Before I read chapter 10 in our textbook, I must confess that the definitions for the terms collaboration and consultation were much more muddled in my mind. They are now clearer and I realize how crucial they are to the role of the school counselor.
Collaboration was described in several ways in our textbook. "Lawson (2003) identified connection and communicating, cooperation, coordination, community building, and contracting as important components to successful collaboration." (Dollarhide & Saginak, 2012, p. 164). Collaboration takes skill and practice. My initial reactions to collaboration are ones of excitement as I enjoy working on a team for the greater good. I firmly believe in the (now overused) phrase "It takes a village to raise a child". My neighbors and I joke that it takes a village to raise the children who live on Cedar Lane but it is so true in our little community. We help each other out with childcare issues, we bring each other meals when there is a need, we inevitably talk at the bus stop every morning about some parenting issue or a concern for a specific child. We pool our resources and knowledge and I am so grateful to have this collaboration with these women. On the flip side, I can also see how a collaboration process could be frustrating. Dealing with a group of individuals/organizations etc. can be tricky. Resistance can be found on many levels and to varying degrees. Collaboration can be a beautiful thing when all goes right but it could be challenging too which is where the various models of collaboration come in to play.
I appreciated the visual of the continuum described in the Adelman and Taylor Model of Collaboration. This model seemed to make sense in many ways and I would like to research it more. "Clearly, this model of collaboration is very broad-based, suggesting how services can be meshed, how collaboratives can be transdisciplinary, and how schools can be transformed into caring, respectful places." (Dollarhide & Saginak, 2012, p. 167). All four models presented had some features I appreciated and as I said earlier this is a topic that I need to research further.
Dollarhide & Saginak write about the role of consultation for a school counselor. They note that research has found that a majority of counselors spend an average of 18 % of their time in consultation. (p. 169) That is a significant amount of time. The triad involved with consultation took me a little more time to wrap my head around. The lines of when consultation blurs with counseling are blurry sometimes and I am glad we discussed some examples of that in class. As Caplan's Four Types of Consultation was a new model for me, I need some more time to look at it and reflect on the process. I did appreciate the section where Caplan describes the four sources of difficulties that consultees face (lack of knowledge, lack of skill, lack of confidence, and lack of objectivity). I think these are crucial to keep in mind when consulting.
Honestly, I have to say that I look forward to learning more about collaboration and consultation. I am curious to learn more about specific models but I know that one of the best ways to to get firsthand experience and a chance to hone our skills. Another opportunity to "dive" into that school counseling pool!!
Dollarhide, C.T. & Saginak, K.A. (2012). Comprehensive school counseling programs. (2nd ed.). New York: Pearson, Inc.
Kahn, B.B., (2000). A model of solution-focused consultation for school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 3 (4), 248-54.
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