Ed. Note: During August, Fig City News conducted interviews with each of the 10 School Committee candidates who are running in competitive elections. This notice was sent to all candidates prior to the interviews. All interviews were completed before any were published.
Your campaign highlights your experience as an educator – a school adjustment counselor. What is that?
A school adjustment counselor is a term that is primarily used in Massachusetts. Similar to a school social worker, it’s a cross between a school academic counselor (formerly guidance counselor) and a school social worker. The training that I did included all the training and classwork for a school counselor plus mental health counseling.
How is that training distinct from training for a therapist or a licensed social worker?
The focus is primarily on school and school-to-home issues, rather than deep embedded trauma, substance abuse, or things like that – which are things that I have coursework on and practice, but it’s not usually the focus of the work. It’s about helping kids thrive in school and working with families and outside providers to give consistent care. I consult with outside therapists and pediatricians to make sure that strategies being discussed outside of school are also being implemented in school. I help families find resources. When issues that are being addressed outside the school come up in school, as the mental health clinician in the school, I can address it. School refusal, anxiety, difficulties with focusing, peer conflict – all those kinds of things.
As you think about starting work again shortly, how do your campaign experiences influence how you might approach issues you see at school?
What has been the most wonderful part of campaigning for me is to see more parts of the city than I ever had, and to meet more people than I had. We moved to Newton 10 years ago, with very young kids, and we were in our little bubble,…