McMeen Elementary

Counseling/Therapy

We are very excited that McMeen Elementary has two full-time therapists this year- Nicole Gonzalez Smith, LSW and Abby Schilly, MSW. Read on to learn more!

What is therapy? Therapy provides kids with a safe space to express their emotions. You may be familiar with talk therapy for adults. With children, therapy involves much more play, art, games, and maybe even some acting! We work with kids and families to develop specific goals to work towards. Goals may be related to learning healthy ways to express emotions, practicing strategies to calm down, building social skills, or processing a life change like a move or the loss of a loved one.

When do children meet with the therapists? We work with your child's teacher to find a time to pull them from class when they will miss the least amount of learning. We see most children for 45 minutes once a week.

Will I be involved? You are the most important person in your child's life. We always hope to collaborate with caregivers as much as possible but we also know you all lead busy lives so we do our best to work with your schedule and make it as easy for you as we can. We meet with caregivers before meeting with kids to get your permission for therapy, learn more about your child, and craft goals you'd like them to work on. As time goes on, we'll reach out with updates and can set up additional appointments to provide extra support when needed. We want to support your family and show your child we're all on the same team to help them!

If you are interested in learning more, please reach out to your child's teacher or email us at abigail_schilly@dpsk12.net or nicole_smith@dpsk12.net. We may not have space for all students who are interested but we do our best to connect folks to other resources when we are not available.