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American School Counselor Association (2019). The ASCA national model: A framework for school counseling programs (4th ed.). Alexandria, VA: American School Counselor Association

Project Implicit. (n.d.). Take a test. Retrieved from https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html

Ricks, L., Babel, K., Kitchens, S. (2020). Using creativity in school counseling: supporting adolescent students with acquired disabilities. Journal of School Counseling, 18(13).

Shedding light on the experiences of lgbtq students: Sobering data and reasons for hope. WestEd. (2021, February 24). https://www.wested.org/rd_alert_online/lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender-queer-students-experiences-data/

Washington University in St. Louis. (2019). Gender, gender identity and sexuality self-study guide. Retrieved from https://diversityinclusion.wustl.edu/education/self-study-guides/gender-sexuality/

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Blank Forest Green and White Lesson Plan

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https://diversityinclusion.wustl.edu/education/self-study-guides/gender-sexuality/

https://www.wested.org/rd_alert_online/lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender-queer-students-experiences-data/#

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Sexuality IAT - Moderately prefer straight people over gay people

Transgender IAT – Slightly prefer cisgender over transgender

·   Describe your test taking experience?

It was a bit confusing to take the tests, as it was difficult for me to concentrate fully on the tests, then when it would switch back and forth with everything. I can understand how this helps to uncover our unconscious biases.

·   Were you surprised by your results? Why or why not?

Yes, I was. I would have thought that I would have a preference towards transgenders over cisgenders, mostly because of how my conscious responses were. However, my mother did try to raise me to believe that anything other than heterosexuality and cisgender was wrong. I do have a lot of unconscious bias towards transgenders, but I am constantly doing my best to fix it because I have met many transgenders who are incredible people. To me, they are just regular people. I was also greatly surprised at my results for preferring straight people over gay people. I consider myself to be pan-sexual, and I have always preferred women to men, although I have been with more men than women. As I get older and I become more open and more comfortable with my sexuality, I have also seen that many gays are more welcoming and understanding than most straight people that I know. So yes, I was very surprised that my results said, “moderately prefer.”

·   Was there anything significant about your experience?

I would not say that there was much significance, but I was surprised that my results were what they were. I guess I would not have realized that my unconscious biases were so strong to create these results on the test.

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School Counselor Competency Assessment Results

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School Counselor Competency Assessment Results

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After going through the School Counselor Competency Assessment, I saw that the areas I did the best on involved "mindsets" and other areas that focused on working directly with students. For example, the section that focuses on "understanding the impact of cultural, social, and environmental influences on student success and opportunities" was one of my strong areas. I believe this is due to how passionate I am about working directly with students and people in general. However, the area that is about applying legal and ethical principles of the school counseling profession was not one of my strong areas. This area seems to include administrative type work, which is not necessarily my strong suit, nor what I wish to go into this career field for. Although I do understand the importance of it, I believe that the hands on, direct contact with students, is where I will excel.

I believe that I will need to work on understanding and learning more about the paperwork side of this profession.

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I believe that every student CAN succeed, and that each student has their own unique set of skills. Every student can go on to college, or other educational opportunities after high school, and succeed. Every student has different ways of learning and needs instructors that can work with them to help them reach their highest potential in their education.

Advocating for students includes getting them the assistance that they may need when it comes to their education or reaching out to their parents if they need extra support in their home life. Advocating for students also includes referring them to outside resources if they require more specific help, such as mental health counseling. It is extremely important that each student has someone who can advocate for them when they struggle to advocate for themselves.

A program that I would establish as a school counselor would be something focused on LGBTQ bullying and awareness. This program would involve educating students and faculty on what it means to be part of the LGBTQ community, what words or phrases may be hurtful or considered discrimination, as well as how others can help support these students in difficult situations.

We as school counselors are there to help students be successful and achieve their goals. It is our responsibility to support students academically and emotionally, as well as advocating for them to get extra help and support they may need. Middle school and high school are difficult times for students, and it is our responsibility as school counselors to help ease any difficulties these students may encounter during this time in their lives.

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Ricks, L., Babel, K., Kitchens, S. (2020). Using creativity in school counseling: supporting adolescent students with acquired disabilities. Journal of School Counseling, 18(13).

I selected this article because I feel that students who acquire new disabilities are such a small group of students that may not be normally recognized. People will normally recognize students who enter school with disabilities that they have dealt with for most, if not all, of their lives. However, students with newly acquired disabilities require guidance and patience that students with lifelong disabilities may not need as much.

Creative therapy has helped encourage these students to want to receive counseling, since this age frame for students is typically when they do not want much interaction with adults, especially those who have some type of authority over them. Creativity can help anyone express themselves much more easily and uniquely compared to trying to explain how they feel with their words. Creative therapy is also useful because it can easily be tailored to work with individual skills and specific interests. Creativity can help anyone, but especially these students, to become inspired and maybe even forget about their disability for a little while.

My personal experiences with school counselors have been nothing to the extent of creative therapy. I remember a few times that I met with the school counselor in high school to talk about some emotional issues I was dealing with. She offered me some comfort and advice, but our interactions did not go much farther than a few sessions. I would also meet with the school counselor to go over my plans for college. That was helpful to me because neither of my parents were involved in my plans for attending college after high school. I would have thoroughly enjoyed some type of creative outlet while meeting with the counselor. Or I would have at least loved to have had the counselor give me the idea to pursue a creative outlet for my teenage frustrations and difficult feelings.