Video Podcast: "A Day in the Life of a School Counselor"

01/21/2013

I've received a lot of emails from my readers, asking me to describe how I spend my time and why I love my job.

Instead of writing a long post about this topic, I decided to make a VERY LONG (nearly 30 minute) podcast, which you'll find on the left.

In this video, I explain how I organize my schedule. I also reveal the pros and cons of the school counseling profession, as I see them. If you're able to watch the whole video, you'll hear about one of my recent success stories that may help you in your own school counseling journey.

Enjoy!

Comments

vanessa

01/21/2013 6:47pm

Thank You for posting this video. It is so nice to know that there are other counselors out there with the same thoughts. Are you responsible for special education case management at your school? Do schools in Ohio have a school counselor in all elementary schools? In Chicago most elementary counselors are also case managers unless there are more than about 1100 students. I feel so overwhelmed and since I am the only counselor in my building, it is hard to ge feedback from other counselors. Your blog has given me some great ideas...thanks!

Marissa Rex link

01/26/2013 4:15pm

You're very welcome! :)

To answer your questions:
1. I am not responsible for special education case management at my school.
2. It depends on the school district. In my district, there is a full-time school counselor in every elementary school

I'm sorry you have so many responsibilities put on your shoulders. Our schools have definitely noticed a positive difference with having a full-time school counselor at every building.

Glad to help! :)

Rebecca Burkhart

01/21/2013 7:28pm

Marissa,
I like the idea of a "script" between myself and a student, especially those who I don't feel I'm making as much of a connection with. I really have a harder time with the older students in my bldg (8th graders mostly). Did you send the script/a series of question with them for the next session each time you met?

Marissa Rex link

01/26/2013 4:22pm

I definitely understand the feeling - older students sometimes take longer to connect with because they've often built a wall to protect themselves from outside influences.

I didn't send my student the script - he just knew we'd have the same basic questions. I am going to post it soon in my individual counseling section (probably within the "activities" subpage).

Kate link

01/26/2013 4:43pm

This was a wonderful video, Marissa! Thank you for sharing your heart! You have definitely gotten me even more excited about the school counseling profession :)

Marissa Rex link

01/27/2013 5:58pm

Thank you so much, Kate! It kind of came out unexpectedly, but that just goes to show how powerful and wonderful this job can be. I can't wait for you to join the field officially so we can share even more ideas with each other! :)

Traci Hart link

01/27/2013 5:57pm

Thanks so much for this video. It's always so encouraging to hear how other counselors have the same thoughts and struggles that I do. I think we've all had that "I'm the worst counselor" moment, but we also have those success stories to keep us moving. I'm so happy I found the school counselor blog community...it's so great to connect with others and feel less alone!

Marissa Rex link

01/27/2013 6:02pm

You're very welcome! I agree that we can definitely be hard on ourselves, thinking that everyone has already found the magic solution to being a perfect school counselor and we're just incompetent. I'm glad you've found the school counselor blog community as well, because it's a wonderful group to be inspired and supported by. :)

Liz

02/08/2013 9:18am

This video was awesome and just what I needed today! Just two quick questions:

1. How exactly do the counseling journals work? Do you write responses to each entry, or just review the journal entries when you see the student at his/her next session?

2. What type of questions did your script contain? I love this idea for one of my students that isn't really opening up much, so any more feedback you could give me would be wonderful!

Thanks again for such a great post! :)

Marissa Rex link

02/10/2013 6:02pm

Thank you so much, Liz!

1. I write a response back to each entry, so it's really like a pen pal thing, but all of the notes are kept in one place. I make copies of the pages as I go, though, so I can have a record of the things we've talked about.

2. You can find my script here: http://www.elementaryschoolcounseling.org/individual-counseling.html. It's in the Personal/Social section and the file is called "Self-Expression (Session Template)"