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 boundari...