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Wildly popular since the publication of the first edition, The School Social Work Toolkit is the go-to guide for social workers, counselors, and mental health professionals in primary and secondary education. The new second edition provides real-world resources that social workers can implement on the first day of school and beyond, featuring hands-on activities that are easily reproducible, templates and forms to reduce paperwork time, and thoughtful advice to help school social workers excel at their job.
The authors offer guidance on defining the role of the school social worker; bridging together students and the systems that serve them; and collaborating with teachers, administrators, parents, and guardians to ensure student success. The book provides detailed instruction on how to conduct individual counseling, run small groups, and implement schoolwide programs that meet students where they are and address crises head on.
Issue-specific groups are discussed, including those for grief and loss, anger management, bullying intervention, healthy masculinity, and healthy relationships. Addressing student trauma—whether in school or at home—is a central theme throughout. Creative and engaging interventions are detailed, including affective education, experiential therapy, peer mediation, and restorative justice practices.
Additionally, the authors make recommendations for establishing healthy boundaries, creating work–life balance, avoiding burnout, and building a self-care routine. Fundamentally, the book strives to empower school social workers to create a safe and healthy environment for everyone at school and to support students in getting the most out of their education.
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Defining the Role of a School Social Worker
Chapter 2: Enhancing the School Environment through School Social Work
Chapter 3: Testing and Evaluation by the School Social Worker
Chapter 4: Individual Counseling
Chapter 5: Small Groups: Considerations and Modalities
Chapter 6: Issue-Focused Small Groups in Schools
Chapter 7: Schoolwide Programs
Chapter 8: School Crises and Reporting
Chapter 9: Working with Parents and Guardians
Chapter 10: Collaborating with Teachers, Administrators, and Other School Social Workers
Chapter 11: Self-Care Strategies That Work for You
References
Index
About the Authors
Julie Anne Laser, MSW, LCSW, PhD, began her social work career as a school social worker in Michigan. She has worked as a clinical social worker in rural and urban areas of the United States, Mexico, Peru, Italy, and Bolivia. She speaks Spanish, French, and Italian. Her clinical expertise is in experiential therapy, school social work, resilience, PTSD, and trauma-focused therapy, grief work, parenting issues, child and adolescent healthy development, couples therapy, adolescent substance abuse disorders, working with human trafficking survivors, working with military families, and well-being and resilience throughout the life cycle. She was a professor in the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Denver (DU) from 2003 to 2024. At DU, she created the School Social Work class and the School Social Work Certificate.
Laser has used experiential therapy with her clients since her days of being a school social worker in Michigan. She has written extensively, taught graduate students and community members, and done research on experiential therapy to increase its stature as an evidence-based practice. She is the founder of Experiential Therapy for ALL (https://www.experientialtherapyforall.com), an organization that does experiential therapy and conducts experiential therapy retreats, trainings, in-services, consultations, and clinical supervision. Based in both Colorado and Wisconsin, she travels nationally and internationally to share knowledge and expertise.
The second edition of The School Social Work Toolkit is Laser’s seventh book. She has previously coauthored several books: Understanding and Effectively Utilizing Experiential Therapy: A Mindfulness and Trauma Sensitive Approach to Extending Talk Therapy (2025), Working with Adolescents: A Clinical Guide for Practitioners (second edition; 2021), Youth and Their Families: A Guide to Treating Adolescent Substance Use Through Family Systems Therapy (2019), Innovative Skills to Increase Cohesion and Communication in Couples (2019), Innovative Skills to Support Well-Being and Resiliency in Youth (2017), and Working with Adolescents: A Guide for Practitioners (2011).
Orion Antonio Laser Castro, MSW, LCSW, has always been driven by a profound passion for helping others. He found his true calling in the field of social work. Specializing in supporting children and youth, Castro has been working the past eight years as a school social worker in both traditional and alternative educational settings, serving both special education and general education students from kindergarten through 12th grade in Colorado. His commitment to ethical and meaningful service is reflected in his work. Castro uses experiential therapy with his clients as well as cognitive–behavioral therapy, restorative justice practices, positive behavioral interventions, and affective education. He has been instrumental in creating healthy masculinity groups in Colorado schools. He is on the districtwide diversity, equity, and inclusion committee and gang intervention and prevention programs. He actively creates partnerships between the schools and with nonprofits, law enforcement, judicial services, and local businesses.
This is Castro’s second book collaborating with Laser. In it, he continues to explore innovative effective therapeutic approaches through the lens of a school social worker, reinforcing his dedication to enhancing the lives of young individuals and their families. Castro is also an avid cyclist (both mountain and road) and uses outdoor biking opportunities in his work with clients and for his own self-care.
Alison Varianides, MSW, LCSW-R, is a licensed psychotherapist with a specialization in the treatment of adolescents, adults, and couples. She is the original author of The School Social Work Toolkit: Hands-On Counseling Activities and Workshops (published in 2012).
Varianides has extensive experience working with adolescents, adults, and families. She started her social work career as a school social worker and has worked in th New York City and Westchester County schools, where she counseled adolescents with learning and emotional difficulties. Additionally, she worked in Dallas, Texas, as a school counselor and dean of students.
Shortly after the publication of her first book, Varianides made the difficult decision to leave the school system and founded a private group practice, Westchester Psychotherapy PC, located in New York. By creating a large group practice, her professional dream of being able to provide services to entire families in the community was achieved. Westchester Psychotherapy is a private group practice comprising over 20 clinicians specializing in the treatment of children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families that offers comprehensive services so that all members of a family can receive therapy at the same location with different therapists. The specialized practitioners of Westchester Psychotherapy are highly trained and experienced and work with a wide range of emotional and behavioral issues in a relaxed and comfortable setting. The practice offers a variety of therapeutic approaches to include psychodynamic, cognitive–behavioral, dialectical behavior, solution focused, insight oriented, supportive, and eclectic therapy. Westchester Psychotherapy believes in a team approach to treatment, and the clinicians often collaborate to offer a highly personalized and tailored treatment plan to meet each client’s needs. The goal is to help clients create a healthy and fulfilling life and to teach them the tools they need to maintain this life after they leave therapy.
Varianides continues to use her background in school social work in her everydaypractice. Westchester Psychotherapy works collaboratively with dozens of local schooldistricts to provide much needed mental health services and bridge the gap betweenthe school, home, and community.
Varianides is thrilled to see the publication of The School Social Work Toolkit: Practical and Hands-On Activities and Group Work (2nd edition). The role of the schoolsocial worker has vastly transformed in this post-pandemic age of technology. Thisedition offers an updated and informative experience tailored specifically to the complexityof issues faced by school social workers today.
