Blog 3

The opening vignette in this chapter was very interesting, I think.  I believe as a high school counselor your day is spent putting out fires, in relations to schedules and teacher/student issues.  It’s not an everyday occurrence that someone comes through your door with something serious to discuss.  However, with that being said, you need to be available, mentally ready to discuss what the student has brought to you.  Jason’s reaction to Kim was wrong, he ignored her because he was thinking about keeping his appointments and looking at her file. 

Now Jason has an ethical dilemma on his hands and an emotionally charged student who just left his office after confiding in him and asking for his help.  She now feels that the school counselor cannot be trusted as he just broke her promise, as he was only half listening to her.   Jason has numerous compelling priorities confronting him, and he needs to select a model to help him figure out what the best plan of action would be, and its hopefully not going to be continuing with his appointments about schedules. 

I don’t feel that he has enough information to act on what just happened in a legal way, because he lacks very important information.  He doesn’t know who, what, when, where or why.  Kim could have been talking about kissing or playing spin the bottle, or she could have been talking about forced sexual acts such has rape.  So this situation should not be down played, Jason needs to talk to her again immediately.  He will also need to apologize for replying so absentmindedly during their initial encounter because that was proven to be a huge deterrent.   If he apologizes he could earn some trust and credibility back from Kim and hopefully get the information that he at this point desperately needs.

This chapter was very informational and I feel that the models listed will be beneficial for me when I am a school counselor.  There are three models listed and after reading them you can decide depending on the situation, which one would be most effective.  This is so far one of my favorite chapters because ethical issues can seem very grey, however if you use one of the models appropriately and effectively you should be able to navigate your way to the most professional, ethical and legal response or plan of action. 

Reference

Dollarhide, C. T., & Saginak, K. A. (2011). Comprehensive school counseling programs, k-12 delivery systems in action. Pearson College Div.