For Laura Gallo (MA '05, PhD '16) some of the most meaningful moments from her time at the University of Iowa College of Education have come at graduation.
As an associate professor in counselor education, Gallo says she has had the privilege of working closely with students, watching them grow into counselors, counselor educators, researchers, and teachers. Seeing them cross the stage, earn their hoods, and move into the next stage of their professional lives has been one of the most rewarding parts of her career.
“We develop really deep bonds, and we watch them develop into these amazing counselors,” Gallo says. “When we see them graduate and move on into this profession, it’s really rewarding.”
Now, as Gallo prepares for retirement, she leaves behind a career shaped by deep care for students, a commitment to youth mental health, and a belief that school counselors play a vital role in helping children and adolescents feel seen, supported, and safe.
Gallo’s path to counselor education began in the classroom. She started her career as a teacher, where she saw many students facing social and emotional challenges and realized she did not feel fully equipped to support them in the ways they needed. That experience led her to school counseling and the College of Education’s Master of Arts in School Counseling program.
Later, while working as a school counselor and supervising interns, Gallo found herself wanting to learn more about supervision and counselor preparation. That curiosity eventually led her into the University of Iowa’s doctoral program in Counselor Education and Supervision — and to a new calling.
“I really loved being a school counselor,” Gallo says. “But I also fell in love with this career. It’s been an incredibly satisfying career.”
Her background as both a teacher and school counselor has shaped the way she teaches future school counselors. In the classroom, Gallo draws from her own experiences in schools, using stories and real-world examples to help students connect with the material.
“I can talk with my students about what it’s like to be in a school,” Gallo says. “I have lots of stories that I can bring in, which students really appreciate and love.”
Those experiences also helped clarify what she believes counselors-in-training need most: an understanding of how to help K-12 students regulate, grow, and thrive socially and emotionally.
At the center of that work, Gallo says, is one word: relationships.
It is the word she often puts on slides at the beginning and end of a course. It is also the lesson she hopes her students carry with them into schools.
“If a kiddo in K-12 has one healthy, supportive relationship in their educational career – somebody who believes in them – it can make the biggest difference in their life,” Gallo says. “If my counselors-in-training can be that, or if they can help other adults in the building be that for K-12 students, then we can change the world.”
Gallo says she has tried to model that same belief in her own teaching, taking time to build relationships with her students and appreciating the smaller class sizes that allow faculty to know students well.
Among Gallo’s greatest professional passions is suicide prevention and intervention. She has dedicated much of her work to helping school counselors feel more prepared and confident in assessing and responding to students experiencing suicidal thoughts or behaviors.
For Gallo, that confidence matters because school counselors are often among the adults best positioned to recognize when students are struggling.
“Nobody can predict suicidal behavior,” Gallo says. “But we can be individuals who can use best practices, can intervene, and can be knowledgeable about seeing students or identifying students who are in crisis.”
She also emphasizes that suicide prevention and crisis response cannot fall on one person alone. Effective prevention, she says, requires collaboration across schools and communities. That can include educating teachers, administrators, bus drivers, lunchroom staff, community leaders, and others who interact with students every day.
“It is definitely a team effort,” Gallo says. “It can’t just be the one school counselor who’s responsible for all of the suicide prevention or crisis response, because that’s unmanageable.”
As a first-generation college student, Gallo also brings a personal understanding of the barriers students can face when navigating higher education. That experience has influenced the way she supports students and prepares future school counselors to work with adolescents planning life after high school.
“We cannot make assumptions that all students understand and know how to fill out basic forms and understand the jargon that goes along with school language,” Gallo says. “Just not making assumptions, just being open-minded — I think that’s a big part of it.”
When asked what she is most proud of from her time at Iowa, Gallo mentions earning tenure. But she is quick to point to something broader: being part of a faculty and Counselor Education Department committed to students and the counseling profession.
“I’m just really proud of being part of an amazing group of faculty who do great things and who really have moved the profession forward,” Gallo says.
Although Gallo says she does not think much in terms of legacy, she hopes her work has helped affirm the role school counselors can and should play in suicide prevention.
“I really feel so strongly that we should be on the front lines,” Gallo says. “School counselors should be there asking those difficult questions and being leaders in that role of helping talk to kids about suicide and prevent suicide — and not having fear about that.”
Gallo’s retirement comes earlier than she once expected. She says she loves her work and does not feel completely ready to give it up, but health considerations have led her to recognize that now is the right time. Gallo's official last day was May 21, 2026.
“My heart is telling me it’s a good time to give it up,” Gallo says.
In retirement, Gallo looks forward to spending time with family, including her daughter and granddaughter in Iowa City, as well as visiting her son and daughter-in-law in California. She also hopes to travel more, including visiting national parks and possibly returning abroad.