School-Based Family Counseling is a new approach to helping
children succeed at school and overcome personal and interpersonal problems.
School-Based Family Counseling (SBFC) is an integrated approach which
combines school counseling with family counseling in a broad systems approach.
In its classic form, SBFC is conducted on site at the school and the School-Based
Family Counselor is identified as a member of the school staff. This is
in contrast to the traditional school counseling model, in which the counselor
is not trained in family counseling, and the traditional family therapy
model, in which the counselor is not trained to work in school systems.
The School-Based Family Counselor is trained to work with children in
the context of family, school, peer and community systems and using a
family systems theoretical orientation. The specific skills required of
the School-Based Family Counselor are shown in the table to the right.
The need for School-Based Family Counseling comes from the inadequacy
of traditional school counseling and family counseling (agency based)
models in dealing with children who are failing at school because of family
problems. A survey of the student clients of School-Based Family Counselors
in San Francisco (Gerrard, 1990) showed that over 85% of the children
referred by teachers, parents, or self-referred had significant problems
at home. The family problems included: marital discord, parents divorcing,
custody problems with children, substance abuse, older siblings involved
in gangs, sexual and physical abuse, parental neglect, single parents
overwhelmed by economic and emotional problems, spouse abuse, and chaotic
families with little parental control. School counselors, who typically
have no training (or only one course) in family counseling, are not equipped
to intervene effectively in these family problems. Family counseling is
one of the more difficult forms of counseling and learning to do it well
requires extensive training and supervision.
When school personnel determine that there is a family problem affecting
a student, they often refer the family to a community mental health agency
for family counseling. Most school principals are familiar with the phenomenon
of families that are referred for family counseling, but do not go. Many
of these "resistant" families are involved in a power struggle with school
personnel and the families resent being sent for therapy because of the
implicit message that the family (i.e. the parent) is sick or irresponsible.
While seeing a therapist may be a sign of social status or trendiness
with some people, with many, especially with minority families, therapy
holds a stigma and "seeing a therapist" is viewed within these families'
communities as a sign one is "crazy." Family therapists, who are themselves
very familiar with the concept of triangulation (in which two family members
form a coalition against a third family member who is often the family
scapegoat or "identified patient"), are often perceived by parents as
involved in a triangulation in which the school and the family therapist
are in a coalition and "ganging up" on the parents.
School-Based Family Counseling minimizes this triangulation because the
School-Based Family Counselor is not seen as a "third party" but, rather,
is viewed as part of the school system. Because the School-Based Family
Counselor is the school counselor, she/he is viewed as an advocate for
the school and the child. The focus of the counseling is on working with
parents and families to help their children succeed in school. Going to
a school to consult with the school counselor on how to help one's child
succeed in school is something that many parents are willing to accept
(especially if the counselor emphasizes that she/he needs the parents'
help). This normalizes the counseling and reframes it in a way that destigmatizes
coming for counseling. As the School-Based Family Counselor works with
the parents and family to help the child, trust is built which permits
the counselor to eventually work on other family issues affecting the
child. School-Based Family Counseling is a multiculturally sensitive approach
because it engages parents and families as partners with the School-Based
Family Counselor in working to promote the success of the child at school.
In summary, School-Based Family Counseling has two key components: first,
there is an integration of school counseling and family counseling models
within a broad based systems meta-model that is used to conceptualize
the child's problems in the context of all his/her interpersonal networks:
family, peer group, classroom, school (teacher, principal, other students),
and community. When a child is referred to the School-Based Family Counselor,
the child's problem may involve one or all of these interpersonal networks.
However, irrespective of the level of interpersonal network affected,
the School-Based Family Counselor will relate positively with the child's
family in order to reinforce positive change with the child. |
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| Counseling | Remedial
- Child Counseling
- Family Counseling
- Group Counseling
- Marital Counseling
- Parent Counsling and Consultation
- Teacher/Prinicpal Consultation
- Client Assessment
- Children's Support Groups
- Parent Support Groups
- Mediation between family and school
Counseling | Preventative
- Academic and Career Counseling
- Classroom Guidance groups and Classroom Meetings
- Teacher Classroom Discipline Workshops
- Parent Effectiveness Workshops
- Family Wellness Workshops
- Community Interaction
**Emerging SFBC role
Administrative
- Maintaining Client Files/Case Notes
- Participating as a School Team member
- Act as a liason between Child and Family; School and Community;
Agencies (Case Manager Function)
- Child Abuse Reporting
- Referring Clients for Specialized Treatments
- Participating in Program Evaluation and Research on the Effectiveness
of SBFC
Note: Administrative Role may contain counseling skills/functions
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