School for School Counselors Podcast

Steph Johnson
Steph Johnson
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Ready to cut through the noise and get to the heart of what it really means to be a school counselor today? Welcome to The School for School Counselors Podcast! Let’s be honest: this job is rewarding, but it’s also one of the toughest, most misunderstood roles out there. That’s why I'm here, offering real talk and evidence-based insights about the everyday highs and lows of the work we love. Think of this podcast as your go-to conversation with a trusted friend who just gets it. I'm here to deliver honest insights, share some laughs, and get real about the challenges that come with being a school counselor. Feeling overwhelmed? Frustrated? Eager to make a significant impact? I'm here to provide practical advice, smart strategies, and plenty of support. Each week, we’ll tackle topics ranging from building a strong counseling program to effectively using data—and we won’t shy away from addressing the tough issues. If you’re ready to stop chasing impossible standards and want to connect with others who truly understand the complexities of your role, you’re in the right place. So find a quiet spot, get comfortable, and get ready to feel more confident and supported than you’ve ever felt before.  For more resources and to stay connected, visit schoolforschoolcounselors.com.

  1. 4d ago

    You’re Planning Your School Counseling Program Backwards

    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. ******** "Best Year Ever!" happens July 21-24. Get your ticket today. ******** 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 Planning Your School Counseling Program Backwards

  2. Jul 6

    What Makes You a Remarkable School Counselor?

    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? ******** "Best Year Ever!" happens July 21-24. Get your ticket today. ******** 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 Makes You a Remarkable School Counselor?

  3. Jun 29

    The Student Mental Health Bot Nobody Asked For

    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. ******** 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 Student Mental Health Bot Nobody Asked For

  4. Jun 22

    Social Media Drama Just Got a Price Tag

    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. ******** 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.

    Social Media Drama Just Got a Price Tag

  5. Jun 15

    I Broke My #1 School Counseling Rule (Here's What Happened)

    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. ******** 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.

    I Broke My #1 School Counseling Rule (Here's What Happened)

  6. Jun 1

    Is It an Intervention, or Theatre?

    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.] ------- 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. ******** 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 It an Intervention, or Theatre?

  7. May 25

    When They Want Your Spreadsheets, Not Your Insight

    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. ******** 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.

    When They Want Your Spreadsheets, Not Your Insight

  8. May 18

    The Kids Just Like You Too Much

    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. ******** 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 Kids Just Like You Too Much
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About

Ready to cut through the noise and get to the heart of what it really means to be a school counselor today? Welcome to The School for School Counselors Podcast! Let’s be honest: this job is rewarding, but it’s also one of the toughest, most misunderstood roles out there. That’s why I'm here, offering real talk and evidence-based insights about the everyday highs and lows of the work we love. Think of this podcast as your go-to conversation with a trusted friend who just gets it. I'm here to deliver honest insights, share some laughs, and get real about the challenges that come with being a school counselor. Feeling overwhelmed? Frustrated? Eager to make a significant impact? I'm here to provide practical advice, smart strategies, and plenty of support. Each week, we’ll tackle topics ranging from building a strong counseling program to effectively using data—and we won’t shy away from addressing the tough issues. If you’re ready to stop chasing impossible standards and want to connect with others who truly understand the complexities of your role, you’re in the right place. So find a quiet spot, get comfortable, and get ready to feel more confident and supported than you’ve ever felt before.  For more resources and to stay connected, visit schoolforschoolcounselors.com.

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