Counselor College: Find Evidence Based Programs, Resources, and Certification Courses for Mental Health and School Counselors

Whether you are looking to improve your counseling skills or to find evidence based programs for your school, this blog has copious resources that will meet your goals.
 
The first list of resources are from the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices. 
The National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP) provides a list of interventions in the registry that have met NREPP’s minimum requirements for review and have been independently assessed and rated for Quality of Research and Readiness for Dissemination.  Check out programs from peer helping to suicide awareness training.
 
The next group of resources were taken from the ASCA Specialist Certification courses and from the 2014 ASCA Webinar Series.
 
The last group includes online trainings, resources, and certifications for mental health and school professionals.
 
Enjoy!!

Evidence-Based Programs


Anti-Defamation League Peer Training Program

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Peer Training Program is an three day anti bias and diversity training program intended for use in middle and high schools. The program prepares select students to be peer trainers. These students are trained to use the positive power of peer influence to motivate others to reflect on their stereotypes and assumptions and take action against intergroup prejudice, bigotry, and harassment in their school and community.

Lorraine Tiven
(212) 885-7802
ltiven@adl.org

Capturing Kids Hearts
The Capturing Kids' Hearts Teen Leadership Program, a curriculum-based intervention for middle and high school youth, is designed to improve students' emotional well-being and social functioning, including improving communication with parents, reducing feelings of loneliness and isolation, improving self-efficacy, and minimizing problem behaviors. Teachers present the lessons to students during 50- to 90-minute school health education classes over a period of one semester or an entire school year. The lessons help students to strengthen their school connectedness by enhancing protective factors and decreasing risk factors. Students also learn how to develop healthy relationships, handle peer pressure, build public speaking skills, make responsible decisions, resolve conflicts, and develop a sense of personal responsibility.

Michael Holt, Ph.D.
(979) 703-6780
michael.holt@flippengroup.com

Linking Education and Awareness of Depression and Suicide

LEADS: For Youth is a curriculum for high school students in grades 9-12 that is designed to increase knowledge of depression and suicide, modify perceptions of depression and suicide, increase knowledge of suicide prevention resources, and improve intentions to engage in help-seeking behaviors.

Daniel J. Reidenberg, Psy.D.
(952) 946-7998
dreidenberg@save.org

Lifelines National Training

Lifelines is a comprehensive, school-wide suicide prevention program for middle and high school students. The goal of Lifelines is to promote a caring, competent school community in which help seeking is encouraged and modeled and suicidal behavior is recognized as an issue that cannot be kept secret. Lifelines seeks to increase the likelihood that school staff and students will know how to identify at-risk youth when they encounter them, provide an appropriate initial response, and obtain help, as well as be inclined to take such action.

Cheryl DiCara
(207) 287-5362
cheryl.m.dicara@maine.gov


Mental Health First Aid

Mental Health First Aid is an adult public education program designed to improve participants' knowledge and modify their attitudes and perceptions about mental health and related issues, including how to respond to individuals who are experiencing one or more acute mental health crises (i.e., suicidal thoughts and/or behavior, acute stress reaction, panic attacks, and/or acute psychotic behavior) or are in the early stages of one or more chronic mental health problems (i.e., depressive, anxiety, and/or psychotic disorders, which may occur with substance abuse).

Bryan V. Gibb, M.B.A.
(202) 684-7457 ext 243
bryang@thenationalcouncil.org

Peer Assistance and Leadership

PAL is a peer helping program that seeks to build resiliency in youth by pairing youth with peer helpers who receive training and support from teachers participating in the program. The peer-based assistance provided through PAL is designed to help youth avoid risk factors for substance use as well as other problems, such as low achievement in school, dropout, absenteeism, violence, teen pregnancy, and suicide. PAL peer helpers act as guides, tutors, mentors, and mediators to peers or younger students (PAL mentees) by utilizing skills learned through PAL, including cultural competency, effective communication, decision making, higher order thinking, and resiliency building. PAL peer helpers are placed in helping roles with younger students from feeder campuses and peers from their own campus. Through a combination of leadership and assistance, they offer individual and group peer support, tutoring, welcoming and orientation of new students, assistance to students with special needs, classroom presentations, and school/community outreach projects.

Terrence R. Cowan, M.P.A.
(512) 328-8518
trcowan@wapeap.com

Pax United

Peers Making Peace is a school-based peer-mediation program for students in elementary through high school. The program focuses on creating and maintaining a safe school environment by providing students with a mediation process through which they can resolve their differences in a peaceful manner without an escalation to violence. The process also is designed to increase students' self-efficacy and self-esteem and to reduce students' discipline referrals and absences.

Robert M. Gonzales, M.R.E., M.Div.
(210) 573-6435
bob.gonzales@paxunited.org


QPR Institute

The QPR (Question, Persuade, and Refer) Gatekeeper Training for Suicide Prevention is a brief educational program designed to teach "gatekeepers"--those who are strategically positioned to recognize and refer someone at risk of suicide (e.g., parents, friends, neighbors, teachers, coaches, caseworkers, police officers)--the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to respond by following three steps:

• Question the individual's desire or intent regarding suicide
• Persuade the person to seek and accept help
• Refer the person to appropriate resources

Paul Quinnett, Ph.D.
(888) 726-7926
qinstitute@qwestoffice.net

Reconnecting Youth

Reconnecting Youth: A Peer Group Approach to Building Life Skills (RY) is a school-based prevention program for students ages 14-19 years that teaches skills to build resiliency against risk factors and control early signs of substance abuse and emotional distress. RY targets youth who demonstrate poor school achievement and high potential for school dropout. Eligible students must have either (1) fewer than the average number of credits earned for all students in their grade level at their school, high absenteeism, and a significant drop in grades during the prior semester or (2) a record of dropping out of school. Potential participants are identified using a school's computer records or are referred by school personnel if they show signs of any of the above risk factors. Eligible students may show signs of multiple problem behaviors, such as substance abuse, aggression, depression, or suicidal ideation.

Reconnecting Youth Inc.
(425) 861-1177
info@reconnectingyouth.com

Signs of Suicide

SOS Signs of Suicide is a secondary school-based suicide prevention program that includes screening and education. Students are screened for depression and suicide risk and referred for professional help as indicated. Students also view a video that teaches them to recognize signs of depression and suicide in themselves and others. They are taught that the appropriate response to these signs is to use the ACT technique: acknowledge that there is a problem, let the person know you care, and tell a trusted adult. Students also participate in guided classroom discussions about suicide and depression. The program attempts to prevent suicide attempts, increase knowledge about suicide and depression, develop desirable attitudes toward suicide and depression, and increase help-seeking behavior among youth.

Rebecca Davis, M.S.W., LICSW
(781) 239-0071
sosinfo@mentalhealthscreening.org

Sources of Strength

Sources of Strength, a universal suicide prevention program, is designed to build socioecological protective influences among youth to reduce the likelihood that vulnerable high school students will become suicidal. The program trains students as peer leaders and connects them with adult advisors at school and in the community. With support from the advisors, the peer leaders conduct well-defined messaging activities intended to change peer group norms influencing coping practices and problem behaviors (e.g., self-harm, drug use, unhealthy sexual practices). Specifically, these activities are designed to reduce the acceptability of suicide as a response to distress, increase the acceptability of seeking help, improve communication between youth and adults, and develop healthy coping attitudes among youth. Sources of Strength is also designed to positively modify the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of the peer leaders themselves.

Mark LoMurray
(701) 471-7186
marklomurray@gmail.com

Teaching Students to be Peacemakers

Teaching Students To Be Peacemakers (TSP) is a school-based program that teaches conflict resolution procedures and peer mediation skills. The program, based on conflict resolution theory and research, aims to reduce violence in schools, enhance academic achievement and learning, motivate prohealth decisions among students, and create supportive school communities. TSP is primarily designed for use in kindergarten through middle school but also has been used with high school students. Teachers deliver the program using lessons that include case studies, role-playing activities, and simulations. Students engage in intellectual conflicts, researching and preparing positions to make persuasive arguments supporting their views, which promotes academic achievement and a higher level of reasoning. Each year, as students proceed to the next grade, the program is retaught at an appropriately more complex and sophisticated level.

David W. Johnson, Ed.D.
(612) 624-7031
johns010@umn.edu

Roger T. Johnson, Ed.D.
(612) 624-7031
johns009@umn.edu


Theater Troupe/Peer Education Project

The Theater Troupe/Peer Education Project (TTPEP) aims to prevent substance use and other unhealthy behaviors among school-aged youth through peer education. Participants, usually youth of middle school age, are presented with an interactive theatrical performance, followed by two workshops. The performance is conducted by a troupe of high school students who have been recruited and trained in the areas of theater, health, and peer education. The aim of the performance is to increase the audience members' knowledge of social norms; modify their attitudes, beliefs, and intentions about substance use; and provide them with peer refusal skills. The performance begins with a skit in which troupe members act out situations involving peer pressure, social acceptance, and substance use, as well as responses to these situations. Troupe members remain in character for a question-and-answer session with the audience to discuss their characters' histories and portrayals of the various situations in the skit. In the final component of the performance, the troupe members, now out of character, facilitate a peer discussion on the issues. At the end of the performance, audience members receive information about substances, including the prevalence of use by school-aged youth.

Craig VanKempen, M.P.H., LMSW
(734) 714-2241
cvankempen@cornerhealth.org

ASCA Specialists

Bullying Prevention Specialist

Bullying is a difficult issue that students can face in any school, and school counselors are often the first person students or parents contact when bullying happens. Earn the ASCA Bullying Prevention Specialist designation to be best prepared to prevent bullying or intervene when bullying occurs.

The Bullying Prevention Specialist training is $99 ($199 for nonmembers) and is equal to 5 IACET-accredited CEUs/50 Contact Hours.

Legal and Ethical Specialist

School counselors face legal and ethical challenges every day. Whether you are new to the field or have been practicing for years, legal and ethical challenges can still throw you for a loop. From confidentiality issues to records maintenance, from duty of care to sexual harassment issues, a school counselor's legal and ethical questions can spring up from every corner.
For $99 ($199 for nonmembers), you can earn five IACET-accredited CEUs (equal to 50 contact hours) focused on the ins and outs of being an ethical school counselor and staying on top of legal issues.

School Counseling Data Specialist

Collecting and analyzing data can help school counselors and their administrators identify achievement gaps, understand educational issues and assess programs to ensure they are making a difference for all students. For school counseling programs to be considered a pivotal and valued resource to the learning environment, school counselors must commit to formulating and executing services that link their work to the instructional mission and concretely demonstrate accountability for student academic success.

For $99 ($199 for nonmembers), you can earn five IACET-accredited CEUs (equal to 50 contact hours) focused on the ins and outs of using data in your school counseling program

The need for effective leaders in school counseling has never been greater. Students need school counselors to be effective educational leaders who can effect systemic change in their schools. ASCA and state school counselor associations need leaders who can guide the school counseling profession into the future.

School Counseling Leadership Specialist

To address leadership needs, ASCA has developed a new professional development package – the School Counseling Leadership Specialist program. This course is meant to be transformative. It doesn't focus on how leaders behave but how leaders think, not what leaders do but what leaders are. At the completion of this course, you should not only know what makes a good leader, you should be a good leader – in your school building and district as well as in your state school counselor association. Completion of the course also fulfills training requirements for leadership positions in ASCA at the national level.

For $99 ($199 for nonmembers), you can earn five IACET-accredited CEUs (equal to 50 contact hours) focused on developing effective leadership qualities and learning how to use those qualities in a variety of settings and situations, all from the comfort of your own home or office. Once you've completed the training, you will receive a certificate suitable for framing, pronouncing you a School Counseling Leadership Specialist. This Specialist designation is good for five years.

ASCA Webinars for School Counselors
2014 ASCA Webinar Series

Online Training, Resources, and Information for School Counselors

Child Abuse Responses

In this course, victim service professionals will learn how to describe types of sexually abusive behavior, review practical skills for listening to a disclosure of child sexual abuse, and identify the three guiding principles for responding to a disclosure.

Crisis Intervention Training for Disaster Responders

The purpose of this course is to provide training for mental health professionals who work with victims of disaster related stress and trauma. This course prepares the disaster mental health professional to relate with disaster victims and co-workers. The warning signs and symptoms in both disaster victims and workers are explored together with stages, strategies and interventions for recovery.
Data in School Counseling

This Online Appendix contains the resources indicated by the "Online Resource Included" Icon in the margins of the text. Documents include many examples and samples designed to support more in depth understanding of the concepts discussed in the text. The Additional Materials page contains even more resources, updates, commentaries, answers to questions, and will soon provide video tutorials and access to on-line course materials for this text. 

Online courses are available!

Disaster Mental Health

A new specialty has been emerging focusing on Disaster Mental Health. It has been spawned by both natural and human-generated disasters, which are associated with destruction, loss of loved ones and irreplaceable belongings, and which often overwhelms one's normal coping capacity. Disasters also tend to stress emotional, cognitive, behavioral, physiological, and religious/spiritual beliefs. In light of this, ACA has assembled these resources to serve as a base for developing responses to disaster situations. - See more at: http://www.counseling.org/knowledge-center/trauma-disaster#sthash.dIH5OtAy.dpuf


Life Space Crisis Intervention Training Certification

Life Space Crisis Intervention (LSCI) is a nationally recognized, professional training and certification program offering professionals and parents a road map through conflict to desired outcomes using crisis as an opportunity to teach and create positive relationships with youth.  LSCI believes that the process of helping involves having the ability to listen deeply to the personal stories of children and youth and to recognize that their message is often not in their behaviors but in their underlying thoughts and feelings.


National Training for Counselors and Mentors in Financial Aid

NT4CM is a comprehensive training program that delivers up-to-date information regarding federal and state student aid programs, scholarship searches, and financial aid fraud. Participants also learn how to access free resources such as fact sheets, brochures, and PowerPoint presentations that can be used in outreach to students. After the training, participants will receive ongoing information and support.


NOSCA Webinars for School Counselors

NOSCA's 60-minute, content-packed webinars provide participants with the information,
knowledge, and skills to ensure that all students,— especially underrepresented student
populations — are college and career ready.

The Principal-Counselor Relationship

Principal-counselor relationships are critical to student success. Learn about the study and explore
best practices for increasing student achievement by enhancing the working relationship between
school counselors and principals.

Project Safe Childhood

Attorney General Eric Holder today announced that the Department of Justice released its first ever National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction. The strategy also provides the first ever comprehensive threat assessment of the dangers facing children from child pornography, online enticement, child sex tourism, commercial sexual exploitation, and sexual exploitation in Indian Country, and outlines a blueprint to strengthen the fight against these crimes. The strategy builds upon the department's accomplishments in combating child exploitation by establishing specific, aggressive goals and priorities and increasing cooperation and collaboration at all levels of government and the private sector.



Psychological First Aid for Schools

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network and the National Center for PTSD are pleased to make the Psychological First Aid for Schools Field Operations Guide and accompanying handouts available. Psychological First Aid for Schools is an evidence-informed approach for assisting children, adolescents, adults, and families in the aftermath of a school crisis, disaster, or terrorism event.

PTSD: The Basics

Being emotionally detached after a trauma is not a healthy response. This emotional distancing stuffs the feelings inside, shuts out those who can give help and support, and puts the individual at greater risk for developing PTSD. Family and friends can give support and comfort by listening to victims talk about their experiences and feelings very soon after the event. The National Association of School Psychologists suggests that children process their emotions and reactions to a trauma within 24 hours to 36 hours following a crisis in order to prevent PTSD.Occasionally, PTSD doesn't show up until months or even years after the traumatic event. Recovery is influenced by early detection, intervention, and mental health treatment (including cognitive-behavioral therapy and group therapy). Parents play a vital role in getting this help and support for their child.

Safe Schools Coalition Training and Resources for School Counselors and Social Workers
 Advocating for Youth - Respecting Rights GLBTQ Students

Schools and Trauma Continuing Education


SCOPE

School Counselors’ Online Professional Exchange is a totally FREE site that highlights the way school counseling professionals are using FREE technology tools. Each “tile” or mini-monitor on the SCOPE homepage represents a technology tool, blog post (like this one) or SCOPE event. SCOPE welcomes entries from anyone in the School Counseling community including practicing and retired school counselors, directors or supervisors of school counseling services, school counseling graduate students and school counselor educators.

Sexual Assault/Counselor Training

Welcome to the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) TTAC's download center for Sexual Assault Advocate/Counselor Training (SAACT), a course designed to teach advocates how to provide competent, effective crisis intervention services to victims and survivors of sexual assault. Use this download center to gather all the materials you'll need to conduct the training.

Sexual Violence Resources and Links

RAINN’s prevention and education efforts include working with the entertainment industry, the media, colleges and local communities to help raise awareness about issues related to sexual assault.

Suicide Prevention Resource Center Online Courses

Trauma Resources and Guidance for School Counselors

Traumatic Stress in Children Resources and Training

Webinars for School Counselors

Working with Youth Who Experience Homelessness and Sexual Violence

This guide focuses on adapting advocacy skills to help young people who experience homelessness and sexual violence build resiliency and lessen their traumas. It has three aims: (a) to provide an overview for the intersections between identity, trauma experiences, and resiliency among youth who are homeless; (b) to highlight core skills and techniques for advocates; and (c) to discuss how to tailor these skills in order to improve services for youth who identify as LGBTQ.


 If you have trainings that you want to share, please send them to me and I will add them to my resources page!!