Tabiona School

"School counselors are highly educated, professionally certified individuals who help students succeed in school and plan their career. An integral part of the total education system, school counselors help students form healthy goals, mindsets and behaviors. With the aid of a school counselor, students learn to develop effective collaboration and cooperation skills, to practice perseverance, to develop time management and study skills, and to learn self-motivation and self-direction habits."

(School Counselor Roles & Ratios - American School Counselor Association (ASCA), n.d.)

6 Goals of a School Counseling Program

According to Tiffany Sauber Millacci, PH.D.

Fulfill lives
School counselors help students live more fulfilling lives by addressing problematic issues (Gachenia & Mwenje, 2020). An example of a problematic issue may be a learning disability.

In collaboration with the general education teacher, the school counselor may be able to suggest strategies, implement interventions, or start the special education referral process.

Assist students with challenges
Students face a plethora of challenges. If a student has an issue with a particular teacher, the school counselor may speak with the teacher or act as a mediator to remedy the situation.

Adjustment
School counseling programs aim to help students attain self-awareness and adjust emotionally, socially, and psychologically (Gachenia & Mwenje, 2020).

A school counselor may create a “buddy” program that pairs a returning student with a new student to make them feel welcome. Additionally, a school counselor may prepare a student for a post-high school job, technical school, or college.

Promote a positive school life
According to a study conducted by Gachenia and Mwenje (2020), 87% of the students who participated in counseling sessions felt more positive about their school life.

A counselor is there to help students through difficult situations both in and outside school.

Generating or supporting school-wide interventions
In most schools, school counselors are tasked with the responsibility to support, if not entirely create a school-wide intervention program. Constant evaluation must also accompany this systematic change to determine if the interventions are being implemented and if they are effective (Dimmitt & Zyromski, 2020).

Mental health and social-emotional learning
School counseling addresses mental health via school-wide lessons, social-emotional learning or individual counseling sessions. Counselors may address these needs through class, group, or individual lessons and counseling sessions (Dimmitt & Zyromski, 2020).

In sum, by addressing these goals, a school counseling program aims to improve students’ academic performance and social skills (Gachenia & Mwenje, 2020).

Millacci, T. S., PhD. (2024, March 18). What is school counseling? 14 roles & Goals of counselors. PositivePsychology.com. .

What Is School Counseling? 14 Roles & Goals of Counselors (positivepsychology.com)