School counsellors’ role reaffirmed

By Niall Murray

Guidance counsellors are the best people in schools to assist students with mental health issues, their representative organisation has said.

The Institute of Guidance Counsellors (IGC) has welcomed the recent publication of a wellbeing policy for schools by Education Minister Richard Bruton.

It sets out how schools can support students, but also how schools themselves will be supported through training for staff, an improved curriculum for the junior cycle wellbeing programme, and better resources for the teaching of relationship and sexuality education.

While it deals largely with broad supports for the entire student population, practices are also encouraged to assist young people who have challenges and may need individual support.

This includes the possibility of allocating a particular staff member to act as their ‘one good adult’, a role for a teacher or someone else who can guide a young person through a difficult time.

While the IGC welcomes the principle of the policy document, there is a caveat that their members are the ones qualified and best equipped in situations when students present with mental health issues or in crisis.

IGC president Beatrice Dooley said there is a strong collegial nature to how guidance counsellors work with management and teaching colleagues in this context, particularly through care team structures in place since 2014.

“During weekly care team meetings, students are most often referred to us for one-to-one dialogue when school management, year heads, and teachers flag to us students who are manifesting possible mental health challenges,” she said.

As the first point of contact for students experiencing difficulties in schools, Ms Dooley said it is reaffirming to see a focus on improved guidance counselling provision mentioned as an area where resources will be provided over the policy’s lifetime up to 2023.

Minister Bruton Launches Wellbeing Policy for Schools https://t.co/tfYCDVJvGi

— Department of Education and Youth (@Education_Ire) July 20, 2018

The Department of Education is already committed to a phased reinstatement of guidance counselling hours that were lost in second-level schools as a result of education cutbacks during the recession.

Ms Dooley said guidance counsellors have a unique role delivering personal, educational, and vocational guidance, including professional supervision of counselling work with students who have mental health challenges.

“Our colleagues are mindful that their interactions with such students do not drift into well-meaning counselling territory for which they have no training or professional supervision,” she said.

The department policy outlines how schools demonstrating best practice will have strong policies and actions to ensure a sense of belonging and safety for students, that student voices are heard, and that systems are in place to direct students experiencing challenges to external services when required.

Schools will also be expected to evaluate themselves regularly to assess how wellbeing is being promoted and to identify areas for improvement.

Training will be provided for schools to implement the self-evaluation of wellbeing promotion and to set and map out targets.

The supports will be provided through a national professional development programme from next year.