School Counseling Philosophy

Tracy Kennedy
School Counseling Philosophy
Dallas Baptist University

B.T. Erford begins Transforming the school counseling profession by stating, Professional
school counselors must attain and maintain a high degree of skill and competence in the various
components of a comprehensive program to ensure that all students succeed (2015, p.1). As a
professional school counselor, I feel it is important for me to become familiar with the latest
research and the most current up to date trends in counseling so that, I meet the needs of all my
students.
If we are to implement a program that will serve across multiple cultural backgrounds, we
will need to be intentional in our pursuit of self -education. Perhaps one of the first steps in
becoming a multi-culturally competent professional school counselor is determining areas of
personal improvement needed (Holcomb-McCoy, Chen-Hays, 2015,p.180). After reading
about all the various ways a school counselor can increase their level of multicultural
competence I couldn't choose just one method of education. I feel it will be imperative to tap

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into multiple ways to accomplish this task. I would begin with workshops, because I enjoy
hands on learning and talking with others, however I also think joining counseling organizations
could prove beneficial as well.
School counselors should posses the knowledge, abilities, skills and attitude necessary to
plan, organize, implement and evaluate a comprehensive, developmental, results-based school
counseling program that aligns with the ASCA National Model (ASCA 2012,p. 148). It is my
philosophy that in order to be a good school counselor, one must have the personality
characteristics of an effective counselor and have a well-defined, personal approach. ASCA lists
several abilities and skills a professional school counselor should have, these characteristics
include being able to create a vision for an effective counseling program and demonstrating
multicultural, ethical and professional competencies in planning. Also included were the abilities
to serve as a leader, advocate for student success, and have an attitude that every student matters
and every student can learn. I believe I have these personal characteristics. In addition, effective
counselors are able to identify with school and community stakeholders.
I feel that I have already had many experiences that have helped me to define and
establish a personal identity. I have been in the classroom for almost 20 years, I have spent most
of my time with middle school students, but have also seen elementary and high school
classrooms as well. Because of this attribute, I think that my experience will be beneficial to my
new position. I believe that education never ends and every day is an opportunity to learn
something new that can improve the way you do your job. I have a healthy sense of self-respect
and respect towards all people I encounter in my life regardless of culture, race, or ethnicity. I
also have a sense of humor and am authentic, honest, and sincere, which helps me to build
rapport with students and my coworkers. I am very passionate about counseling and have a

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genuine interest in helping those around me. I will abidebytheprofessionalschoolcounseling

ethicsasadvocatedbytheAmericanSchoolCounselingAssociation.Icommittocontinually
participateinprofessionaldevelopmentactivitiesessentialtomaintainingaqualityschool
counselingprogram.
We may be more effective counselors if we can more adequately understand human nature.
Human behavior and its existence can be more fully understood by viewing ourselves and taking
a look at how we interact and see ourselves. By understanding ourselves, and our existence we
may also live to fully experience what it is to be human.

People change and adapt to the world around them. We must continue to change grow and
adapt to the ever-changing environment. I believe we change when we learn to develop skills to
better ourselves. When we can educate ourselves to become better in any given area we are
changing and growing ourselves. We can also change when those around us care enough to
make a difference in our lives. I see counselors as collaborators, while we must be an expert in
our field, I also believe we cannot do this job all on our own. We must partner with teachers,
staff, parents, community member and others to ensure we have all the tools necessary to truly
make a difference in our students lives. By being able to partner with those around us, we can
have a better set of tools to use when our students come to us with the multitude of complex
problems they may have. Efforts to create a high level of personal and community awareness
and participation in conflict resolution and peer mediation programs can be successful ( Erford,
Vivian & Lee, 2005, p. 345). Setting goals for counseling is a team effort. I feel like perhaps the

School Counseling Philosophy

best way to achieve this task is to gather as an administrative staff and develop goals for what a
successful counseling program might look like at our school. I do not believe this is a task meant
for just a single person. Having the ASCA national model to use as a guide could prove
beneficial.
I am excited about the road ahead, while I know there is so much more to learn, the more I
learn, the more I feel this is my calling. I cant wait to get into the school setting and begin my
journey of helping students meet their personal, and career goals.

References

American School Counselor Association (2012). The ASCA National Model: A Framework for
School Counseling Programs, (Third Edition). Alexandria, VA: Author.
Erford, B. (2015). Becoming a Professional School Counselor: Current Perspectives, Historical
Roots, and Future Challenges. In Transforming the school counseling profession (4th ed.,Vol
11,pgs. 2-28). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Merrill/Prentice Hall.
Erford, B., Lee, V., & Rock, E. (2015). Systemic approaches to counseling students experiencing
complex and specialized problems. In Transforming the school counseling profession (4th ed.,
Vol. 11, pp. 325-349). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson.
Holcomb-McCoy, C., & Chen-Hayes, S. (2015). Culturally competent school counselors:
Affriming diversity by challenging oppression. In Transforming the school counseling profession
(4th ed., Vol. 11, pp. 173-193). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson.