GUIDANCE COUNSELING

Guidance Counseling

Guidance Counseling

Introudcution

School counseling is a well-recognized profession in today's elementary and secondary schools. The practice of the profession has been informed by theories of both human development and counseling. This paper will explore the history of school counseling as well as the current focus of the profession, in particular, the school counselor's role in addressing nonacademic barriers to learning. It will conclude with a discussion of contemporary interventions used by the school counseling profession.

The Profession of School Counseling

School counseling is a profession that provides guidance and support for the academic, social, and career development of elementary, secondary, and postsecondary students. Grounded in developmental and counseling psychology, school counseling recognizes that children's academic development (a) is significantly affected by the contexts of family and community, (b) occurs simultaneously at biological, psychological, and social levels, (c) extends over the life span, and (d) involves both strengths and deficits (Baggerly, 2006).

Through comprehensive, developmental programs, school counselors offer support services, prevention, and intervention services and resources in school-based and school-linked settings. In keeping with the mission of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), school counselors work with all students, including those who are considered at-risk and those with special needs. Although school counseling is a relatively young field, an examination of its historical development leads to a greater understanding of the field's current mission and focus (Baker, 2004).

The Person and the Job

School counselors are interested in helping others. They are understanding, compassionate, good listeners, and they are sensitive to others' feelings and needs. To be successful, school counselors need to be adaptable and flexible to deal with a variety of situations and people (Brown, 2005). They must be good at collaborating and have a high tolerance for stress. They need to have excellent communication skills, and they should be resourceful in gathering information and solving problems.

Although some school counselors are former teachers, often those to whom students are drawn to discuss personal concerns, others made career changes because of a desire to improve the lives of children and a conviction that schools are places to reach many children (Campbell, 2007).

Theory

Today's school counselor works to deliver a comprehensive developmental school counseling program. These programs are defined as (a) comprehensive in scope, (b) preventive in design, and (c) developmental in nature (Coleman, 2008). In theory, programs that are comprehensive in scope focus on the needs of all students, K-12, with an emphasis on students' academic success and successful development. School counseling programs are preventive in design in that they teach students the skills and provide them learning opportunities that empower them with the ability to learn (DeMato, 2004). School counselors deliver programs of preventive education that provide academic, career, and personal/social development experiences. Comprehensive developmental school counseling programs are designed to meet the needs of students throughout all developmental stages. Services are sequentially planned in order to meet the needs of children and adolescents as they progress through the developmental pathways (Dixon, 2006).

School counselors commonly divide their work into three domains of focus: career, ...