The counselor, Ms. P, has been working at that school for 11 years, and has been a professional counselor for 15 years. She graduated with her Masters in Social Work in 1995. I asked her what certifications or licensure she had to have in order to become a school counselor. She told me she has her LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) because she is on the child study team. She first received her LSW (Licensed Social Worker) which required a certain number of hours (she couldn't remember how many at the time) and then once she passed the state board test she was eligible for clinical hours. To get her LCSW she had to get 1000 hrs of supervised work and direct patient contact. Once she was finished, she had to prove to the state that she had the hrs and licensed, paid $50 dollars and was given the certification for school counseling.
After we discussed her background, I asked her to describe a typical day. She said the majority of her day is spent corresponding with parents through email and some phone calls. Of course, ACA ethical code A.12.g. Technology and Informed Consent popped into my head. Since she was being kind enough to let me shadow her, I figured I wouldn't bring it up! She also said as the school Social Worker she is responsible for social histories and observations. She counsels both typical and special needs children at the school. She does a lot of crisis management. For example, while I was observing her she pulled a child out of class to let them know that a bullying problem had been taken care of.
She works with specific children who are assigned to her, twice a day. They're typically children with severe anxiety, or an autism spectrum disorder. She said she often refers out children who are having problems at home. She feels its unethical to counsel about topics unrelated to school. She said she often works with the outside therapist, although some don't request information from her.
Because she is on the child study team she has additional duties. This time of year is busy due to annual reviews of Individualized Education Plan's (IEP) for children with special needs. An interesting thing she brought up is she does a lot of teacher support. She does education on social skills and bullying. However, because of the added responsibilities of being on the child study team, shes not able to do as much teacher support as she feels is necessary.
She brought up that one of her duties is to calm down kids who are having meltdowns in class. I asked if that was normal, because shouldn't the teachers or aides be able to handle such an issue? She stated that there isn't enough training for the teachers or aides in how to deal with special needs kids and their behaviors. She told me the least favorite part of her job had to do with this. She feels there's a lack of focus in what is in the best interest of the children. Schools have become businesses, there is no leadership. She has to advocate for children in order to get what they need, and often gets in trouble for going against the administration. As a parent of a special needs child in that school system, I was very troubled to hear this. I'm glad that shes there to do the right thing. I asked her then what her favorite part of the job was. She stated that she loves being a daily part of the kids lives. She gets to watch them grow up, and see their successes. She had once done private practice counseling and found it limiting because she could only follow her clients so far in their growth. The school setting she finds much more satisfying.
I asked her what advice she would give to a newly graduated counselor. She said it is vital to get as much clinical experience as possible. She feels all school counselors need clinical experience, because they need to be able to recognize disorders . She also said to get a very good supervisor who is competent, clinically savvy, and able to be honest with you about your faults as a counselor. She said you have to be able to look in the mirror and be self aware of your faults, and work to address them. She cautioned against using clients to work through your own issues, and that shes seen many counselors who are burnt out and do just that. She also recommended getting therapy to avoid just that. I thought her advice was great and very helpful.
11 o'clock came very quickly, and I can honestly say I had a great time shadowing Ms. P. Even though the majority of the time was spent watching her administer tests, I feel I learned a lot. She was very open and honest about her job, and the satisfaction and dissatisfaction she felt. She had told me how when she first started counseling she in no way wanted to counsel children. By chance during her internship she would get children in her caseload and discovered she really enjoyed it. I was surprised that she was in charge of administering the testing. She said that it takes up a lot of her time, and that for the last 2 weeks all she had been doing was the MAPS testing with kids. I would have enjoyed seeing her interact with more children, but I still feel she gave me a clear idea of the typical day of a school counselor.
Post edit: I forgot to mention that I asked her what professional organizations she belonged to. She said she used to belong to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and NJ Association of School Counselors (NJASC). However, she did not renew her memberships because she felt, in her words, "It was a lot of money for nothing. A couple of journals with pathetic articles." I found this interesting and surprising. I told her I was a member of ACA and that so far I was pleased with it. Hopefully 15 years from now I'll still be happy!
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