Words: 1562
Survey of Research in Human Development for Professional Counselors Abstract What is Consulting and Advocacy? If I had to define consulting without looking it up in the dictionary for a more accurate and descriptive explanation I would say it is sharing information; or even, sharing information to solve a problem or to enhance someone or something. In a effort to thoroughly understand consultation as it related to counseling it was imperative.
With Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition I came away with understanding consulting as a time to conference or deliberate to seek information, n opinion or advice. After finding Duane Davit’s “Training consultant: a call to action, I realized the seriousness of consulting as it relates to counseling because Davit’s adamant call for it to be mandated by denying access to licenser if one is not proficient in the knowledge of consulting frameworks and dynamics. Consultants need to understand normal behavior, how mental health problems develop, and how they can be eliminated.
They also need to understand how mental health problems can be assessed. Additionally, consultants need to understand primary prevention models, for unlike counseling, which focuses only on the secondary and tertiary prevention of mental health problems, one of the goals of consultation is the primary prevention of mental health problems. Consultants also need to learn various models of consultation, understand the research on the effectiveness of consultation as well as the models for evaluating consultation, and the fair and permissible practice of the consultation process (Davis, 1993). Evolve, and how they can be eliminated. A student who scores well on test and is able to communicate; however, is not displaying typical fifteen year old behavior. He alienates enamels Trot Nils peers reading. He NAS Eden gaunt naming In ten Diary during lunch avoiding his peers and reading. Utilizing the consulting skills a guidance counselor would recognize that the students behavior is not what is considered normal for his age would then have the student assessed for possible mental health problems.
Consultants need to understand how mental health problems can be assessed Consultants need to understand prevention models. The primary goal of consultation is the prevention of mental health problems. Consultation According to CAREER In the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs CAREER) 2009 Standards, consultations are a part of service and advocacy. Program accreditation requires that counseling programs provide a general framework for understanding and practicing consultation (CARE, 2009).
Knowledge of the principles of consultation is essential to counseling proficiency. Specific to my area of specialization CAREER states that school counselors, “understands systems theories, models, and processes of consultation in school system settings. ” The professional accrediting organization defines consultation as a relationship between professionals r other pertinent persons for the purpose of aiding the consulate(s). Consulting And Advocacy in Action Thirteen year old Michael has Sickle Cell Anemia. He has attended a public theme middle school, but now he is a rigorous high school program.
Michael has a 504 plan that gives him accommodations in school and protects his parent or guardian by law for missing days of school. The counselor is responsible for setting up the 504 meeting make sure Michael has a level playing field when it comes to his education. Michael has missed many days of school. He had been able to maintain satisfactory readers the first semester, but now his grades are falling and his mother is frustrated with tracking teachers to get the information and assignments he has missed.
As a school guidance counselor it is important to know all the resources and services that are available to the student and family in order to effective consultant them on what the district can offer. As guidance counselor I would tell Michaels parent’s about the district’s Hospital Homebound program. A teacher will come out to the hospital or to the student’s home to instruct them and help them stay caught up n the information and assignments presented in class. The group of professionals called to the 504 meeting would include a district nurse, Michaels teachers, a psychiatrist, and possible a social worker.
Advocating for the student would mean making sure teachers are keeping up with providing the missed information and assignments in a organized and timely manner. Additionally helping teachers understand the nature of his ailment and to show the appropriate respect for giving him the support he is allowed by law. The Serious Matter of Consulting and Becoming One Consultants need to be taught a set of consulting skills that involve the use their DSSSL unman relations Skills In ten consulting process as well as some unique consulting skills.
There are intricate concepts of consultation that need to be understood and applied for sound counseling practices and models that train counselors to work with others. The models of consultation necessitate a tremendous amount of training so that when used in the field it is effective. These more complex models of consultation require a great deal of specialized training before they can be practiced successfully (Bergen & Tamari, 1976; Challenges, 1982). The collaborative nature of consultation requires the ability to create and preserve co-equal relationships.
Parsons and Meyers (1984) have outlined many techniques designed to keep the relationship collaborative. Not using consultation is deemed unethical by many in the field especially if the consulate is unable to safely and satisfactorily be assisted by the consultant. School Counseling Utilizing Consulting and Advocacy Consulting is worthwhile in the often ignored school system. School counselors need to consult with teachers for their expertise. There are some obstacles with the inability to communicate with these entities.
The restraints of class sizes and workloads of counselors create barriers. Earlier, the ACES Consultation Interest Network (Brown, 1983) had identified an extensive list of competencies needed by consultants by surveying its members. Consultants must understand certain aspects of the teaching process if they are to consult with teachers. Knowledge alone, however, will not enable trainees to be consultants. They need a basic set of skills to be able to apply the knowledge they have acquired. The most essential competencies that trainees must acquire are communication skills.
Trainees must also acquire the ability to make Judgments about appropriate courses of actions as they consult, such as whether to terminate the consulting process because of the severity of consulates’ mental health problems Consultants need skills in assessing strengths and weaknesses of consulates and in designing interventions to assist the consulate. Design interventions to remedy the problems, and in some instances, teach or model interventions to consulates when they are unfamiliar with the strategy that has been selected.
Teachers and other care givers may be so constrained by systemic variables such as class size and extra-class duties that they are unable to carry out interventions. There are certainly times when the consulate will need to be referred for counseling and decisions will need to be made about how this can best be accomplished. Consultants also need to identify the limits of their confidentiality and clearly understand their obligations to both consulates and clients (Robinson & Gross, 1985).
An example of a collaborative consultation process might, for example, involve the ironical and other members of the school system (e. G. , teachers, bus drivers) as co- experts in identifying contributing factors and generating possible resolution for the challenge of improving school attendance. With further investigation of consultation I found in “An Exploratory Study in School Counselor Consultation Engagement” ( Mason, Moe, Pepper-Dilute, 2011): “The focus of consultation models may be different, however some common processes exist (Archer, 2009; Surplus, Fugue, & Rockier, 1993) among consultation models.
These processes are: a) entry/ lolling, a rapport Dulling apneas winner consultants est. Disc a collaborative environment, b) problem-identification, where the consultant facilitates definition and assessment of the goal or problem by the consulate; c) intervention planning, where the consultant facilitates identification of strategies to influence or resolve a problem, d) implementation of intervention and regrouping, where the strategies are tested and the consultant and the consulate reflection the process, and e) evaluation, termination, and follow-up, where the outcome of the consultation is assessed and true assessment contacts are negotiated. ” One of the ways I would recommend school counselors build a rapport with student is to go over their permanent records and review their academic profiles. Learning as much as possible about student that the counselor will be working with would be a great foundation for building a positive bond. The students will feel that the counselor cares enough about them to “learn” them by looking into their school experience.
I would recommend for identifying problems or goals of the consulate to use the surveys I suggested in the unit on incorporating technology to be effective unsolder. The counselor can do assessments based on grades and accounts from teachers, however the surveys can be given directly to the students to get first hand accounts of challenges or aspirations. Reflections on Consulting and Advocacy I have always been both a natural consultant and advocate. Sharing information excites me, especially when someone uses the information and gets positive results. Researching consulting as it relates to professional counseling and more specifically school counseling I did not come across a vast amount of information.