Counseling Corner
Trimester Two - Issue Two
Welcome to the DHMS Counseling Newseltter
Below you will find some new resources, as well as some of our favorites. Here is to a fresh start in Trimester 3! Please reach out to any one of us if you ever have any questions or concerns.
- Ms. Bechard, Ms. Goodier, Ms. Kunert
Vaping Risks Revealed
Some people believe that vaping is safer than smoking cigarettes—do you? Let’s learn about the effects of using e-cigarettes on your brain and body along with strategies for responding to pressure to vape, so you can make safe choices!
Click the picture to do a self-paced module created by CVS Health for middle school students, to see how much you know about Vaping.
8 Things to Know About Vaping
Need Help Feeling Motivated?
Executive Function Skills are the skills needed to be able to effectively plan, organize, manage your time, initiate getting to work, accomplish a task, and sticking to a goal. We all struggle with some of these skills, and with age and practice - they get stronger. Lack of these skills can be a major reason behind motivation challenges in tweens and teens. This is partially because the executive function part of their brain is not fully developed yet, but also many people don't know what tools they can use to strengthen these skills in their brain.
Learn about seven important executive function skills, their relationship to motivation, and how to improve each skill by clicking on the picture to the left.
Screen Time
How much is too much? Find out if screen time is a healthy part of your child’s life or if it is taking over with the "I’d Rather Inventory" by Dr. David Walsh, Ph. D.
Dr. David Walsh is an award winning Psychologist that us DHMS Counselors love to follow, and he has also written ten books including the national best sellers Why Do They Act That Way? A Survival Guide to the Adolescent Brain for You and Your Teen and No: Why Kids – of All Ages – Need to Hear It and Ways Parents Can Say It.
A link to his website is below which has loads of information on screen time, mental health, parenting, and teens.
More on Screen Time from Spark & Stitch Institute
When Phones Get in the Way of Connection (and When They Don't)
Does Your Kid Want a Phone? Consider These 5 Questions First
Dakota Hills Middle School Counseling
We are available during school hours
Maureen Bechard
6th Grade
Maureen.Bechard@district196.org
651-683-6846
Rachel Goodier
7th Grade
Rachel.Goodier@district196.org
651-683-6868
Erica Kunert
8th Grade
651-683-6847