School Counseling Simplified Podcast

100: How to Teach When You're Not a Teacher!

19 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Does the thought of teaching class lessons overwhelm you? Maybe you don't have classroom teaching experience or you aren't comfortable managing an ent...

99: Sourcing Classroom Lesson Topics

12 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Are you unsure what to teach during classroom lessons? Is coming up with ideas for meaningful and impactful lessons overwhelming? This episode is for ...

98: How to Teach Counseling Lessons When You Have a Huge Caseload

05 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How am I supposed to find time to plan and teach classroom lessons on top of individual and small group lessons? Have you asked yourself this question...

97: Summer Self-Care Tips for School Counselors

28 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We all want to use the summer to spend time with our family and friends, rest, and prepare for the upcoming school year. I know that preparing for the...

96: How to Collect School Counseling Data Throughout the School Year

21 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever gotten to the end of the school year and panicked because you don't have enough data for your reports? Today we are doing a deep dive in...

95: How to Incorporate Journaling into Your Counseling Sessions with Literacy Specialist Megan Polk

14 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Are you looking for a way to incorporate journaling into your classroom and group activities or give your current journaling practices a revamp but ar...

94: Classroom Management Mistakes You May Not Know You're Making with Kindergarten Teacher Kristina Harrill

07 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Everybody loves tips and tricks for making classroom management easier, especially when you're working with a range of grades. Kindergarten classrooms...

93. Using Parent/Teacher Feedback Data to Modify Your Counseling Program

31 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Data is a powerful tool. The more data we can collect on our counseling programs, the more effective our programs will be and the more students we wil...

92: How to Create an End of the Year Report

24 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Clarity brings purpose. A lot of times people don't really know what a school counselor does, and there's a lot of confusion around the role of the co...

91: How to Use Attendance Data to Form School Counseling Groups

17 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Attendance is important. You may be surprised to learn that even a small number of days missed can put students at risk of struggling academically. Ev...

90: How This School Counselor Uses an End of the Year Report to Transform Her Program with Katherine Guerrero

10 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What if you had a simple, easy-to-use data tool that would help you make improvements to your program and give you a visual display you can show to yo...

89: How This School Counselor Uses Behavior Surveys to Transform Her Program with Jessica Weinberg

03 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Data collection is key to making improvements to your counseling program and advocating for your role. This month on the podcast we're talking about d...

88: Strategically Selecting Internship Experiences to Build Portfolio

26 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

All month we've been talking about the interview process. First, I shared my own interview experience as a school counselor in episode 85. In episod...

87: Resume Must-Haves with Carol Miller from Counseling Essentials

19 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today, I interview the go-to resume person, Carol Miller. This episode is full of advice and wisdom from someone who knows exactly what school distric...

86: Mock Interview Questions with Lauren Tingle from Counselor Clique

12 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

If you're a recent graduate who is looking for your first school counseling job or if you're an experienced counselor who is looking for a new job and...

85: What I Learned Interviewing as a School Counselor

05 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Are you looking for a school counseling job? Whether you're getting ready to graduate and trying to land your very first school counseling position or...

84: Spring Resource Roundup

29 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Spring is finally here, and we can get outside and enjoy the sunshine! I love springtime because it's like a fresh rebirth. Spring is one of those tim...

83: Anxiety Strategies for Individual Counseling

22 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Providing counseling in a one-on-one setting is so powerful for our students who are experiencing extreme anxiety. Today, we are wrapping up our anxie...

82: Anxiety Strategies for Small Group Counseling

15 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

All month we've been talking about anxiety, and today I'm going to talk specifically about how you can help students with anxiety through an anxiety s...

81: Anxiety Strategies for Class Counseling Lessons

08 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

I'm a big fan of doing class lessons. It's a great way to plant seeds with students and teach them strategies they can use going forward that can empo...

80: Anxiety Counseling Crash Course

01 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Most students experience anxiety at some point in their lives. As school counselors, it's important that we understand the different ways anxiety can ...

79: 3 Must-Have Data Tools for Individual Counseling

22 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Collecting data is so important for our students and our counseling programs. It helps us answer questions like:  How can we teach this material to ...

78. How to Build Genuine Rapport in Individual Sessions (beyond Jenga!)

15 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Don't get me wrong…playing games like Jenga can be a fun and effective way to build relationships with students. To make the greatest impact in the ...

77: How to Celebrate National School Counseling Week (even if you're a solo counselor!)

08 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Let's celebrate! It's National School Counseling Week! You are doing meaningful work, and you deserve to be recognized and celebrated. If you're feeli...

76: What do I do During Individual Counseling Sessions?

01 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Do you ever feel like you're just winging it during individual counseling sessions? When I first got started in individual counseling, I felt overwhel...

75: Data Collection Without Tears

25 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

You guys want more data, and I am here for it! I thought I had talked about data enough, but after doing a poll to find out what your New Year's goals...

74: Simple Small Group Organization Hacks

18 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This month I'm focusing on sourcing topics based on the feedback you gave me on your goals for the year. I had one of you say that their goal was to r...

73: How to Create a Schedule That Doesn't Overwhelm You

11 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

I recently put a poll out to find out what your counselor goals, or resolutions, are for 2022. I used your answers to plan for my podcast episodes for...

72: Ask me Anything (and a few resolutions!)

04 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Happy 2022, school counselors! I hope you had a restful holiday break and are ready for what the next 12 months have in store for you! Do you enjoy th...

71: Unexpected Self-Care Tips for the New Year

28 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What comes to mind when you hear "self-care"? We all know self-care is important, but what about self-care at work? There are actually ways to practic...

70: How to Conduct a Mid-Year Data Checkup

21 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Tracking and collecting data throughout the school year is a must. In this episode, I'm sharing how you can conduct a mid-year data checkup so you can...

69: Why you Should Host a Counseling Holiday Party

14 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What are some of your favorite memories from elementary school? It's important for kids to have positive experiences around school and for our counsel...

68: How to Use a Countdown Calendar to Build Rapport with Drop-in Students

07 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Happy December! The countdown to winter break is on. I absolutely love this time of year. Everything is so fun and festive, especially at the elementa...

67: Team Player Series: Students

30 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The first episode back after Thanksgiving break is the final episode of the Team Player Series, focused on students. I have spoken about how to collab...

66: Team Player Series: Admin

16 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

All month I've been talking about how you can collaborate with your stakeholders, and this episode is dedicated to principals. Your administration can...

65: Team Player Series: Parents

09 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For this week's Team Player Series episode, I will share how to get parents on board. I'm sure each and every one of you listening right now has exper...

64: Team Player Series: Teachers

02 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

As we approach the holiday season I hope you take time to rest and reflect on how you feel about the first few months of school. I know some of you ha...

63. Create Counseling Games with Halloween Candy Buckets

26 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

To wrap up one of my favorite months, I decided to do a seasonal episode in the spirit of Halloween! I'll be sharing some fun activities you can do wi...

62: Ideas for School Wide Initiatives

19 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever taught a great lesson only to have your student forget everything the next time they walk through your door? Teaching students truly tak...

61. Non-Boring Bullying Prevention Month Ideas

12 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Did you know that October is Bullying Prevention Month? It's truly one of my favorite topics to discuss with my students. It is so important to work o...

60: CELEBRATING ONE YEAR OF THE PODCAST: The Best of School Counseling Simplified

05 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Can you believe it's already October?! What's more exciting is that we are celebrating ONE YEAR of this podcast, School Counseling Simplified! I wante...

59: How This Veteran Counselor is Using Data to Transform Her Program Big Time! (and You Can Too!) with Terry Foytek

28 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today is extra exciting because we have a veteran counselor on the show, Terry Foytek. Terry has been a school counselor for 25 years and is a student...

58. How This First Year Counselor is Implementing Productivity Systems with Confidence! (and You Can Too!) with Kaylena Rasmussen

24 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

If you have been considering joining my Stress Free School Counseling course, then this episode is for you. I don't have guest episodes often, but I h...

57: 3 Scheduling Strategies to Increase your Impact

21 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Do you constantly feel like you are putting out fires rather than preventing them? Or maybe you take work home regularly to catch up because of all th...

56: 2 Game Changing Organization Tools

14 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There are two things I suggest you focus on first and foremost as the school year begins. The first one is data collection, which I talked about durin...

55. Why It's Not Too Soon to Collect Data

07 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

By now, you may know how much I LOVE data collection, and there's a good reason for it! Collecting and sharing data is the best way to measure growth ...

54: What to do When Everyone's Not on Board

31 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

With a new year upon us, there are always changes that are made in the public schools. This can be new students, new staff or administration, a new sc...

53: 3 Ways to Advocate for Your Position at the Beginning of the Year

24 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

As the school year is upon us, I'm sure you've been busy preparing your lessons and materials. You're probably ready for your individual, group, and c...

52: How to Use the ASCA National Model When Planning for the Year

17 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

I'm sure I'm not the only one who was familiar with the ASCA National Model, but didn't quite know what it meant to see it in action. Of course we all...

51: Back to Basics: Why 3 Tiered MTSS?

10 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Whether you're a new counselor or a veteran, when you think of MTSS you are likely picturing the pyramid that outlines the system previously referred ...

50: How to Create a School Counseling Curriculum Map

03 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Back to school season is quickly approaching, or may already be here for many of you! When it comes to getting all your ducks in a row for a new schoo...

49: How to Design Small Group Curriculum That Works

27 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

I don't know about you, but I have really loved this month's Small Group Series! I am super passionate about this topic and hope you feel prepared for...

48: How You Can Organize Your Small Group Materials to Incentivize Attendance

20 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For today's "small group series" episode, I'll be talking about how to organize your small group materials to incentivize attendance. I'm sure you're ...

47: How You Can Use Your Small Group Data to Form Your Groups and Determine Their Effectiveness

13 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

I'm excited to share this episode with you this week while I'm at the ASCA Conference! Make sure to come say hello if you see me! I'm also excited bec...

46: Everything You Need to Know About Establishing Small Groups

06 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

As you begin to think about going back to school, it's the perfect time to think about how to best establish small groups. Over the next few weeks, I'...

45: Your 30,60,90 Day Plan as a New School Counselor

29 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is a great one because you get a sneak peek into my new counselor bootcamp! Now if you're not a new counselor, believe me you'll still...

44: I've Got a School Counseling Job, Now What?!

22 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

I'm pretty sure every school counselor has a vision of how they want their office to be decorated. Whether it's the organization or decorations, there...

43: Counselor Stories: How Scheduling and Organization Tools Can be Game-Changers in Your Counseling Program

15 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On today's episode we have two special guests that are joining me after they've completed the Stress Free School Counseling course. They share the spe...

42: How This Counselor Quantifies Student Progress to Advocate for Her Role (and You Can Too!) with Rebekah Murphy

08 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

I am SO excited to introduce you to the newest member of Bright Futures, Rebekah Murphy. I'm sure you'll see Rebekah on social media and now that she'...

41: How a Crisis Response Team Protocol Can Transform Your Counseling Program

01 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

One of the many reasons we become school counselors is to be able to provide support to students when they're experiencing a crisis. We are often give...

40: 12 Strategies to Increase Your Impact and Get the Recognition You Deserve!

25 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This month I really focused on how to use scheduling, organization, and data collection to reach more students and advocate for your role. To end the ...

39: How You Can Use an EOTY Report to Increase Your Impact and Advocate for Your Role

18 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The last two weeks I went over a scheduling tool and an organizational hack to introduce my month-long series on reaching more students and advocating...

38: How You Can Use a Counseling Log to Increase Your Impact and Advocate for Your Role

11 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Last week we started the month-long series on reaching more students than ever before and advocating for your role. For week two, we are talking about...

37: How You Can Batch Communication to Increase Your Impact and Advocate for Your Role

04 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Over the next four weeks I'm going to be putting the "simple" into School Counseling Simplified. With the end of the school year approaching, I am not...

36: How to Facilitate an Individual Counseling Session

27 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

As a wrap up of our month of individual sessions, today's episode is about how to facilitate individual counseling sessions. These sessions used to be...

35: How to Collect Data in Individual Counseling Sessions

20 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Let me ask you this, do you have time to reinvent the wheel? If you're a school counselor listening to this episode I can almost guarantee you do not!...

34. How to Collaborate as a Team to Support Individual Students

13 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Last week, I talked about how to get started with individual counseling sessions. This week we're looking at how to collaborate with parents and teach...

33: What You Need to Know About Planning Individual Counseling Sessions

06 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Happy April! Over the past couple months I've shared information on classroom lessons (tier 1) and small groups (tier 2). This month we are starting a...

32: Richard Capriola on Adolescent Substance Abuse

30 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links In today's episode, I have a special guest on! I interview Richard Capriola about adolescent substance abuse and his new book, Th...

31: How to Facilitate a Small Group - Complete Walkthrough

23 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links In today's episode I do a complete walkthrough of a mock small group. I show you step-by-step how to facilitate a group counselin...

30: How to Collect Data in Small Groups

16 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links In today's episode I share 2 strategies for collecting data in small group counseling. Join my school counselor membership IMPACT...

29: The Anatomy of an Engaging Small Group

09 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links In today's episode, I share the 5 components of an engaging small group. Download your free group session here! Free Resource L...

28. How to Start a Small Group: Size and Schedule

04 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links In today's episode, I share how to start a small group including how to use a referral-based system and schedule sessions. Downl...

27. Tech Tools for Scheduling Class Lessons

23 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links In today's episode, I share 3 tech tools to help teachers sign up for class lessons; saving your time and sanity! Calendly Stress...

26. Choosing the Right Class Lesson Topic

16 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links In today's episode, I share 4 steps for choosing your class lesson topics. Needs Assessment  Guidance Lessons Workshop Connect w...

25: The Anatomy of an Engaging Class Lesson

09 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links In today's episode, I share how to create an engaging class lesson by breaking it down step by step. Free Resource Library Conne...

24. Classroom Management Strategies for School Counselors

02 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links In today's episode I share 5 classroom management strategies you can use during SEL lessons. Go Noodle Free Resource Library Con...

23. Grief Counseling in Tier 2 & 3

26 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links In today's episode I share strategies for addressing grief during small groups and individual sessions. Grief Group Curriculum  ...

22. Grief Counseling: A Tier 1 Approach

19 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links In today's episode I share strategies for addressing grief at the classroom level. Free Resource Library Connect with Rachel on ...

21. How I stressed less and increased my impact using 3 simple strategies

12 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links In today's episode, I share my personal transformation and how I went from hot mess to no stress using 3 simple strategies! Are y...

20. 5 things I wish I knew when I first started counseling

05 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links In today's episode, I share 5 things I wish I knew when I first started counseling. Maybe my past mistakes will help prevent you ...

19. How to Switch Your Counseling Strategy Mid-year

29 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links Did you know it's not too late to switch up your counseling strategy? In today's episode, I share why the new year is the perfect...

18. How to Immediately Free Up Time in your Schedule

22 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links In today's episode I share a trick for immediately freeing up time in your schedule. Free Resource Library Join us in the Facebo...

17. 5 Strategies for Stress Free Data Collection

17 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links In today's episode, I share 5 easy to implement strategies to help you collect and analyze data in your counseling program so you...

16. Mastering Data Collection to get the Recognition You Deserve!

15 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links In today's episode, I share how collecting data can help you fine-tune your counseling program to best serve your students and he...

15. 5 Strategies for Stress Free Organization

10 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links In today's episode, I share 5 easy to implement strategies to help you organize your counseling program so you can increase your ...

14. Organize your Work Life to Increase your Impact

08 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links In today's episode, I share how organizing your office and desktop can make your counseling life easier! By freeing up time spent...

13. 5 Strategies for Stress Free Scheduling

03 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links In today's episode, I share 5 easy to implement strategies to help you free up space in your day so you can increase your impact!...

12. How Taking Control of your Schedule can Increase your Impact

01 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links In today's episode, I share how taking control of your schedule can increase your impact! By freeing up time in your schedule you...

11. How to Plan Individual Sessions

24 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links For the final tier of school counseling interventions, we deep dive into individual sessions. Today I share with you what to do i...

10. How to Plan Small Groups

17 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links In today's episode, I share tips on how to plan small groups! I break down how to find students, how to schedule your groups, how...

9. Small Groups at the HS level and Tik Tok with Lauren

10 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links In today's episode, I interview Lauren from Counselor Clique. We chat about what it's like to be a high school counselor and how ...

8. Distance Learning Tech Tools with Carla

03 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links Elementary school counselor, Carla, and I chat about how to use tech tools to make distance learning easier at the elementary lev...

7. How to Plan Guidance Lessons

27 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links In today's episode, I share how to plan tier 1 classroom guidance lessons. Escape Room Style Guidance Lessons Guidance Lessons Bu...

6. The Importance of Advocating for your Role as a School Counselor

20 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Show Notes and Links In today's episode, I share how to advocate for your role as the school counselor so you can best serve your students and get the...

5. How to Host Minute Meetings That Make a Difference

13 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode, I share how you can use minute meetings to connect with all of your students, not just those frequent flyers! I also share tips fo...

4. Bullying Prevention Month Ideas

08 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

October is Bullying Prevention Month! In this BONUS episode, I give you ideas for bullying prevention activities to spread awareness. Show Notes and L...

3. How to Deliver MTSS Virtually

06 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In episode 3 I share how to deliver MTSS or RTI counseling services virtually. I share tips for implementing guidance lessons, small groups, and indiv...

2. How to Form Your Caseload

06 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In episode 2 I share tips on how to form your school counseling caseload. This proactive approach goes beyond collecting referral forms. Show Notes an...

1. Introduction

04 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to School Counseling Simplified, a podcast that offers easy to implement strategies for busy school counselors. In this episode, I, Rachel Dav...