Family Counselors as School Consultants: Where are the Solutions?

Abstract

A systemic perspective applied to school-based problems examines the interaction patterns between the home and school; the ecological view examines the contextual variables that affect child development. This article presents a home-school collaborative-consultation model for family counselors that combines a systems-ecological approach with solution-focused, problem-solving strategies to facilitate home-school problem-solving meetings. School personnel often perceive the child as the source of the problem, which limits the scope of their interventions and ignores the potentially positive effect of involving families in the problem-solving process. A need exists for mediators who think systemically and can facilitate productive relationships between families and schools. A case study illustrating the application of this model is presented and implications are discussed.