School Counselors' Perceptions of Career Counseling and Career Testing: Preferences, Priorities, and Predictors

Limited information on the actual and preferred career counseling and career testing activities of school counselors exists. An analysis of a statewide school counselors' survey revealed career counseling and testing preferences, priorities and predictors. Results revealed counselors preferred trait/factor approaches to career counseling, including Holland's RIASEC theory, Person-Environment-Correspondence theory and Cognitive Information Processing theory, respectively. With respect to career counseling and career testing priorities, means comparisons indicated that elementary, middle, and high school counselors' actual time performing career counseling duties is minimal; however, they desire to spend significantly more time on career counseling and testing. Multiple regressions revealed important predictor variables for actual and ideal time spent on career counseling and career testing. Limitations and recommendations for further research are discussed.     

Consultation Related to Giftedness: A School Counseling Perspective

School counselors, when serving as consultants and assuming consultee roles, can contribute significantly to the well-being of gifted students at all school levels. This article summarizes pertinent current training of school counselors, social and emotional concerns of gifted children and adolescents, and the practice of consultation as it relates to school counseling. In addition, brief narratives describe consultations related to peer relations, underachievement, college and career decisions, assistance to classroom teachers and parents, small-group work, potential misdiagnosis, alternative and affective curriculum, and diversity.     

The Concerns of School Counselors‐in‐Training About Working With Children and Adolescents With HIV Disease: Training Implications

As the number of children and adolescents who have or are affected by HIV disease increases, so does the need to examine the preparation of counselors to work with this population. This study assessed (a) the knowledge, beliefs, and social comfort of school counselors‐in‐training, as related to working with this population, and (b) these students' concerns and perceptions about their preparedness. Participants reported high levels of general knowledge and positive beliefs; however, they also demonstrated deficits in specialized knowledge and discomfort in counseling situations. Participants expressed concerns about their preparation and ability to deal with grief issues. Implications for training counselors are discussed.     

Career Counseling Practitioners: Reflections on Theory, Research, and Practice

Career counseling practitioners of varied training levels were surveyed regarding the extent to which major career theories and research data inform their work with clients. In addition, this study was interested in career counselors views regarding (a) how career theorists, researchers, and practitioners can work together to address the needs of career clients, and (b) how theory and research findings can be more relevant to practice. Survey findings revealed that licensed counselors and psychologists as compared to non-counselor trained career practitioners agreed to a greater extent that their degree program had adequately prepared them to provide career counseling by emphasizing theory and attention to personal and career issues, and were more likely to regard professional development activities as important to their career counseling effectiveness. Finally, practitioners had numerous comments regarding the utility of career theory and interventions, and suggestions for bridging the gap between theory and practice.     

Teaching School Counselors and School Psychologists to Work Collaboratively

Counselor education programs have the responsibility to prepare school counseling graduates adequately for effective partnerships, consultation, and collaboration with other school professionals. Current practices as well as theory should inform preparation. This study was conducted to determine current collaborative efforts of practicing school counselors and school psychologists in 1 southeastern state. Implications for educators and 1 training model that distinctly accentuates collaboration are presented.     

A Phenomenological Exploration of Bhutanese Counselors’ Experiences with Western Counseling

Bhutan has recently invited the profession of counseling to aid in responding to growing mental health problems, social and family issues, and school and career guidance needs. This study is a phenomenological investigation of the experiences of Bhutanese counselors with Western counseling in order to understand the cultural fit between Bhutan and Western counseling orientations. Eleven participants were interviewed and four themes identified: conceptualization of counseling, Bhutanese culture, Bhutanese counseling, and the relationship between Western counseling and Bhutan. Suggestions are made for a potential model of Bhutanese counseling, counselor training, ongoing Western contributions, and the further development of the counseling profession.     

Young girls in science: Academic ability,perceptions and future participation in science

Given the lack of information in either the school counseling or the gifted education fields on how school counselors and educators of the gifted work together, research into how individuals from both professions collaborate to serve gifted students and their families becomes important. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to examine gifted teachers' and coordinators' experiences working with school counselors. Fourteen participants, serving in a variety of K–12 settings, engaged in interviews regarding their different experiences working with their school counselors. Five primary themes resulted from these participants' reported experiences, including educators'/counselors' training and preparation, meeting gifted students' needs through service delivery, school counselors' perceptions and beliefs, systemic barriers and facilitators of collaboration, and teacher and counselor collaborative efforts. These findings are discussed with regard to current literature on gifted education, school counseling, and professional collaboration.     

School Counseling in Belize: Poised for Great Development

The majority of persons serving as school counselors in Belize do not have the formal training proposed by standard setting bodies, such as the U.S. National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC) and the American School Counseling Association (ASCA). However, those serving as counselors readily identify responsibilities that parallel those advocated by the ASCA National Model (ASCA 2005). This article identifies characteristics of Belize school counselors, and reviews current school counseling practices and the implications of these for the future of school counseling in that setting. Opportunities for standardization and professional development for school counselors, solidification of a professional identity, and barriers to educational attainment are also explored.     

Attitudes Toward Death Education and Grief Counseling

This article surveyed counselors and counselor educators across the nation regarding their attitudes toward death education and grief counseling. Results were compared to previous research in this area, and it was found that death education and grief training has increased significantly in recent years. Results also indicated that elementary school counselors were more willing than junior or senior high counselors to prepare teachers to help in the area of grief. The primary reasons given by counselors for not attending courses, workshops, or seminars on death education were that training was either not available or not convenient. Counselor educators' reasons for non-attendance varied from time conflict to lack of interest.     

The Preparation of Master's‐Level Professional Counselors for Positions in College and University Counseling Centers

This study investigated college and university counseling center directors’ perceptions of the adequacy of the preparation of master's‐level counselors for work in college and university counseling centers. Results indicated that counselors were rated on average as prepared; however, many directors had concerns about counselors’ ability to work with students presenting more severe mental health issues. Findings are discussed, and implications for the training and preparation of college counseling practitioners are presented.     

Principals' Training in Counseling and Development: A National Survey

A national survey for all schools offering graduate training for school principals and for school counselors was conducted to determine the amount of preservice training principals receive related to school counseling and development. A questionnaire was mailed to the head of the administrator-training program at each of the 407 universities identified, and 376 responses were returned. Findings with respect to counseling and development courses required in administator-training programs, counseling and development courses available as electives, and counseling and development-oriented components in required administration courses are presented. Also, suggestions for counselor educators regarding methods of improving the counseling and development-related training received by educational administrators are offered.     

Career guidance,career assessment,and consultancy

Summary Although career guidance activities can positively influence students' career development, the effectiveness of such activities is often impaired because they attempt to provide the same services to all students at the same time. Programs typically do not consider either students' differential developmental patterns or the fact that many students have particular needs due to learning, physical, or emotional handicaps. Therefore, a primary focus of refining programs must be the individualization of services to meet a wide variety of student needs.Referral to career assessment or to professionals trained in career assessment and consultation is a valuable option open to school counselors who have neither the time nor the specialized training to conduct such assessments themselves. Career assessment centers offer comprehensive assessment services, including both more traditional assessments as well as innovative activities. Using a consultation paradigm, the school counselor and career assessment officer can better provide comprehensive, individualized assessment and counseling tailored to the specific needs of students, regardless of their handicaps and their different levels of developmental readiness     

Counselor Preparation: A Semantic Differential Evaluation

Counselors and superintendents from Tennessee and Indiana were administered a semantic differential to compare their perceptions of counselor programs as reflected by counselor performance in 11 skill areas. Counselors rated their training programs higher than did the superintendents but did agree with the superintendents that the best counselor preparation was in educational counseling, pupil appraisal, public relations, and guidance program coordination. Counselors also agreed with the superintendents that better counselor preparation was needed in parental consulting, vocational counseling, and research. Primary disagreement between counselors and superintendents centered on personal-social counseling, an area in which counselors feel well prepared.     

An Examination of the Clinical Preparation of School Counselors

Clinical training is considered the capstone experience (Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, 2001) for preservice counselors. This exploratory study examined pedagogical practice for clinical preparation in a purposeful sample of 59 school counseling internship syllabi. A qualitative analysis revealed wide diversity in content regarding supervision, student assignments, and, in particular, on‐site requirements.     

Use of the Collaborative Drawing Technique in School Counseling Practicum: An Illustration of Family Systems

According to the extant school consultation literature, counselors can effectively use brief family interventions and family assessment procedures in schools as part of a collaborative consultation approach. School counselors, however, often lack training in family systems theory, because counselor training programs tend to use individual counseling models. When used in a school counselor practicum course, the Collaborative Drawing Technique (CDT; G. M. Smith, 1985) introduces counselors‐in‐training to family systems concepts and lays the foundation for postgraduate training in family systems. The authors use a case illustration to explore paradigmatic shifts in trainees' case conceptualizations as a function of their use of the CDT with a family.     

School Counselor Preparation in Kenya: Do Kenyan School Counselors Feel Adequately Prepared to Perform Their Roles?

School counselor training in Kenya is a relatively new phenomenon. This study examined Kenyan school counselors’ perceptions of the adequacy of their preparedness to perform their roles within the school setting. The survey was administered to 105 school counselors in four counties. The findings revealed that Kenyan school counselors perceived themselves as being adequately prepared; however, participants revealed deficiencies in their preparation and ability to deal with a wide range of student issues. Implications of these findings to the training of school counselors and counselor training programs are discussed.     

Counseling Interview Techniques: A Comparison of Theory and Practice

The purpose of this study was to analyze counseling interview techniques learned while in counselor preparation in relationship to those techniques that secondary school counselors considered useful in actual secondary school counseling.     

The Influence of a Career Pathways Model and Career Counseling on Students' Career and Academic Self-Efficacy

This qualitative study examines the effects of career pathways programming and targeted career counseling services on 71 high school seniors across seven schools engaged in school reforms funded through South Carolina's Education and Economic Development Act (EEDA). EEDA is a statewide, multipronged effort to improve academic achievement, graduation rates, and students' chances at success in both careers and college. One component of EEDA is the requirement that all students complete an individual graduation plan, and in order to build capacity to execute this new requirement, additional counselors and/or counselor aides were added to every high school in the state. We found that the combination of a career pathways model along with targeted career counseling services enhanced students' sense of career and academic self-efficacy by increasing their motivation to complete school, willingness and interest to take more challenging courses, and sense of preparedness for college and work. We examine these themes through the social cognitive career theory's triadic model of causality (Bandura, 1997) connecting study findings with the central constructs of self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, and personal goal development.     

中小学心理辅导的现状研究

本研究设计了“中小学心理辅导现状调查问卷(校长问卷)”,通过对浙江省8个地区148所中小学的抽样调查,对当前中小学心理辅导的现状作了研究,并对影响心理辅导效果的因素进行了相关研究。研究表明:(1)大多数中小学校长对学校开展心理辅导只停留在思想认识上,而在具体实施时,表现得不够重视;(2)学校为心理辅导建立专门的管理体系、每年一定经费的投入、配备一定数量的心理辅导教师、对教师进行专业培训、采取多种辅导形式等五方面因素与心理辅导的实际效果均有显著相关;(3)在经费投入与教师培训方面存在着城乡差异。