SMHAPP Students Tell Their Story (Part 1): “we joined as strangers and we’re leaving as friends”

Loyola SMHAPP 2020 Graduates Nadia Gomez-Moran & Lisa Johnson Haire talk about their experience in the School Mental Health Advanced Practice Program (SMHAPP). Last month, I put together short Zoom webinars with the SMHAPP grads who had worked together in our “dyad” format as part of their 2-year cohort. They spoke about their experiences overall in the SMHAPP Certificate, but mostly I asked them to talk about each others’ work and what they learned from their time together. As Lisa put it so beautifully, “we joined (the SMHAPP Certifcate) as strangers, and we’re leaving it as friends.”

I’ll be posting all 3 of these Zoom webinars from our SSWN YouTube channel, as they show the power of the SMHAPP in action, as SMHAPP cohort members talk about how the program helped them find a supportive learning community that equipped them with the tools and evidence-based interventions to carry out a school-change project for their school. In this first session, we hear from Nadia about Lisa’s work to bolster and enhance the Restorative Justice work happening in her high school in Florissant, MO, followed by Lisa talking about Nadia’s efforts to help her high school in Addison, IL adopt trauma-informed practices.

Nadia Gomez-Moran & Lisa Johnson Haire,

2020 Loyola SMHAPP Graduates

In her SSWN article from May 2019, “Impactful Adventures With At-Risk Youth: A SSW Gets Creative To Reach Her Teens,” Nadia Gomez-Moran reflects on her outdoor education PYD work with her students.

---

The April 20th “High School SSW Practice in a Pandemic” SSWN webinar was co-led by Lisa Johnson Haire, and has been viewed almost 1,200 times on the SSWN YouTube channel.

---

Here’s the full conversation I had with these 2 amazing school social workers.

---

Applications are now open for our 5th SMHAPP cohort and are due August 1st–apply today to https://www.luc.edu/socialwork/certif… Watch for upcoming SMHAPP events in July 2020 and always follow us @SchoolSocWork and read our SMHAPP students’ work over at www.schoolsocialwork.net