Some days may be entirely crisis-oriented. With this in mind, university programs are currently producing a new brand of school counselor. In addition to developing skills for interacting with individuals, school counselors are trained to work with classrooms and small groups, emphasizing relationship skills, skills for assisting peers in distress, skills for resolving conflict and appropriate expression of strong feelings. The focus may also be on common developmental concerns. All students are involved.
School counselors have special skills.
They are attuned to the broad school climate. Guided by their code regarding confidentiality, they are nevertheless aware that, according to that code, confidentiality must be breached when a student-client is in danger or is a danger to someone else. School and corporation administrators are wise when they work to keep the student-counselor ratio reasonable, divest their counselors of work that can just as well be done by someone without special training, allow them to counsel in a multitude of ways, and encourage them to spend the bulk of their time in prevention. Effective counseling must begin at the elementary level and extend through the school years, proactively building a base of prevention. A good place to begin is to make sure that an adequate number of counselors are on board in every school, encouraged to do what they are trained to do.