ABOUT ME
ABOUT ME
Dr. Heidi A. Truax (True-Axe, she/her/hers) is the Executive Director of the Office of School Counseling and Postsecondary Advising (OSCPA) with Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Housed within the Office of College and Career Success, Dr. Truax leads the fifty team members of OSCPA in providing professional development, programming, and data-informed strategy-driven initiatives for the 600+ schools and more than 320,000 students of CPS.
Prior to becoming the Executive Director of OSCPA, Dr. Truax served as a school counselor within CPS (2009-2020) earning the 2020 School Counselor of the Year Award for the state of Illinois. At the three schools she served, each earned national Recognition for being an American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Model Program (RAMP) and now Dr. Truax serves nationally as an ASCA certified trainer.
Dr. Truax holds a Licensed Professional Counselor certification within the state of Illinois and earned her PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision with concentrations in school counseling and LGBTQ+ considerations from Adler University in 2018. Dr. Truax also holds a MA in School Counseling, a MA in Women's and Gender Studies, and earned her BS in Psychology. For four years (2017-2021), Dr. Truax also served as a Clinical Assistant Professor of School Counseling at Roosevelt University and won the Counselor Educator of the Year award in 2019.
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As an emerging author, Dr. Truax has published her first children's book which leverages
the magic of the holiday season to tackle difficult concepts such as self-acceptance,
gender-identity, sexuality, race, and ability. The inspiration for this book came from Dr.
Truax's experiences as "Dr. Claus" which you can see for yourself in the HBOMax
documentary Santa Camp streaming now!
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You can find You Can Be a Claus Too: Lessons from Santa Camp
on Amazon today!
EDUCATION
Ph.D. Counselor Education and Supervision | Adler University
M.A. School Counseling | Concordia University
M.A. Women's & Gender Studies | Roosevelt University
B.S. Psychology | Southern Oregon University
LICENSURE
IL Licensed Professional Counselor: 178012320
IL Professional Educators License with School Counseling Endorsement: 2274294
“The heart of education as a practice of freedom is growth.”
bell hooks
MISSION & VISION
MISSION
As a district leader, school counselor educator and author, I seek to impact multiple generations of practitioners simultaneously so that they can collectively transform the world into a more accessible and equitable place through public education and service.
VISION
I envision a world where all school counselors are equipped to provide responsive, comprehensive, and data-driven systems of support so that students attain their most radical potential and effect ongoing positive change.
CONTACT ME
Interested in partnering on a project? Need a presentation or training at your next professional development session or conference? Reach out to make a connection or for information on consultation fees.
I'm always happy to connect with other professionals!