School Counselor Role Advocacy

Abstract

School counselors play a crucial role in the personal, academic, and career development of all students. With the delivery of a developmental, comprehensive counseling program, school counselors respond to a wide variety of student needs while supporting the school's academic vision. According to the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), school counselors should spend the vast majority of their time at school providing direct and indirect services to students. However, school counselors are often given responsibilities that do not fall under the umbrella of appropriate activities for school counselors and have little to do with counseling. Trauma-informed school counselors must be prepared to advocate for appropriate role responsibilities with their administrators. The goal of this chapter is to prepare school counselors to establish a clear professional identity through role advocacy. Ultimately, unambiguous role definition serves to advocate for students who need the services that professional school counselors are uniquely trained to provide.