Resources Written for Teens, in a Teen’s Own Words
Short readings and ten-item self-checks for middle and high school students: group chats, two homes, the anxious teen, what a therapist actually does, and what to do when a friend’s secret isn’t safe.
What’s inside
179 Resources, Included in All-Access
Ten areas covering the whole school year: family and home, feelings and anger, friends and social life, getting help, identity and confidence, life outside school, safety and risk, school habits, stress and sleep, and substance use. Many are written as plain-language answers to the question a student is already asking.
Family and Home
Feelings, Mood, and Anger
Friends and Social Life
Getting Help and Counseling
Identity and Confidence
Life Outside School
Safety and Risk
School, Habits, and Life Skills
Stress, Anxiety, and Sleep
Substance Use
On paper too
Every Resource Prints Clean
These materials lived in binders and file folders for years before they lived on a screen, and some clients still do their best thinking with a pencil. Every resource prints as a clean worksheet with the same content and the same self-check, for group rooms, waiting rooms, and the client who prefers paper. Assign the link or hand out the page. Same resource, either way.
In the session
Something a Teen Will Actually Open
School counselors and adolescent therapists assign a reading between sessions or during a check-in. The student scores themselves on their phone in a few minutes. The self-check gives a counselor something concrete to start from with a teen who would rather say “fine.”
Their Words, Not Ours
Group chats, two homes, the anxious teen, a friend’s unsafe secret. Situations a student recognizes on the first line.
Ten Items, Phone-Sized
A short self-check, scored on a phone in a few minutes, that gives a counselor more than “fine.”
Safe on a School Device
No login, no app, nothing to download. A link that opens and closes.
Getting Help, Explained
What a therapist actually does, how confidential school counseling is, how to tell an adult. The questions students already have.
How it works
The Plan Says Where Treatment Is Going. The Resources Get It There.
Three steps, and nothing for the client to set up.
1Step 1
Add the Concern to the Plan
Choose from the same 71 concerns the treatment planner uses. The matched resources appear with it.
2Step 2
Send the Link
The client opens it on any device. No account, no app. They read, answer, and score themselves in a few minutes.
3Step 3
Open the Next Session with What Actually Happened
The self-score and the client’s own answers come back with them. Something real to engage with between sessions. Not paperwork.
From the clinical author
The 167 Hours in Between
In my years of clinical practice, I have never lost a client during the therapy session. I have lost them in the 167 hours in between, when anxiety begins to rise, support fades into the background, and there is little in that moment to help them remain grounded and stay on track.
The people I worked with were not lacking desire or insight. In many cases they knew exactly what they needed to do. They wanted to get better, and I wanted to help, but too often progress would drift, slip back, or simply not last. I came to call this the Drift Effect, and I have written a whole book about it. It happens to clients. It happens to treatment plans too. A counselor builds a careful plan at intake, and by session six it is a document in a file rather than a map anyone is following.
Later, when we developed an intensive outpatient program, something became clear. When clients had structure, support, and skill-building throughout the week, not just once a week, their outcomes improved dramatically. That is what led me to write the Journey to Recovery library in the first place, and it is why Compass exists. The treatment plan tells treatment where to go. These resources are how it gets there. Each of the 71 concerns is mapped to goals, objectives, and interventions, and the same 71 concerns carry over to the client side, each resource ending in a self-check that gives the client a personal summary to bring back.
None of this replaces the counselor. It extends your presence into the hours when clients are most vulnerable, and it keeps the plan active in daily life instead of waiting for the next appointment.
Dr. Hal Baumchen, PsyD, LP, LADC
Dr. Hal BaumchenPsyD, LP, LADC. More than 30 years of clinical practice, author of Overcoming the Drift Effect.Built to stay clean
Your Privacy and Your Client’s Privacy Are Protected by Design
Compass does not ask for and does not accept client identifying information. Nothing you enter is retained after your session ends.
Plans Without Identifiers
You build the plan from the concern, the goals, and the interventions. Names and record numbers never enter it.
Your Chart, Your Side
Export the finished plan as a PDF and upload it to your EHR or wherever you keep the record. What goes into the chart, and when, stays your decision.
One Link for the Client
Clients open a link on a phone with nothing to set up. Their answers go only where they choose to send them.
Compass supports audit readiness. Your own compliance review still applies.
Straight answers
Questions Counselors Ask
What Age Range Are These Written For?
Middle and high school. The language, examples and situations are a student’s, not an adult’s with the words changed.
Does a Student Need to Log In?
No. The counselor sends a link and the student opens it. No account, no app, nothing to download on a school device.
Do These Replace Counseling?
No. They are between-session support for a student already connected with a counselor, therapist or school professional.
Who Wrote Them?
Dr. Hal Baumchen, PsyD, LP, LADC, with references on every page.
All Included in All-Access
Every printable, the interactive resources and the Clinical Training Center, on one subscription, with the treatment planner coming soon.
