Becomming an Elementary Counselor

School counselors assist students on many different levels. They promote career, social, and personal development. They even help children build up their confidence, evaluate their abilities, and deal with personal issues at home. This position would make an great impact on my life and the lives of others. Having the ability to listen is very important in this profession. I am a great listener, and I can be very persuasive when I want to be.

This position will come with many challenges. Physical and emotional abuse is an issue that will have to be handled in this position. Proper documentation and factual information would have to be gathered and confronted to the parent if abuse was present. Counseling the student afterward and having that assurance that the right decision was made would also be a challenge, along with working with a child with a handicapped disability.

A school counselor requires all-out of patience, and good communication skills. My personal communication style will contribute greatly to this profession. I am very good at detecting “problem sensitivity”. This ability allows me to detect when something is wrong, or is likely to go wrong. This ability does not involve solving the problem, only being able to recognize when there is a problem. I am wonderful at analyzing body language and identifying tone when there is an issue. What the individual says and means can be two different things. This is especially true when it comes to dealing with children. Children don’t always speak how they feel or mean.

Face to face oral expression is also extremely important in this profession. The counselor must be able to communicate with the child in a language that he or she understands, and be able to relay this with the parent, so that the parent understand the situation at well.

Written expression is also very important along with communication. Information and ideas must be placed in writing so that others understand it clearly. Communicating and providing the right written expression to a child could be challenging. Children don’t always view things and see things on the same level as adults. On that note: cultural backgrounds must always be taken into consideration. The school counselor doesn’t want to offend the child or family in any way.

The only tools required in this profession are to have access to a working computer/ phone. No additional technology is needed. No lie detector tests or electrical chairs are required. This position does not require the children and or parents to be tortured, beaten, or shackled to a chair. A school counselor is there to promote career, social, and personal development. They are there to help children build up their confidence, evaluate their abilities, and deal with personal issues at home.