I picked this article because discussed the importance of the role that a school counselor plays, especially in one's mental health.  As students go through their years, the teachers and other staff are the ones who see the kids the most.  Children are at school majority of their day, 5 days a week, from the time of preschool to 12th grade.  Teachers and staff see more about a child's personality, help to guide them towards their future, and are in continuous contact with the individual.  School counselors are one's who can help step in to update the parents but can also help to guide the students as needed.  They are also there to help students with their education/career goals but to also help them mentally and socially.  

In "Impact and Need of Psychological Counseling in a School Setting", the article talks about how there are two components to a school counselor.  One component is the education side and the other component is the social and mental side.  As a school counselor, it is their job to help the student to be successful academically but also psychologically.  "Students need counseling when changes are made in their behavior through intense emotions, students are assisted to change their behavior through learning, the students want to know more and more about themself, their characteristics, abilities, work and behavior, etc" (Harbola, 2021)  It is the job of the school counselor to help identify the students strength and weaknesses and help to create a plan to help the student to be successful.  "Counselors deal with students' problems like emotion, depression and other psychological problems. Good counselor may help in prevention of psychological problems, supporting students to make decisions in their own life" (Harbola, 2021).  

I only seen my school counselor when it came to scheduling classes or gathering information for the colleges I was considering after high school.  My elementary school counselor helped me process the death of my grandparents.  Observing other students within my grade, I have seen how school counselors can have an affect on the social side and mental side of working with students.  "Steen and Rudd (2009) reported that the school counsellor's responsibility extends beyond school pupils to parents of students who may require counseling services to deal with challenges arising from their function as socialization agents" (Harbola, 2021).  School counselors are also there to help with students learning from decisions they have made and the consequences of the decisions or help them through that decision making process as needed.  

 

Reference: 

Harbola, R. (2021). Impact and need of psychological counseling in a school setting. 

IAHRW International Journal of Social Sciences Review, 

9(2), 84–87.

 

My stronger areas where related to advocacy and mental health.  I have more understanding when it comes to mental health as mental health is something that I experience on a personal level in many aspects.   For work my job is to advocate for those who are mentally disabled and help to them recover from crisis or understand their diagnosis.