need an Evidence-Base"

********

Join our new Skool for School Counselors community 

********

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! 

********

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.

********

Ready to spend a few days this summer with me, geeking out over school counseling and preparing for your best year ever? Grab your ticket here before this limited-seat event sells out!

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.

At some point, someone has probably told you to “find your why.”

I gave that advice last week.

I wish I hadn't.

In this episode, I’m getting more personal than I ever have on this podcast.

I’m sharing what one of the hardest years of my career has done to me physically…

what happened when I defaulted to the weakest advice I could have given…

and what the research actually says school counselors should be doing when purpose isn’t enough to keep you going.

If you’ve been trying to survive this year on nothing but passion and willpower- and it’s not working- 

This one’s for you.

********

Join our new Skool for School Counselors community 

********

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! 

********

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.

********

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.

You said yes… then suddenly it was your job.

At some point in your career, something changed.

You stopped being the person students came to see and started being the person students got sent to.

Behavior referrals. Classroom removals. Crisis containment. The emotional labor nobody else knew how to handle.

And it happened one "yes" at a time.

In this episode, I'm taking a hard look at how school counselors slowly became the system's pressure valve- justified by "trauma-informed care"- and why that shift has fundamentally changed what we're asked to do in school counseling.

We'll talk about:

• Where role creep actually starts
• Why behavior intervention, trauma treatment, and school counseling are three different professional functions
• How "helping" can accidentally turn you into the building's behavior containment system
• The ethical trap of trying to bridge gaps that the system refuses to fill
• The one question that can stop role creep before it becomes your permanent job

Because the thing is:

A pressure valve exists so the system doesn't have to change.

And the moment you stop being one…

the system is forced to find a different solution.

If you've ever felt like your job morphed beyond the role you trained for, this episode will give you the words for what's been happening, and how to get back to doing the work you truly love.

********

Join our new Skool for School Counselors community 

********

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! 

********

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.

********

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.

"The research supports trauma-informed schools..." 

You've probably heard it in a staff meeting, read it in a district memo, or repeated it yourself. But when you go looking for the studies, something becomes clear: most people are citing a sentence, not a source.

This episode is for the school counselor who's been asked to implement trauma-informed practices without anyone handing you the actual research-  and who wants to know what it actually says.

What we cover:

• What "trauma-informed schools" actually means in the evidence base (and what it doesn't)
• The difference between trauma-informed principles and whole-school implementation
• Why rigorous studies are harder to find than most people realize

This isn't an episode about rejecting trauma-informed practice. It's about being the person in the room who actually checked.

********

Join our new Skool for School Counselors community 

********

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! 

********

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.

********

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.

Is managing student behavior actually school counseling?

If you’re spending most of your week handling behavior referrals, putting out fires, and decoding defiance before you’ve even opened your calendar… this episode draws a line most schools never clearly defined.

Because somewhere along the way, behavior didn’t just increase.

It migrated.

And it landed in the school counselor’s office.

In this episode, we unpack how school counselors quietly became the default behavior managers in many buildings when discipline structures softened without being clearly replaced.

You’ll hear:

• How PBIS and trauma-informed shifts reshaped discipline systems- and what that meant for school counseling roles
• Why behavior intervention and school counseling are different specialties
• What burnout research actually says about non-counseling duties
• The simple line that helps you sort capacity from compliance in real time

If behavior has been swallowing your week, this conversation will help you see what belongs to you... and what doesn’t.

********

Join our new Skool for School Counselors community 

********

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! 

********

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.

********

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.

In this episode, I’m challenging a common habit in school counseling: labeling student distress as “anxiety” before it actually meets clinical criteria.

You’ll hear the research behind "prevalence inflation," how DSM standards separate normal worry from clinical anxiety, and the four-question test that will change how you approach 504 plans, school refusal, and all your anxiety-related counseling referrals.

Because when we mislabel discomfort, exclusion, or instability as anxiety, we don’t just miss the root issue. We build an entire intervention around the wrong problem.

Run the four-question test before you write the accommodation.

********

Join our new Skool for School Counselors community 

********

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! 

********

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.

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.

What if the anxiety accommodations you've been writing into your 504s and IEPs are actually making your students more anxious?

In this episode, I'm sharing a section from a recent masterclass inside the School for School Counselors Mastermind- one that had members circling accommodations on their plans before it was even over!

You'll hear the research behind why avoidance-based accommodations backfire, how we're accidentally teaching students they can't handle hard things, and one dead-simple question you can ask yourself Monday morning to evaluate any accommodation on your caseload.

Plus- someone left a review calling this podcast "tragic." Wait till you hear my response...

********

Join our new Skool for School Counselors community 

********

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! 

********

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.

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.

You hold a master’s degree. You studied crisis intervention, psychopathology, and therapeutic technique.
So why is your profession still fighting to be seen as essential?

It doesn’t have to stay this way- but the window is closing.

In this episode, I lay out two possible futures for school counseling: one that ends in irrelevance, and one where we finally become the campus influence we were meant to be.

What’s pushing us toward the wrong path isn’t what most counselors think.
And fixing it will require a shift few are talking about.

Stop being helpful. Start being undeniable.

********

Join our new Skool for School Counselors community 

********

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! 

********

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.

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.

Most school counselors aren’t ineffective.
They’re mis-measured.

In this episode, Steph challenges one of the profession’s most sacred assumptions and names something about her own work that most counselors wouldn’t dare say out loud.

This conversation explores what it means to do catalytic work in a system obsessed with finished products, and why that mismatch is costing counselors their confidence.

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Join the next-level conversation in my Substack.

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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! 

*********************************

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.

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.

Caring is what makes you good at this job. It’s also what puts you in the most danger.

If you’re a school counselor who still cares deeply about students, but you’ve noticed yourself feeling flatter, heavier, or more guarded than you used to- this episode is for you.

You’re still showing up. 
Still doing the work. 
But the caring itself has started to weigh on you, and you don’t know why.

In this episode, I talk about a kind of exhaustion that doesn’t come from being busy or overwhelmed. It builds from sitting with hard stories, holding emotional weight, and being the safe place for everyone else inside a role that rarely offers closure or relief.

This isn’t about burnout.
It’s about the unspoken cost of compassion in school counseling.

If you’ve ever thought, "Something feels wrong, but I don’t know how to name it," this conversation will help make it make sense.

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Episodes I referred to:

Ep. 87- Some of the Best School Counseling Advice I've Ever Heard

Ep. 180- The Question School Counselors NEVER Get Asked

Ep. 181- Why School Counselors Are So Tired (It’s Not Burnout)

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Join the next-level conversation in my Substack.

*********************************

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! 

*********************************

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.

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.

If you’re exhausted in a way that rest doesn’t fix, this episode is for you.

School counselors are often told they’re burned out, so they’re handed self-care tips, boundary advice, and mindset shifts that never quite work. There’s a reason for that.

In this episode, I unpack the research that shows what school counselors are actually dealing with- and why calling it burnout misses the point. When you name the real problem, the way you relate to your exhaustion, your work, and your expectations changes completely.

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Join the next-level conversation in my Substack.

*********************************

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! 

*********************************

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.

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.

School counselors are told to:

• Be flexible
• Make it work
• Advocate harder

And somehow still be accountable for everything.

But what if the real problem isn’t your mindset- or your effort?

In this episode, Steph Johnson revisits an early message from the podcast and names what was missing. She explains why reassurance has a shelf life, how guilt gets mistaken for professionalism, and why endurance keeps getting rewarded in roles that were never built to work.

This isn’t about doing more.
It’s about seeing the job for what it actually is.

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Join the next-level conversation in my Substack.

*********************************

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! 

*********************************

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.

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.

Why does everything at school seem to turn into a competition... 
and why does it so often become a school counseling issue?

In this episode of the School for School Counselors Podcast, we explore what’s really happening when students compete over small moments and why school counselors are frequently asked to intervene even when there’s no clear behavior problem. 

We look at the neurological and social drivers behind competitive behavior, how these moments get misread by adults, and how that misinterpretation quietly increases the workload and pressure placed on school counselors.

This episode isn’t about strategies, tools, or interventions.
It’s about understanding the pattern beneath the referrals.

If you’re a school counselor who feels pulled into situations that don’t quite make sense- but still feel urgent- this conversation will help you see what’s actually happening before the response gets triggered.

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Join the next-level conversation in my Substack.

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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! 

*********************************

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.

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.

Everyone was laughing... until suddenly someone wasn’t.

Learn how "burns" work, why it’s usually mutual until it isn’t, and how to know when it’s time to shift from counseling to consequences.

Burn culture shows up in those fast, sarcastic exchanges where students trade “jokes” for laughs, status, and social footing... until someone becomes the cost of the humor. 

In this episode, we unpack why these moments feel so hard to respond to in real time, how adolescent peer dynamics fuel them, and how school counselors can step in with confidence when the line has clearly been crossed.

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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.

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.

Why do some students wait until school counselors are walking out the door before they finally open up?

It’s not randomness, and it’s definitely not manipulation. It’s nervous system timing, and understanding it will change the way you interpret those 3:24 p.m. confessions forever.

In this episode, Steph Johnson breaks down the neurobiology behind “drive-by disclosures” and explains why so many students can only share the hard stuff after the bell rings. You’ll learn:

• Why nervous system safety rises at the end of the school day
• How control and autonomy shape when students speak
• The role attachment patterns play in last-minute disclosures
• How to tell the difference between a disclosure and a true crisis
• What to do in the moment- without sacrificing your boundaries

Most importantly, you’ll hear a grounded, clinical explanation of why students trust you most at the exact moment you feel least available.

If you’ve ever wondered, “Why now?” this episode finally gives you the answer.

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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.

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.

The hoodie isn’t the problem.
It’s the messages we’re missing.

In this episode, Steph Johnson takes you inside one of the most misunderstood behaviors on a school campus: the kids who cover up, layer up, or hide inside hoodies no matter the temperature. 

Using research from adolescent psychology, sensory science, trauma, school anxiety, and identity development, Steph explains what hoodie behavior really communicates… and why school counselors are uniquely positioned to decode it.

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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.

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.

Those hallway TikTok routines are saying something, school counselor- and it’s not what you think.

In this episode, we decode what those repeated dance loops reveal about belonging, status, and the adolescent brain. 

You’ll learn how synchronized movement functions as a social signal and why these micro-performances can be early indicators of connection, pressure, or exclusion on your campus.

If you’ve ever walked past a TikTok trend at school and wondered what you’re really seeing, this episode gives you the insight you’ve been missing.

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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.

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.

“Rizz.” “Bet.” “Six-Seven.”

Sounds like noise... but it’s not.

In this episode of the School for School Counselors Podcast, Steph Johnson breaks down what teen slang really means, and how it maps your campus culture in ways most adults never notice. You’ll hear the neuroscience behind why slang sticks, the social psychology that makes it powerful, and how school counselors can use it to spot who’s connecting… and who’s slipping through the cracks.

If you’ve ever smiled and nodded through a phrase you didn’t understand, this one’s for you.

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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! 

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.

Some counselors never have to fight for their role- or explain their worth. 

That’s not luck. It’s skill.

In this episode, you’ll learn how the most respected school counselors earn trust, keep influence, and make their programs untouchable, no “advocacy” required.

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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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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.

Students refusing school isn’t new... but what’s happening now is different.

Across the country, nearly one in three students is missing ten percent or more of the school year.

And while everyone’s blaming “attendance apathy” or “bad parenting,” the truth is a lot more complicated.

In this episode, I talk about what school refusal really is- and what it’s not.
You’ll learn the four hidden drivers behind school avoidance, how to spot them, and exactly what school counselors can do (without becoming the attendance police).

We’ll also talk about the conversations no one wants to have, like what to do when it’s the parent keeping the student home, or when a student says flat-out, “I just don’t want to go.”

This isn’t another pep talk about attendance incentives.

It’s a grounded, evidence-based roadmap for helping kids come back to school- and want to stay there.

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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!  As mentioned in the episode, use code OCTOBER 25 for a limited time.⭐️

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Where to go next, depending on what you need today...

NEW → Grab my free ​Secret Series for School Counselors​- Six short stories about what no one’s willing to say in school counseling

Listen to more of the​ School for School Counselors Podcast​- Real talk and honest insights for school counselors tired of pretending it’s all fine

​Join the School for School Counselors Mastermind​- The professional home for school counselors who love the job… and want to keep their sanity

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.

October hits different, doesn’t it? One week you’re flying high after a student breakthrough, and the next- you’re wondering if you can even make it to Friday.

In this episode, I’m talking about the rollercoaster of school counseling: why it feels impossible to stay grounded this time of year, what’s really fueling the highs and lows, and three sanity-saving ways to keep your footing when everything around you feels like too much.

We’ll get real about the myths we’ve bought into (like thinking we’re supposed to “fix” everything or perfectly follow the ASCA model) and what it actually looks like to stay centered when the job gets heavy.

If you’ve been questioning whether you’re cut out for this work… this conversation might change how you see yourself (and the season you’re in).

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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! ⭐️

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.

The radio call comes in. A student’s refusing to move, and suddenly, everyone’s looking at you to fix it.

Here’s what nobody ever told us in grad school: defiance and dysregulation can look the same from the outside, but they require completely different responses.

This episode gives you a clear, evidence-based way to figure out the difference, match the right tool to the right circumstance, and keep your cool when the pressure’s on.

References

Corrigan, F. M., Fisher, J. J., & Nutt, D. J. (2011). Autonomic dysregulation and the window of tolerance model of the effects of complex emotional trauma. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 25(1), 17-25.

Lebowitz, E. R., Panza, K. E., & Bloch, M. H. (2016). Family accommodation in obsessive-compulsive and anxiety disorders: A five-year update. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 16(1), 45-53.

Shahan, T. A. (2022). Explaining extinction and relapse. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 117(3), 360-375. 

Siegel, D. J. (2012). The developing mind: How relationships and the brain interact to shape who we are (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.

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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.

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.