April 28, 2025 • 25 mins
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**********************************
Ever meet another school counselor and realize halfway through the conversation…
you’re not doing the same job at all?
It’s not your imagination!
Right now, the title "school counselor" covers very different realities- and depending on which kind you’re seen as, your future in this profession could look very different, too.
In this episode, we’re uncovering what’s really happening inside our profession:
- The three types of school counselors showing up on campuses today- and the hidden risks each one faces
- The national shifts happening right now (from chaplains replacing counselors to SEL being banned in some states)
- Why your professional identity matters more than ever, and what happens if you don't define it for yourself
- How to start building skills that make you harder to replace, even when the system keeps changing
Because good intentions won’t protect your job.
Being the go-to for assemblies, spirit weeks, or “positive messaging” campaigns won’t protect your role either.
Only real skill, clarity, and strategic leadership will.
If you're ready to stop hoping the system fixes itself- and start protecting the work that actually matters- this episode is for you.
Sources Consulted:
- Selected legislative bills related to school counseling, accessed via LegiScan (including AL HB 583, TX SB 559 and HB 1122, PA HB 249, IN SB 523, MS HB 286, HB 566, HB 371, HB 1533, WV HB 3507, and NV AB 298), April 2025
- American School Counselor Association (ASCA) website, accessed April 2025
- Alabama School Counselor Association (ALSCA) website, accessed April 2025
**********************************
Our goal at School for School Counselors is to help school counselors stay on fire, make huge impacts for students, and catalyze change for our roles through grassroots advocacy and collaboration. Listen to get to know more about us and our mission, feel empowered and inspired, and set yourself up for success in the wonderful world of school counseling.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Have you ever met another school counselor and
realized halfway through theconversation, huh, we're not
doing the same job at all.
These days, y'all, schoolcounselor can mean a lot of
things, and the type of schoolcounselor that you are could
decide whether you survive inthis profession or whether you
(00:24):
get steamrolled by what's coming.
We are standing at a crossroadsright now in school counseling.
In some places, schools areable to hire chaplains instead
of trained school counselors.
Some states are activelyfighting right now to erase
social-emotional learningoutright, and the organization
(00:48):
that we thought was supposed toadvocate for us is so busy
promoting themselves thatthey're not talking about how
the ground is shifting rightunder our feet.
One of our members recentlyflagged something for me.
It was a concerning bit ofproposed legislation and it was
(01:08):
so outrageous I thought there isno way that this could actually
be true.
So I went digging and what Ifound was it was true.
But then when I checked boththe ASCA website and the Alabama
School Counselor Associationsite to see if they were talking
about it, not a word More onthat later in the episode, but
(01:31):
for now I want you to know I'mgoing to be breaking down the
three types of school counselorsyou see today and the strengths
of each, as well as the hiddenrisks.
I'm also gonna talk about themajor shifts happening right now
that are already reshapingschool counseling, and what you
can do to protect your role andlead with clarity when this
(01:54):
craziness starts to get louder.
If you are serious about doingschool counseling work that
matters, if you want to remain areal school counselor within a
system that's really trying toturn you into something else,
you are going to want to stickaround with me for this episode.
(02:16):
Hey, welcome back to the Schoolfor School Counselors podcast.
I'm Steph Johnson, your host, alicensed professional counselor
, full-time school counselorjust like you, and the creator
of School for School Counselors,which seeks to help bring
confidence and clarity to yourrole in school counseling so
that you can look forward togoing to work each and every day
(02:38):
.
I am so glad you're here withme for this episode and I hope
it really gives you some foodfor thought.
Now let's jump back into thethree types of school counselors
, because we're not all doingthe same work, and right now,
those differences matter morethan ever.
Before I start describing thecharacteristics of the different
(03:02):
types of school counselors, Isee I want you to listen to this
and think about where you fitin.
No pressure, no judgment.
Just notice which descriptionssound the most like you.
Let's take a quick quiz, shallwe All right?
So this quick four-questionquiz is going to help you better
(03:25):
identify what type of schoolcounselor you might actually be.
Here we go.
Question number one In a typicalweek, where do you feel most in
your element?
A in classrooms, teaching SELlessons or running school-wide
programs?
A in classrooms, teaching SELlessons or running school-wide
programs?
B running behind the scenes,making schedules, managing 504s
(03:50):
or organizing big campus events.
C one-on-one with students incrisis, consulting with teachers
or working on interventionplans.
Now, there's no right or wronganswer here at all, but I want
you to clarify which one reallyresonates with you in classrooms
(04:13):
or running programs behind thescenes, or one-on-one with
students in crisis?
Do you have your answer?
All right, let's move on toquestion number two.
What's your favorite kind ofsuccess story?
A a student or a teachermentioning something they
(04:33):
learned from your lesson.
B a massive event or projectthat's running smoothly because
of your behind-the-scenes work.
Or.
C a breakthrough moment with astudent who trusted you enough
to ask for help.
All right, do you have youranswers for questions one and
(04:56):
two.
We've got two more questions togo.
Question number three whenyou're feeling frustrated at
work.
Question number three whenyou're feeling frustrated at
work, is it usually because, ayou're being asked to handle
crises when you'd rather focuson prevention and proactive
(05:17):
support?
B you're so swamped withlogistics and paperwork that you
don't have time for realconversations with students.
Or?
C you're being asked to staypositive when you know a student
needs serious help that's beingoverlooked or cannot be
provided.
All right, these questions aregetting a little bit heavier as
we go on.
(05:38):
Right, we've got one more to go.
Question four if your principaldescribed your biggest strength
in one sentence, they'dprobably say A they build a
positive school climate.
B they keep everythingorganized and on track.
(05:58):
Or C they really know how tomake a difference when no one
else seems to know what to do.
All right, keep those answersin your mind and think about
which letter you picked mostoften.
That's going to give you a clueabout where you naturally fit
(06:20):
and where your greateststrengths and risks might be
showing up in your schoolcounseling work right now.
Let's walk through each typeand see what it's like in the
real world All right.
So if you picked mostly A's,you are the SEL teacher.
You believe that emotionalliteracy is the foundation of
(06:42):
all learning and you feel mosteffective when you're providing
proactive, preventative, tierone classroom supports or tier
two small groups.
You're probably committed togrowth mindset, trauma-informed
schools or restorative practices.
You love lesson plans.
(07:02):
You love curriculumsulums,classroom collaborations and
tying things in with positivebehavior interventions and
supports.
You love leading school-wideinitiatives like red ribbon week
and kindness week and you loveseeing yourself as shaping the
school culture because you havehigh visibility.
(07:24):
You you have strong teacherrelationships and you love the
opportunity to preemptivelyreach students who might fly
under the radar otherwise.
On the other hand, sometimesyou might feel sidelined when
really serious crises hit andyou might be feeling frustrated
(07:45):
when you're told to just coverclasses when teachers are absent
or when there needs to be ashuffling of the schedule.
And you might even feelfrustrated when your
administrator begins to see yourrole as just teaching lessons.
If you are an SEL teacher type,you risk over-identifying with
(08:08):
the teaching staff instead ofthe counseling profession.
You're not elevating yourselfto the level of expert.
You may have difficultyshifting into some deeper
clinical work when it's neededand you become very vulnerable
when SEL becomes politicized,like it is now.
As an SEL teacher, you lovebeing in classrooms and small
(08:33):
groups with students and itshows.
But you have to show that youhave more to offer than just a
good SEL lesson.
Offer than just a good SELlesson All right, mostly B's is
the case manager or guidancecounselor role.
(08:54):
You believe that keeping theschool running smoothly helps
students succeed.
You see logistics andoperations as essential student
supports and you measure successby efficiency, accuracy and
service delivery.
You are the doer on the campus.
(09:14):
You love organizing masterschedules, coordinating testing,
running college fairs.
You know the graduationrequirements of your campus like
the back of your hand and youlove being the go-to problem
solver for your administration.
You have an incredibleknowledge of school policies and
(09:35):
procedures and you are oftendeeply trusted by your
leadership.
Because of your problem-solvingcapabilities You're the first
one to catch small details thatcould become big problems on
down the line.
But sometimes you end upfeeling like you never really
get to do real counseling.
(09:56):
Sometimes you feel buried underpaperwork and compliance tasks
and you feel some frustrationwhen you try to stick your neck
out and advocate just a littlebit and you're being told that
you're not a team player oryou're rocking the boat, because
in your role it's easy tomistake operational success for
(10:20):
counseling success and you riskbecoming invisible as a mental
health provider as well asfeeling some burnout from being
everybody's fixer.
If you are this case managerslash guidance counselor, you're
the one that makes the buildingrun.
But it's super important thatyou remember that you were hired
(10:43):
to move hearts and not justmove around student schedules.
All right, type three.
If you had mostly C's, youmight be this school counselor
type, the school counselorclinician.
School counselor clinicians seethemselves first and foremost as
(11:05):
mental health professionals.
They believe in studentautonomy, ethical boundaries and
trauma-informed interventions,and these types of school
counselors value the depth ofthe work over the breadth of
visibility.
We would much rather getintentional and deep with
(11:25):
students to solve concerns thanjust be visible on the campus as
, for example, a tier oneintervention.
School counselor clinicianslove individual counseling
sessions.
This type of counselor alsoloves solution-focused CBT or
DBT techniques that have beenadapted for school use, and
(11:50):
counselor clinicians lovecomplex case consultations with
parents and teachers becausethey have strong clinical
instincts and a wealth ofknowledge about interventions.
These folks are masters at truetriage.
They know when to step in, theyknow what to provide and they
(12:11):
know when to refer out, and theyhave some pretty powerful
student transformation storiesthat they can tell.
But this school counselor typecan also feel isolated when
others in the building justdon't get it.
They just don't understand whatyou do all day.
(12:31):
They may get pushback for notdoing enough school spirit or
visibility activities and theyfind it difficult to balance
ethical practice withadministrative pressures.
These school counselors oftenunderestimate the value of being
visible and as a result of thatthey also run the risk of being
(12:55):
misunderstood or people seeingthem as aloof or too intense,
and they forget that politicalskill is part of professional
survival.
School counselor cliniciansknow what real counseling looks
like and they fight for it, evenwhen it's not popular, all
(13:18):
right.
So which school counselor typedid you most closely identify
with?
Did you most closely identifywith?
Because, depending on what typeof school counselor you're seen
as or you're operating as rightnow, you may be more vulnerable
or more protected than yourealize.
Because when the schoolcounseling landscape changes, it
(13:42):
doesn't matter how good you areat your job, it matters what
role you're playing.
There have been some nationalshifts in school counseling that
we've been seeing over the pastfew years Chaplains being hired
as counselors with no mentalhealth training.
(14:02):
That's already been legislatedin Texas.
Alabama currently is pushing toban social emotional learning
outright.
And ASCA yeah, I'm just goingto say it.
They're more focused on theirbranding than fighting
legislation or protecting yourrole on campus.
And these are not isolatedincidents.
(14:26):
If we zoom out and we look atwhat's happening across the
country, we start to see a muchbigger and much scarier pattern.
So let me give you a little bitcloser look at what's actually
happening and why it should haveevery single one of you paying
(14:48):
attention.
Alabama's House Bill 583 banssocial emotional learning and it
makes violations a fireableoffense.
This is what I mentionedearlier in this episode, when I
was talking about looking at theASCA website and the Alabama
School Counseling Associationwebsite.
(15:08):
There was no mention of thisbill.
And not only does this billexplicitly ban social-emotional
learning, it forbids anythinghaving to do with ASCA or with
CASEL.
Let me give you another example.
Pennsylvania House Bill 249limits counseling to academics
(15:32):
only.
So we're reverting back to theguidance counselor role under
this bill.
Texas Senate Bill 559 and HouseBill 1122 lower the school
counselor to student ratios butremoves the certified
requirement in front of thewords school counselor every
time it's mentioned.
(15:53):
Indiana Senate Bill 523 iscurrently seeking to place
chaplains in school counselingroles, and in Mississippi and
Nevada multiple bills wereproposed to try to expand school
counseling supports and theyfailed.
Imagine being a counselor hiredto lead social-emotional
(16:16):
learning initiatives on yourcampus and then you find out
overnight that your entireprogram has become illegal.
And then imagine that you turnto your national organization
for help and nobody's home, nomatter where you live.
Y'all the writing is on thewall.
The idea of school counselorsbeing real mental health leaders
(16:40):
is under attack and in someplaces it's almost gone.
And unlike ASCA and many of ourstate organizations who are
remaining silent about theseissues, we in our School for
School Counselors, mastermind,are actively paying attention
and talking about the potentialblowback of issues just like
(17:01):
these.
So what do we do about it?
Because it's so tempting justto throw up your hands and say
this is so much bigger than me.
If ASCA won't confront it, howcan I, but y'all, we don't have
to sit back and watch thishappen.
I think there are some thingsthat we can do in light of all
(17:23):
of these proposed changes andremember, not all of them may
come to fruition, but we need toget smart about how we're
leading our programs, about thetypes of school counselors we
are and the type of schoolcounselor we want to be.
In my opinion, here are thethings that we can be doing now
(17:44):
to protect our livelihoods andstudent outcomes.
Number one it is imperativethat you sharpen your clinical
skills.
Crisis intervention, triage,consultation these skills are
going to be non-negotiablesmoving forward.
(18:07):
And one thing I want to put onyour radar, especially if you're
starting to think you may needto be leaning more into this
counselor-clinician role is thatit might be worth pursuing your
clinical license, even if younever plan on leaving the
schools.
Here's why Because it's notabout opening a private practice
(18:27):
or working for some sort ofclinical practice.
It's about building clout andconfidence.
It tells your campus andyourself that you're not just
there to run SEL lessons ororganize file folders.
You are a trained mental healthprofessional.
(18:47):
You know how to recognize realissues, you know how to
intervene appropriately andyou're not guessing or winging
it.
When you have that deepertraining under your belt and I'm
speaking from experience hereit changes everything.
It changes the way you advocatefor your role, the way you walk
(19:12):
into meetings withadministration and the way that
you trust yourself when a crisishits hits Even if you never
leave your school site.
That license can make youharder to sideline, harder to
replace and a whole lot harderto dismiss.
So if you've been thinkingabout that, start leaning that
(19:39):
direction.
Look at the requirements inyour state and what it would
take to get your clinicallicense.
And if you're thinking aboutbuilding that kind of
professional confidence andsharpening your clinical edge,
but you're not sure you're readyto jump into licensure just yet
, or maybe it's going to takeyou a little bit of time to be
able to afford it, I want you toknow that's exactly what we
focus on inside our School forSchool Counselors, mastermind,
(20:02):
all right.
So first, we've talked aboutsharpening your clinical skills.
Second, protect yourprofessional identity.
You must get crystal clear.
You are not a teacher, you arenot an administrative assistant.
You are a school counselor, amental health professional and
(20:29):
everywhere you go, you need tobe advocating for your true role
.
Now, that doesn't mean being inpeople's faces and barking
constantly about what you areand are not supposed to be doing
on your campus.
That is a terrible way toadvocate and it makes me sad
that my colleagues have beentaught that through their
national organization.
There are more subtle ways todo it and again, it's something
(20:53):
we talk about in the mastermindall the time.
But at the end of the day, ifyou don't define your role,
somebody else is going to defineit for you and chances are
you're not going to like whatthey come up with.
Be working to protect yourprofessional identity.
If you identify as an SELteacher and providing those
(21:16):
types of lessons are truly whatbrings content to your heart and
you want nothing else, I meanyou're all set, you're ready to
go.
But keep in mind, you may notbe called a school counselor
much longer, and that's okay ifyou love it.
But if you don't, or you wantto elevate the role of school
counselors on your campus, youneed to be critically analyzing
(21:39):
your professional identity.
Analyzing your professionalidentity Going along with that.
Number three don't tie yourselftoo closely to SEL.
Use it smartly.
Don't build your wholeprofessional identity around
social, emotional learning.
It's a tool, but it's not youridentity and with SEL under
(22:03):
attack in so many areas, nowmore than ever, it is critical
for you to be able to separateyourself from that tool.
Number four stay politicallyaware.
Know about the bills.
The lawmakers watch the trends.
You can't advocate if you don'tknow what's out on the
(22:26):
battlefield.
Use websites like Legiscan tolook up bills in your state.
You can do a keyword, searchfor school counselor and see
everything that's been proposedor accepted in your state come
right up on your screen.
It is so easy and it continuesto blow my mind why our state
and national organizations arenot doing more of this and
(22:48):
informing people.
Stay politically aware.
Know what's on the horizon sothat you can prepare yourself.
And five build or find strongprofessional networks.
Surround yourself withcolleagues who understand ethics
(23:08):
, mental health and advocacy andwho don't just want to talk
about printable worksheets andthemes of the month.
That type of isolation keepsyou playing small, but when you
truly seek to collaborate andbuild your skills in real time
with other professionals, itmakes you sharp and pretty soon
(23:33):
your skills become undeniable.
Hey, this episode isn't aboutbeing scared, right?
It's not about sounding thealarm for school counseling.
It's over as we know it.
That is not my intention, butit is about being ready.
(23:54):
In my opinion, the schoolcounselors who will survive and
lead in the next five years arenot the ones who are going to
play it safe and hope it justall blows over.
They're going to be the onesthat are actively sharpening
their skills, speaking up andmaking themselves irreplaceable
(24:15):
on their campuses.
So now you just have to decidewhich direction do you want to
go.
Hey, if you're looking for aspace where we actually talk
through this stuff the ethics,the skills, the leadership, the
bills being proposed inlegislation, not just the themes
of the month or thedownloadable posters you need to
(24:37):
come check out the School forSchool Counselors Mastermind,
because in there we are buildingcounselors who don't just
survive the next chapter ofschool counseling, they're gonna
dominate it.
If you wanna be one of thosepeople, if you wanna walk onto
campus every day feeling like aboss and like you are competent
and prepared for what's comingyour way, you need to join us.
(24:59):
We always have a chairavailable for you.
You can find out more atschoolforschoolcounselorscom.
Slash mastermind.
Hey, this might be the mostimportant episode I've recorded
all year and I am so glad thatyou joined me for this.
Do me a favor and think throughthis critically.
Don't get offended by yourschool counseling category.
(25:22):
You can always seek to changethat if you don't feel
comfortable with it, but at theend of the day, my number one
goal is to support you andempower you and prepare you for
what's to come.
I'll be back soon with anotherepisode of the School for School
Counselors podcast.
In the meantime, I hope youhave the best week.
(25:45):
Take care.
Have you ever met another school counselor and
realized halfway through theconversation, huh, we're not
doing the same job at all.
These days, y'all, schoolcounselor can mean a lot of
things, and the type of schoolcounselor that you are could
decide whether you survive inthis profession or whether you
(00:24):
get steamrolled by what's coming.
We are standing at a crossroadsright now in school counseling.
In some places, schools areable to hire chaplains instead
of trained school counselors.
Some states are activelyfighting right now to erase
social-emotional learningoutright, and the organization
(00:48):
that we thought was supposed toadvocate for us is so busy
promoting themselves thatthey're not talking about how
the ground is shifting rightunder our feet.
One of our members recentlyflagged something for me.
It was a concerning bit ofproposed legislation and it was
(01:08):
so outrageous I thought there isno way that this could actually
be true.
So I went digging and what Ifound was it was true.
But then when I checked boththe ASCA website and the Alabama
School Counselor Associationsite to see if they were talking
about it, not a word More onthat later in the episode, but
(01:31):
for now I want you to know I'mgoing to be breaking down the
three types of school counselorsyou see today and the strengths
of each, as well as the hiddenrisks.
I'm also gonna talk about themajor shifts happening right now
that are already reshapingschool counseling, and what you
can do to protect your role andlead with clarity when this
(01:54):
craziness starts to get louder.
If you are serious about doingschool counseling work that
matters, if you want to remain areal school counselor within a
system that's really trying toturn you into something else,
you are going to want to stickaround with me for this episode.
(02:16):
Hey, welcome back to the Schoolfor School Counselors podcast.
I'm Steph Johnson, your host, alicensed professional counselor
, full-time school counselorjust like you, and the creator
of School for School Counselors,which seeks to help bring
confidence and clarity to yourrole in school counseling so
that you can look forward togoing to work each and every day
(02:38):
.
I am so glad you're here withme for this episode and I hope
it really gives you some foodfor thought.
Now let's jump back into thethree types of school counselors
, because we're not all doingthe same work, and right now,
those differences matter morethan ever.
Before I start describing thecharacteristics of the different
(03:02):
types of school counselors, Isee I want you to listen to this
and think about where you fitin.
No pressure, no judgment.
Just notice which descriptionssound the most like you.
Let's take a quick quiz, shallwe All right?
So this quick four-questionquiz is going to help you better
(03:25):
identify what type of schoolcounselor you might actually be.
Here we go.
Question number one In a typicalweek, where do you feel most in
your element?
A in classrooms, teaching SELlessons or running school-wide
programs?
A in classrooms, teaching SELlessons or running school-wide
programs?
B running behind the scenes,making schedules, managing 504s
(03:50):
or organizing big campus events.
C one-on-one with students incrisis, consulting with teachers
or working on interventionplans.
Now, there's no right or wronganswer here at all, but I want
you to clarify which one reallyresonates with you in classrooms
(04:13):
or running programs behind thescenes, or one-on-one with
students in crisis?
Do you have your answer?
All right, let's move on toquestion number two.
What's your favorite kind ofsuccess story?
A a student or a teachermentioning something they
(04:33):
learned from your lesson.
B a massive event or projectthat's running smoothly because
of your behind-the-scenes work.
Or.
C a breakthrough moment with astudent who trusted you enough
to ask for help.
All right, do you have youranswers for questions one and
(04:56):
two.
We've got two more questions togo.
Question number three whenyou're feeling frustrated at
work.
Question number three whenyou're feeling frustrated at
work, is it usually because, ayou're being asked to handle
crises when you'd rather focuson prevention and proactive
(05:17):
support?
B you're so swamped withlogistics and paperwork that you
don't have time for realconversations with students.
Or?
C you're being asked to staypositive when you know a student
needs serious help that's beingoverlooked or cannot be
provided.
All right, these questions aregetting a little bit heavier as
we go on.
(05:38):
Right, we've got one more to go.
Question four if your principaldescribed your biggest strength
in one sentence, they'dprobably say A they build a
positive school climate.
B they keep everythingorganized and on track.
(05:58):
Or C they really know how tomake a difference when no one
else seems to know what to do.
All right, keep those answersin your mind and think about
which letter you picked mostoften.
That's going to give you a clueabout where you naturally fit
(06:20):
and where your greateststrengths and risks might be
showing up in your schoolcounseling work right now.
Let's walk through each typeand see what it's like in the
real world All right.
So if you picked mostly A's,you are the SEL teacher.
You believe that emotionalliteracy is the foundation of
(06:42):
all learning and you feel mosteffective when you're providing
proactive, preventative, tierone classroom supports or tier
two small groups.
You're probably committed togrowth mindset, trauma-informed
schools or restorative practices.
You love lesson plans.
(07:02):
You love curriculumsulums,classroom collaborations and
tying things in with positivebehavior interventions and
supports.
You love leading school-wideinitiatives like red ribbon week
and kindness week and you loveseeing yourself as shaping the
school culture because you havehigh visibility.
(07:24):
You you have strong teacherrelationships and you love the
opportunity to preemptivelyreach students who might fly
under the radar otherwise.
On the other hand, sometimesyou might feel sidelined when
really serious crises hit andyou might be feeling frustrated
(07:45):
when you're told to just coverclasses when teachers are absent
or when there needs to be ashuffling of the schedule.
And you might even feelfrustrated when your
administrator begins to see yourrole as just teaching lessons.
If you are an SEL teacher type,you risk over-identifying with
(08:08):
the teaching staff instead ofthe counseling profession.
You're not elevating yourselfto the level of expert.
You may have difficultyshifting into some deeper
clinical work when it's neededand you become very vulnerable
when SEL becomes politicized,like it is now.
As an SEL teacher, you lovebeing in classrooms and small
(08:33):
groups with students and itshows.
But you have to show that youhave more to offer than just a
good SEL lesson.
Offer than just a good SELlesson All right, mostly B's is
the case manager or guidancecounselor role.
(08:54):
You believe that keeping theschool running smoothly helps
students succeed.
You see logistics andoperations as essential student
supports and you measure successby efficiency, accuracy and
service delivery.
You are the doer on the campus.
(09:14):
You love organizing masterschedules, coordinating testing,
running college fairs.
You know the graduationrequirements of your campus like
the back of your hand and youlove being the go-to problem
solver for your administration.
You have an incredibleknowledge of school policies and
(09:35):
procedures and you are oftendeeply trusted by your
leadership.
Because of your problem-solvingcapabilities You're the first
one to catch small details thatcould become big problems on
down the line.
But sometimes you end upfeeling like you never really
get to do real counseling.
(09:56):
Sometimes you feel buried underpaperwork and compliance tasks
and you feel some frustrationwhen you try to stick your neck
out and advocate just a littlebit and you're being told that
you're not a team player oryou're rocking the boat, because
in your role it's easy tomistake operational success for
(10:20):
counseling success and you riskbecoming invisible as a mental
health provider as well asfeeling some burnout from being
everybody's fixer.
If you are this case managerslash guidance counselor, you're
the one that makes the buildingrun.
But it's super important thatyou remember that you were hired
(10:43):
to move hearts and not justmove around student schedules.
All right, type three.
If you had mostly C's, youmight be this school counselor
type, the school counselorclinician.
School counselor clinicians seethemselves first and foremost as
(11:05):
mental health professionals.
They believe in studentautonomy, ethical boundaries and
trauma-informed interventions,and these types of school
counselors value the depth ofthe work over the breadth of
visibility.
We would much rather getintentional and deep with
(11:25):
students to solve concerns thanjust be visible on the campus as
, for example, a tier oneintervention.
School counselor clinicianslove individual counseling
sessions.
This type of counselor alsoloves solution-focused CBT or
DBT techniques that have beenadapted for school use, and
(11:50):
counselor clinicians lovecomplex case consultations with
parents and teachers becausethey have strong clinical
instincts and a wealth ofknowledge about interventions.
These folks are masters at truetriage.
They know when to step in, theyknow what to provide and they
(12:11):
know when to refer out, and theyhave some pretty powerful
student transformation storiesthat they can tell.
But this school counselor typecan also feel isolated when
others in the building justdon't get it.
They just don't understand whatyou do all day.
(12:31):
They may get pushback for notdoing enough school spirit or
visibility activities and theyfind it difficult to balance
ethical practice withadministrative pressures.
These school counselors oftenunderestimate the value of being
visible and as a result of thatthey also run the risk of being
(12:55):
misunderstood or people seeingthem as aloof or too intense,
and they forget that politicalskill is part of professional
survival.
School counselor cliniciansknow what real counseling looks
like and they fight for it, evenwhen it's not popular, all
(13:18):
right.
So which school counselor typedid you most closely identify
with?
Did you most closely identifywith?
Because, depending on what typeof school counselor you're seen
as or you're operating as rightnow, you may be more vulnerable
or more protected than yourealize.
Because when the schoolcounseling landscape changes, it
(13:42):
doesn't matter how good you areat your job, it matters what
role you're playing.
There have been some nationalshifts in school counseling that
we've been seeing over the pastfew years Chaplains being hired
as counselors with no mentalhealth training.
(14:02):
That's already been legislatedin Texas.
Alabama currently is pushing toban social emotional learning
outright.
And ASCA yeah, I'm just goingto say it.
They're more focused on theirbranding than fighting
legislation or protecting yourrole on campus.
And these are not isolatedincidents.
(14:26):
If we zoom out and we look atwhat's happening across the
country, we start to see a muchbigger and much scarier pattern.
So let me give you a little bitcloser look at what's actually
happening and why it should haveevery single one of you paying
(14:48):
attention.
Alabama's House Bill 583 banssocial emotional learning and it
makes violations a fireableoffense.
This is what I mentionedearlier in this episode, when I
was talking about looking at theASCA website and the Alabama
School Counseling Associationwebsite.
(15:08):
There was no mention of thisbill.
And not only does this billexplicitly ban social-emotional
learning, it forbids anythinghaving to do with ASCA or with
CASEL.
Let me give you another example.
Pennsylvania House Bill 249limits counseling to academics
(15:32):
only.
So we're reverting back to theguidance counselor role under
this bill.
Texas Senate Bill 559 and HouseBill 1122 lower the school
counselor to student ratios butremoves the certified
requirement in front of thewords school counselor every
time it's mentioned.
(15:53):
Indiana Senate Bill 523 iscurrently seeking to place
chaplains in school counselingroles, and in Mississippi and
Nevada multiple bills wereproposed to try to expand school
counseling supports and theyfailed.
Imagine being a counselor hiredto lead social-emotional
(16:16):
learning initiatives on yourcampus and then you find out
overnight that your entireprogram has become illegal.
And then imagine that you turnto your national organization
for help and nobody's home, nomatter where you live.
Y'all the writing is on thewall.
The idea of school counselorsbeing real mental health leaders
(16:40):
is under attack and in someplaces it's almost gone.
And unlike ASCA and many of ourstate organizations who are
remaining silent about theseissues, we in our School for
School Counselors, mastermind,are actively paying attention
and talking about the potentialblowback of issues just like
(17:01):
these.
So what do we do about it?
Because it's so tempting justto throw up your hands and say
this is so much bigger than me.
If ASCA won't confront it, howcan I, but y'all, we don't have
to sit back and watch thishappen.
I think there are some thingsthat we can do in light of all
(17:23):
of these proposed changes andremember, not all of them may
come to fruition, but we need toget smart about how we're
leading our programs, about thetypes of school counselors we
are and the type of schoolcounselor we want to be.
In my opinion, here are thethings that we can be doing now
(17:44):
to protect our livelihoods andstudent outcomes.
Number one it is imperativethat you sharpen your clinical
skills.
Crisis intervention, triage,consultation these skills are
going to be non-negotiablesmoving forward.
(18:07):
And one thing I want to put onyour radar, especially if you're
starting to think you may needto be leaning more into this
counselor-clinician role is thatit might be worth pursuing your
clinical license, even if younever plan on leaving the
schools.
Here's why Because it's notabout opening a private practice
(18:27):
or working for some sort ofclinical practice.
It's about building clout andconfidence.
It tells your campus andyourself that you're not just
there to run SEL lessons ororganize file folders.
You are a trained mental healthprofessional.
(18:47):
You know how to recognize realissues, you know how to
intervene appropriately andyou're not guessing or winging
it.
When you have that deepertraining under your belt and I'm
speaking from experience hereit changes everything.
It changes the way you advocatefor your role, the way you walk
(19:12):
into meetings withadministration and the way that
you trust yourself when a crisishits hits Even if you never
leave your school site.
That license can make youharder to sideline, harder to
replace and a whole lot harderto dismiss.
So if you've been thinkingabout that, start leaning that
(19:39):
direction.
Look at the requirements inyour state and what it would
take to get your clinicallicense.
And if you're thinking aboutbuilding that kind of
professional confidence andsharpening your clinical edge,
but you're not sure you're readyto jump into licensure just yet
, or maybe it's going to takeyou a little bit of time to be
able to afford it, I want you toknow that's exactly what we
focus on inside our School forSchool Counselors, mastermind,
(20:02):
all right.
So first, we've talked aboutsharpening your clinical skills.
Second, protect yourprofessional identity.
You must get crystal clear.
You are not a teacher, you arenot an administrative assistant.
You are a school counselor, amental health professional and
(20:29):
everywhere you go, you need tobe advocating for your true role
.
Now, that doesn't mean being inpeople's faces and barking
constantly about what you areand are not supposed to be doing
on your campus.
That is a terrible way toadvocate and it makes me sad
that my colleagues have beentaught that through their
national organization.
There are more subtle ways todo it and again, it's something
(20:53):
we talk about in the mastermindall the time.
But at the end of the day, ifyou don't define your role,
somebody else is going to defineit for you and chances are
you're not going to like whatthey come up with.
Be working to protect yourprofessional identity.
If you identify as an SELteacher and providing those
(21:16):
types of lessons are truly whatbrings content to your heart and
you want nothing else, I meanyou're all set, you're ready to
go.
But keep in mind, you may notbe called a school counselor
much longer, and that's okay ifyou love it.
But if you don't, or you wantto elevate the role of school
counselors on your campus, youneed to be critically analyzing
(21:39):
your professional identity.
Analyzing your professionalidentity Going along with that.
Number three don't tie yourselftoo closely to SEL.
Use it smartly.
Don't build your wholeprofessional identity around
social, emotional learning.
It's a tool, but it's not youridentity and with SEL under
(22:03):
attack in so many areas, nowmore than ever, it is critical
for you to be able to separateyourself from that tool.
Number four stay politicallyaware.
Know about the bills.
The lawmakers watch the trends.
You can't advocate if you don'tknow what's out on the
(22:26):
battlefield.
Use websites like Legiscan tolook up bills in your state.
You can do a keyword, searchfor school counselor and see
everything that's been proposedor accepted in your state come
right up on your screen.
It is so easy and it continuesto blow my mind why our state
and national organizations arenot doing more of this and
(22:48):
informing people.
Stay politically aware.
Know what's on the horizon sothat you can prepare yourself.
And five build or find strongprofessional networks.
Surround yourself withcolleagues who understand ethics
(23:08):
, mental health and advocacy andwho don't just want to talk
about printable worksheets andthemes of the month.
That type of isolation keepsyou playing small, but when you
truly seek to collaborate andbuild your skills in real time
with other professionals, itmakes you sharp and pretty soon
(23:33):
your skills become undeniable.
Hey, this episode isn't aboutbeing scared, right?
It's not about sounding thealarm for school counseling.
It's over as we know it.
That is not my intention, butit is about being ready.
(23:54):
In my opinion, the schoolcounselors who will survive and
lead in the next five years arenot the ones who are going to
play it safe and hope it justall blows over.
They're going to be the onesthat are actively sharpening
their skills, speaking up andmaking themselves irreplaceable
(24:15):
on their campuses.
So now you just have to decidewhich direction do you want to
go.
Hey, if you're looking for aspace where we actually talk
through this stuff the ethics,the skills, the leadership, the
bills being proposed inlegislation, not just the themes
of the month or thedownloadable posters you need to
(24:37):
come check out the School forSchool Counselors Mastermind,
because in there we are buildingcounselors who don't just
survive the next chapter ofschool counseling, they're gonna
dominate it.
If you wanna be one of thosepeople, if you wanna walk onto
campus every day feeling like aboss and like you are competent
and prepared for what's comingyour way, you need to join us.
(24:59):
We always have a chairavailable for you.
You can find out more atschoolforschoolcounselorscom.
Slash mastermind.
Hey, this might be the mostimportant episode I've recorded
all year and I am so glad thatyou joined me for this.
Do me a favor and think throughthis critically.
Don't get offended by yourschool counseling category.
(25:22):
You can always seek to changethat if you don't feel
comfortable with it, but at theend of the day, my number one
goal is to support you andempower you and prepare you for
what's to come.
I'll be back soon with anotherepisode of the School for School
Counselors podcast.
In the meantime, I hope youhave the best week.
(25:45):
Take care.
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