Are We Going in the Right Direction? Concerns about School Counseling

Abstract

School counseling as a specialty area within the profession of counseling is, in the eyes of many, experiencing a crisis of identity. The crisis, however, truly lies with school counselors struggling to fit the mold impressed upon them by external forces which often contradicts their educational preparation as counselors. We make two main points. First, academic achievement is not the most important domain for the school counselor to place their focus. Rather, personal/social and career development are the areas that school counselors should seek to impact. In addition, school counselors are principally counselors and not educators.