Teacher and Director Well Being

Supporting Teacher Mental Health Through Creative  Arts

Now more than ever, the need to build in support for teacher-well being during the school day is paramount. Being with children through traumatic times is emotionally draining and evocative! Working to give children what they need socially and emotionally as well as cognitively can challenge teacher’s own equilibrium in the best of times, and we are not in the best of times!

This new Schools That Heal component will provide a monthly onsite creative arts space at your school for teacher support or  respite, group process or refueling moments for stressed teachers. Collage will be the therapeutic art of choice and  materials will be provided as part of this service.

When teachers are invited to have an expressive arts voice for their experiences, they may feel less burdened, more available and more joyful as they interact with the social and emotional lives of children.

Supporting Directors and School Leaders: Our Directors Forum

Our Directors Forum meets quarterly at the West Side Montessori School on the Upper West Side. This group allows school leaders to come together to share experiences with children, parents and teachers as well as be in the “good company” of others who know the demands of the work. Leadership can be isolating. The Directors Forum can diminish emotional and social isolation through sharing within a therapeutic environment and an emotionally responsive framework provided by the facilitator.