Join me as I talk to Brandy Thompson, AKA The Counseling Teacher. Brandy is a teacher turned counselor and currently works with middle schoolers. In this episode, Brandy and I talk about how to perk up your program, curriculum, and confidence as a school counselor.

We open up about our journey as counselors, sharing successes and challenges we’ve faced along the way. We’ll also shed light on how finding a balance between work and personal life can greatly impact your confidence and overall well-being.

Plus, we have big news! Brandy and I are joining forces, as she and I have created The Perks School Counseling Membership. Inside you’ll gain community and all the resources you need so that you can spend less time planning and more time doing the things you love. And guess what? You can get your first month FREE by using the code PODCAST or signing up here.

Topics Discussed:

• What Brandy’s first impression was when she joined the membership
• How much community and support can help with avoiding burnout
• My experience as a new counselor, and the imposter syndrome that pops up for so many of us
• What I would change about the counseling profession if I had a magic wand
• What you can expect inside The Perks School Counseling Membership

 Links Mentioned

• Join The Perks School Counseling Membership for K-8 Counselors and get your first month free
• Perks Coupon Code: PODCAST
• Follow us on Facebook
• Follow us on Instagram

Grab the Show Notes: Counselingessentials.org/podcast

Join Perks Counseling Club Membership and get the lessons, small group and individual counseling materials you need. Join now and get your first month free when you sign up for 3 months!

Connect with Carol:

• TpT Store
• Counseling Essentials Website
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Elementary School Counselor Exchange Facebook Group
• Caught In The Middle School Counselors Facebook Group
• High School Counselor Connection Facebook Group

Mentioned in this episode:

Perks Membership

Carol: You're listening to the Counselor Chat Podcast, a show for school counselors looking for easy to implement strategies, how to tips, collaboration, and a little spark of joy. I'm Carol Miller, your host. I'm a full time school counselor and the face behind counseling essentials. I'm all about creating simplified systems, data driven practices, and using creative approaches to age students. If you're looking for a little inspiration to help you make a big impact on student growth and success, you're in the right place, because we're better together. Ready to chat? Let's dive in.

Carol: Hi, counselors, and welcome back to the Counselor Chat podcast. I'm Carol Miller, your host, and I'm so excited for today's episode. We have a special guest today. Her name is Brandy Thompson, and Brandy has a little announcement to share with you as so. So we're just going to dive in, and Brandy, I'm just going to turn it over to you. I'm going to have you introduce yourself, and then you can share the surprise.

Brandy: Oh, man. I didn't know I was going to get to let the cat out of the bag. That's awesome. Thank you. First of all, let me tell you a little bit about myself. So you can be wondering what? But I started off as a teacher years and years ago, then turned into a school counselor. Eventually, that felt like my calling. I've worked with K eight, and I've worked in a middle school. I did my internship at a high school and two interims in elementary. So the last place I ended up was a middle school working with 6th through eigth graders. And I love middle school. Now, I didn't start off that way. I started off as liking the elementary kids, but as I grew older and wiser and my kids grew, I learned to understand the very unique personalities of middle schoolers and how to survive around them. Before I go on about that, I want to tell you our surprise. Carol and I have known each other for a gazillion years. We have been running into each other at conferences and hanging out in person a little bit on the side at these conferences and getting to know each other online through different professional collaborative groups and finally decided that we want to join forces. So we have come up with well, actually, Carol has been working on a membership group that she's had, and I had some ideas for a membership group, too. So we decided to kind of clash our two ideas of what a school counseling membership group would look like. And so we have come up with something called the Perks. Carol, I'm going to let you talk a little bit about how it has evolved on your side of things. I haven't started one yet. I'm just kind of hopping on board with you, and we are changing yours up a little bit to create this new thing. So I'm going to let you talk.

Carol: About that those of you that have been with me for a while, you may or may not know this, but it all started about two years ago, actually, a little bit more than two years ago now. And it was originally called the Hive Counselor Academy. And the whole purpose and premise behind this membership was to really help school counselors create their dream counseling program. And it was really there to provide trainings and support along the way as you grew this program. And then it kind of evolved, because as we really started diving deep and I was offering trainings to counselors, they were like, this is great stuff, but I need the other stuff, too. I need the resources. I need my group curriculums done. I need my planning done for me, because I can't create or spend time creating this awesome program if I have to spend all my time making. So I said, I can help you with that, because I got a lot of stuff. And so then we switched from Hyde Counselor Academy to last year. It became the counseling content club, and that was great. Now I am a full time school counselor. I work every day at an elementary school with grades K through six. And I have been putting stuff and resources and curriculum and trainings and all kinds of stuff into this membership over the past year. And I thought, but our counselors still need more. And that's where I reached out, and I said, hey, Brandy, I need you. Do you want to come and join me?

Brandy: And now the you know, working with my middle schoolers, we had the opportunity to become a ramp school, and that was very exciting for us. But through that process, it kind of fueled my passion to help other counselors to achieve ramp, because after we got it, so many people were messaging us and saying, how can I do that? How can I become a ramp school? And through helping them, I realized that this is something I want to do all the time. So I work with people all the time who are trying to ramp up their program or find ways to get it all done, because we have so much on our plate, we can't get it all done. Has anyone ever had it all done? It's kind of like cleaning your house. Is all of your house clean at the same time? Or is it one room clean and then the next one's not? But there's not enough out there for people. It takes a village to raise a child, and it takes a team to create a comprehensive school counseling. You know, this is something that I was excited when Carol mentioned, because I've really been wanting to give more. I like helping the students, but I feel like if I can put some work know, fill some cups of counselors, then I can make a bigger impact, and it just feels good to help others like, you know, it'll help fill my cup. So thank you, Carol, for the invite.

Carol: Yeah. I'm so excited about this collaboration, and I want to bounce back to your little analogy of the clean house. I have to say, for me, the kitchen is clean, but the drawers sometimes are a hot mess. And I got the one junk drawer that I can remember a time where it wasn't organized, and there was stuff it would take me a half an hour to find a piece of tape in that junk drawer.

Brandy: Right.

Carol: But I kind of think of this program as like, not only are we giving you the clean kitchen, but we're organizing that junk drawer, too, so you don't have to spend the half hour to find the piece of tape.

Brandy: Right. You can kick your feet up and enjoy your clean house, whatever it is.

Carol: You want to be doing.

Brandy: Do you have any questions for me?

Carol: I do have a question for you because you're brand new, and for those of you that are listening, brandy wasn't a member a month ago. Brandy is not only is she a new team member, but Brandy is also brand new to the inside workings of the membership and actually looking at it and what was involved so grandy. My question for you is, as you are coming on board, what was your first impression?

Brandy: Actually, I remember thinking, why wasn't this available when I started out as a new counselor? There's always things that they don't teach you in college or in prep school for being a school counselor. And I remember walking into my first day of being a counselor and thinking, where's my handbook? Where's my guidebook? Where's my notes that tell me what to do every day, where to turn, what to do this month or that month? There was just a whole lot of things I did not know. And so I feel like I jumped up ten levels when I was looking in your group, because it was all there. And if it wasn't there, I could say, Carol, do you have something for such and such? And you'd be like, yes. And you're always available. And I thought that was impressive with your schedule, that you're always available. To answer my little question that I have for my program when you have so much else going on. So I thought that was really cool, the support that you give, and I wanted to be a part of that. I want people who feel like something random comes up. They can go straight to this community and get lifted up and get that support. Also, I love that you have trainings. You have content and community. You can't put a money value on the community, but I think it is one of the most valuable parts. Because I think if our confidence is up and we see that other people are going through a lot of the same things that we're going through, it can give us that boost where we're not getting burnt out in our profession. And I know that's what we've decided that the perks is going to be all about giving counselors that feeling of being supported and able to do the things that they thought they were going to be able to do when they became a new counselor. But other things got in the way, like planning, planning, planning, writing, writing, writing, and not getting to do a lot of the more fun parts or what I consider fun parts of counseling. So my first impression was, where was this when I started? Because building a program from the ground up is not a lot of fun, especially if you don't know what you're doing. And yes, I had a great mentor counselor. She was amazing, but a lot of times she's in a classroom when I was in the office, and vice versa. So there's just times when you need someone right away. And I felt like if I was a brand new counselor or even a seasoned counselor, I could come in here and get some kind of support right away.

Carol: I have another question for you that I want to ask you, but before I do, I think it's maybe important that we share why we call it the perks.

Brandy: Okay.

Carol: When I think of perk, I think of perk up like I'm energized and I have energy. But there's a little bit more behind that, too, because if you look at the logo and you look at how we have things designed, we really spent a lot of time coming up with what we wanted that design to look like. Do you want to share our design?

Brandy: Sure. We wanted it to be a soft place for you to land if you're a school counselor. That's why we incorporated the couch. We want you to feel comfortable and cozy and have your perks, your coffee cup percolate, have your percolations. Sometimes we need that coffee, but also just the whole concept of filling your cup. That's what we want you to feel like you can do, is just hop in here, hop on the couch, and have your cup filled, have whatever you need filled for that day. Maybe you need to fill it with some lessons, because you didn't have time to prepare for that classroom lesson that you have to run into that you were asked to do last minute. And you can come on in here and say, hey, Carol, could you send me a copy of such and such? And it's, you know, turnkey and right there in your hand. So we want it to be a place where we can perk up your confidence, perk up your program, and perk up your curriculum all in one place. And we're all friends around here, and.

Carol: So if you haven't seen the logo, let me try to actually describe it to you. It's kind of friends inspired. Yeah, where we have a couch like in central perk. If you're a friends fan like we both are, and we have some pillows on the couch. One is like a mermaid sequin pillow which they don't have in friends, but we both like a so. And then there's a person who kind of has her back on the seat of the couch with her hair flowing down towards the floor and her feet are kicked up. Because we want you to be able to spend less time thinking about all the little nitty gritty planning things. And we really want you to spend time having that time to relax and decompress and doing the things that you really love. So that is what our logo really looks like. It's the couch with the feet up and the coffee in hand and the coffee in hand. And I think another thing with the perks is that we really want to feel like you're coming home to a group of friends because really when you're working with a colleague, whether you see them every day or you see them on the computer, they're going to be there for you. And we want it to feel like we're going to be there for you.

Brandy: Don't make me sing the song. Don't do it.

Carol: I know it's going through my head right now. It's fun. So we want to have this fun with you. We want you to feel like you're coming home and that there's somebody that is going to be there for you. Okay. So now that we kind of explained what our little logo is, Brandy, I got another question for where, because I know in my mind what I have, but where do you see this going?

Brandy: Obviously we're both adding resources almost every day right now. Since I just joined, it's going to take me a hot minute to get all of the exclusive resources loaded, but I'm trying to get them almost daily there to you. So I want it to be the best, biggest library of resources that would take any counselor in K eight who's brand new or a veteran counselor can come in and find something that will perk up their curriculum. And so I know, Carol, you're adding new things as well. We already have hundreds of dollars worth of resources in there, but we definitely want to beat that up as much as possible. I also see us doing a lot more videos in different capacities. Obviously we're going to be doing our PDS. There's three in there now, but I would love to see a lot more of those and I'd love to see feedback from members telling us what they want to see, what PD do they want, what trainings do they want. I'd like to see the community beef up a lot. I know there are certain people who are in know a lot, but I'd love to see us move a lot more of our community into there. Most of us are active on Facebook, but not everyone is. So I think that we need to get in the habit of using that community and sorting it into categories for different topics that you might be looking for. It'd be fun to have some things in there just for fun as well. I know that you and I both are very big advocates of resilience and building that resilience up for ourselves, for our teachers, and our students, and we've already added a little bit of that. But I think that we will totally do some trainings and things like that or PD involving that, because burnout you talked about Burnout earlier when we were talking and how counselors are leaving the profession, educators are leaving the profession, and that is one thing we want to be proactive about helping with. Yeah. So those are just a few things that I see. I'm thinking of so many different things we can do and will do and how to make it better and just more fun and exciting for all of us. I have some questions for you, Harold. Can I start?

Carol: All right, sure.

Brandy: When you were a brand new counselor, what support did you have? Were you competent when you first started? Who helped you?

Carol: That's kind of like a loaded question, because, A, it's been like, I'm entering year 32 here, so it's been a while.

Brandy: Veteran counselor. Sorry to interrupt, but I've only known you as know, got it all together counselor, so I'm just scared. Was there ever a scared little brand new Carol counselor out there, and what was she like, and how did she get to where she is today?

Carol: Well, I will definitely say year one counselor, Carol was still pretty darn confident because I didn't know what I didn't know I had all this, like, oh, I'm trained. I'm ready to go. And I didn't have any support. It was just me, and I was really thrown out there, and I didn't really have a counseling supervisor. And I was in a pretty big urban city school district, and I serviced basically a different school every day. And so I just kind of did my thing and floated around. But then my job changed a little bit, and I had more of a home based school, and then I got to see kids on a totally different level. I was going into the classrooms and doing lessons, and I was trying to put together more of a program, and then that's when it hit me. Year two is when it hit me like, I don't know what I'm doing. And I spent several years in the I don't know what I'm doing phase. Then I think I got to about year five, and I was like, whoo, I'm good again. And then I got to about year ten, and I was like, everything's changed. And I know absolutely nothing ditto right. I think that's how school counseling I think that's how it evolves, right? There's this ebb and flow of, like, I'm like the greatest thing ever versus I don't know a darn thing and I don't know what I'm doing. And so I think right now, though, I'm at the point in my career where if I don't know something, I'm still confident enough in my abilities to go and ask. And I have lots of support and I have a co counselor. But yeah, my first part of my career was not like that.

Brandy: Yeah.

Carol: And so I really thought at the very beginning, or even in those middle years, that I'm a competitive person. I'm really competitive, played college sports and all kinds of stuff, but I like to win. I like to be the best. It's hard for me not being what I deem to be the best. And so I thought the way for me to be the best was that I had to be the first one in the office in the morning and the very last car to leave. And then I had a family, and I realized if I'm great there, then I'm not so great at home. And I had to figure it out along the way of, all right, how do I get the best of both worlds? How do I feel like I'm great at it all? And I think one of the things that we're going to be exploring in the perks is how to be great, kind of add it all. Add it all. And I think this is what kind of sets us apart. Not only do we have really great resources, we have great lessons, we have scopes and sequences for them, we have a plan of where they should be taught, but we also have all these other lessons to supplement or to switch out or do different things with. And we have stuff for individual sessions, curriculum for that, and curriculum for groups, and we have games and stuff to keep you organized. I mean, we have a ton of stuff in there, but we also have this resilience, like you were saying, this part called resilience, which is all about finding that self care. What do we need to do to really make sure that we're taking care of ourself so that we're not burned out? Because there's nothing worse than looking going online in a Facebook group for school counselors and having your third year counselor saying, I quit, I'm done. This is too much for me. I can't handle it anymore. So we want to prevent that.

Brandy: One thing you said that I thought was really interesting was how you thought you were great when you first started because you didn't know what you didn't know, and then you had an EB and flow of, wait, I am great. Oh, no, I'm not. Yes, I am. I think that impostor syndrome is something that we don't talk about a lot. I think that even some of the most distinguished people in different professions have that from day to day or randomly, even just myself, self esteem wise as a mom or any of the roles that I play, one day I can look in the mirror and say, I'm a great mom. I really got it together. My kids are this or that. And then the very next day, I'm like, I'm the worst mom. Everyone else does better than me. Yeah, impostor syndrome is real. And just to remind each other that we all do that. We all feel that, and we all have it, and it's normal. We can normalize those feelings for each other and be able to move on and not burn.

Carol: Know, it's funny because this past year, actually, I won an award. I won a career achievement award for New York State school counselors. And I was so proud of this award. And I remember going home, and I was telling my husband, I'm like, I won the lifetime Career Achievement Award. I was like, what do you think? And he's like, yeah, he's like, that's good. And then he's like a couple of days later, he comes back and he's like, you know, I was telling people at work that you won that award. He goes, and here's how I had to describe it. My wife, she's really good, but at everything else, it's like, she's okay. It's all right. It's like, oh, thanks. So there goes my confidence level down a little bit. But yeah, I think our whole life is like an ebb and flow, and.

Brandy: It'S like you're wondering when someone's going to walk in and find out that you're really just a hot mess and you don't know what you're doing. And why did they even ever choose you to be a counselor or to speak for this event or whatever? They're going to discover that I'm a fraud, that I'm really no good. But then on paper, you're like, Wait, no, I got this. So you have to just keep reminding yourself that you're fine, and we all feel this way from time to time, and we could do a whole thing on imposters syndrome.

Carol: Oh, I know we'll have to do that another day.

Brandy: Another quick question for you, Carol. If you had a magic wand, what would you change about the counseling profession? Just choose one. You can only choose one thing.

Carol: Oh, boy. Just one. Know I think I told you this earlier, but I didn't share it out loud that I once was hired for a position, and I was a little upset. Like, I'm supposed to do this and I'm supposed to do that. And that's not what ask us recommends or that's not really part of what should be in my job description. And my employer just looked at me and said, sometimes the job that you're trained for isn't the job that you're hired for. And I think if I could change something in school counseling, it would be that the job that we're trained for is the job that we're hired for and that the people who hire us understood what our jobs are supposed to be.

Brandy: Wouldn't that be nice?

Carol: That would be the magic wand.

Brandy: Yeah. And sometimes they do. I mean, some admin really get it. They've been counselors in the past. Even I had a principal who used to be a counselor, and so she really got it. But for the most part, there are things that a lot of people don't get constantly advocating for our profession and pushing on. Yeah, well, that's all the questions well, maybe that I have for you.

Carol: All right, so before we kind of wrap up, I just want to quickly, once again, just share with everyone that Brandy and I are really excited about the Perks counseling club, and we really would love to invite you guys to be a member with us, to join us. There are so many perks for being a member. Whether you come for the community, you come for the resources, you come for the trainings, which can earn you graduate credit, by the way. You come to get rid of some of that imposter syndrome. You come to feel like you have that love for counseling again. We're going to be there for you. We want to have you with us for all of that, and we really hope that you jump. We are going to kind of wrap this up a little bit. And before we go, I have one more, because we wanted this to also be a little bit fun. I have a question for Brandy. She does not know what this question is, so this will be a complete surprise. So, Brandy, are you ready?

Brandy: I think I don't know.

Carol: Just do it. So if you were the side dish to a hamburger at a restaurant, what side dish would you be and why?

Brandy: Oh, my gosh. I instantly thought of mashed potatoes, just because I want to eat some, and that's my favorite food. But if I wanted to be a side dish to a hamburger, oh, boy. I wanted to say anchovy so no one would eat me. So I'd just be left there alone. Leave me alone. Eat the hamburger. I don't know. Yeah, because I kind of like to be left alone sometimes. So maybe something unappealing that the hamburger would take precedence. I don't know. Is that what you're looking for?

Carol: Sure. I didn't know what you were going to say.

Brandy: You mean the fries that's too pouring. I don't want to be a basic side dish. I want to be different.

Carol: Well, I was thinking of what could I be that would overpower the hamburger that people would choose me to eat first?

Brandy: Carol, that is so us. You like to be in charge. I like to follow. I like to help and be in a supportive role. But you're the hamburger.

Carol: I'd probably be dessert.

Brandy: I think that really summed up.

Carol: Who we are.

Brandy: All right, I have one for you that the question itself may not be that funny, but I have a feeling that your answer could be. So you haven't heard this before. I want to know what a 7th grade Carol would have gotten in trouble for at school. I think I might know the answer to this.

Carol: So 7th grade Carol was actually pretty quiet, but I had this little side business going on in 7th grade.

Brandy: I'm not can you believe it?

Carol: Where I would buy the boxes of Bazooka Gum that were all individually wrapped remember Bazooka gum with, like, the little comics in it? And I would sell that gum first. When I first started selling, it was, like, $0.05 apiece. And then people were, like, buying me out every morning before school started, when we had to wait in the auditorium. And selling stuff was kind of illegal back then. I think it still is. And then I kept raising the price, so then it was ten cents, and I would still sell out, and then it was 15, and I'd sell out. And so then I was, like, getting $0.25 for a little tiny piece of Bazooka Gum, which is more than you would buy it for in the store at that time, because it was only, like, five cent back in the day. I was making bank Pasuka gum.

Brandy: I was never the one selling, but I was a customer. If they were selling chocolate, I was a customer.

Carol: I couldn't afford to buy to resell. Yeah, because my mom would buy the Bazooka gum. I was like, when you go grocery shopping, can you buy me this? And she's like, Why do you have, like, eight packs of gum? I'm like, I need it. I'm selling it at school.

Brandy: It's a school project. So did we have an offer for them?

Carol: So, my friends, Brandy and I really want you to try the Perks Counseling Club, and we have a special deal for you. In fact, we are so confident that you are going to absolutely fall in love with the Perks that you'll want to be a member forever. So we are going to give you your first month free. All you have to do is use the coupon code podcast, and if you want a direct link, just check the show notes. All right, friends. Brandy, you want to say goodbye to everyone?

Brandy: Bye, everyone. And thank you, Carol, for this opportunity. I think this is going to be a fun journey that's going to last for a really long time.

Carol: I think so, too, and I'm so excited. I want to share this with the world. So thank you guys for listening. I think you guys will absolutely love the Perks program, and we hope to see you inside. Anyway, until next week. Bye for now.

Carol: Thanks for listening to today's episode of Counselor Chat.

Carol: All of the links I talked about.

Carol: Can be found in the. Show notes and@counselingessentials.org podcasts. Be sure to hit, follow or subscribe on your favorite podcast player. And if you would be so kind to leave a review, I'd really appreciate it.

Carol: Want to connect?

Carol: Send me a DM on Facebook or Instagram at counseling essentials. Until next time. Can't wait till we chat. Bye for now.