Comprehensive School Counseling Paper

Due to inclement weather, all 8th grade Sussex Middle School students who have appointments to meet with High Point counselors on Tuesday, February 9th have been rescheduled for the same time on Thursday, February 11th. Any questions, please feel free to contact the High Point Guidance Department at 973-875-3101 ext. 1280.

The American Counseling Association (ACA) offers memberships for Mental Health professionals ranging from students and private practice to the retired professional who wants to remain connected with other professionals. The price of membership is $96 for the student, recently graduated, and retired and $171 for regular members, agency counselors, private practice, and counseling educators. Some of the benefits the ACA has to offer are several types of insurance, ranging from liability insurance to protect you in your practice whether it is for a private practice or if you are working at an agency for someone else. The ACA can also help you with insurance for your home, auto, dental, long term care, and disability insurance. There are also several other services where as a member you can obtain a member discount rates on some medical procedures such as labs, and imaging services, having prescriptions filled, hotels, travel, rental cars just to list as few. The best perk yet is the networking circle you have become a part of, get to know others in the counseling

This paper identifies the three major counseling theories that have been the most influential in the development of my ideas on counseling. The major points of Person-Centered Therapy, Adlerian Therapy, and Behavioral Therapy are looked at in brief. Each theory is then shown how a school counselor can apply them into their work with students. While one theory does not work for every situation in the school setting, each theory brings something beneficial to the school counselor.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce to the reader the theoretical orientation of Taneka Gibson. The theoretical orientation adopted by the student should represent by beliefs and values as a professional counselor. Theoretical orientation reflects the theory or theories at which a counselor base their practice. The theories identified in this paper are Person-Centered and Reality Theory.

The school counselor uses the test scores to determine whether or not the comprehensive school counseling program made an impact on the students. The school counselor also use the scores to help better the counseling program at the school and to determine which areas need more work. The school counselor also share the results with the stakeholders. Looking at the example given the results from the pre test and the post test the lesson on bullying awareness worked. The purpose of testing is to see improvements. In the pre test, the scores were lower than the post test which is a good. The lesson on bullying seemed to change the students mind because the scores were higher on the post test. The percent of change for the last question was 60%.

You are a Licensed Professional School Counselor working in a middle school in North Carolina and one of my former students Tierra has graduated and has come by my office to share her plans after graduation. While talking with her, she has informed me that she had been romantically involved with her high school counselor, Zack for most of her senior year in high school but that they had recently decided to just be friends. Tierra also stated they had not been involved sexually, and had not gone any further than kissing.

The Comprehensive School Counseling Program Notebook which follows the ASCA National Model third edition was created in School Counseling Programs. This notebook is divided into four components as directed by the comprehensive school counseling program: foundation, delivery, management, and accountability. The Foundation section includes my core beliefs, my vision, my mission, rationale, description, and goals of the program at Mountain Home Junior School. Delivery, Management, and Accountability (AR 1.2).

I would approach the counseling session from a cognitive-behavior approach. It appears that Isabella is suffering from anxiety and the cognitive behavior approach to therapy would be a good match for the student. There are a number of aspects of the therapy that coincide with my belief system.

The American Counseling Association (ACA) developed the code of ethics with six principles in mind that they thought were the foundation for ethical behavior and decision making: autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice, fidelity and veracity (American Counseling Association, 2014). This lead to the six different purposes for the code of ethics. First, it sets ethical obligations and ethical guidance for professional counselors (American Counseling Association, 2014). Second, it recognizes ethical dilemmas that are relevant (American Counseling Association, 2014). Third, it clarifies what is ethically expected and accepted of its members (American Counseling Association, 2014). Fourth, it is an ethical guide for members deciding the best course of action and expectations for conduct, when it comes to those using their counseling services (American Counseling Association, 2014). Fifth, it supports the mission of the American Counseling Association (American Counseling Association, 2014). Finally, it has standards that serve as a baseline for questions and complaints for ACA members (American Counseling Association, 2014). To fulfill the purposes of the code of ethics, the ACA categorizes the ethics into nine different areas (American Counseling Association, 2014).

School counselor is a continuous learning profession; whether it is the profession itself, or society that continues to change, or government prioritizing different matters within the school systems. The key to be a successful school counselor within the school is through research. Finding out what’s different about this year’s population, students interest, what is the most effective way to provide information to students. These are just a few reasons of why research is valuable and important to conduct throughout the course of one’s school counseling profession. There are different types of research one could utilize, and with all the research found it is important that a counselor has the necessary skills

Based off sheer size of my classes, prior to looking at the data, I determined that I wanted my student intervention to take place with a group in my sixth period B-day class. My sixth period is one of my largest (if not the largest) class that I have, and with that being said, many of the students are unable to get the individualized attention that they need. The students I targeted were specifically chosen because they are some of the lowest students in my class. The Intensive Reading course has twenty-eight students, on a good day, and every student struggles with the fundamentals of reading. A majority of the students are 10th graders and a few of the students are repeating either the grade level or just the class itself. In my specific student intervention group, I will have five students, four of which are classified as 10th grade and one of which is classified as 9th grade. Three of the students are African-American, one of the students is Caucasian, and one of the students is Multi-Racial. One of the students in the small group does have a 504 plan and another student has an IEP both of which request for accommodations such as extra time, copies of notes, peer assistance, and encouragement throughout all lessons. All of the students chosen are also suppose to work with a reading interventionist, but considering that is not always an option, my student intervention plan is to act in substitution of, and in addition to, the help they are already receiving.

There are many theoretical models of counseling. Often, a diverse approach or the use of several approaches is best for the resolution of problems. I utilize several different theories and strategies in my role as a counselor. However, it is the Individual personal theory and the Family theory model that anchors my orientation to counseling as a Christian counselor.

It takes a special person to become a school counselor and in doing so it is important to take those life skills, knowledge, dispositions, and background experiences to help along the way. In the counseling field there are some guidelines and theories that will help, but nothing that prepares you for what may happen at any moment or any time during the day. It is clear that life definitely throws some unexpected curve balls and that is the same for situations in the field of school counseling. You never know what situation you will run into and in order to dodge those curve balls it is those life experiences that often time influence the direction in which we take both personally and professionally. It is important to compile all the knowledge and experiences that we have gained throughout life and apply them in a way that will help others to be successful. It is key to reflect on the past and those skills that I have that will lead me to become an effective professional school counselors.

School counseling is a profession that may look simple from the outside, but in reality, it is a complex profession that has evolved to become a vital resource for students to have throughout their education. I strongly feel that this is a profession that empowers individuals to make a difference in students’ lives and I am very eager to continue learning and watching myself grow to ultimately become a school counselor.

This week I had the opportunity to fulfill my practicum hours at two different locations. The locations that I observed were Columbia Elementary School’s summer care program and a Mad City Money Event located at Members 1st Credit Union. Both experiences opened my eyes to see a wide range of situations and behaviors among kindergarten through high school. Each observation provided two very different outlooks and each contributed to my knowledge in some way.