When the pandemic hit, many clinicians had to unexpectedly transition to online therapy, which raised a lot of concerns about treatment quality. Can you really provide high-quality services in an online format? Does it require the same skill sets as in-person therapy? Are there times when teletherapy provides functionality that doesn’t exist in-person? As the…
Blog
EP 115: Trauma-informed care for therapists, teachers, and school leaders (with Rachel Archambault)
Those of us working in K-12 education interact with students and staff who have experienced trauma whether we’re aware of the specific events or not. A lot of people have heard the term “trauma-informed” care, but not everyone knows what it means or how to do it in practice. That’s why I wanted to invite…
EP 114: Do school leaders need coaching? (with Dan Kelley)
A lot of professional development is still delivered in the lecture or workshop format, even though there’s evidence that this model doesn’t have a significant impact on student outcomes. So what do people working in K-12 education need to support students and have fulfilling careers? I started asking myself that question when I was working…
EP 113: Making literacy accessible and equitable (with Cassandra Williams)
Supporting language and decoding are important pieces of helping kids grow up to be successful readers. But making it happen is way more complex than that. What happens when a child in 5th grade is reading at a first grade reading level? What if there are other barriers BESIDES just reading getting in the way;…
EP 112: How to “lead up” to your school administrator (with Jethro Jones)
What do you do if your school administrator doesn’t fully understand your role and your expertise? What if you have the information and knowledge they need to drive important decisions for your school? How can you get them to listen to your input? If you’re a therapist, educator, or aspiring school leader, these questions may…
EP 111: Supporting self-regulation in K-12 kids (with Lisa Navarra)
“Behavior problems” are an external sign of what’s going on internally. In order to support kids who are being referred for behavioral concerns, we need to address these internal skills proactively. That’s why I invited consultant and educator Lisa Navarra to episode 111 of the De Facto Leaders podcast to talk about self-regulation. Lisa M….
EP 110: Empathy, masking, and situational awareness
Do autistic people experience empathy? Does masking cause trauma? How do we help neurodivergent kids form relationships in a way that’s accepting of their differences? These are questions that I get from clinicians on a regular basis that I’ve also wondered about myself. That’s why when I created The School of Clinical Leadership, I made…
EP 109: Can my principal evaluate me if they’ve never done my job? (with Eric Makelky)
If you’re a therapist or educator working in the schools, there’s a high probability that the administrator who does your employee evaluation isn’t a subject-matter expert in your discipline. If they are, you’re certainly in the minority. This is because it’s impossible to find a school administrator who’s held every single job in the school…
EP 108: How to do multilingual evaluations as a monolingual therapist (with Meg Morgan)
Doing a quality evaluation when you’re assessing things like language can be a challenge because there isn’t one “magic bullet” test that gives us what we need. What is even more challenging is when you get a referral to evaluate a client that speaks two or more languages; especially when they’re languages you don’t speak. …
EP 107: How to make social skills intervention evidence-based and neurodiversity-affirming
What’s evidence-based and neurodiversity-affirming shouldn’t be in opposition. Effective interventions that build resilience and help kids build healthy relationships should be “affirming” by definition. Yet many clinicians remain confused about how to apply this to practice; especially when it comes to things like “social skills” or “pragmatic language”. One of the most common complaints I…