An Exploration of School Counselors' Demands and Resources: Relationship to Stress, Biographic, and Caseload Characteristics

McCarthy, Christopher J.; Kerne, Valerie Van Horn; Calfa, Nicolina A.; Lambert, Richard G.; Guzmán, Michele R.

doi:10.5330/psc.n.2010-13.146

Cited by 63 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Collaboration is necessary for school counselors to understand each other's professional responsibilities and to work together to implement a comprehensive school counseling program that meets the needs of all students (Wilder, 2018). Studies have shown that consultations and support by colleagues, such as teachers, principals, and parents, moderate pressure and burnout among counselors (McCarthy et al, 2010;Wilkerson & Bellini, 2006). A study that examined stressors among school counselors found that colleague consultations were perceived by counselors as a factor that relieves pressure in their work (Culbreth et al, 2005).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Occupation in Search of Identity—What Is School Counseling?

Heled¹,

Davidovitch²

2020

JEL

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This study will focus on the professional identity of school counseling, which is a key function in Israeli schools. Forming a professional identity is part of the process of professional development that begins with academic training and continues throughout one’s professional career. Professional identity distinguishes between different occupations and provides practitioners with a safe base that lets them better understand their work and form a team spirit within their field of occupation. The research literature indicates an association between one’s professional identity and her professional functioning and success, sense of stability, confidence, and pride in practicing the occupation. The professional identity of school counseling is related to gender. This is a predominantly female occupation and most of its practitioners in Israel are women. Few studies have been conducted on the professional identity of school counselors (Note 1) and its impact on the quality of their work. It appears that the definition of the school counselor’s role is neither clear nor unambiguous, both in Israel and elsewhere, and this affects the professional identity of counselors and the quality of their work. The current study included semi-structured interviews with 15 school counselors, in which they spoke about the structure of their work, their professional vision, satisfaction, and sense of self-fulfillment as a result of their job, as well as their professional self-efficacy. The research findings show that the structure of the counselor’s work, her role definition and workload, are related to her professional identity, including how she perceives the counseling occupation, her satisfaction and sense of self-fulfillment. Based on the interviews, no differences were found between the narratives of counselors with different levels of seniority in the profession with regard to professional identity, satisfaction, and self-fulfillment. The research findings indicate the need to define the school counseling occupation and its place in the school in order to help school counselors establish a clearer professional identity, with the aim of adapting the role to the challenges of the school system in the 21st century, in the world in general and in Israel in particular.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Occupation in Search of Identity—What Is School Counseling?

Heled¹,

Davidovitch²

2020

JEL

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“…Although we are advocating for a multifaceted role for school counselors, our emphasis in this section will be on the reasons supporting the mental health professional role. Our rationale for focusing on the latter role is that recent school counseling literature is already well-populated with support for the educational leader role (see Curry & DeVoss, 2009;Janson, 2009;Janson, Stone, & Clark, 2009;McMahon, Mason, & Paisley, 2009; and Shillingford & Lambie, 2010, for a few). In addition, an emphasis on the mental health professional role aligns with the focus of this special issue on student mental health.…”

Section: Rationale For a Conjoint Professional Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Researchers have found that school counselors make a difference in students' lives (Carey & Dimmit, 2013;Lapan, Gysbers, & Sun, 1997;Reback, 2010;Sink & Stroh, 2003;Whiston et al, 2011), and can impact a range of outcomes, including supporting the academic, career, and personal/social development of students (Carey & Dimmit, 2013). Yet meeting student needs through the counseling function can be crowded out by competing tasks and by caseloads that for too many school counselors are far too large (Kolodinsky et al, 2009;McCarthy, Van Horn Kerne, Calfa, Lambert, & Guzman, 2010).…”

Section: Student-to-school-counselor Ratiosmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of School Counselors in Meeting Students’ Mental Health Needs: Examining Issues of Professional Identity

DeKruyf

Auger

Trice-Black

2013

Professional School Counseling

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The professional identity of school counselors has evolved over time. This article traces the historical context driving this evolution, and suggests it is time for the profession to conjoin the roles of educational leader and mental health professional. This proposal is prompted by heightened awareness of unmet student mental health needs, referrals that go unmet, school counselors displaced by other mental health providers in schools, the potential loss of the unique school counselor role, and the natural link between the mental health professional role and the array of personal-social factors that impact student achievement. A conjoint professional school counselor identity that includes the roles of both educational leader and mental health professional positions school counselors to better respond to all students, including those with mental health needs. This article discusses potential roadblocks and offers suggestions for action.

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“…For SCs particularly, the benefits of school-based interventions are numerous. First, school-based interventions potentially reduce SC stress by affecting multiple students at one time, thus decreasing caseload (McCarthy, Van Horne, Calfa, Lambert, & Guzman, 2010). Second, mental health counselors can facilitate interventions, thus allowing SCs to do other school-related duties (Burt et al, 2010).…”

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confidence: 98%