Q3

I am a recent college graduate who is interested in a career in Guidance Counseling but I'm not sure what my next steps should be. I have a BA in Psychology and am headed toward grad school but I'm not sure what to major in and I'm not sure that this is the next logical step. I would really appreciate your guidance!

If you are interested in a counseling career, you need to get the master's. Your best bet is to chose a school that is CACREP accredited, if possible. That will be about a 48 hour program including an internship. At the end you will be able to qualify for most national and state licenses and certifications.

If by guidance counseling, you mean school guidance counseling, most states require a teaching certificate. Some also require teaching experience. There is a movement afoot nationally to get all the states to require the teaching certificate, but the counter movement cites the critical shortages of school guidance counselors nationally. What I am seeing, unfortunately, is a move toward temporary certification as counselors of teachers who are working on a masters' degree. That will perpetuate the status of school counseling as a spot where coaches go when they get tired of teaching kids. However, if you don't have a certificate, I'd look at the states that don't ask for it rather than putting in up to 2 more undergrad years to get the T.C.

There are many different areas where counselors work. Check out the Occupational Outlook Handbook - it's online. Also get guidance from grad school catalogs, which lay out the course requirements. They give you a good idea about the commonalties and the differences. I work in a state rehabilitation agency. That's a very nice setting. Lot's of successes for clients. Lots of warm fuzzies.

Good luck with your choices.

I am a grad student and I am interested in switching from Rehabilitation Counseling to School Guidance and Counseling. Could you tell me a little bit about your experiences with the school system and the people you have worked with. I am currently working as a Vocational Counselor with substance abusing young mothers in an outpatient drug program. Although I have learn a great deal, I am struggling with the decision to continue working with this population. Any information will be helpful.

This is really ironic. I am working in a state vocational rehabilitation agency, although I am school counselor certified.

So here's the advice: The emphasis in voc rehab is leaning toward youth. IDEA, the special ed law, and Sec 504, mandate transition services to in school youth. As a rehab counselor, you can impact this group. If you can add classes to your program, perhaps you can add from the school counseling curriculum - or special ed. Rehab counselors work with a wide range of populations. Your experience with the young mothers will teach you a lot of transferable skills. After you are graduated, especially if you are CRC, you will have wider opportunities and will make more money in the first few years.

School counseling, on the other hand, usually gives you summers off, and the pay tops out a bit higher. Since many school counselors traditionally have not had to be master's level "real" counselors, duties range widely between districts. Some school counselors are very heavily involved in the school disciplinary process; others spend a lot of time scheduling classes - as opposed to helping students select classes. Counselors are sometimes expected to be on-site substitute teachers; many states require school counselors to be certified teachers. When districts expect all these non-counseling functions to be performed by counselors, the real meat of youth counseling falls to school social workers or is referred out. Go figure. Another caveat: Some teachers regard counseling as in-school retirement; they get their masters in counseling - or otherwise get certified - and use their coaching/old boy network to move out of the classroom into the office.

Other districts are great -- teachers teach, administrators plan and discipline, and counselors guide and counsel. I took social work cognates to my program because I thought they would be good for working with kids: alcoholism, family intervention, and domestic violence. Now that sounds like your job!

. . . .I really enjoyed the teens and am confused as to whether I want to enter the school system. I agree that the skills I am learning in voc rehab counseling are transferable, but I am afraid that the school system would not view my CRC as a valuable commodity giving certified school guidance counselors preference for available positions. I am also considering the perks. My fear is that the school system will place me in a district that will utilize me as a teacher and not a counselor.

You are correct about the CRC and school districts. That will probably not be seen as valuable. However, about the district using you as a teacher, there is currently a shortage of certified guidance counselors. If you are hired as a counselor, it is unlikely you will be utilized as a teacher. If there is a layoff, you could be bumped by a more senior teacher who is also counselor certified, but then you probably wouldn't be teaching -- you'd be looking for a new job. If you are hired as a teacher, it could be a while until you get into a counseling opening depending on the size of the district, the number of teachers who are also counselor certified, and the union contract provisions.

Currently there is a lot of at-risk money out there. Districts are hiring personnel who are counseling /social work educated, but not necessarily teacher certified, to do drug/alcohol/violence work in the schools. Sometimes the positions are as school employees; sometimes with a third party employer of record. What I am getting at is that you may want to seek out such a position to "try out" the environment before you make the educational investment.

Good luck.