Blog 3

Dollarhide and Saginak (2012) ask very good reflection questions after reading certain parts of their book that really make you think.  They lay out all of what school counselors have to do. They are up front with you and ask you if what they described is overwhelming.  They describe the five ways of working that counselors must incorporate while going in depth with what a comprehensive school counseling program is and how it must encompass everything that makes up a person.  Personally, it was not overwhelming.  I understand that there are a lot of components that make up a school counselor and a lot of necessary items that need to be incorporated into a well done program.  I know that it is going to be a lot of work, but to be honest I’m kind of already used to doing a lot of work with my GA job and my class schedule. I know it is going to be hard work, but I feel that it will be worth it in the long run. 

The one thing that caught my eye when reading the text was CSCPs systemic program. I think it is very important to take into account community, culture, school, family, and peers when coming up with a good program. I personally think that family is one of the biggest components that we need to worry about as counselors because all students come from a different background.  I liked how Dollarhide and Saginak (2012) focus on this because it is important to talk about as well as I think that is most important over the other factors.  As school counselors, we need to make sure we think of all the factors before creating a program for the school. 

According to Mary Walsh, James Barrett, and Jillian DePaul (2007), school counselors can save some of their time if they get the community involved.  If we look for other resources outside of the school, we can help our students in a more efficient kind of way.  Besides, isn’t the saying, “it takes a whole village to raise a child”?  Getting the community involved can help the counselor in a number of ways and can get the child the help they deserve.  This line of thinking goes along with what Walsh, Barrett, and DePaul (2007) were trying to say about school counselors.  The profession is a constantly changing one that needs to be updated every so often.  Getting the community involved and sharing knowledge can really help students out. This involvement can in turn help the counselor from taking on an overwhelming case load.  All in all, the future profession needs to be flexible and needs to work with others to help their students in the most effective way.

Dollarhide, C.T., & Saginak, K.A. (2012). Comprehensive school counseling programs (2^nd Ed.). New York: Pearson

Walsh, M. E., Barrett, J. G., & DePaul, J. (2007). Day-to-day activities of school counselors: Alignment with new directions in the field and the ASCA national model. Professional School Counseling, 4, 370-378.