January can feel especially tough in schools. Big emotions, increased anxiety, mood changes, and shutdown behaviors often show up as students transition back from break. In this episode, I’m breaking down why January feels so hard, and what school counselors can do to support students in ways that are compassionate, practical, and sustainable.

In this episode, I discuss:

1. Why January creates emotional and behavioral shifts for students
2. 
   
3. How anxiety shows up differently across age groups
4. 
   
5. The difference between behavior problems and regulation problems
6. 
   
7. Why predictability is essential for reducing anxiety
8. 
   
9. Counselor strategies to restore safety and routine
10. 
    
11. Low-pressure Tier 1 lesson ideas for January
12. 
    
13. Small group supports for anxiety, coping skills, and transitions
14. 
    
15. Trauma-informed practices that prioritize connection before correction
16. 
    

Key Quote from the Episode

“Anxiety increases when predictability decreases.”

Counselor Takeaway

January isn’t about fixing feelings or pushing through. It’s about regrounding, rebuilding routines, and helping students feel safe enough to learn again. Small supports matter—and they add up.

Thank you for showing up for your students and for yourself. Your work matters more than you know.

Grab the Show Notes: Counselingessentials.org/podcast

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Mentioned in this episode:

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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 engage students.

If you're looking for a little inspiration to help 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.

Hey counselor friends. Welcome back to another episode of Counselor Chat. I'm your host, Carol Miller,

and I'm so happy that you're here with me today.

If you're listening to this in January,

you're probably seeing it.

Big emotions,

short fuses,

more tears,

more shutdowns,

more referrals that start with this student was fine before break.

And here's the thing.

Nothing is wrong.

I mean, January brings big feelings for a lot of our students and honestly, I think for us too.

And today's episode is all about what's really happening underneath those behaviors and how we can support students who are struggling with anxiety,

mood changes,

and the transition back to school without jumping straight into consequences or overloading ourselves.

Why does January feel so hard?

Well,

January is a perfect storm.

Students are coming back from a big break in routines,

maybe some even big family dynamics,

changes in sleep schedules,

unpredictability,

travel,

emotional stress.

Sometimes it's grief,

loss or trauma that happened quietly during break.

And for many students,

school is actually the most predictable place that they have.

So when that predictability disappears for two weeks or longer,

it can feel very destabilizing.

And when they come back, we often see, well, increased anxiety,

moodiness,

irritability,

some tearfulness,

withdrawal, avoidance behaviors,

perfectionism,

or fear of just doing it wrong.

And these aren't behavior problems,

they're regulation problems.

So let's talk specifically about January anxiety,

because I think this often shows up as I forgot how to do school.

What if I can't keep up?

What if something bad happens while I'm gone?

Or what if I get in trouble?

And for our younger students, our little loves, this may look like clinginess,

frequent visits to the nurse, or meltdowns over the small things.

For older guys,

it's headaches or stomachaches, avoidance,

shutdown behavior,

that negative self talk.

And here's the key point I want you to remember.

Anxiety increases when predictability decreases.

So our job in January isn't to push harder it's to restore a sense of safety,

unpredictability.

And one of the most powerful things we can do is name the name the transition.

Sometimes just saying,

hey friends,

transitions,

they can be hard or it makes sense that this feels weird.

Your body is remembering school again.

I mean that alone, it can lower anxiety.

And some helpful counselor strategies include some visual schedules for kids.

You know, the little things that you want to post in their lockers. Remember to bring in your homework folder, put away your coat,

put your clothes inside your pockets so you don't lose them in the abyss of your locker.

Also those predictable check ins.

How are things going?

Let's talk about it. How was your day?

Or previewing what's coming next?

And even normalizing mistakes during the first few weeks back.

We don't need to rush students back into full speed.

What we need to do is to meet them where they are.

So January is a really great time for some low pressure tier one lessons.

Think calm,

reflective, grounding,

not real high energy.

And for me this can sometimes be tough because I like to bring all the energy into my class lessons. I like to get them all riled up and talking and moving around.

But in January I'm not doing that.

I'm going to focus,

do some guided journeys and really try to help reset the mood.

I really am all about that calm, the reflective, the grounding.

And so some tier one lesson ideas can be some starting off with some feeling check ins,

using colors, weather, numbers,

maybe a community circle.

If you're with some of your bigger kids,

you can do what helps me feel ready to learn lessons.

A lot of times we start off the year with those,

but it's also helpful to revisit those halfway through.

You can do some,

some lessons on calming strategies,

maybe even revisit ones that they already know.

Like I said, that guided breathing or those guided journeys,

the breathing and the visualization,

they can all really be helpful.

And as you're talking to your classes, you can use some really simple prompts as you begin your classes.

One thing that feels hard about being back is one thing that helps me feel calm at school is or when I feel overwhelmed,

I can let them fill in the blanks.

A quick, easy way to start the lessons and to ease back into things.

Because our goal this time for lessons is not about fixing feelings, but our goal is really helping our students feel seen and supported.

Now if you're running some small groups,

here are some small group ideas. Because some of our students, they need a little bit more and tier two groups,

this is where they're going to get that extra little bit of support that they might need.

So January is a great time for starting an anxiety group or coping skills group or maybe even a transition support group.

And focus areas can include identifying our worry thoughts,

what do our body signals for anxiety look like,

coping strategies that actually work for them,

and maybe even practicing flexibility and problem solving.

For some group activities you might include things like worry versus control sorting activities.

So what is within my circle of control?

What's outside of my my control?

Maybe you're going to work on a calming strategy toolkit or some CBT style thought reframing.

Because a lot of kids are coming back with I can't do this,

it's just not possible.

And we want to remind them of the yet.

We can work on grounding exercises or even visual coping plans.

And remember,

your groups don't need to be long or intense this time of year. They can be short term and it can just be focused support for just a few short sessions.

And that can make a really big difference as kids are transitioning back.

Now we also have to remember this truth.

Some of our students experienced real trauma over break and we may not know about it.

That's why trauma informed check ins matter so much in January.

And these trauma informed practices can include setting up a very predictable routine,

giving choice whenever possible,

having a calm, neutral response to behavior,

avoiding those public call outs or those power struggles,

and offering connection before correction.

And some simple trauma informed check in questions include how are you feeling in your body today?

Or what do you need to feel okay at school today?

Especially if you're doing those check ins.

And is there anything making today harder?

You don't need the whole story.

You just need to communicate.

You're safe here.

So let me say this very clearly.

You are not expected to fix January.

You are not behind and you are not doing it wrong if things feel harder right now.

Big feelings in our kids don't mean failure.

They mean students are human.

Your presence, your consistency and your compassion,

they matter more than any perfect lesson plan ever will.

And as we move through these early weeks of the new year, I want you to remember that transitions, they take time,

regulation comes before learning.

And those small supports that we offer,

they really add up.

And January isn't about pushing through.

It really is all about regrounding.

So my friends, thank you for showing up for your students and also for yourself.

I'll see you next week on Counselor Chat.

And until next time,

I hope you have a really great week.

Bye for now.

Thanks for listening to today's episode of Counselor Chat. All of the links I talked about can be found in the show notes and@counningessentials.org.

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Until next time.

Can't wait till we chat. Bye for now.