Greetings,
The role of a school counselor changed over my 20 plus years. I almost decided not to do this web site fearing my resources were outdated or old school. Then I began thinking about the foundation or rather what I believe the "soul" of a school counselor is. I want to share that with you now.
The role of a school counselor changed over my 20 plus years. I almost decided not to do this web site fearing my resources were outdated or old school. Then I began thinking about the foundation or rather what I believe the "soul" of a school counselor is. I want to share that with you now.
I studied under Dr. Libby Hoffman at Virginia Tech University. In 1963 Dr. Hoffman was selected to create a pilot elementary school counseling program in Virginia. She was a key player in establishing standards and getting elementary counseling mandated in all Virginia schools. Dr. Hoffman emphasized that elementary school counselors provided developmental counseling for all children and that 60% of our focus should be on individual and group counseling for children (and their parents) and the other 40% on guidance lessons. In the individual and group sessions it was imparitive that the focus be on the child and that the process was more important than content. I will talk more about that in other blogs. In today's "quick fix" society the focus has shifted to results rather than process. In addition, our children are exposed to many things too soon prior to their developmental readiness. In all this rush for data and solutions, I fear we might be losing touch with our main mission as counselors - being an advocate for the child. As developmental counselors we provide support to help children overcome the normal milestones of growing through the developmental stages. Counseling is not about changing undesirable behaviors with rewards or incentives. Counseling is not only about teaching new skills or improving grades. According to Carl Rogers, in order for a person to "grow", they need an environment that provides them with genuineness (openness and self-disclosure), acceptance (being seen with unconditional positive regard), and empathy (being listened to and understood). As I see it, this is our mission and our gift to children. Here is a link to an interesting article from ASCA about why we need elementary school counselors. Dr. Hoffman would be proud. http://www.schoolcounselor.org/school-counselors-members/careers-roles/why-elementary-school-counselors Affectionately, Jeanette |