I am Laura Hernandez, and I am honored to be your child’s school counselor. I am passionate about my counseling work, and I am looking forward to building a partnership with you to help identify your child’s social emotional needs. I provide school based mental health services, academic, social, and emotional programs to the school community to ensure the success of all our students.

I grew up in Monterrey, Mexico. I graduated from Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo Léon and Universidad Regiomontana with bachelor’s degrees in biology and clinical psychology. I have a bilingual teacher, counseling, and principal certification. A master’s in education and counseling from University of St. Thomas and Lamar University. I had my own private practice as Psychotherapist in Monterrey, Mexico for several years and
moved to Houston in 1996. I have been teaching for more than 20 years in private and public schools. I have four children, three dogs and I love spending time with my family and friends, cooking, swimming, hiking, fishing, and camping. My theoretical orientation to school-based counseling is cognitive behavioral therapy and focus solution therapy. While school counselor practitioners cannot provide long term therapy in the school setting, CBT is a framework that analyzes individual’s behavior by looking at the thought processes of the person.

• Promoting positive attitudes among students towards self, family, peers and community.

• Assisting students in learning how school performance relates to future opportunities.

• Developing and delivering classroom guidance lessons that teach skills such as decision making, resolving conflict and respecting others.

• Working with students, parents and school staff to identify learning needs and to design interventions to enhance student success.

• Helping students to recognize and make the best of their abilities.

• Providing support during a personal crisis.

• Working with students on attendance issues.

• Coordinating referrals to outside agencies.

• Developing student career awareness.

• Helping to create a safe and positive learning experience.