Importance Of School Counseling

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A school counseling curriculum complements the academic curriculum. Its purpose is to provide preventive, proactive lessons to promote positive mental health and enhanced academic achievement for all students. School counseling lessons and activities that focus on relationships, integrity, self-esteem, self-discipline, goal-setting, studying skills, time management, anger management, careers, decision-making, and the importance of acquiring a quality education support and enhance the school instruction program. A School counseling program must work closely with all school stakeholders to be effective. That said a practical and proven effective counseling theory which I believe makes the most sense to implement into a school based counseling …show more content…

Counselors are able to develop positive relationships with clients when they possess the personal qualities of warmth, sincerity, congruence, understanding, acceptance, concern, openness, respect for the client and the willingness to be challenged by others (Corey, 2009). These characteristics allow school counselors to act as advocates who are able to instill a sense of hope in students. Once the therapeutic relationship has been established, the counselor assists students in gaining a deeper understanding of the consequences of their current behavior. At this point, students are helped to understand that others cannot and should not dedicate their actions, they are not victims, and that they have a wide range of options to choose from. Reality Therapy includes a delivery system for helping individuals take more effective control of their lives. The acronym WDEP is used to describe the basic procedures of Reality Therapy. Each letter refers to strategies that are designed to encourage change: W=wants and needs; D=direction and doing; E=self-evaluation; and P=planning (Wubbolding, 2000). Within a school counselors delivery system there are three program components which in my opinion includes ingredients for an effective school counselor: school counseling curriculum, individual student planning, and responsive services (Gysbers & Henderson, 2006). There should be a specific emphasis placed on the potential impact Reality Therapy can have on students’ academic achievement, personal/social development, and career decision-making skills when applied to each program

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