Blog 6 – Chapter 8 – Counseling
This chapter gives great insight to
the many aspects of counseling. As Nate mentioned the chapter did answer a lot
of questions I have wondered about throughout the program. Very clear lines are
drawn about what our job is and is not. Within the chapter are guidelines for
when it is a good idea to refer out to other resources and services. I think
this is a very important aspect of the chapter because counselors have such a
high burn-out rate that perhaps we need to look at how counselors delegate to
other sources and how that benefits students and their families.
I really liked how the text referred
to multicultural (counseling) as “any characteristic that could conceivably
alter a person’s value system, perspective, and self-perception” (Dollarhide
& Saginak, p. 126, 2012). Issues in multicultural education are constantly
changing and need to be redefined often so that all groups are represented and
recognized.
The legal and ethical concerns section
was informative but left me realizing that I need to read up on this topic more
because our book only brushed the surface of this area of counseling. I’m sure
I will read for a refresher before taking the praxis and interviewing for jobs.
The assessment portion was very large which
I think speaks to the push for assessments in counseling. The examples in the
text for types of testing was a good refresher, we are not just talking about
academic data that is important to record. I think it is very true that many
counselors try to get away with the excuse that so much of what they do is not
measureable through data, but that is just not true. If you really believe that
the work you do with children is not measureable to show growth than you may as
well kiss your job good bye. I really do think that much like requirements of
teachers, requiring data and assessment from counselors will make struggling
counselors better and good counselors best.
The breakdown of the different types
of counseling was a nice refresher and reading about structured versus process
groups had me thinking a lot about the types of kids I work with and the skills
they need to be taught. Structured groups are part of the backbone of what got
our social skill program up and running many years ago.
I often have conflicting feelings when
reading about and discussing peer facilitation, I felt that even when I was in
high school it was not implemented properly and students did not take it
seriously. As of now I am really not sold on it and not motivated to use it in
my own school counseling program. Any thoughts?
Dollarhide, C. & Saginak, K. (2012). Comprehensive
school counseling programs: K-12 delivery systems in action (2nd ed.). Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
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