Loyola SMHAPP Students Tell Their Story (Part 1): "we joined as strangers and we're leaving as friends"

Editor’s Note: I’m re-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.

Applications are open for the 2021 Cohort of the Loyola University Chicago: School of Social Work School Mental Health Advanced Practice Program (SMHAPP)! 2 years, 15 credits, 99% online, taught by school mental health experts and all within a supportive professional learning community (our 3rd cohort is pictured, and to date we’ve had school clinicians from 11 states in the SMHAPP). Learn more information here:http://bit.ly/SMHAPP6

Loyola SMHAPP 2020 Graduates Nadia Gomez-Moran & Lisa Johnson Haire talk about their experience in the School Mental Health Advanced Practice Program (SMHAPP). In Summer 2020, 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.”

Nadia Gomez-Moran & Lisa Johnson Haire,

2020 Loyola SMHAPP Graduates

“One of the things that that has always struck me about Nadia is she’s comfortable in her skin and so if she doesn’t know something she’ll say, “well you know i don’t know that. Tell me about that.” And so she doesn’t have anything to prove. And I love that she always keeps the lens of culture and inclusion and gets to kind of talk about things that in a way that people might not always appreciate maybe at first–she has brought some things to the forefront that have made me think. So I’m just grateful for my time with her and working in the SMHAPP program through Loyola”–Lisa Johnson Haire on her SMHAPP colleague Nadia Gomez-Moran (pictured)

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.

“Some of the highlights that I took from working with you, Lisa, and from your (Restorative Justice) project was how much you stepped up to be a leader, even with different staffing changes and stakeholders, and how you stepped up to, to look at different data and different interventions and tried to find different stakeholders that could help you and support you.”–Nadia Gomez-Moran on her work with Lisa Johnson Haire (pictured)

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