Blog 12 – Chapter 12 and article

Blog 12 – Chapter 12 and article

            This article immediately made me think of last week’s reading about personal and professional health. Mattering to others and job related stress are two things I struggle with as a teacher at times, so I suspect it will be more of a struggle as a counselor. I find the more secure I feel about the work that I do, the less the opinions of others matter. It makes sense that a counselor who feels needed and appreciated and who is doing the work they want to be doing (versus doing work they are forced to do) would make them more satisfied with their job. This is why I think that a universal socio-emotional program (such as Responsive Classroom) is needed in schools to help teachers and counselors (all staff in general) connect, this is important for students to see.

            Chapter 12 is organized in a way that is very clear and very easy to understand. If anyone is struggling with which age group to work with, it seems this chapter would be very enlightening. The section of the chapter that I found most interesting and informative was the section on High School. I am not interested in working with that age group but I am curious about how a counselors work in the high school can be improved. I have not seen a positive example of what I (or ASCA) consider an example of a CSCP working in a high school setting. As I read the chapter I could see how individual planning can quickly override all of the other counseling that is needed at this level. It seems at this level long term planning would have to be done and all counselors would have to be on board to make systemic change in a high school where counselors are told to focus solely on individual future planning and career and college preparation. I think that the academic focus in high school counseling programs is very much needed (as it is at all levels) however, the academic plans will not be carried out to fruition if students are not getting their emotional and social needs met or are meeting them in unhealthy ways. Somehow high school counselors need to work to let student know that even in high school the counselor is there for all of these reasons not just academic counseling.

Rayle, A. D. (2006). Do school counselors matter: Mattering as a moderator between job

stress and job satisfaction. Professional School Counseling, 9(3), 206-215.

Dollarhide, C. & Saginak, K. (2012). Comprehensive school counseling programs: K-12 delivery

systems in action (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.