Why SST was created and How We Can Help
We observed that traditional therapy did not meet our patients’ and their families’ needs… and we saw that school staff could not always meet with students and support them when they needed it most.
For more than two decades we have worked in school, outpatient, day-treatment, hospital, and research settings helping individuals and their families gain the necessary skills and resources to have successful and meaningful lives. Yet over the years we have repeatedly encountered students who experienced profound difficulties attending school, getting to school, or both. We saw many families burnt out from the burden of helping their child (un)successfully attend and participate in school.
We also consistently experienced the feeling of being limited as professionals from the extent as well as the amount of resources we could (not) provide. We observed that traditional therapy did not meet our patients’ and their families’ needs in the most efficient and cost effective way. Simultaneously, we saw that school staff could not always meet with students and support them when they needed it most, particularly when challenges occurred outside of school hours. We were frustrated that there never seemed to be a structured nor integrated program to help the children and families that we were working with in a wrap-around way. If we as professionals felt this discouraged, we could only imagine how unsupported the children, families, and school staff we were working with must have felt.
From day one, Successful School Transitions was created to address all the gaps in the current system.
One day, as we were consulting with each other about these support gaps for our struggling students and trying to brainstorm around them, a light bulb went off in our heads. We decided to not simply accept this frustrating reality. Instead, we would create the structured and integrated program we knew our students and families so desperately deserved.
We realized the best way to achieve this was to create both Successful School Transitions as well as ST Coaching. We envisioned that the two organizations could flexibly work as stand alone supports or integrated to meet the individualized needs of every student having a difficult time going to or staying in school. Given the uncertain educational landscape during the COVID-19 pandemic and different schooling options this year (remote, in person, and hybrid), we purposely tailored our program to meet the range of students’ needs and take these realities into account.
- Erica Miller, PhD & Rebecca Sachs, PhD
We decided to not simply accept this frustrating reality. Instead, we would create a program we knew our students and families deserved.
Successful School Transitions will fill in whatever specific gaps your family and child needs. We are…
An integrated team approach. We work as a team within SST Psychology and ST Coaching, when and how it best makes sense for your child.
A bridge between your family and your child’s school, as well as with their therapeutic team.
A hands-on and research supported process.
We meet you wherever your family is at.
Assessment & Plan
Successful School Transitions will work with your family, either as a stand alone service or with your current treatment providers to best understand what is driving your child’s behaviors and struggles and to develop a clear plan on how to best address them. We demystify your child’s behaviors through a comprehensive assessment and provide a road map to change behaviors through our plan development which provides concrete step for you and your child.
Learning Skills
Once there is a clear picture of what is driving your child’s behaviors and struggles, targeted therapy will teach your child and family the necessary skills to move forward and get back to school. This can be through our Intensive Therapy Service or with an outside provider. When necessary, we can connect you with expert therapists. Regardless of who is teaching these skills, we collaborate with your therapeutic team, school staff and family to ensure your child has the best resources available.
Putting Skills to Use
Putting newly learned but necessary skills to use outside of therapy can be a challenge for many children with school avoidance and their families. In real life moments, families often feel stuck and think that “they can’t.” When applicable, ST Coaching will work with your child in tandem with therapy to help your family implement these transformative skills and powerful new habits: we change “I can’t” you knowing “you can.” Coaching is a bridge between therapy and practical success.
Lasting Results
After being in crisis mode for so long, it’s momentous when your child and family can notice real results — immediate improvement in anxiety, mood & confidence, increased engagement and attendance in school, as well as less family struggles. Our goal is for your child and family to sustain these positive changes through the establishment of effective long term “success” habits and strategies. A modified plan and coaching can help your family maintain these hard earned gains.
We made the decision for our services, including Coaching, to be all virtual for at least the 2020-2021 academic year. With all the uncertainty your child and family has already faced and will likely continue to experience, we wanted one variable in your life to remain the same regardless of any future public health decisions. Additionally, being a virtual service allows us to be the most accessible in terms of both location of student and scheduling.
COVID-19 and Successful School Transitions
SST was envisioned pre-CV-19. We know that many students who struggled with school anxiety and avoidance without the pressures of this pandemic will continue to do so. We also recognize that the unique demands and stressors during CV-19 place school children at an increased risk for anxiety, insomnia, frustration and concentration problems, which may result in greater learning difficulties, school anxiety, school avoidance and school refusal. Layered on top of this, some of your children’s worries, fears and frustrations may be appropriate and rational, while their behaviors and responses to these are not serving them best.
When relevant, we will look at factors related to the pandemic, such as:
Exposure to infection, physical distancing and related loss of friends, boredom with activities, disrupted home routines, changes in sleep, missing out on events and enjoyed activities, general frustrations with school and family, changing family dynamics and relocations
More specific to school we will assess:
Both small and great shifts in your child’s learning routine, New organizational, time management and initiation demands of remote school, Changes in school staff and teachers, Changes in learning format and in hands-on learning opportunities, Changes in social opportunities during structured learning and unstructured times, Computer fatigue, How your child responds to these changes, as well as their general tolerance for uncertainty.
Flexibility amidst ongoing uncertainty & change:
In our assessment and plan for your family we take everything into account and make sure that the proposed supports are individualized and take into consideration your nuanced and potentially evolving reality. We will support you and your family whether learning is in-person, virtual, both, or changes mid-plan.