Are calm corners helping students regulate... or just giving them a softer way to opt out? 

In this episode of Graded, I take a hard look at one of the most popular SEL approaches in schools today: calm corners. You’ll hear what the research says, what most campuses are getting wrong, and what grade calm corners really deserve.

Plus, I respond to a one-star podcast review that called me condescending and gave me a D-minus.
(I could NOT be more grateful! Listen to find out why.)

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⭐️ Want support with real-world strategies that actually work on your campus? We’re doing that every day in the School for School Counselors Mastermind. Come join us! ⭐️

Annotated References

Brasfield, M., Elswick, S., Raines, S., Peterson, C., & Mboge, S. (2025). Classroom calming corners: Peaceful spaces for times of transition. International Journal of the Whole Child, 9(2).
Mixed-methods study with 1st and 6th graders showing improved coping skills when corners were properly implemented with teacher training.

Budiman, M. E. A., Yuhbaba, Z. N., & Cahyono, H. D. (2023). Calming corner therapy in an effort to increase mental resilience in adolescents. Blambangan Journal of Community Services (BJCS), 1(1), 8–16.
Four-week adolescent study finding that resilience improved only with consistent, well-facilitated spaces—structure and follow-through mattered.

Ewert, C. (2023). Influences of privacy on emotional regulation in elementary classroom calming corners [Master's thesis, Trinity Western University]. Trinity Western University Digital Commons.
Study with 15 second-graders over 4 months. Found 81% success rate, but 7% of uses increased dysregulation due to embarrassment and visibility issues.

Thompson, C. (2021). The impact of a classroom calm down corner in a primary classroom [Master's thesis, Northwestern College]. NWCommons.
Action research with 23 second-graders showing decreased negative behaviors, but only when paired with daily mini-lessons: the space alone wasn't enough.

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All names, stories, and case studies in this episode are fictionalized composites drawn from real-world circumstances. Any resemblance to actual students, families, or school personnel is coincidental. Details have been altered to protect privacy.

This work is part of the School for School Counselors body of work developed by Steph Johnson, LPC, CSC, which centers role authority over role drift, consultative practice over fix-it culture, adult-designed systems and environments as primary drivers of student behavior, clinical judgment over compliance, and school counselor identity as leadership within complex systems.