Why I Walked Away from My Position as a NYC School Psychologist
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ก.พ. 2022
- After a year and a half of trying to be a public School Psychologist in a pandemic, I walked away to pursue private therapy.
Find out what fueled my decision and led me to my breaking point.
Hi Dr. Barnes, I just came across this video. I’ve been a school psychologist for 25 years. I’ve survived by changing schools or districts regularly. When something doesn’t work I make a change. I’ve also worked with poor administrators. I challenge myself by working part-time as an adjunct professor or using my LPC credential. Best of luck to you. 🍀
That's awesome! Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I've also come back to the school setting in a different system and it's been amazing
I’m a school psychologist and currently work for the DOE. You explained it so well. We become testing machines shooting out tons and tons of paperwork! It becomes draining and you lose your zest for the career! I enjoyed your video! ❤
Thanks so much for watching! If you're still there I hope you're taking care of yourself and finding joy 🙏🏾♥️🥰
@@dr.jalisabarnes Thank you I am still working for the DOE. Yes, I am starting to take care of myself. I leave the work there and go home. 🤣. Thank you 🙏🏾 Looking into doctorate programs now! 🥴Take care 🙏🏾
"You feel like your skills are being wasted after a while." I feel this in my soul.
Yes! It's very difficult to stay motivated when you know that you can and want to do more.
I genuinely completely dislike being a school psych. It’s my 3rd year outside of internship and every year is worse and worse. We are a bandaid. Everything is just paperwork and inefficient programs and record keeping and summarizing. There are some great teachers but when I face teachers that say “oh they have an auditory processing deficit… I guess they should have never been given this class.” No… maybe YOU need to accommodate this child per the law. Literally, I already feel like my job is meaningless because I’m mostly an assessment machine, but then I hear a comment like that and it completely takes away any joy I have found to keep me going. Like what’s the point. Or the classic, “oooh I didn’t know they have an IEP” comment when they have had one for years. Or when teachers don’t follow accommodations lol. What is the point?!??
I have had a terrible (narcissistic-ish AP) that would just treat me like I don’t exist unless he needed something. I have great administration now. BUT… it doesn’t matter because we are just beyond short staffed. I’m just assessing and I’m constantly anxious and the only thing I enjoy doing, which is counseling, is still just a bandaid.
Then after work I’m just drained and I survive and live for the summers. :(
I feel lied to regarding the many hats promised by NASP. And yea we are part of the “mental health” field … but not really…. Because you better get those evaluations done in time. Oh you’re falling apart? Here is a PD about self care. But don’t forget to meet unmanageable deadlines.
Why isn’t it just a legal requirement in education to provide accommodations for everyone? Why not provide differentiated instruction before SPED? Why not at least REQUIRE actual intervention before assessment can be allowed?
I don’t want to be an assessment machine. :( and if I would have known that’s what this job really is, I would have ran the other way before deciding on studying school psychology.
I just came across this video after researching if I am the only one who feels this way….and clearly I am not! But it is disheartening to see that so many of us have the same experience. I have been a school psych for 5 years now and I also think the field just keeps getting worse. I went into this field starry-eyed, thinking that I was going to make a difference in kid’s lives. I imagined myself doing groups and having office hours for kids…genuinely creating relationships. Instead, I don’t even have an office, I have to test in the custodial closets or storage rooms, and testing is all that I’m doing. It really seems like a thankless profession. As she mentioned, we are always the scapegoat and always getting blamed when things go wrong. The stress is starting to wear on me physically.
Wow! You sound like me a few years ago. I definitely had to detach as I often felt the same way. I hope you're finding ways to destress!!
@@dr.jalisabarnes I’m also at a site that is extremely busy and litigious due to being a home school to many private schools so I’ll bounce after this school year to a different one and see what happens. So what did you end up doing once you left? Is there hope? Lol
As a recently retired school psychologist, I totally identify with what you are going through. School psychology is such a noble profession, but the role our educational system wants us to fulfill falls far short of what it should be, and the respect school psychologists merit due to our valuable contributions is often absent. We spend so much time and energy doing our work above and beyond expectancy but seldom receive the acknowledgment and recognition earned. You're right...there are some outstanding administrators out there (I had the good fortune of working with some), but there are way too many who do not value or even understand the multiplicity of the things we do for their schools, and are totally unaware of the complexity of our work. I hope you find yourself in a better place. More power to you.
Thank you so much for your kind words and well wishes! And congratulations on your retirement!
Thank you for this video. I completely agree with you. I’m a school psych intern and I feel the same way. I have seen the school psych not take a break, take reports to finish at home, and have no support from administration. I’m worried and stressed to start this career when there’s so little time for so much work. I’m so happy for you you deserve to do what you love. I wish you so much success.
Thank you so much! I appreciate your kind words and I hope that you see MUCH SUCCESS in your career! The littles are awesome and I was sad to leave them because they deserve us! ❤
I'm so glad I stumbled across your video. You're right about Abbott Elementary mirroring real life experiences! I'm a former public school teacher. My first principal was exactly like Ava, the principal from Abbott! Watching the show just makes me think of how crazy teaching was for me depending on the school and district.
I'm glad you found me too! It was always amazing to me how many of my colleagues have experienced administrators like Ava. It's really a sad state of affairs but hopefully the more we talk, the more people start to pay attention!
I am sorry to hear you went through all of this. It sounds a lot like the medical field. You are beautiful and intelligent young woman you will go far in life God bless you 🙏🏼
Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm going pretty well, thankfully 😊
Hi! I am a SLP in the schools and work closely with the school Psychologists. I have also come to the conclusion that the US education system does not care about the human being or the child. It is all data and numbers. It is so sad. The first year of the pandemic, the state decided it would be a good time to pull IEPs end Evals. We had to redo many of them. It was very stressful!
I LOVED my SLP colleagues! And totally agree it all comes down to numbers, data, and MONEY.
@@dr.jalisabarnes And I love working with my School Psychologists. Unfortunately, I had the honor of working with three great people. We really developed good working relationships. Unfortunately, they all quit at the end of the year. I have worked with 3 different school psychologists in 3 years. I do not fault them. I just wish the district would realize that in order to create good teams and programs they need to treat the professionals like professionals. We tried to implement programs to help the children and support the teachers and parents. It was also nice to have a relationship with someone to talk me down from the overwhelm!
Thank you for this video! I’m a current School Psych graduate student and already in practicum I’ve been exposed to this. I’m also really scared about having to fight the US education system and the possible burn out that may come from that, mostly because I feel that could impact how I work with my future students. And I just wanna be able to help and support however possible!
I learned the hard way that the best way to take care of your students is to take care of YOURSELF first, and pick your battles. The education system is large and corrupt but everyone can help!
Great stuff, Dr. Jalisa. All very relatable and true. I have been in the field a long while now and have experienced everything you mention. With regard to imperious, unethical and uninformed administration I have mostly been lucky enough to avoid them but still have encountered them from time to time (and been assigned schools where I had dealing with them). If you're in a big enough school district I guess you either try to make whatever little changes you can, fight it outright or put up with it until you can put in for a change of school assignment. I think you have to have your own ethics so that sometimes means being unpopular with your admin which is an uncomfortable situation to be in, of course. Overall though I love this, my chosen field.
Thank you so much for this insight! I've actually recently returned to a school setting although not a DOE school and it's a much better fit for me!
Umm wow, thank you for the video! I’ve had great administrators that have been amazing towards me and that’s when my job is good and I feel happy. But I’ve had admin from hell and that’s when I hate my job and want to quit immediately (and usually do, or transfer schools). So I understand completely what you are saying! Last year was the toughest year in my 10 year experience and It was also the most eye opening. I agree with the teachers and parents going as if there was no global pandemic. It was a lot of fighting. Glad I wasn’t alone in this experience.
Definitely comes from the top down!
You hit the nail on the head!! As a fellow School Psychologist I have seen this time and time again. I was born, raised and trained in NY. One of the worst experiences over the years I had was was one assistant principal who went home while a student was missing and I had to pick up the pieces. I left NY because I wanted to try other state systems and they are less equipped than schools in NY. You did the right thing i support it!
Thanks so much for watching AND for your support! Finding the right thing for yourself is so important!
Thank you for sharing your experience! I’m trying to decide to apply to a school psych or clinical grad program. All the videos I’ve watched are all positive and not very two sided.
No problem! The truth is, being a school psych IS very rewarding work, as long as you have a good team and climate (like many jobs I guess lol). But there are ups and downs to most things! Glad you enjoyed!
@@dr.jalisabarnes And I'd say on a practical note that in terms of job security School Psychs have it over Clinical Psychs in that Education Code dictates the need for us. I was also thinking about clinical psych vs school psych many years ago when at that juncture of how to proceed after undergrad in Psych. I went with School Psych and no regrets though not sure how clinical would have been. However Dr. Jalisa is correct about the difficulties you eventually do encounter in the field.
I served 27 years in the Air Force and upon retirement made the decision that I never, ever, ever, ever, ever wanted to work in an institution setting ever again! It was because of crippling bureaucracy. I realized that the military is far better than the civilian corporate community because we had a critical national security mission. Outside the military, it's all about money (shareholder equity) and every individual wants their piece of the pie. So, kudos to you for making the move earlier rather than later. You will succeed because you've chosen to succeed. Many will follow your lead.
Thank you for sharing your experience! It seems that, no matter the field, bureaucracy rears its ugly head! I appreciate your service and insight! ❤
I'm in my 3rd year as a school psych. My first year was horrible, felt so little respect by any staff, and basically a testing and compliance machine. No one cared if my reports were comprehensive, they just cared that I tested the kid and qualified them/did what they wanted. The idea of the 10 NASP domains was a complete joke. Now, I am in a better district but I still feel like I get a lot less respect than if I was to go into the private sector.
I'm so sorry you bad such a rough experience! Working in the public sector is definitely a lot to adjust to.
Loved your video! We actually have the same last name 😮 I have been thinking about going back to school to do school psy but have been discouraged because of the same reasons you listed I feel like it would be a perfect career for me if only they would let us use our expertise and actually make a difference.
Thank you for watching! There are a lot of ways to be a school psych... the organization just wasn't for me. I say if it's really something you want, go for it!
I agree 1,000 percent and all your points raised are valid! I left the field back in January after 5 years of practicing in NYC private special Ed school setting and I will not be looking back! I felt your entire intro! The job literally made me sick from stress. Wishing you all the best 🙏🏾
Wow... yup, I left after 5 years as well! Congrats on your liberation and thanks for your well wishes! I hope that you find EVERYTHING you want in your next chapter!
So curious to know what you do now? I’m year one now and just feel very stuck
Hi Janell! I work in private practice now. You were not the first to ask that question so I posted another answer video: th-cam.com/video/ArM-Y_Wc35A/w-d-xo.html
OMG, my admin is the same. This year she let me go even though I had more time than another teacher. She didn't like my honesty, I was never disrespectful just honest. Mind you everyone was like she just doesn't like you even my other admin had been baffled by feedback. I was like okay you excessed me that is fine. But I am going back to school to be a school psychologist. which is true. I am done with someone ripping into me and my ability to teach. I am happy I came across your video being an NYC employee. My former admin refused to give one of my students and IEP, 504 all the needs my student needs. Mind you I tried to be an advocate because I had an IEP as a kid, I was a special education teacher, but made me look the fool like I had no idea what I was talking about. My student's mom was a middle school art teacher. she contacted her friend who was a special ed teacher also and she tried to fight for her kid. I told her what I thought but she understood that I would be written up for being insubordinate because I was telling the truth and didn't agree with the admin. My admin also stated no budget for a school psychologist so they can do without.
It's really difficult when you're trying to do the right thing and admin doesn't recognize the needs. Very hard to sit by and watch
There is a HUGE disconnect with the teachers , admins, and the school psychs. They need to understand that bringing your students to my office so they can chill all day is NOT in the IEP, it's avoidance. Use the suggested tools so I can work on necessary adjustments
Whew say it louder!! They genuinely don't get it
Thank you for your candid video. Can you make a video about what you decided to do after your resigned? I’m curious because it’s such a narrow field.
Hi! I was actually thinking of doing something about careers you can get into with the credentials it takes to be a School Psych.
In the meantime I touched on what I've been doing since resigning here: th-cam.com/video/0LNkNQzpNDs/w-d-xo.html
Answer to your question here: th-cam.com/video/ArM-Y_Wc35A/w-d-xo.html
I'm an Early Childhood teacher in Manhattan and thinking of going back to school for school psych. I'm used to the stress, admin and beuracratic stuff already, I just need to not deal with that as well as a class full of kids. Too much.
At this point all the report writing plus the DOE madness sounds a lot better than managing a class plus the madness. I know I'll prob have to write assessment reports, but IEPs? Did you write the actual academic goals or a different portion?
If I was working with a good team/administration, then everyone would be responsible for writing their own goals, however it was on my head to ensure that they were all accounted for and written correctly. Sometimes I would have to chase people down for their goals or write them myself if the compliance date was too close.
Same with the PLOP. If everyone did their part, it was easier but sometimes they didn't, admin didn't back me up, so I would have to glean from my notes and any reports they submitted to fill it all in.
Bottom line, I was held responsible for anything that went in the IEP once it was finalized.
I took a hiatus from school psyching and realizing it’s PTSD. We could do so much and school would become a lot easier and more effective for everyone. Instead other ppl want to pick what 3 percent of our education and experience/knowledge they want us to use AND do so unethically and illegally. I thought I wanted to work in public education because I thought it would be about equity and opportunity to improve whole communities and systems. It’s not it’s just bow down and give the most entitled ppl what they want.
I definitely realized I had PTSD after leaving. I was so jumpy about everything related to work. I'm still hopeful that there will be a major overhaul in public education because our kids need us. But not this way.
Thanks for sharing I have an MSW ( Clinical) I applied to a Psy d program I was considering working in NYC School. I think I will look elsewhere.Are there any affordable Psychology/ Psy D programs in NYC?
I wasn't trained in NYC, so unfortunately I don't have any recommendations for that. But thank you so much for watching, and good luck in your search!
Hi, I was planning on getting a PsyD in school psychology, can you please do a video of educational requirements in order to become a school psychologist.
Thank you.
Hi Zyrell! Just wanted to let you know that the answer to your question is up! Here's the link: th-cam.com/video/SSHxZd7a9tE/w-d-xo.html
Dr. Barnes, I think you may have single handedly saved me from spending 7 years working towards becoming a school psychologist and ultimately being contractually bound to three years of service. Question: what are some reasons you feel there is a push by the government and department of education to recruit black males that are interested in becoming school psychologist? What interest school districts systemically to target black men in your opinion, given what you know about the field and the career path as a whole? I feel like there is something I am missing.
Thanks for your comment!
This is a great (and loaded) question. I definitely believe that more positive black male representation is needed in ALL spaces, and especially in Education and Psychology. There are so many research articles written about the psyche and experiences of black males, and MOST of them are authored by white men/women, and some black women. Black male researchers in this field are very rare. I am a firm believer that no one is a better narrator than the person who owns the experience. We can study little black boys 24/7, but we need our black men and boys to tell their OWN stories, and we DEFINITELY need them serving our kids, especially those in extremely vulnerable positions (special education, disciplinary situations, etc)
I do hope that if psychology is your passion that you will pursue it, maybe choose a process that's more comfortable for you. I'm still a School Psychologist, even if I don't work for the DOE, and I just started back working in a (non-DOE) school for exceptional children.
Hi dr Barnes. I have a feeling you may be the psychologist who took over my school in east New York. This video was unbelievable. I too left for all the reasons you did. I’m so sorry because I get it. Oh do I get it
Wow! So nice to connect with you! I'm glad this resonated and was validating.
Very True and I'm just getting into Grad school, going through the process. And I am interested in school psychology but this is messed up. Sorry you went through that. And yes I heard about the disgusting school system and they need to change. Protest and fighting so much a lot of teachers. So sad. I would be exposing them ASAP.
What are you doing now? Are you still involved in psychology?
Hi! I am! I'll be making a video soon about what I've been up to lately.
I shared a brief update here - th-cam.com/video/0LNkNQzpNDs/w-d-xo.html
But I'll absolutely let you know when I make a full video on the topic.
Hello, I have posted a fuller response to your question here: th-cam.com/video/ArM-Y_Wc35A/w-d-xo.html
I'm a school psychologist and wanting to quit but don't know where to go! Do you have any ideas or resources? I feel it is so niche to pivot into something else!!
Hi! Yes, I've moved into private practice. There's another video of me discussing other careers School Psychologists can look into on my channel!
I feel the same way, but I don't know what to do next. Any new career ideas anyone?
Hi! I will be putting up a new video to discuss what I've been doing since leaving in 2021. I'll upload the link when it's available 😄
Response video to your question here: th-cam.com/video/ArM-Y_Wc35A/w-d-xo.html
Dr. Barnes, what are you up to now that you’ve retired from SP?
Hi! Thanks for your question! I work in private practice now. I actually received this question so much I made a video: th-cam.com/video/ArM-Y_Wc35A/w-d-xo.html
private therapy, the way to go. Interesting video
Thanks for watching!
It's about the money. District gets district funding per assessment and service. School Psychologist are the money makers but treated like crap.
Truth!
You were writing IEPs in addition to evaluation reports?
Yes in NYC that's pretty common. We also often serve as district representatives during the meetings.
@@dr.jalisabarnes Never heard of a School Psychologist writing IEP's, that is normally the SPED Teacher's Job- Oh No, I couldn't tolerate that. All our psychologist do is test and with reports, that is it.
@@thunder7188 in NYC, they got rid of certain positions and then combined responsibilities in others. So the school psychologist position doesn't really look the way most school psychs are trained.
@@dr.jalisabarnes Wow! That's messed up.
You get used to it. It was honestly the behavior of admin that got to me.