USM School Psychology

Join us in celebrating Sarah Butt for the successful defense of her dissertation titled, “Examining Neurodiversity Affirming Adaptations to a Social Skills Intervention for Autistic Young Adults.” Amazing work!! 👏🏼🎉

This week our doctoral students presented at the 2026 Making Connection Conference, Mississippi's largest and longest teacher conference, in Biloxi, Mississippi! We are so proud of our students and their milestones! Give them a round of applause!

1st: Boosting Efficacy of Classroom Instruction Delivery to Promote Student Engagement: Taylor Hebert, Jessica McKay, Breanna Hamlin, and Clinton Rolle

2nd: If Everyone Needs Intervention….It’s a Tier 1 Problem:
Mikaela Anderson, Amarah Sweaks, and Trenity Spratley

3rd: Effective Implementation of Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs) In the Classroom: Keara Hill, Hillary Romoser, Clinton Rolle, and Mikaela Anderson

4th: They’re Not Showing Up, Now What? A Practical Guide to Truancy and School Refusal: Amarah Sweaks, Mikaela Anderson, and Dr. Emily DeFouw

We're proud to celebrate fourth-year doctoral student Mikaela Anderson for her recent contribution to Communiqué, NASP's national publication, through the article "Emerging Voices in School Psychology."

For this piece, Mikaela interviewed graduate students from across the country, including fellow fourth-year USM School Psychology doctoral student Lourdes Rodriguez, exploring themes related to graduate student experiences, communication, mentorship, recruitment, and retention within school psychology.

As Mikaela and Lourdes prepare to begin their doctoral internships this fall, this accomplishment reflects the many ways our students contribute to the field beyond coursework, practicum, and research. Through involvement in professional organizations, students can build meaningful connections, develop leadership skills, engage in advocacy efforts, and help shape the conversations being had in the field.

Congratulations to Mikaela on this publication and to both Mikaela and Lourdes for representing USM School Psychology! 💛🖤

Words matter. The way we talk about children and mental health can shape confidence, self-esteem, and growth.

Recognizing strengths like kindness, persistence, creativity, leadership, and resilience can help students feel empowered instead of defined by their struggles. Small shifts in language and perspective can make a meaningful difference.

This Mental Health Awareness Month, let’s continue creating spaces where people feel seen, valued, and supported for who they are as a whole person.



Inspired by “Framing the Whole Child Through Strength-Based Assessment”

🎉 Congratulations to Dr. Zachary LaBrot on his promotion to Associate Professor, beginning August! Dr. LaBrot serves as Graduate Program Coordinator for the School Psychology Program here at the University of Southern Mississippi. We are so proud to celebrate this well-deserved milestone! 👏

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Every child has strengths that deserve to be recognized.

Strength-based support helps build confidence, reduce stigma, and create more positive relationships between students, families, and schools. Focusing only on struggles can cause us to overlook resilience, creativity, persistence, and other important qualities that help children succeed.

Supporting mental health means seeing the whole child not just the difficulties they face.



Adapted from “Framing the Whole Child Through Strength-Based Assessment”

This Mental Health Awareness Month, let’s remember that children are more than their challenges.

A strength-based approach focuses on resilience, creativity, leadership, persistence, and the unique qualities that help students thrive. When we recognize strengths alongside struggles, we help children feel supported, capable, and understood. 🌱

Sometimes the most important question we can ask is not “What is wrong?” but “What is strong?”



Based on “Framing the Whole Child Through Strength-Based Assessment” by Kaveri Sehgal

As highlighted in the recent NASP Communiqué, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) builds on behavioral principles while encouraging acceptance, mindfulness, and values based actions. Rather than viewing grief as something to “fix,” ACT focuses on helping individuals navigate difficult emotions while continuing to engage in meaningful parts of life. These perspectives may also help educators and school professionals better support grieving students within educational settings.🤍

Disclaimer: This content is for educational purposes only and should not replace professional guidance, individualized support, or consultation with qualified mental health professionals. Always continue exploring evidence based practices and resources when supporting students experiencing grief.

Supporting grieving students can look different for every child and every situation. Grief may impact emotions, behavior, relationships, focus, and daily functioning, often in ways that are not immediately visible.

Creating space for acceptance, self compassion, meaningful connection, and emotional support can help students feel seen, supported, and understood during difficult times. 🤍