Trusted Adults & Healthy Boundaries: Sustainable Student Relationships

Описание: Trusted Adults & Healthy Boundaries: Sustainable Student Relationships

Are you building genuine connections with students — or burning yourself out trying to be everything for everyone? Dr. Brooklyn Raney, author of One Trusted Adult, joins Bridget Johnson to tackle the boundary crisis hiding in plain sight across K-12 campuses.

Dr. Raney is a leadership researcher and speaker whose doctoral research examined teacher-student care and the ethics of care in schools. Her newly released second edition of One Trusted Adult moves beyond the "why" of trusted adult relationships into a practical, research-backed "how" — including her ABCs framework (Accessible, Boundaried, Caring) that schools are now embedding into award programs, advisory curriculum, and whole-school culture.

In this episode, Bridget and Brooklyn unpack what student focus groups revealed as the #1 and #2 trust-breakers — oversharing and outward sharing — and why boundary work is fundamentally teamwork. They also explore how educator self-care can unlock unexpected student connection, and how student life leaders can use data-informed systems to protect both student development and staff well-being.

🕐 KEY MOMENTS:

00:00 — Welcome to The Table
01:08 — Co-presenting at the ASNE Student Life Leaders workshop
03:44 — Why balancing student development and staff well-being is so hard right now
05:24 — The basics model: what young people need across every generation
07:43 — What prompted the second edition of One Trusted Adult
11:14 — From "why" to "how": what's new in the second edition
13:38 — The ABCs framework: Accessible, Boundaried, and Caring
14:18 — What "one trusted adult" really means — and why many is better 17:08 — Why trust actually requires boundaries
21:48 — The #1 mistake student life professionals make with students 22:55 — Warning signs: too loose, too rigid, and the boundary blurs in between
24:51 — Oversharing, outward sharing, and "playing pretend" — the top 3 trust-breakers
28:26 — How to set boundaries without students feeling rejected
29:19 — The Trusted Adult Identification Day: a whole-school model
31:12 — Staff well-being as the foundation for student well-being
34:28 — The hockey story: how self-care unlocked an unexpected student connection
37:24 — ABC self-assessment: a practical starting point for this week
40:42 — Dr. Raney's programs: advisory, student leadership, and parent resources
43:05 — Closing reflections and how to connect with Dr. Raney

The Table Podcast Series is brought to you by the Deans' Roundtable — the community where student life professionals connect, learn, share, and grow. Host Bridget Johnson, a former Dean of Students at Milton Academy with over two decades in education, brings expert guests and peer-level candor to every conversation. If this episode resonated, subscribe so you never miss a session at the table.

💬 What's one boundary you've been meaning to reset? Share it in the comments — your peers are listening. 🔔 Hit the notification bell to be the first to know when new episodes drop.

📚 RESOURCES:
One Trusted Adult (2nd edition) — available everywhere books are sold
Free resources, quizzes, advisory programs & courses: https://onetrustedadult.com

Free "Too Loose, Too Rigid, Just Right" boundary quiz: https://onetrustedadult.com

Student Life Assessment Program: https://deansroundtable.org/k-12-stud...

Visit the Deans' Roundtable: https://deansroundtable.org
LinkedIn:   / bridget-johnson510  
Email: [email protected]

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