Loneliness can affect not just your mental health but also your physical health.
National School Psychology Week Highlights Vital Role of School Psychologists in Supporting Students
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Asia Tabb
Loneliness can affect not just your mental health but also your physical health.
AIRED; November 3, 2025
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November marks National School Psychology Week, a time to recognize the essential work of school psychologists and this year’s theme — “Fostering Belonging and Building Hope.” Across Pennsylvania, these professionals are making a difference in students’ academic success and emotional well-being.
Dr. Lydia M. Svetkovich Emeigh, an educational consultant with the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN), explained that the role of a school psychologist is both broad and essential. “School psychologists support the whole child within a school at the individual child level and at the systems level,” she said. “A lot of work goes into collaboration and consultation with teachers and families to support children’s social, emotional, behavioral well-being, as well as academics.”
Beyond working one-on-one with students, Emeigh said school psychologists often help shape programs that support every child in the district. “There is a goal for a school psychologist to have a comprehensive role to support systems-level change and to put systems into place within schools,” she noted. “We think about what we can do at the systems level to put things into place for all students in a more preventative way.”
While school psychologists and guidance counselors sometimes overlap, their training and focus differ. “A school counselor often focuses on school-based mental health and social-emotional needs,” Emeigh said. “A school psychologist has that background but also tends to have expertise in academic interventions as well as database decision-making. Our training and reach within a school are often broader.”
Dr. David J. Lillenstein, a nationally certified school psychologist in the Derry Township School District, said his work is anything but predictable. “There is no typical day,” he laughed. “I may have a calendar that tells me I’m going to do A, B, and C, and at the end of the day, I may not even have gotten to A.”
For Lillenstein, flexibility and visibility are key. “I try to be as preventative as possible and as visible as possible,” he said. “Sometimes it’s not in my office — I go to classrooms, hang out in the cafeteria, or talk with students in the hallway. There’s a lot of consultation with teachers mixed into that as well.”
Lillenstein was recently named Pennsylvania’s School Psychologist of the Year, a recognition he says reflects not just his work, but the collaborative spirit of his district. “I don’t feel like I operate independent of the team that I’m with,” he said. “It takes a village to raise the kids that we work with, and we need to work together.”
As schools continue to navigate challenges in education and mental health, both experts agree that fostering belonging and building hope begins with connection. “Ultimately, we’re here to support students not just academically, but as whole people,” Emeigh said.
