What are schools to do when there is a large mental health need but limited staff to fill this need? As someone who has been the sole counselor at many different school sites, the answer is simple—we rethink what counseling services can look like and we begin to build capacity for imagination.
In February 2025, Digital Promise’s Center for Inclusive Innovation invited me to join their Action Summit in Oakland, California, as a speaker and expert coach. The conversations I had at the Action Summit were a reminder of what becomes possible when we shift our perspective—not just on the challenge, but on the solutions, too. In consultation with a group of attendees, it was clear that their school had a high need for mental health services; however, they did not have the staff capacity or funding for their desired solution. By asking one simple question, they were able to come up with a solution that felt tangible and buildable.
That question was, “What are we able to do now with the resources we have?”
Of course, in an ideal world, we would have all of the staffing and funding we need to meet the mental health needs of students. Unfortunately, that is not the reality of many schools. Looking at what we have access to at the moment can help us discover ways to build capacity given these resources.
Zeyda A. Garcia answers attendee questions after her lightning talk presentation at the Center for Inclusive Innovation’s Action Summit in Oakland, California.
I founded Healing Aguas Wellness Solutions LLC because I saw a need for schools to do mental health services differently. We believe that all students deserve access to counseling services and we ensure that schools use their unique strengths and creativity to provide community responsive counseling services.
The work of Healing Aguas Wellness Solutions (Healing Aguas) aligns with the core tenet of building capacity from Digital Promise’s Inclusive Innovation process because we support our partners in expanding their ability to rethink how mental health services are delivered in schools. Many frameworks support tiered counseling services; however, counseling services are often seen in a more individualized model where counselors only see students one-on-one or during a crisis. School-based counselors and clinicians have a unique opportunity to normalize mental health services on their campus, beginning with building capacity and shifting our mindset about what counseling services can look like in schools.
Through our work, Healing Aguas helps schools, administrators, and counselors look at their current resources, assess needs, and find tangible ways to make counseling services accessible for all students. Our mental health program consultation supports schools in using a tiered intervention framework to provide services schoolwide, which can expand access for all students and potentially decrease individual caseloads for school-based counselors. These tiered interventions can include schoolwide initiatives, caregiver workshops, small groups, and much more.
One key thing to remember about making counseling services accessible is that we do not have to do it alone. Aside from tiered interventions, we can also start to partner with community-based organizations to address higher mental health needs that may show up. Building relationships with organizations already providing relevant and essential services to your school community can increase capacity by expanding your reach and ensuring all students and families have access to mental health services.
School counselors, school-based clinicians, administrators, educators, and community-based organizations can play a key role in making mental health supports a natural part of the school community. Now is the time to reimagine what mental health support looks like in schools. By strengthening capacity, building partnerships, and embracing a tiered approach, we can create sustainable, accessible mental health services for all students and families.
