Chapter 3 and 14

When I first saw the title of Chapter 3, "Moral, ethical, and legal issues in school counseling" I have to admit that I got a little nervous.  These are the three topics that scare me the most about being a school counselor because there are so many different scenarios that can play out under each of these headings and there is no way to know how to handle all of them.  One of my biggest fears is having an issue come up and either I have no idea how to handle it, or that I handle the situation in the wrong way and I jeopardize my job or the outcome of a situation.  I can appreciate the question, "How will I know what to do in an ethical dilemma?"; however, the answer that is given, "It depends on what's important to you" does not provide me with any great comfort (Dollarhide & Saginak, 2012, p. 31). 

One of the things that was really helpful to read in chapter 3 was in the four step process on pages 37-38. I feel that this gave a good outline of how to arrive at a decision.  I especially like under step four, number one where Dollarhide & Saginak (2012) say, "Strengthen your willpower, knowing that taking the action you have chosen many not be easy. Not everyone will agree with your decision" (p. 38).  I think this is important for all of us to remember in that the best decision is not always going to be easy and everybody is not always going to agree with what we have come up with, but if we have taken the right steps and firmly believe that we have arrived at the correct decision then we have to stand by that decision.  

I also enjoyed reading chapter 14 because I think it had a lot of helpful strategies for how to handle the stresses of being a new school counselor.  I think one of the hardest things for me as a counselor will be letting things go so it was helpful to read the section, “Doing your best, then letting go” (Dollarhide & Saginak, 2012, p. 252-253). There are going to be some kids that we might not be able to get through to and as hard as that is to understand as a counselor and a person, it is something that I am really going to need to remind myself so I don’t drive myself crazy.

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