Leadership Letter: Let's Share the Load

Dear amazing Colorado school counselors,

If you are like me, you are feeling more than overwhelmed. You are feeling stressed, frustrated, confused and even downright tired. All of the schedule changes, figuring out how to meet with students online and in-person, what goals to set in a year like this and how to meet the needs of all our kids has taken its toll both physically and emotionally. In this edition of the CSCA Newsletter, we are focusing on mental health collaboration. This is the perfect opportunity to think about how to take some of the load off our shoulders as school counselors and try to share the load with other mental health professionals within our buildings and even our community. We must remember to also take care of ourselves (I know, super hard to do right now!) and know that we are no good to our students if we, ourselves, are struggling (here is an ASCA Article on the matter of self-care for school counselors). Reaching out to other professionals to problem solve student issues so you aren’t figuring out every little piece on your own is very helpful. In my building, our school psychologists and our community-based therapist have proved invaluable. In other buildings you may have social workers, behavioral specialists or affective needs teachers, among other professionals, that you can consult with to form the best possible care for students who need mental health services.

This time we are in is very taxing on all of us. Know that we are all in this together and if you need support, please reach out to a fellow school counselor who can listen and hopefully ease some of the burden and stress we are all facing right now. Remember, you are doing an amazing job! In the midst of all the chaos, understand that you’ve got this and you’re doing wonderful things for the students who need us so much right now.

Contact Jennifer Quintana, CSCA president-elect, at president-elect@coloradoschoolcounselor.org.