chapter 1

            In my experience the profession of school counseling is still trying to find its way.  The ASCA guidelines seem very new, having been formulated only during the last decade.  Their implementation across a broad spectrum of the counseling profession also seems new or non-existent.  While I applaud the standardization of professional competencies, national standards, and comprehensive school counseling program models, I am aware that their full implementation will take many years.  Therefore, many stakeholders will have varying knowledge, expectations, and experiences with the school counseling profession. 

            The Dollarhide text invites us to consider some of the best and worst counselors we have known in our school careers.  Frankly, I have no remembrance of any experience with a counselor during my K-12 years.  I know there was one, or maybe more than one.  But I never met them or remember having any understanding of what purpose they served within the school.  During my 4 children’s school careers I mainly remember them interacting with them regarding careers, class schedules, and college applications.  Some counselors were helpful, and some less so.  The ones that students seemed to regard as helpful were the ones who actually knew the students, and who seemed knowledgeable about the academic workings of the school.  Unfortunately, too often, I would hear this comment from my children and their friends: “the counselors don’t know anything”.  It would seem that the school counseling profession often has a negative reputation among students rather than a positive one. So, the question is how do we address that when we begin our careers?

 I appreciated the comment in Chapter 1 that read “school counselors should acknowledge that it is their expertise in academic issues that will establish their connection with the academic mission of the school and give them credibility within the school” (Dollarhide, 2012, p. 4).  My experience has been that the credibility of counselors is indeed often damaged when counselors do not seem to have knowledge and competency in helping students navigate through the academic system in place at the school.  When counselors know less than students as to what requirements they need, which classes are helpful for getting into a particular college, or what the impact of AP versus college prep might be, students loose confidence in counselor’s abilities to help them with other areas as well. 

            As a profession, counselors have given mixed messages about their competency and their role. Counselors will need to show competency in areas besides personal and career counseling if we are to gain credibility that will then be extended to those roles as well.  Although we may not feel like trained experts in scheduling and academic advising, that is most often the first and perhaps only way that the majority of students will interact with the school counselor, particularly in the upper grades.  If that experience is a positive one, where the competency of the counselor is observed, students and parents will be much more likely to utilize the counselor for other areas as well.  Therefore counselors would be prudent to hone their skills and develop their expertise in areas that establish their credibility, so that their other skills may have the opportunity to be recognized and utilized.

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