ITP - 101: Supporting Student Mental Health in Schools
In this episode, Dr. Hayley Watson, a clinical psychologist, shares her work helping schools teach mental health skills to students. The conversation explores how teachers can support students in real time, common mistakes educators make when responding to emotional situations, and practical strategies for building confidence in these conversations. Dr. Watson also discusses school-wide approaches to mental health, the importance of validation, and how small interactions with students can have a lasting impact.
Guest:
Dr. Hayley Watson
Topics:
student mental health, social emotional learning, teaching strategies, classroom management, student wellbeing
Countries Discussed
student mental health, social emotional learning, teaching strategies, classroom management, student wellbeing
Season:
5
Episode:
101
Full Transcript
Greg: Welcome to the International Teacher Podcast. This episode, I am Greg the Single Guy, and I do have Kent the Cat Guy with me. How you doing, Kent?
Kent: Hey, I'm great. Good to see you, Greg.
Greg: All right. And JP's in the house from Mexico. How you doing, JP?
JP: Hello from Canada this time—still in Canada.
Greg: Oh, you're still on vacation in Canada?
JP: I'm still on vacation. I'm in a basement, if you can't tell. For those of us watching the video version—this is a basement.
Greg: If you need help, JP—code word Oklahoma. If they let you out of the basement during the show, feel free to leave us.
Greg: But anyway, we'd like to introduce our guest for this episode: Dr. Hayley Watson. Welcome to the show, Doctor.
Dr. Hayley Watson: Thank you so much. It is a pleasure to be here.
Greg: And you are coming to us from Los Angeles, but you are Canadian. So before we get into your book later, can you give us the elevator version of how you got into education and what you're doing now?
Dr. Hayley Watson: Do you want the personal version or the professional version?
Greg: Let’s do the quick version—the elevator.
Dr. Hayley Watson: Okay, the quick version. I’m a clinical psychologist, and what I do in education is create mental health programs for schools.
Dr. Hayley Watson: I work with schools all over the world—my organization provides resources so teachers can teach students mental health skills.
Dr. Hayley Watson: I work a lot with teachers, principals, and superintendents, and I absolutely love connecting with educators.
Greg: That is huge. That is such a needed service right now because as teachers, we're not really equipped to do this.
Dr. Hayley Watson: Exactly. That’s the problem we’re trying to solve—how do we make sure an entire generation learns these important skills without putting extra pressure on teachers to become experts in something they were never trained in?
Dr. Hayley Watson: There’s a big gap. Teachers weren’t trained in this, and students desperately need it.
Dr. Hayley Watson: How I got here is personal. I experienced trauma when I was young, which shaped me into a perfectionist and people pleaser. On the outside, everything looked fine.
Dr. Hayley Watson: But internally, I was struggling—and I didn’t even realize it until later in life.
Dr. Hayley Watson: After leaving school, things started to fall apart. I didn’t have the skills to make healthy decisions, and I went through a period of self-destructive behavior.
Dr. Hayley Watson: Eventually, I began to understand my patterns and realized how important it is for young people to learn these skills earlier.
Dr. Hayley Watson: That’s what led me to this work—helping kids recognize their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors before things spiral.
Greg: Has this always been the case, or is it getting worse?
Dr. Hayley Watson: That’s a hard question. We’re definitely more aware of it now, but the world is also more intense for young people.
Dr. Hayley Watson: Social media, exposure, pressure—it’s all happening earlier.
Dr. Hayley Watson: When I was growing up in a small town in Canada, I wasn’t exposed to that level of pressure. Kids today are dealing with much more.
Greg: Moose, loons, and snowmobiles, right?
Dr. Hayley Watson: Exactly.
Dr. Hayley Watson: Kids today have to be aware of themselves in a very different way. There’s more pressure to be liked, to look a certain way, to perform.
Dr. Hayley Watson: But at the same time, mental health struggles have always been there—we’re just recognizing them more now.
Greg: And schools aren’t really set up to handle it.
Dr. Hayley Watson: That’s right. Most schools rely on a small number of specialists, but that’s not enough.
Dr. Hayley Watson: We need to teach mental health skills universally—just like we teach reading or math.
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