I would like to introduce myself: my name is Mary DuHoux, Ph.D., NCSP. I am the school psychologist at East High School. My job includes completing evaluations and re-evaluations for students who are receiving special education services. I assess academic skills and aptitude for learning. I collaborate with teachers, parents, and administrators to find effective solutions to learning and behavior problems.

At times, I provide psychological counseling to help resolve interpersonal or family problems that interfere with school performance or work directly with students and their families to help resolve problems in adjustment and learning.

I am on one of three ASD crisis teams that are called on to support staff and students to deal with grief and loss issues. I help families and schools manage crises, such as death, illness, or community trauma.

I work with community agencies that provide services directed at improving psychological and physical health.

I am also one of the RARE-T (Reducing AIDS Risk Effectively in Teens) advisors at East. This is a peer education program.

I'm at East High School Tuesdays through Fridays and my phone number is 742-2182. On Mondays, I'm at the Related Services office at Boniface Center where the phone number is 742-6050.

Allow me to introduce myself! Here is the letter I wrote to East High Staff.

Holidays are not always the easiest times of the year. If you or your student feels a bit blue this holiday season, please download this note on Beating the Blues.

The School District has excellent resources written by various school psychologists concerning a variety of student-related and parenting topics. http://asdk12.org/depts/sped/savvy.asp

In the life of a student, there can be times of crisis and stress. Here are links to some resources dealing with crisis, tips for teens when dealing with depressed friends, and a guide for teachers in dealing with self-injurious behaviors. In times of emergency, Southcentral Counseling Center has a 24-hour crisis information phone line: 563-3200

http://www.nasponline.org/NEAT/savefriend_general.html

Another way to handle these times of crisis and stress is to have already built some personal resilience to such difficulties. Here is a monograph on building such resilience.

Staying ahead of difficulties sometimes requires being able to identify those behaviors that are not productive. Click here to read a monograph on identifying self-injurious behaviors.