Playing off the word “Relax,” school counselors and licensed professionals gathered June 3 at the Irvington Conference Center to rejuvenate, energize, laugh, ascend and ‘xhale. The well-deserved break following the school year came into focus at the second annual Thriving, Not Just Surviving: Celebrating Professional Counselors Symposium, connecting those who work hard every day to support, uplift and empower students.

Nearly 230 attended the day-long conference hosted by Harris County Department of Education’s (HCDE) Center for Safe and Secure Schools (CSSS), including roughly half returning from last year.

CSSS Climate and Culture Specialist Tiffany Chaney developed the idea for the symposium during the fall of 2024. A former school counselor, Chaney saw the need to create a safe space where professionals could invest in themselves after nine months of focusing on the mental health and well-being of their students.

“When we as mental health professionals go to a conference, it’s usually about how to do our job,” Chaney said. “But we have a responsibility to take of ourselves first and if we don’t do it, then we’re pouring from an empty cup. There’s nothing like this so and that’s why we created it – there’s no symposium like this anywhere.”

Guest speakers and panelists shared insights, strategies and experiences with attendees, with topics ranging from recreational therapy and staff rejuvenation to the power in the pause and restorative care.