Blog 13

After reading the topics of chapter 13, I found myself saying, "and this is why I want to be a school counselor." As I read  about "Crisis Counseling and Family Crisis Assistance" which then moved on to "Self-Destructive Behaviors" it aligned well with my focus for my core competency project.  Reading what school counselors were advised to do for a student who self-injures had me definitely reflect back on what my high school counselor did when she was notified by some of my friends that I was self-injuring myself.

At the reflection moment, I found myself thinking I know a great amount about self-destructive behaviors because I was that student. For me, self-injury was used as a coping mechanism.  When I was told I was not working hard enough, being bullied in school, or even thinking to myself that I was not good enough for anything I pursued, I used self-injury as a mechanism to be punished.

I also found myself reading the "Multiculturalism and Diversity" section and once again reflecting on experiences I had in school. I remember taking multicultural counseling and realizing how little I knew about individuals outside of my cultural background.  I had always been open to learning about others that do not fit into my specific background and taking the multicultural counseling course definitely emphasized that in order to be an effective school counselor I need to gain multicultural competency in order to be prepared to be a school counselor.

Within the article (Amatea & Clark, 2005), just reading the introduction had me aware of the change of times and what I will need to know in order to be a school counselor that understands the environment in which students develop. I definitely had this experience with my client in brief counseling as he would being up references to video games, and I would have no idea what he was talking about. Through my education here at Millersville I strive to become "Innovative School Leader." After working in a group setting for both the EBP and CSCP projects in this class, I have learned that it is important to gain experience working in a collaborative context in order to become a better school counselor in training.

Amatea, E. S., & Clark, M. (2005). Changing schools, changing counselors: A qualitative study of school administrators' conceptions of the school counselor role. Professional School Counseling, 9(1), 16-27.

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