Inside the minds of our school psychologists

Here at Samo, there are many different support systems offered to aid any student in need of some extra help. Whether it be a trusted teacher, advisor or any other adult on campus, students are always encouraged to reach out when in need of someone to talk to. If additional help is necessary, Samo offers three psychologists and a mental health coordinator who reaches out to community counselors.One may ask, what’s the difference between a psychologist and a mental health coordinator?The psychologists at Samo are educational psychologists, prepared to help students who are struggling with their academic courses. On the other hand, our mental health advisor and her team offers therapeutic services, similar to the work that psychologists are more commonly associated with. Let’s take a closer look at these different services that Samo students are privileged to have available. The three psychologists on campus can be found in the Administration Building. Dr. Diane Perry is in AD200, Dr. Ashley Perryman is in AD201 and Dr. Adrienne Mead is in AD202. Their main focus is to assist students with learning disabilities so that Samo students are as successful in school as possible.These students are brought to the psychologists’ attention by teachers and advisors who feel the extra help is necessary. In most situations, a student will work with two adults on campus before seeing a psychologist.Upon meeting a student, the psychologists will sit down with them and attempt to analyze their learning disability and determine what support is needed to help overcome the challenges it puts forth. These students often become eligible for additional services provided on campus, such as the special education teachers and programs. Many continue on to receive an Individualized Education Program, a document that can be curated for any child in public school in need of a special education program. In their remaining time, Perry, Perryman and Mead do their best to assist the general education students. This assistance is more indirect, through consultations with the student’s teachers or advisor. For example, if there is a repeated and unsolved behavioral issue with a general education student, the psychologists will work with staff to help come up with a solution.As these services are offered directly through Samo, they are free to students and have a single purpose of helping the community. For the time being, stop-ins are a common occurrence.“The three of us are new this year. At the moment, both students and teachers stop in often. In the future, once we are completely settled into our routine, we hope to set up a more formal system of appointments. Hopefully we will be able to see more general education students this way too,” Perryman said.While the three on-site psychologists are not primarily focused on general education students, Samo has a mental health counseling program specifically for the general education students in need of support.The mental health counseling at Samo is organized by Shuli Lotan, who brings community resources into the school. These resources are offered to every student on campus.This year, Lotan is working with six agencies that bring in both employees and interns to work with Samo students. For each student, the agency they work with, the kind of counseling they receive (one-on-one vs. group) and the cost of counseling all differ. However, the school will work with a student and their family to make sure the help they are getting is affordable for them, and in some cases, free.There are a range of group counseling options available, from grief groups to groups focused on learning to cope with anxiety. However, according to Lotan, there is always room for more. She will consider creating a group with any focus, should a group of students bring an idea to her. All meetings with mental health counselors on campus are confidential, unless a student shares information revealing that they (or someone else) are at risk of being a danger to themself or others. There are no references to any appointments on student transcripts.Of all the counselors offering their help, Lotan is the only one employed by the district. She hopes that more employees are hired in addition to the agencies brought in so that every student can get the attention they need. “What I would love to see is a higher priority across our schools, throughout the district, on getting district-hired school social workers who can really address some of these issues on a bigger scale and do more education and prevention around mental health. There’s always room to expand what we have and make it more accessible to more kids,” Lotan said.If you feel you need the support of a counselor on campus, notify your advisor or the nurse and ask them to make you an appointment. You can also slip a note under Lotan’s door, room AD502, and she will make sure to get into contact with you.Though we have more counseling resources at Samo than any other schools, we also have a larger student body. Unfortunately, counseling spots fill up quickly and are expected to be at capacity by the end of November. If you know in advance that you wish to speak with someone, make an appointment as soon as possible. Should services be at capacity by the time you reach out, Lotan will work to help find an off-campus resource that works for you and your family.