This article was written by a guest blogger from www.goodtherapy.org
One of the staples of elementary schools across the country and around the world is the school counselor, a typically friendly and approachable figure who offers a space to talk about any problems or concerns and provide advice. School counselors are also usually found in junior high and high schools, and may in these later years focus more on guiding the course of academic schedules and helping out with college applications and other materials than with addressing emotional and mental concerns.
These familiar figures can be of great benefit to children as they grow, learn, and develop social skills, but they differ greatly from trained psychotherapists, who can provide in-depth treatments that go beyond the classroom. It can be difficult to determine whether a child would best benefit from consulting with a school counselor or working with a professional psychotherapist, but understanding the differences between these positions and their possibilities can serve as a good starting point for a sound decision.
School counselors typically are trained in a profession such as social work, or may even specialize in a field like child development or early education. While such fields and academic disciplines vary greatly from the distinct studies accumulated over the course of earning a psychology degree, they are capable of preparing counselors with important knowledge about children and their interaction with the environment, especially within the context of schools.
Counselors, being a part of the school staff, are usually able to mediate with other students in cases of conflict, and can approach teachers and other personnel about any problems that come up, whereas child therapy professionals are strictly committed to confidentiality, and work individually with the child –and sometimes, with the child's family-- rather than their social and scholastic contacts. School counselors may not be able to address emotional or behavioral concerns with the background and depth provided by a child therapy professional, but they can help approach basic issues in school throughout the day, and their open availability may prove comforting to children.
Through a series of sessions with a psychotherapist, children and their families can benefit from child therapy in meaningful and lasting ways that may not be as deeply understood by school counselors. With a highly trained knowledge not only of child development but of the history and practical applications of the field of psychology itself, professional therapists are often able to discover the deep causes of emotional, mental, and behavioral concerns in children, and can develop methods of achieving recovery as well as create tools that the child can use to help foster their own happiness and well-being throughout life.
A quick trip to the school counselor enables you to sooth a number of common childhood upsets, and establishing a bond can lead to greater confidence and the establishment of positive support at school; on the other hand, child therapy professionals are able to provide a deeper and broader approach to issues beyond the expected purview of friendly school office staff.
6 comments:
i cannot disagree more. school counselors use solution-focused counseling to help students solve their problems now and be able to return to class.
it all depends on what paradigm a counselor is using with students.
the article is right regarding traditional therapy and a school counselor not being able to do that. there is not enough time, but it is a possibility if a student and counselor can work together. however it cannot impact the classroom.
It is true that there are significant differences between school psychologists and school counselors. However, the way in which you describe professional school counselor training is all wrong. School counselors are Masters degree (normally 48 credits) trained professionals who learn in depth guidance and counseling knowledge and skills. For example, see the program in which i work at FGCU (http://coe.fgcu.edu/mentalhealthma/school_counseling_planned.pdf). Also, to get a better idea of school counseling, visit the American School Counselor Association. In particular, check out Career/Roles (http://bit.ly/BTlcp), and Effectiveness (http://bit.ly/Qy9hz).
As the author of this blog- not the blog post, I feel the need to comment. I did not write this, so I can't say the intent behind it. Rereading the blog after the comments, I see how some of you are upset. I don't believe however the intent is to minimize the school counselor. If I had felt that way, I would not have published it. I recognize that school counselors do have long standing relationships with children and can work on strategies. However for diagnostic purposes or dealing with more severe disorders a psychotherapist would likely be the way to go. My sister is a school counselor and I have nothing but respect for the school counselor at my school who works very intently with some of the students. I apologize for any offense. One thing I have learned is that the role of a School Counselor varies greatly from school to school and depends on the training of the counselor, the expectations of the school administration, and the ratio of students per counselor. When students are in a school with a School Counselor who is able to do in depth counseling, they are quite lucky. That is not always the case.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, an estimated 18.8 million adult Americans suffer from depression during any one-year period. Many do not even recognize that they have a condition that can be treated very effectively. This question-and-answer fact sheet discusses depression with a focus on how psychotherapy can help a depressed person recover.
Everyone seems to have a perception of what happens in the schools and what everybody’s roles are. Every school is different, every therapist is different. In our district we have counselors starting in middle school, social workers only in elementary, and school psychologists across the board. I am a school social worker, which means that I have an MSW and I am a clinical therapist. I provide everything from skills training (executive functioning, social skills, anger management, mindfulness training, etc) to in-depth therapy sessions, to light counseling sessions - for both staff and students. Most of our psychologists are not licensed to provide therapy services outside the school and simply test. One of them is licensed and has generously pitched in at times providing therapeutic services. Our counselors provide the same services to general ed students as I provide for both special ed and general ed (social workers starting in middle school are special ed only). Our counselors all have LPC degrees and are licensed to provide therapy services in or out of school. Our case loads are big and we wear many hats. We all love our jobs and we all increase the life chances of the kids we work with. So the original poster is both right and wrong as are many of the comments left. Every school is different and every position is different, even within the same districts sometimes! When in doubt as to what services can be provided in the school setting...ask. Some school offer even more than we can, but some offer less. A lot of our kids wouldn't get mental health services if we didn't provide. We are in a poor area and our CMH is overwhelmed. We collaborate with them and love it when they can take some of our kids.
In conjunction with skills, how are others handling administrative expectations of school counselors to counsel children of school staff who attend the same schools as their parents/school counselors?
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