McNary High School now has two child and family therapists to assist students in need.

The goal is to help students with whatever they are going through such as depression, anxiety, or family issues. 

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According to child and family therapist Miss Jennifer Flores, the positions will help students with skill building and training, group making, and the program will serve as a check-in program before students move into an actual therapy session.

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She said she loves McNary high school and she likes the students. “It makes me miss high school,” she said. She wishes that she had a social worker and a therapist like herself when she was in high school.

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“When I was in high school I wished that I had someone that looked like me that would provide services to me and my friends because we had a lot of things going on,” Flores said.

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Flores splits the position with child and family therapist, Mrs. Amanda Harp, who works here two full days out of the week. Flores and Harp’s positions are combined to supply McNary with a full time position. For other days in the week, the two work at other schools. Flores works at elementary schools and the middle school in Keizer, while Harp works in different parts of Salem.

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Flores, who has a college and masters degree in rehab and counseling, hopes that the services they are providing are working for students.

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Sometimes they have days where they are super busy and there are some days where they don't leave the office all day.

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Flores said they plan to support students with therapy during the summer. “You can meet anywhere to talk about anything,” she said.

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