School for School Counselors Podcast

Steph Johnson
  • 4.8 (231)
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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. When They Want Your Spreadsheets, Not Your Insight

    4d ago

    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.

    9 min
  2. The Kids Just Like You Too Much

    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. ******** 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.

    26 min
  3. 3 Decisions You’ll Regret Not Making Before August

    May 12

    3 Decisions You’ll Regret Not Making Before August

    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. ******** 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.

    22 min
  4. “It's Been Happening All Year.” So Why Is It a Referral Now?

    May 4

    “It's Been Happening All Year.” So Why Is It a Referral Now?

    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. ******** 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.

    26 min
  5. No One Knows What You Do- And That's Dangerous

    Apr 27

    No One Knows What You Do- And That's Dangerous

    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.

    23 min
  6. This Isn't Burnout. It's Gaslighting.

    Apr 22

    This Isn't Burnout. It's Gaslighting.

    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.

    22 min
  7. A Year Full of “Yeses”… and a Lot of Regret

    Apr 13

    A Year Full of “Yeses”… and a Lot of Regret

    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. 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.

    26 min
  8. Restorative Justice Works (Just Not Like That)

    Apr 6

    Restorative Justice Works (Just Not Like That)

    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 rushedTrying to facilitate a process you were never really trained to leadKnowing 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. 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.

    35 min
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4.8
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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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