Social and Emotional Health

Twenty years ago, a visitor to Centennial School would have heard a cacophony.

“Banging on doors, yelling, wailing,” said Julie Fogt, the current director of the school. “Adults were loud: ‘Stop that, stop that! Crisis! I need help!’”

It was a private school, but public schools paid to send their most troubled kids there. The school took only children who had both a diagnosis of autism or emotional disturbance and a history of severe behavior issues.

Dr. Christopher Liang, professor of counseling psychology and chair, department of education and human services discussed the challenges of learning from home, and what resources and tools kids, caregivers, and teachers can use as we navigate through this time. 

Lehigh University’s Counseling Psychology Program partnered with the Bethlehem Area School District (BASD) in 2012 to create the Community Voices Clinic (CVC). CVC is a school-based mental health clinic where doctoral students coordinate training and supervise master’s students to provide therapy services to students in the schools and the Lehigh Valley community members.