Professional School Counselors

My pursuit of becoming a School Counselor led me to apply to the School Counseling Master’s Program at University of Maryland, College Park. I am a former student at University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. After graduating and teaching for two years in Prince George’s County Public Schools, I discovered my true passion lies not only in the classroom and students’ academics, but playing a pivotal role in the growth of their career, social, and personal development. Although I am no longer teaching full-time at the moment, my interaction with students from diverse backgrounds left an indelible responsibility to continue making a difference in our students. The objectives and mission of the School Counseling Master’s Program at University of Maryland can best help my goal of becoming an effective counselor and leader who is an agent of change to students and service the mental and emotional well-being of the younger generation.

I desire to pursue school counseling as my career to become an effective and successful leader in this profession. Why? I have always held a passion for touching the lives of the youth in a great and positive manner. A licensed school counselor entails helping students with academic achievement, personal/social growth and career development, ensuring students become the industrious, well-balanced adults of tomorrow. while, operating as a professional school counselor involves me obtaining the appropriate knowledge and skills that will support me with providing exceptional service for clients. I believe that I can obtain this intelligence here at Capella University. I comprehend that as a professional school counselor I would be expected

ASCA National Model has Mindset and Behaviors guidelines for student success. These guidelines facilitate what a professional school counselor role is in schools, given 35 standards set forth as priorities. Professional school counselors have an important role in assisting students with their education as they focus on the 3 domains of the guidelines which enlist Academic, Career and Social/Emotional Development. This paper will focus on the areas a counselor needs to excel in, to show leadership and understanding of their profession. The areas include the following having a professional organization to belong to, clearly understanding ethical codes, ability to work with multicultural, GLBTQ students, importance of group work and career development.

From this twenty year counseling veteran I learned about a functioning guidance program, the role of the counselor, the amount of time she spends in various components of the program, how to foster a positive relationship with the teachers and faculty, ways to continue to develop professionally, and insight for a future career in school counseling. As I drove away from the school, I felt a mix of emotions such as, intimidation, excitement, and hopefulness to name a few. When I began to try to take in just how much is required and how many people rely on a school counselor it was intimidating. In my mind I began to wonder if it is possible for one person to be that much to that many people and still keep some kind of balance. As soon as the thought passed through my mind, I immediately heard the words of wisdom that had been shared with me, "don 't beat yourself up for not being able to be everything to everybody." I also reflected on how upbeat the counselor sounded when she talked about her role in helping students become "the best people

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).

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

In schools all over the world today, School Counselors are crucial to assisting students, parents, school administrations, and the community. I believe that creating an effective counseling program that supports the counselors’ role in education will foster a close interaction between students and counselor to achieve success in their personal/social lives, academic achievements, and college readiness careers.

The role of a school counselor is an intriguing one because they do not work with a specific type of client. While they will always be working with young children or teenagers, the problems their clients come to them with can be so different from client to client. One session might be dealing with questions about career choices. Another might be about dealing with bullying. Some days a school counselor may even have to be there for a child who was a victim of sexual or physical abuse. It is because of this wide range of demands that a school counselor should be well-versed in many types of counseling theories.

As a counselor, being aware of the theoretical approaches and which ones best suit your perspective on human nature, complications, and change for an individual is vital. Not only is understanding the approaches important, but the counselor’s own values and personal philosophy are equally fundamental for the counselor to do their job efficiently.

School counselors have a key role in advocating for academic success for each student in the school. The advocacy makes the counselors have a leadership role in encouraging and promoting school reforms. The advocacy efforts of school counselors aim to eliminate obstacles preventing the development of students and to create chances for all students to learn. It also aims to ensure students have access to the school curriculum that fits their needs. School counselors collaborate with other people within and outside the school to assist students meet their learning needs. In addition, advocacy promotes positive and systematic change in schools (Trusty & Brown, 2005).

School counseling programs are designed to serve the school as a whole. They serve the students as counselors, act as consultants to teachers, parents and administrators and coordinate activities to implement the developmental guidance program. However, in order to have an effective program they need to instill the qualities of Lencioni’s model into their interaction with the individuals they serve.

With the diversifying population in America’s schools, a profession school counselor should be culturally competent to meet the needs of all students. “The transformed professional school counselor is culturally competent, respectful of human diversity, and a school leader in ensuring that oppressive systemic barriers to academic, career, college readiness, and personal/social development are removed (Erford, 2015, p. 173).” A school counselor needs to have a deep understanding of a variety of cultures to meet the personal, emotional, developmental needs of a student using individual and group interventions while being aware of their cultural and spiritual needs.

When first applying to this program, I had a general idea of what school counseling was, but I never knew how many responsibilities a school counselor actually had. When I initially received my copy of the ASCA National Model, I was intimidated and unsure of what to expect. I soon learned that the ASCA National Model is a framework for school counseling programs and helps build a common understanding of what school counselors are responsible for. It consists of four components, foundation, management, delivery, and accountability, that make up the framework of the ASCA National Model and is based on the themes of systemic change, leadership, advocacy, and collaboration (ASCA, 2012). With that said, school counselors hold many more responsibilities than what they were once thought to. As a future school counselor, I now know that my duties go beyond simply helping students when they are experiencing a problem. I will be responsible for helping students achieve their academic, social/emotional, and career goals, which will ultimately help them become successful members of society. MORE????

Looking back, I now have higher expectations about the duties of a school counselor and acknowledge the areas in which the counseling department at my school lacked. Most notably being that I was never given any traditional form of counseling. Unfortunately, I think this is due to the this growing field having not yet obtained its identity of a counseling emphasis. I knew that I could go to my counselor for academic advisement, I was sure that I would get more assistance if I struggled with my classes, but I do not believe that my counselor took an active approach of inquiring about mental health. Instead the counseling department seemed focused on student’s only when grades were down.

As a future school counselor, I can reflect that these past eight weeks, I have a full understanding of the roles and responsibilities of a school counselor in a traditional high school. Practicum 2 has been learning experiences that I will remember as I start my new profession. I believe that being exposed and actively involved with a group of school counselors brought a wide range of knowledge that I plan to utilize in the future. As a continuum from my Practicum 1, the following CACREP standards are mentioned below.