What Do School Psychologists Do?
School psychologists provide direct support and interventions to students, consult with teachers, families, and other school-employed mental health professionals (i.e., school counselors, school social workers) to improve support strategies, work with school administrators to improve school-wide practices and policies, and collaborate with community providers to coordinate needed services.
What Training Do School Psychologists Receive?
School psychologists receive specialized advanced graduate preparation that includes coursework and practical experiences relevant to both psychology and education. School psychologists typically complete either a specialist-level degree program (at least 60 graduate semester hours) or a doctoral degree (at least 90 graduate semester hours), both of which include a year-long 1200 hour supervised internship
Why Do Students Need School Psychologists?
All children and youth can face problems from time to time related to learning; social relationships; making difficult decisions; or managing emotions such as feeling depressed, anxious, worried, or isolated. School psychologists help students, families, educators, and members of the community understand and resolve both long-term, chronic problems and short-term issues that students may face. They are a highly skilled and ready resource in the effort to ensure that all children and youth thrive in school, at home, and in life.
This infographic provides a quick snapshot of what school psychologists do for students and the schools they serve.
How Do I Contact My Student's School Psychologist?
Every school has access to the services of a school psychologist. Please know that some of our school psychologists may serve two or more schools and may be unavailable at times in a particular building. Most often, our school psychologists can be reached by inquiring at the school directly or by contacting them at the information on the right side of this page.
This information can be found at the National Association of School Psychologists.
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