Prioritize Mental and Behavioral Health to Improve Overall Well Being

Budgeting for more counselors and school-based clinicians, and providing clinical supervision for those individuals would be great! For districts that are not making that happen for whatever reason, here are some other ideas.

Psychoeducation for students, their families, and staff is a must. Whether it is Mental Health 101, Generalized Anxiety, Depression, or other topics like social anxiety and school avoidance, even suicidality. We must accurately inform our students, staff, and communities, and normalize their feelings, symptoms, and related behaviors, in order to reduce stigma and harsh judgment of ourselves and from others. It’s also important to provide a safe and supportive environment for honest questions to be asked and answered.

I suggest surveying students and staff regarding healthy self care practices, and utilizing local resources to bring those to our schools in the form of school wide assemblies, wellness fairs, after school programs, and perhaps some collective wellness practices before and/or at the beginning of our school day. These could even be pre-recorded and made available to our staff and students if hosting them live does not seem like a viable option…yet.

If I had the power to, I would create a space in every classroom and office space within our schools for students (and staff) to take a break…to refocus, recharge, regulate, and be better prepared to return to the task at hand in a more balanced state. Our adults would not only model
them in planned lessons, but also in authentic situations. Call them Calm Corners, Regulation Stations, Peace Tables, or whatever you choose. Intentionally design them, explicitly teach how to properly utilize them, sincerely encourage their use, and facilitate time and space for self care. I also suggest an adults only space like this for staff, and taking steps to ensure that its use is not only supported but encouraged.

I also feel strongly that we must go beyond requiring educators to explicitly teach SEL without proper training and/or support. Provide coaches who can facilitate training, lead and coteach lessons, and be supported in growing their ability to recognize the ways they are already embedding SEL naturally, as well as discover authentic and creative ways of building upon this practice.

I know this is a lot. I’m extremely passionate! And I believe this can be done. We are already witnessing the need. Now, we need to listen to the voices and take action. Many schools and communities are taking steps toward some positive changes. Don’t stop. Try different ideas. Let’s do more!

Tags: Climate and culture, Integrating SEL into academics, Mental health

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