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School Counselor Roles

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Roles and Functions of School Counselors: The ASCA National Model From its origins in early vocational guidance to ASCA’s National Model, school counseling has seen dramatic shifts in how it delivers its services. Today, the role and functions of the school counselor are undergoing a paradigm shift as the profession embraces the various components of the ASCA National Model (2005a) and the call to promote equity and social justice in our schools and communities become louder (Holomb-McCoy, 2007; Ratts, DeKruyf, & Chen-Hayes, 2007). The ASCA National Model identifies four elements that are critical to the development and implementation of a comprehensive school counseling program: foundation, delivery, management, and accountability. Four overarching …show more content…

There are three components of accountability:
1. Results Reports: These include evaluation of programs run by school counselors as well as evaluation of changes in students over time throughout the school. Such results are used to make programs more effective and should be shared with stakeholders.
2. Performance Standards: This involves evaluating the school counselor through a rating system designed to assess if the counselor has effectively implemented a comprehensive program and met the goals specified in the management agreement. ASCA offers a rubric based on thirteen performance standards, which may be used for this purpose (ASCA, 2005a). Some suggest adding a multicultural competency performance standard to the thirteen offered by ASCA (Gysbers& Henderson, 2006; Virginia School Counselor Association, 2008).
3. Program Audit: This examines the degree of implementation of the various components of a comprehensive school counseling program as well as the program’s alignment with the ASCA National …show more content…

Let’s attempt, however, to generate a list of roles common to most mental health counselors.
Case Manager
All clinical mental health counselors are involved in some kind of case management. Whether working in a mental health center, residential treatment center, or religiously affiliated counseling setting, the counselor has the responsibility to understand client needs, create treatment plans, and follow through on treatment goals. And, along with these tasks comes a wide range of mundane activities related to case management, including paperwork, evaluation, follow-up, billing, time management, and so forth.
Appraiser of Client Needs
Whether it is through a formal clinical interview, the use of the DSM, the use of tests, or an informal session with a new client, the clinical mental health counselor is assessing client needs and making some kind of determination about the disposition of the case.

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