Practioner Interview. Interview a licensed counselor Psychology Essay

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I chose to interview a school counselor who I look up to and aspire to be like, in the years to come. She has been a counselor for 15 years, dealing with mostly high school students. I have asked her to describe what the profession is like in one word, and she said it is exciting.
Being a high school counselor, she handles several cases, maybe personal or academic-related, sometimes both. It also differs in the difficulty level because she described that one student’s problem might be related to not being able to go to the school’s field trip, and one student’s question may be the death of a family, but she clarified that this does not mean that you value one more than the other. The usual issues described were vast; most were related to a point and why it affects the child’s academic performance. Some are family problems, usually the divorce of their parents, or in some worse cases, domestic abuse witnessed in their own homes. Financial issues are also common, especially when the parents or the self-supporting child is already having a hard time making ends meet, which is also a concern of this profession because this obstacle hinders the child’s dream and aspiration in life, but of course, there are limits to what a high school counselor can do. Another common issue is with love life, and sometimes adults forget the detrimental effects of a heartbreak to a child just because they think it is a typical teenager thing to go through, but though it is indeed an average experience, children or teenagers don’t have to be alone while going through it, emotional support is critical especially while they are still healing from it. Last but not the least is the issue of bullying on the campus or even outside, this is a critical issue that if mishandled or brushed off may lead to more than just the decline of the child’s academic performance, this issue may lead to death.
The above mentioned issued are the usual themes of the concerns of the students. As a high school counselor, there are a lot of things one can do to help out or make a difference in a child’s life. For the family problems, emotional support can be offered, but once there is already abuse, it also part of our profession to help put a stop to what is happening and report it to the authorities following what is ethically acceptable. For the financial issues, being a school counselor grants connections and more knowledge to options which can help the students, especially the students who are exceptional in academics or even sports, apply for high school and college scholarship in prestigious schools. Other organizations may be of help to the families if they are fit in the criteria to receive grants or monetary assistance. For love life problems, here a student needs both a friend and wisdom from those with experience, meaning adults, so for these cases finding the balance of knowing how it feels like and also respecting how the child feels being in their shoes. For the bullying, the role of our profession is crucial because sometimes passivity leads to more problems, so aside from emotionally supporting the student, knowing the boundaries on when to take action is essential, also making sure that whatever work that will be considered would not cause more harm to the student in the school setting when he or she is with the other students.
The ethical issues that were mentioned that are usual in high school counseling are regarding privacy, confidentiality, cultural diversity, and professionalism. The occurrence of these issues depends on many factors like the severity of the student’s problem, his or her living condition, other aspects in life that are affected, outside support received, the child’s upbringing, etc. While I was interviewing her about ethical issues, she also talked about the challenge of drawing the line between being a professional from being a friend, confidante, and advisor to a student. It is very challenging to be in this profession according to her because it is hard not to take work personally, given that it is the personal stories of the children’s lives that are being entrusted to you in full confidence, but of course, there is a need to know your limitations and up to where is the scope of your practice when intervening with the student’s lives because it is when you do things professionally that you would be able to help out rationally and think about what is best for the welfare of the child. Concerning the professionalism and scope of practice, the ethical issue of privacy is also a concern about when to break the student’s right to privacy. There are also rules regarding this issue, and this right to privacy can be violated when there is already a threat or danger to the student or other people. Typical examples are self-harming and child abuse. Sometimes when things have escalated to the levels of the court of law, our profession is also obligated to release needed information. The usual problems with this, even though it is in the rules to take action, there is still the presence of fear of stepping forward felt by the child, especially when he or she is the direct victim of the abuse or the oppressor. Aside from this, another obstacle is when the household of the child is not supportive in the solution of the case and the violence that is happening because of some practical reasons or for the benefit of the whole family especially when the abuser is the breadwinner of the family, so the child is left to be a victim without the chance to defend himself or herself. In this scenario, our profession plays a significant role in making sure that the c...