Counseling Partners of Los Angeles (CPLA) is dedicated to improving the lives of students attending schools in underserved areas of Los Angeles. Our team of highly committed and compassionate counselors provides school-based counseling services for elementary and high school students throughout the school year.
We are very pleased to announce that CPLA is now providing Teacher Counseling services for teachers at our partner school communities.
Please reach out to us at teachers@counselingpartnersofla.org if you would like someone to call you to speak about how we might be able to assist you in being your healthiest self. You may also fill out the teacher counseling referral form here: https://forms.gle/mfQriPZE1hxVp1VY8.
Meet our Dedicated Teacher Counselors:
Nickella Schlanger
My name is Nickella Schlanger, and I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to offer support to you, the teachers, who have been our heroes showing up day after day through thick and thin the past few years. I’m here to provide a space to take care of you and focus on how you’re feeling, what you’re thinking, and how you’re coping. I’ve spent many years working on school campuses as a volunteer, a teacher, a coach, and an after-school program director. These experiences have always given me great respect for educators and awareness of the pressures faced both at work and at home. I’m here to listen if you feel like you need a safe, private place to talk without fear of judgment.
Therapy is about discovering what you need and want and collaborating together on how to get there. It is a place to feel seen and heard and supported unconditionally. I use a strengths-based approach incorporating elements of person-centered, the arts, mindfulness, cognitive-behavioral, emotion-focused, narrative, mind-body connection, and solution-based ideas. I decided to go back to graduate school in my forties to become a therapist because I saw so much need around me and wanted to be part of the solution. We all need extra support at times, and it is okay to reach out for help. If you’re not sure about it, I’m happy to talk it through together to see if therapy could be helpful for you.
We are very pleased to announce that CPLA is now providing Teacher Counseling services for teachers at our partner school communities.
Please reach out to us at teachers@counselingpartnersofla.org if you would like someone to call you to speak about how we might be able to assist you in being your healthiest self. You may also fill out the teacher counseling referral form here: https://forms.gle/mfQriPZE1hxVp1VY8.
Meet our Dedicated Teacher Counselors:
Nickella Schlanger
My name is Nickella Schlanger, and I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to offer support to you, the teachers, who have been our heroes showing up day after day through thick and thin the past few years. I’m here to provide a space to take care of you and focus on how you’re feeling, what you’re thinking, and how you’re coping. I’ve spent many years working on school campuses as a volunteer, a teacher, a coach, and an after-school program director. These experiences have always given me great respect for educators and awareness of the pressures faced both at work and at home. I’m here to listen if you feel like you need a safe, private place to talk without fear of judgment.
Therapy is about discovering what you need and want and collaborating together on how to get there. It is a place to feel seen and heard and supported unconditionally. I use a strengths-based approach incorporating elements of person-centered, the arts, mindfulness, cognitive-behavioral, emotion-focused, narrative, mind-body connection, and solution-based ideas. I decided to go back to graduate school in my forties to become a therapist because I saw so much need around me and wanted to be part of the solution. We all need extra support at times, and it is okay to reach out for help. If you’re not sure about it, I’m happy to talk it through together to see if therapy could be helpful for you.
Ilusion Millan
I am a born and raised Native Angeleno, I have always been an advocate for children's growth and development as well as fostering social-emotional learning for both children and parents. I have had the wonderful blessing of raising two boys that are now adult children. I graduated with a bachelor's in Human development from Pacific Oaks; and then, received my master's degree in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University in 2018 . I have traveled abroad to train and become certified in Narrative Therapy from the Vancouver School of Narrative Therapy. I have also worked with Yale University in the past as a children's curriculum developer in social-emotional intelligence and pet humane education. I look forward to bringing my skills, clinical knowledge, and clinical experience to working with young persons, parents, and the faculty that CPLA serves!
I am a born and raised Native Angeleno, I have always been an advocate for children's growth and development as well as fostering social-emotional learning for both children and parents. I have had the wonderful blessing of raising two boys that are now adult children. I graduated with a bachelor's in Human development from Pacific Oaks; and then, received my master's degree in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University in 2018 . I have traveled abroad to train and become certified in Narrative Therapy from the Vancouver School of Narrative Therapy. I have also worked with Yale University in the past as a children's curriculum developer in social-emotional intelligence and pet humane education. I look forward to bringing my skills, clinical knowledge, and clinical experience to working with young persons, parents, and the faculty that CPLA serves!
Sean McDermott
Sean is a first-generation Angelino who was born and raised in the San Gabriel Valley. He attended high school in Pasadena and earned his BA in Psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Sean married his high school sweetheart, Anne, who teaches at an all-girls private high school in Pasadena, and together they have two grown children. In his spare time, Sean enjoys deep sea fishing, road cycling, and (pre-Covid era) traveling.
In 2018, following a career as an executive in the telecommunications industry, Sean decided to change both his career path and the course of his life and went back to school. He obtained his substance abuse counselor’s certificate at Loyola Marymount University and then went on to complete his M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy with a specialization as a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor from Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena. In 2020 Sean joined Counseling Partners of Los Angeles as a school-based therapist trainee working with students at a high school in the San Gabriel Valley. Sean is looking forward to continuing his work with CPLA offering therapy to teachers and administrators.
What is Teacher Counseling?
Being a teacher can be a rewarding and fulfilling vocation, but life stressors can prevent you from being your best self for your students and your family. Working in school settings make you particularly vulnerable to work-related stress.
CPLA can provide you with (4) FREE telehealth counseling sessions with a trained counselor.
In these sessions, you can identify and process current stressors and barriers.
We imagine these sessions as a way to start the conversation around teacher burnout, fatigue, stress, and mental health.
In addition, you can learn tools and techniques you can use both for yourself and your family.
A trusted and skilled teacher counselor will work with you to learn how to reduce stress and care for yourself in the midst of helping educate the next generation.
What happens during Teacher Counseling?
Teachers will be offered four (4) virtual sessions with a counselor in which stress management techniques and coping skills can be practiced. These skills can be extended to both the home and the classroom. If needed, outside referrals can be given to those who could benefit from more ongoing and intensive support.
Information presented to a counselor in our teacher counseling program is confidential and may not be discussed outside our program unless permission is otherwise given. The only exception is where disclosure is required by law: where there is reasonable suspicion of the abuse of children, elderly, or disabled persons, and where the client is at serious risk of harm to self or others.
Our counselor will enable you to pursue wellness in a myriad of ways, ranging from family-related to work-related challenges. The teacher counseling program can also help with challenges related to emotional wellness and assist with building upon skills to prevent or reduce problems.
Crisis management is also provided to help teachers manage stressful events or tragedies, such as a death in the family or a traumatic event.
Please see below to download our Teacher Brochure:
| cpla_teacher_counseling_brochure.pdf |