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

1/21/2013

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!

23 Comments

vanessa

1/21/2013 07:47:29 am

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

1/26/2013 05:15:47 am

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

1/21/2013 08:28:48 am

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

1/26/2013 05:22:31 am

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

1/26/2013 05:43:26 am

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

1/27/2013 06:58:35 am

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

1/27/2013 06:57:55 am

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

1/27/2013 07:02:02 am

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

2/7/2013 10:18:28 pm

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

2/10/2013 07:02:52 am

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)"

Holistic Rehab link

4/11/2013 02:27:14 pm

Is there any problem with the video which you have shared above? Because it is asking for plugins.

Marissa Rex link

4/14/2013 01:25:50 pm

Should be okay. I just checked it. You may just need to use a different browser.

Inbound Marketing Company link

6/18/2013 05:10:36 pm

You are right Marissa, There is nothing wrong with the video. It's working fine.

Constance

1/4/2014 04:22:35 am

Thanks for your podcast. It was very informative and a great recap of what to expect in this career. I am thinking about grad school for LPC-school counseling and this information helped! I think I'm going to go for it! Take care.

Marissa Rex link

1/9/2014 05:06:00 am

You're welcome! I'm glad you found it helpful! :) Best of luck to you.

Debbie

6/23/2014 06:35:36 am

Thank you so much for this podcast! I LOVE my job, but sometimes get very overwhelmed and "lonely". This helped remind me of why I chose this profession and why it is perfect for me!

Marissa Rex link

7/3/2014 06:42:53 am

You're very welcome! Glad to help! :)

I definitely know the feeling - it's a challenging job, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Amy Buckley

1/3/2015 04:48:15 am

Thank you for sharing your wisdom, resources and this wonderful wealth of information!

Marissa Rex link

2/19/2015 03:22:23 am

Thank you so much for the positive feedback! I'm glad you're enjoying the resources! :)

Lesley

1/6/2015 09:09:19 pm

Thank you so much for your website and facebook page! I have just discovered all your wonderful resources! I am currently a graduate student going into the school counseling profession and would love to work with the elementary school age. I will be starting my internship next semester and wondering if you had any advice for grad students as they work through their internships? What would be the most beneficial aspects or things I should look out for or take advantage of?

Any advice would be so appreciated!
Thank you!

Marissa Rex link

2/19/2015 03:28:50 am

Thank you! :)

I would definitely suggest getting as much experience as possible. Learn from the school counselors in your district, shadow in other settings/age groups, and challenge yourself. This is your chance to experiment and gain valuable experiences to help you during an interview and when you get a full-time position. Conduct a classroom lesson (at least 1) in each grade level, try to get a small group in a variety of grade levels and topics, challenge yourself with different types of individual counseling scenarios - have some students who need more academic help, others with behavior. Counsel a variety of age groups with a variety of personalities. Basically, jump in and do whatever you can to gain experience, even if that means trying something that the school counselor you're working under hasn't done before.

I hope this helps! :)

Samantha

5/5/2017 11:28:06 am

I'm so glad that I stumbled across your page today! I graduated from my Master's program about 5 years ago and have been in academic advising at a University. I recently renewed my school counseling certification and have been applying for school counseling positions. It is going to be tough after being out of the school systems for so long and during my internship I struggled with elementary students. Middle and High School were better. But I have an interview for an elementary position. Any advice for getting back into the swing of things, especially at the elementary level?

Marissa Rex link

6/29/2017 06:08:03 pm

Sorry! I know this is probably WAY past your interview, but I figured I'd still comment because it may still be helpful to you or someone else.

Elementary is definitely VERY different than middle school and high school. The biggest difference I see is that we tend to have more opportunities to get into the classrooms and, in my opinion, have more flexible scheduling of groups and individual counseling sessions. Other schools may not work like mine, so I may be way off base with that, but that's what I noticed in my own building.

I feel like I also was able to have more of a counseling focus at the lower level because I didn't have to worry about scheduling or graduation requirements or anything like that. Sure, I still had a lot of other types of administrative tasks, like managing 504 Plans and scheduling meetings, but I don't think it's anything compared to what middle and high school counselors have to do.

Overall, I think elementary is the best, but that's because it suits my personality the best. I like bringing out my puppets or playing a silly game during a classroom lesson. I enjoy using play as part of my sessions. I also feel comfortable jumping from one extreme to another when it comes to age groups - my school is K-6, so I may be helping a 5-year-old one minute, then changing gears and helping a 6th grader the next.

I hope this helps! Good luck! :)

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.

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

Leave a Reply.

Author

Archives

Categories