A Phenomenological Study of the Experiences of School Social Workers and Counselors

Abstract

Children who suffer from traumatic events such as child sexual abuse are exposed to many different symptoms that can affect their educational success. School support personnel, specifically, school social workers and counselors, have a unique opportunity to assist students who have experienced trauma from sexual abuse, especially since students spend most of their time in a school environment. This chapter per the author, focuses on the experiences, strengths, and challenges that may exist in school social workers and counselors working with child survivors of sexual abuse trauma. The results show that school social workers and school counselors are the correct school support personnel to work with survivors of child sexual abuse. They are trained and skilled to assist them; however, due to the lack of time available, a large number of caseloads, and a limited number of licensed social workers and counselors, in-depth work with this population of students is difficult to achieve.