Supporting Student Mental Health in International Schools

The aim of this course is to provide an overview of common mental health challenges and disorders of children and adolescents in our schools. As we deepen our understanding of mental health and mental illness, we will delve into what plagues our own school communities and develop a mental health plan to take back “home.”

Intended Audience

Students new to mental health/mental illness framework; Students interested in obtaining the ISCA Academy Certificate.

ISCA Student Standards

This course will support you in providing strategies for your students to be able to:

SE:A1:3 Develop self-awareness and self-management skills essential for mental health;

SE:A1:4 Take action (individually or with support) to positively impact one’s own mental health;

SE:A1:5 Describe the relationship between feelings and behavior;

SE:A1:6 Develop healthy ways to identify, express, and respond to one’s emotions;GP:A2:4 Engage in perspective-taking to consider multiple interpretations of situations.

ASCA Ethical Standards (2022) and/or ASCA Professional Standards and Competencies

This course is aligned to the following school counselor standards and competencies:

ASCA Ethical Standards:

A1. Supporting School Development. School Counselors:

b. Foster and affirm all students and their identity and psychosocial development;

f. Do not diagnose but recognize how a student’s diagnosis and environment can potentially affect the student’s access, participation and ability to achieve academic, postsecondary and social/emotional success

h. Respect students’ and families’ values, beliefs and cultural background, as well as students’ sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, and exercise great care to avoid imposing personal biases, beliefs or values rooted in one’s religion, culture or ethnicity;

A6. Appropriate Collaboration, Advocacy, and Referrals for Counseling. School Counselors:

e. Refrain from referring students based solely on the school counselor’s personal beliefs or values rooted in one’s religion, culture, ethnicity or personal worldview. School counselors maintain the highest respect for student cultural identities and worldviews. School counselors pursue additional training and supervision when their values are discriminatory in nature (e.g., sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, reproductive rights, race, religion, ability status). School counselors do not impose their values on students and/or families when making referrals to outside resources for student and/or family support.

Essential Questions

1. What are the mental health challenges and resources specific to my school community?
2. What lenses and biases do I bring to this work?

Participants will have knowledge about:

1. Identify the warning signs of various mental health disorders commonly observed in students, including but not limited to anxiety, depression, eating disorders, self injury and behavioral disorders. 
2. Adopt Best Practices

Participants will be able to:

1. Recognize Warning Signs
2. Develop Comprehensive Mental Health Plans: Create a comprehensive, school-wide mental health plan that includes strategies for prevention, intervention, and postvention.
3. Address Student Mental Health Needs: Describe strategies for providing direct services to students in need, accessing community mental health resources, and collaborating with school staff and community service providers to support students effectively.
4. Collaborate with Stakeholders: Recognize the importance of collaboration with parents/guardians, teachers, administrators, and external mental health professionals in addressing students' mental health needs, and understand when and how to involve outside help.
5. Identify best practices for schools to follow in safeguarding the mental health and safety of all students, including strategies for creating a supportive school culture and promoting mental wellness.

Sarah Pearlz

Sarah is a practicing School Psychologist in a large comprehensive high school (grades 9-12) in suburban Portland, Oregon, USA. She has worked as a school psychologist and Student Services Coordinator at Shanghai American School (Shanghai, China) and Nagoya International School (Nagoya, Japan) between stints in different Oregon school districts. Sarah has experience working with students from age 3-21, and has raised two young adults through the trying times of smartphones and COVID.

Sarah has extensive experience with strengths-based and compassion centered practices. She created video content for VIA Character Strengths while in Shanghai, exhibiting how students as young as 6 can understand complex language related to strengths. She also consulted with the Mayerson Learning Academy on character strength lessons for their Thriving Classrooms work for 5th and 6th graders.

Sarah also became an Applied Compassion Ambassador through Stanford’s Center for Compassion Research and Education (CCARE). Her capstone project from her time in Japan was featured on Stanford’s Applied Compassion Training website.

ISCA Member Price: $395

Non-Member Price: $475

Dates and times of offerings: 

Option 3: April 14, 21 and 28, 2026 - 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM UTC

Contact Hours: 9 hour course

Time commitment between sessions: 1-2 hours

Required Resources: There will be recommended readings and videos via Canvas.