Week 8

            It is interesting to note how much time school counselors typically spend on collaboration and consultation.  Actually I find that comforting because it may mean that counselors as well as others in the school and community realize that we can do more together than we can individually.  Rather than each person living with the notion that he/she can do everything, be everything, know everything, accomplish everything, understand everything, and decide everything all by him/herself, perhaps we have all gotten the message that we are stronger together.   That being said, I think the author of our text is quite correct when maintaining that as counselors embody and develop a collaborative spirit within the school system, perseverance will be required.  While we may all know we are better when we work together, sometimes it is just easier for people to act, think, and devise alone.  Because together we not only get each other’s expertise, we also get each other’s quirks, foibles, and personalities.  Still, a counselor can be in a unique role to champion the collaborative spirit and model that spirit amongst the various stakeholders in a school system to everyone’s benefit.

            Consultation also seems to be a prime activity of school counselors.  I particularly appreciated the discussion of consultation that supported the counselor’s role as collaborative within the consultation.  Even when people come to the counselor to be the expert, it would seem that client or consultee empowerment mixed with the counselor’s bit of expertise would be particularly effective.  This seems to go hand in hand with a solution focused approach, and an approach that seeks to equip the client or consultee with a greater sense of self-efficacy so that they might be empowered to deal with new situations.   In order to be effective in consultation, counselors will need to be good listeners, observers, and information gathers so that we have a good understanding of the situation and context.  Therefore it seems that counselors should be wary of making assumptions, even when we might think we have familiarity with a situation due to past experiences or our own experience.  Each situation will be new, and to be an effective consultant will require humility and openness in order for the counselor to be an effective consultant. I suppose, I am thinking that as with counseling skills, consultation skills are equally, or perhaps even more about listening as well as speaking. 

            Relationships that are built over time will seem to set the stage for counselors to encourage and respond to requests for collaboration and consultation.  Therefore, I wonder if counselors will become more effective with longer tenures and time-tested relationships.   

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