The pandemic particularly impacted the work of school counselors—school-based mentalhealth professionals who provide social/emotional support to students. We chose to focus on school counselors, nurses, psychologists, and social workers because these professionals are often specifically trained and certified to deliver mental health services to students in schools, and they are frequently identified in SMH policy and literature (see, e.g., Cowan et al., 2013; ESSA, 2015; Whitaker et al., 2019). The findings from this study provide a valuable description of school counselors’professional experiences delivering social/emotional support to students during thepandemic. As demands for counseling increased during thepandemic, school counselors saw their role as essential to supporting students,especially given limited access to many local mental health providers. Specifically, school counselors are trained to addressstudents’ mental health concerns through implementation of data-driven, comprehensiveschool counseling programs that promote social/emotional wellness via preventative anddevelopmental supports (ASCA,2019; Goodman-Scott etal., 2020). For students who are otherwise unable to access mental health services, school counselors provide support at no cost.

Student Mental Health & Counseling

Individuals who pursue careers and education in school counseling can give students the support they need. School counselors can create and implement initiatives that create safe and inclusive spaces for students seeking mental health support. Addressing students’ mental health concerns is a critical component of school counseling that affects a significant number of children. This shortage means that those who choose to become school counselors can have an even greater impact on students’ well-being. American School Counselor Association (ASCA) research indicates that school counselors can be instrumental in helping students prepare for life after high school.

Fun activities, real-life stories, wellbeing support and loads of helpful advice – we’re here for you and your child. If your child has accepted support from a counsellor then they’ve acknowledged there’s an issue they’re not able to tackle alone, which shows great strength and courage. School counsellors provide a safe space for pupils to discuss any experiences or challenges in their life. That referral may have come from their form teacher, a pastoral care teacher, or sometimes from the child themselves.

Roles

In line with that, cost-benefit analyses of mental health programs have found these programs https://www.aasa.org/resources/resource/building-a-districtwide-safety-net result not only in economic productivity gains but also improved health 9,10. These consequences may range from poor educational attainment, compromised physical health, substance abuse, juvenile delinquency, and unemployment to even premature mortality (e.g., suicide 6,7,8). (eds) Clinical Considerations in School-based Health.

• Want to prepare tomorrow’s students for a balanced, happy, and well-adjusted educational experience?
• In this special school counseling issue of The Professional Counselor, some articles focus on systemic, top-down advocacy efforts as the point of intervention for addressing child and adolescent mental health.
• Guided by a set of Multicultural and SocialJustice Counseling Competencies, school counselors address educational disparitiesthrough their roles as leaders, advocates, and culturally responsive clinicians(Singh et al.,2020).
• Studies used various methods to study time allocation (e.g., how time was measured and the inclusion, grouping, and operationalization of various activities), and time outcomes were categorized according to the domain that best represented the activities (see Table S1 for the full delineation of study outcomes into time categories).
• Van Velsor and Thakore-Dunlap (2014) describe working with South Asian immigrant adolescents in a group counseling format.

Mental health services for pupils in our partner schools

Emotional health is everyone’s business and schools will want to consider the following areas of school practice and how they can work together to best support pupils. School based counselling is likely to be most effective where it is delivered as part of a whole school commitment to improving mental health and wellbeing. Counselling can be used as an effective holistic intervention among children and young people whose emotional wellbeing is compromised. Counselling improves mental health and emotional wellbeing which can maximise a child or young person’s potential and facilitate helpful relationships within the school environment. A school counselling service works within an education setting, and a successful service requires a mutual understanding of expectations between counsellors and education staff.