What You Need To Know About School Counseling. Brett Smith.

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

Counseling is a tool that is widely used by many people. Merriam Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary defines counseling as advice and support that is given to people to help them deal with problems, and make important decisions. This paper examines the career of a Licensed Professional Counselor, the education requirements, certification and licensure levels or requirements, salary, and the future of this profession.

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

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.

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

Additionally, research has been done that examines the perceptions of school counselor effectiveness, as well as the usefulness of available supervision (Borders & Usher, 1992; Henderson & Lampe, 1992). During a school counseling master’s education program, there is ample supervision, both on-site and through the university, during the practicum and internship field experiences (Peterson & Deuschle, 2006; Studer & Oberman, 2006). However, it has been noted that clinical supervision of school counselors post-graduation has not been utilized in the most effective way (Linton & Deuschle, 2006). Several studies have examined the reason behind the lack of effective supervision within a school setting. Some researchers suggest that there is incongruence between the daily tasks of school counselors and models of clinical supervision most often utilized (Luke, Ellis, & Bernard, 2011). There also appears to be limited research on whether school counselor directors are being provided “best practices” methods of formal education and training for their positions.

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.

In this paper, I will take a look at the therapeutic process for a school counselors perspective and discuss the different views associated with being a counselor and how these methods would or would not be useful when counseling children as well as discuss why certain techniques may be more affected than others and why I have chosen those particular techniques. Choosing a form of therapy such as dream analysis would not be particularly useful for those

The school counseling profession has evolved over time into a collaborative model. This collaborative model involves teachers, school administrators, parents, counselors, other school personal, and community stakeholders. The first guidance program was developed in 1895. In 1926 New York became the first state to require guidance workers to be certified; in 1929 New York became the first state to have full time guidance workers. In 1952 the American Personnel and Guidance Association (APGA) was established, now known as American Counseling Association (ACA). In 1952 The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) was established. In 1958 the National Defense Education Act was passed, which increased training and

Just like many helping professions, the counseling field can be very demanding and draining. Due to the wide range of incidents and situations that can occur in the school counseling field, it is important that school counselors understand some challenges they can face and how to effectively deal with them. Although, school counselors have the responsibility to care for children, it is also important that counselors are aware of how vulnerable they are and protect themselves. To ensure counselors are protecting themselves it is essential to be aware of certain dilemmas and understand how to effectively handle certain challenges and remain competent within their profession. Those school counselors who act unethically, incompetent, and irresponsible

Although professional standards were promoted throughout the 20th century in a wide range of settings (Centore & Milacci, 2008), it has only within the last quarter century or so that the counseling profession established a formal entity called the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) in 1981 for this purpose (Adams, 2006). A year later, the National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc. and Affiliates (NBCC) was established in 1982 to provide accreditation standards for counselor education as well as a method of assessing educational knowledge (Adams, 2006). In this regard, Juhnke (2009) reports that, "The NBCC was established through the American Counseling Association (ACA) in 1982. The reason for NBCC's original existence

The article I have chosen to write about is Trends in School Counseling Journals: The First Fifty years (Sheri Bauman, Jason Siegel, Lia Falco, Gerald Szymanski, April Davis and Karen Seabolt). This journal article talk about the history of school counseling started in Detroit in 1889 when a principal name Jesse B. Davis introduce a guidance program in each English class in his school. The reason he created this program was due to the industrialization and urbanization because he saw an increase concern for vocational guidance in the 20th century and he wanted his student to be prepared for the change. The article mention that between 1914 and 1918 school guidance program started in several large cities in the United States. It also

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.