Notes from the Counseling Department

I hope you are all having a relaxing, restful, rejuvenating summer vacation!  While I, too, am on vacation, it doesn't mean I stop reading or thinking about mental health (I highly recommend the book, "Maybe You Should Talk To Someone" by Lori Gottlieb for an interesting not-too-heavy summer read).  In my reading of various blogs, articles, and books,  I came across this useful infographic (posted by The Ana Grace Project) and wanted to share with you (click on it to enlarge).   Enjoy your summer! --Dr. J

All of a sudden, it's June and another school year is done!  Here at Bigelow, we're busy wrapping up the year- 8th graders have returned from the New York trip and are practicing for graduation, 7th graders have gone on their end of the year field trip and are looking towards next year, 6th graders are feeling accomplished and ready for 7th grade (and the rafting trip!).  Whatever our plans for the summer, we are all ready for a change. With transition, however, comes emotion.  Even if your child says they hate school and can't wait for it be over, there is a part of them (perhaps quite small) that will miss the routine and structure of school and the school year.  Be gentle with them (and with yourselves!) at this time.  We can all be  slightly more sensitive when we're moving from one phase to the next.  For more on how to do this, see last June's post:  Changes.... A few interesting ideas and readings to leave you with as we close out the y...

May is Mental Health Awareness Month in the United States and other areas of the world.  Many different organizations have themes and information for the month.  This month's blog is a list of places to explore to learn more about mental health and wellness as well as mental illness.  The more we know and understand about mental illness and how common it is, the more we can break down the stigma and misunderstandings about it. The National Alliance On Mental Illness (NAMI) is using the slogan, "Why Care?" with the tagline:  "Because 1 in 5 people will be affected by mental illness in their lifetime.  Take the time to show that you care about mental health." Mental Health America (MHA) is continuing the theme from last year of #4mind4body and have a number of resources including toolkits and graphics, which can be found here . Teenmentalhealth.org has a number of excellent resources for parents and teens including a toolbox , ed...

A short post this month, and a break from the usual mental health topics. As I've written previously, connection with others is a huge factor in resilience and positive health.  No one is healthy in isolation and we are all wired to connect with others.  One of the ways in which we often connect is over food.  Bigelow has recently launched the Bigelow International Food Network as a way to help build and connect the Bigelow community. The Bigelow International Food Network is an on-line repository of family recipes, submitted by students, families, and staff at Bigelow.  Each recipe has a story behind it and as we collect more, we will be able to see and experience the diverse culture and rich family histories that make up our school community.  Take a look, try the recipes and submit your own!   Bigelow International Food Network Spring is on the way and May is Mental Health Awareness month so stay tuned for more information on breaking the stigma,...

As March draws to a close, our thoughts turn to spring and flowers and warm sunshine and end of term grades and, for our 8th graders, high school choices and MCAS testing...Oh no!  I can just feel the stress building!  We have all heard about how dangerous stress can be and how harmful it is for our children (and ourselves) to be under consent pressure. We've heard the links between stress and heart attacks, between stress and high blood pressure, between stress and suicide.  Stress, no matter how we look at it, tends to be seen as harmful.  The truth is, stress isn't all negative.  While what we call it has changed over the years, psychologists have always looked at stress as multilayered and multidimensional.  There are some kinds of stress that are mostly negative and can have deeply enduring impacts.  Abuse, neglect, poverty, and exposure to violence are examples of this kind of stress.  When these occur, and are continuous, it can build i...

A short blog, for a short month, in just under the wire! This month, the counseling team at Bigelow conducted the Signs of Suicide (SOS) Program for the 7th grade.  This program was implemented in Newton during the 2013-14 school year and has continued through the present.  It is given to students across the district in 7th grade, 9th grade and 11th grade.  SOS is a classroom based instructional model which uses videos and facilitated discussion to cover the topics of depression and suicide.  It also includes a brief screening tool which asks the students to self-report about their mood and possible symptoms over the last few weeks.  This screening tool requires parental permission.  If a student screens in, a counselor speaks with them within 24 hours.  All students, regardless of screening status, are given the opportunity to indicate if they would like to speak to a counselor.  At Bigelow, we use one class period to do the program.  O...

Happy New Year!  A bit of a later blog post this month, as we have been getting back into the rhythm of the school day after some time off.  We've been busy as well, working to do the state-mandated SBIRT screening with the 8th grade students.  SBIRT stands for Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment and is a jointly created program from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).  It is designed to begin conversations with children and adolescents about their use of alcohol and other substances, quickly screen them to gauge where they are in terms of using, and offer small interventions and resources to help them think about their habits (or lack thereof).  You can read more about the use of SBIRT in Massachusetts schools here . As we (psychologist, counselors and school nurse) implement these screenings, it occurred to us that we view these conversati...