Mental Health Matters: Spotlight on the Counselors

This year, the School has experienced some inconsistency with its counseling department because of the high demand for mental health professionals all over the country. When asked about the lack of a consistent full-time counselor for the School, Head of School Ricky Lapidus said, “There’s a national shortage in mental health professionals at the same time that there is a national crisis in teenage mental health and wellness.” Lapidus admits that the original goal was to find one person full-time, but says the two part-time counselors, Stephanie Marshburn and Sarah Korsunsky, are terrific people for the job and they will continue for the rest of the school year. Marshburn is available Tuesdays and Fridays, and Korsunsky is available Wednesdays and Thursdays. There is currently no counselor in the office on Mondays. 

Korsunsky is a licensed clinical social worker who loves working with teenagers. When she is not working, she loves to be outdoors hiking and spending time with her kids. Korsunsky wants students to know that she is here as a support system and hopes students don’t feel shy stopping by if they need a neutral person to touch base with. She hopes that going forward, students at the School will start to destigmatize reaching out for help and also lookout for one another by noticing changes in behavior. Korsunsky says, “As a school, I think it is important that we build both tools to manage stress but also looking if there are things we can do as a school to not set up students to have so much on their plates.”

The other counselor, Marshburn, also has big hopes for improving the mental health of students at the School. In her free time, her hobbies include pickleball, hiking, spending time with her dog by the lake, and she is a huge sports fan. She wants to ensure students know that counseling is a confidential space and an opportunity to talk about anything without judgment. 

Marshburn says, “I want the counseling department to feel more accessible.” She believes there is a low number of students actively using the counseling system and wants to reiterate that it is a judgment free zone to have someone listen to what’s going on for you. In the future, Marshburn adds, “My hope is that we have somebody that can be a full-time counselor that…will take on the vision of what the counseling program can look like.” She also hopes there will continue to be part-time counselors as well that can spend more time actively supporting kids.

A student, who would like to remain anonymous, said, “I talked to the counselor to solve an issue in my friend group, and it was really helpful.” They say that they felt comfortable to openly share things and said, “It was nice to have an unbiased opinion of the situation.” The student shared that they wish more students were introduced to and got to know the new counselors because very few people they know have talked to the counselors this year.

When asked about having part-time counselors rather than a full time one, they said, “I think more people would talk to the counselor if there was one that was here Monday through Friday instead of it switching off during the week.” However, the student also added that they think that the current counselors are great sources of support and encourages more students to reach out and get to know them.