Building Strong Relationships between Mental Health Counselors & School Counselors

1. Building Strong Relationships between Mental Health Counselors & School Counselors • Elise Chupp, Jessica Johnson, & Ashley Foster • CPSY 605

2. School or Mental Health Counseling? • School Counseling • Everything school counselors do must pertain to school somehow • 15-30 minutes • Varies • ASCA National Model • Temper tantrums • Preparing for college • Anger management • Mental Health Counseling • Mental health counselors have a wider variety of what they can do • 50 minutes • Typically 1 time a week • Temper tantrums • Eating disorders • Anger management

3. School or Mental Health Counseling? • School Counseling • Career counseling • Organizational skills • Grief counseling • Relationships • Set and achieve goals • Academics • Study skills • Communication skills • Mental Health Counseling • Career counseling • Organizational skills • Grief counseling • Relationships • Set and achieve goals • Communication skills

4. School or Mental Health Counseling? • School Counseling • Express and identify feelings • Time management • Self esteem • Social skills • Stress management • Motivation • Mental Health Counseling • Express and identify feelings • Time management • Self esteem • Drug addiction • Social skills • Depression • Stress management • Motivation

5. Focus on Prevention • Difference between mental health counseling and school counseling. • Mental health counselors deal more with helping children and adolescents cope with existing problems. • School counselors seek to prevent problems before they happen. Their services should reach every student in the school (Sink & Edwards, 2008).

6. Focus on Prevention • Issues that a school counselor addresses in the school: • Bullying prevention (including multicultural issues) • Violence prevention (dating violence, conflict resolution skills) • Substance abuse prevention • Drop-out prevention

7. Counselor Advocacy • Why does this concern you? • All counselors are supposed to advocate for their clients if necessary. • If you work with children and adolescents, it would be good for you to know what the school is doing in terms of prevention. • It may be very helpful for you to know what kind of programs are in place in the school that may help your client.

8. Importance of Collaboration • A systemic approach that involves multiple helping professionals is often needed • “Collaborative effort is intended to lessen the burden and liabilities of the educational system while improving the fragmented and incomplete delivery of services to school-aged children and youth” • (Brown, Dahlbeck, Sparkman-Barnes, 2006)

9. Why should I care about school counseling and what school counselors do?

10. Need for MHP’s • Some schools are contracting with mental health agencies • School counselors need to address needs of the whole as well as individuals • Although many school counselors may feel adequately trained to deal with the personal, social, and psychological needs, they may not be, or face limitations within their role • Important to have definitions of roles • Needs of students is increasing to outside of limitations within school counseling • Research has indicated that less than one-third of youth who are candidates for mental health services receive the care theyneed(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999)

11. The Surgeon General’s Report on Mental Health • Approximately 1 in 5 children/adolescents experiences signs and symptoms of a DSM-IV disorder during the course of a year • only about 5 percent of all children experience what professionals term “extreme functional impairment.” • Primary care and the schools are major settings for the potential recognition of mental disorders in children and adolescents • Receiving services, with both a diagnosis and impaired functioning: • 70 % received services from the schools • 40 % received services in the specialty mental health sector • 16 % received services from the child welfare sector • 11 % received services from the health sector • 4 % received services from the juvenile justice sector(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999)

12. Understanding the School System • Outside mental health professionals need to thoroughly understand how schools operate and the restrictions schools have • Understand limitations within the school • When in the schools, be sure to know each person’s role • Open and thorough communication to ensure effective collaboration

13. How to Advertise • Make schools aware of the services you have to offer • Work with administrators, school counselors, and sometimes the school board or teacher’s union to explain benefits of services

14. References • Brown, C., Dahlbeck, D. T., & Sparkman-Barnes, L. (2006). Collaborative relationships: School counselors and non-school mental health professionals working together to improve the mental health needs of students. Professional School Counseling, 9, 332-335. • Gingerich, W., & Wabeke, T. (2001). A solution-focused approach to mental health intervention in school settings. Children & Schools, 23(1), 33. • Sink, C., & Edwards, C. (2008). Supportive learning communities and the transformative role of professional school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 12(2), 108-114. • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1999). Mental health: A report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: Author.