The Empathetic Classroom: How a Mental Health Mindset Supports Your Students--and You
by Maria Munro-Schuster, LCPC
Free Spirit Publishing, August 2025
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In The Empathetic Classroom, educator and licensed therapist Maria Munro-Schuster helps K-12 teachers navigate emotional stress, combat exhaustion, connect with students, and avoid burning out. She also gives tools for better teaching, for teaching that feels better, and for classrooms where emotional intelligence, safety, and empathy are embedded as a part of practice.

This book goes beyond typical books on teacher burnout, focusing on holistic mindsets and strategies that support your mental health and that of your students. Full of tools and strategies to incorporate into the classroom, this approachable book combines teaching best practices with research-backed techniques from the field of counseling psychology. You'll find sound advice on maintaining boundaries, confronting intrusive thoughts, responding to trauma, incorporating play into classrooms, and many other methods of remaining connected to themselves and their students.

Learn how to:

• Create a safe space for students-and educators-to learn and grow
• Understand how your past and your triggers influence your teaching-and recognize trauma in students
• Validate emotions to curb disruptive behaviors

​By situating mental health concepts and techniques within established teaching best practices, The Empathetic Classroom helps you adapt your approach, your environment, and your interactions with students. And by focusing on self-regulation, boundaries, and connection, you can rediscover your inspiration. Find emotionally safer and more energizing ways of doing what you love while protecting your own mental health.

Listen to the Human Restoration Project Podcast featuring the author:
www.humanrestorationproject.org/podcasts/cultivating-mental-health-mindsets-in-the-empathetic-classroom-w-maria-munro-schuster