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How to Write S.M.A.R.T. Social-Emotional, Behavioral Health, and Mental Health IEP & Counseling Treatment Plan Goals
This post breaks down how to write S‑M‑A‑R‑T IEP and treatment plan goals for social emotional and mental health support. You’ll learn what makes goals Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time‑bounded, and see clear examples using real student scenarios. It also explains how to select supports, collect measurable data, write objectives and collaborate with families and teams.
How to Create a Calm & Professional Therapist Instagram Feed Without Spending Hours on Design
This post explains how therapists can design a calm and professional Instagram feed without spending hours on graphics. You’ll learn simple tips like choosing a cohesive neutral color palette, using consistent fonts and a few select templates, batching posts in advance, and reusing stories or reels. It also covers thoughtful captions, scheduling tools and branding choices that reflect your values while saving time.
Grit and Perseverance Videos and Activities for Kids
This post provides videos and hands on activities to help kids build grit and resilience. You’ll find a custom grit social story alongside animated stories, TED videos, songs, scenarios and games. These resources model perseverance by showing how real people and characters face challenges, keep learning, and reach their goals.
18 Growth Mindset Books for Kids About Mistakes, Art, and The Power of Yet!
This post highlights eighteen picture books for kids that celebrate growth mindset themes like embracing mistakes, trying again, creative expression, and the power of yet. You’ll find titles that show children learning through error, finding strength in effort, exploring art as a process, and shifting from fixed beliefs to resilient thinking. These books support children in learning to grow, persist and experiment.
Growth Mindset Videos and Activities for Kids
This post offers videos and hands-on activities to teach kids about growth mindset. You’ll find ideas for social stories, motivational clips, games, and creative prompts that highlight effort, resilience, and learning from failure. Activities include making “yet crowns,” growth mindset sorting mats, affirmations, journaling prompts, and thought cards to practice shifting fixed mindset language.
Supporting Students with Winter Social-Emotional Learning Activities for Counseling and Classrooms
This post shares winter social emotional learning activities for counseling and classrooms. You will find hands on ideas like winter themed emotion yoga felt story prompts gratitude crafts sharing rounds and check ins tied to seasonal themes. Each activity promotes empathy, self regulation, relationship building and coping skills. These tools help students stay engaged, grounded and resilient through winter months.
How and Why We Should Teach Children How to Use I-Statements for Assertive Problem Solving
This post explains why teaching children to use I‑statements empowers them to handle conflicts with assertiveness and respect. You’ll learn how an I‑statement lets kids name their feelings, identify what caused them, and express needs without blame. It outlines steps to model, practice, and reinforce these messages across everyday situations. These strategies support emotional awareness, communication skills, and collaborative problem solving.
9 Tips to Help Kids Who Are Anxious About Drones
This post shares nine tips for supporting children who feel anxious about drones. You’ll learn to begin with emotion validation, naming what feels scary, offering reassuring facts about how drones fly and their purposes, limiting exposure to alarming news, staying calm as the adult, and creating small practices for children to build comfort. These strategies help children face uncertainty with confidence and support.
Picture Books About Perseverance and Grit for Kids
Here is a list of the best picture books about perseverance and grit for children
How to Structure Group Counseling Sessions with Children
This post outlines a consistent structure for group counseling sessions with children. Each session begins with opening practice, agreement review, and a visual schedule. A trauma informed mindful moment and feelings check follow. Then comes the weekly SEL lesson and coping skill activity, coloring practice of three skills, and a closing mindful moment with final feelings check and closing practice.
IEP vs. 504 Plan: 7 Tips to Understand the Difference
This post clarifies the differences between an IEP and a 504 plan for supporting children with disabilities in school. It outlines eligibility requirements, access rights, types of services provided, legal protections, and when to pursue each option. You’ll also find seven practical tips to determine which plan fits a child’s needs and how to work collaboratively with schools.
Effective Parent Communication and 7 Tips for Having Difficult Conversations with Families
This post shares how to build trust and work effectively with families through strong communication. You’ll find seven practical tips for difficult conversations with parents, including reaching out early about positives, preparing ahead, using respectful language, staying calm and solution-focused, listening actively, and centering the child. Discussion strategies are paired with sample phrases and communication best practices.
5 Things You Should Know About Quitting
This post shares five key things to know about quitting in family and child contexts. You learn why quitting may signal mental health or motivation issues, how to weigh frustration against persistence, why quitting too early can cost growth, and when quitting can be a healthy choice. These insights help parents and professionals decide thoughtfully and compassionately when quitting is okay.
Fall and Halloween Sensory Bins and Dough Activities to Explore Feelings
This post shares sensory bin and dough activities themed for fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving that help children explore emotions. You’ll find ideas like filling bins with autumn textures, dough stations with feeling labels, pumpkin sensory tubs, and gratitude dough prompts. Each activity encourages emotion naming, sensory exploration, curiosity, and calm while connecting seasonal themes with emotional learning.
Progress Monitoring SMART Goals and Data Collection for School Counselors
This post guides school counselors through crafting SMART goals, implementing interventions, and gathering data to track students’ progress. It defines progress monitoring, explains process perception and outcome data, and shows how to use data to adjust strategies and advocate for counseling services. Practical examples include group attendance, self ratings, behavior referrals and academic outcomes.
3 High-Impact Art Therapy-Inspired Activities to Transform Anger
This post shares three art therapy inspired activities designed to help children transform anger into positive energy. Activities include scribble release art, creating an anger creature, and designing a calming mandala. Each exercise guides expression, reflection, and emotional regulation in a playful, hands on way. These tools support self awareness, stress relief, and coping skills with minimal materials.
Email Signature Quotes for School Counselors, Psychologists, Social Workers, and Other Educators
This post shares over 100 curated quotes ideal for email signatures used by counselors, social workers, psychologists, and educators. Quotes cover themes like kindness, resilience, empathy, growth mindset, self care, presence, motivation, and hope. It also offers free Canva templates and guidance for choosing and rotating your quote to reflect your values and inspire daily.
7 Tips for Parenting Highly Sensitive Kids
This post shares seven practical tips for parenting highly sensitive kids. You’ll learn how to validate their sensitivity, remain calm during meltdowns, validate feelings, provide downtime, and partner with them gently. It also covers educating children about their temperament and focusing on strengths rather than deficits. These approaches help families honor sensitivity and build trust, resilience, and emotional safety.
Organization Tips for School Counselor's Offices and Classrooms
This post shares practical organization tips for school counselor offices and classrooms. You’ll find advice on using binders for lesson materials, labeling bins and files, sorting books by category, and setting up systems for referrals and lesson plans. It also covers workspace setup, line of sight for frequently used supplies, and strategies to reduce visual clutter and time spent searching. These ideas streamline workflow and reduce stress.
6 Things to Say Instead of "Don't Worry About it" and 5 Playful Strategies for Kids to Understand Anxiety
This post outlines six supportive phrases to say instead of "don’t worry about it" along with five playful strategies to help children understand anxiety. You’ll learn how to validate emotions, offer reassurance, and use creative tools like worry characters, breathing games, and thought reframing. These approaches support kids in building coping skills and calm when worries feel overwhelming.
How to Celebrate and Promote Kindness in Schools
This post provides ideas to celebrate and promote kindness in schools. You’ll find suggestions for kindness chains, scavenger hunts, note stations, appreciation events, and kindness rocks. It includes printable cards, scripts, and staff recognition prompts. These tools support a school wide culture of compassion, inclusion and gratitude that connects students, teachers, and families.
Supporting Children’s Mental Health with CBT: Unpacking the Thoughts, Feelings, and Behaviors of Kids
This post explains how Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT supports children’s mental health by unpacking thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. You’ll find simple explanations of the CBT triangle model, examples of intrusive or distorted thoughts, and coping strategies like emotion naming, thought reframing, and behavior change. These tools help adults guide children toward emotional resilience through structured support.
Picture Books about Flexible Thinking and Dealing with Change for Kids
This post recommends picture books that teach flexible thinking, handling change and bouncing back from disappointment. Titles like A Little Spot of Flexible Thinking show how kids can shift perspectives like a palm tree in the wind. Books such as Tilda Tries Again, Not a Box and Flexible Thinking Ninja model adaptability, persistence and creativity to build resilience in children.
Why You’re Probably Thinking of Autism Wrong: The Prism Autism Theory
This post challenges common beliefs about autism and highlights why media often shows only severe cases. It explains how many children go undiagnosed or are misdiagnosed because presentations vary widely. The post explores traits like detail focus, binary thinking, and slow deliberative cognitive style. It encourages viewing autism as a neurotype with strengths and supports rather than a deficit.
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