School Counselor Advocacy at Every Level

Advocacy in school counseling is essential. A school counselor can help students and families feel supported while helping to empower them through advocacy efforts. It is important that school counselors advocate and refer students to outside services to support an individual’s growth and wellbeing (Arnold, 2011). School counseling services differ from what a community-based counselor can deliver relating to mental health support, thus more intensive counseling services are referred out to other mental health agencies for support (ASCA, 2019). Systemic advocacy approaches are important within the counseling field to support individuals from varying multicultural backgrounds and economic levels. Data shows how schools continue to struggle to support underserved students (Lowery et al., 2019). Performance relating to achievement gaps, discipline data, and overall perceptions of school climate shows how schools are not providing underserved populations with the equity they deserve. Social emotional development and college and career readiness are two areas identified within the 2019 data collected by Lowery et al. School counselors have a duty to recognize these discrepancies and work collaboratively with other professionals to serve underrepresented students with developmentally appropriate interventions.

Collaboration is essential for effective advocacy. School counselors can support students and their community by teaching them to embrace assertive qualities and become more independent while supporting interdependence between systems or supports (Astramovich & Harris, 2007). An example of a collaborative effort would be when school counselors collaborate as part of interdisciplinary teams (Ziomek-Daigle, 2016). Collaboratively, the interdisciplinary team addresses specific evidence-based interventions and resources that they believe will work best for the student’s developmental level. School counselors collaborate with other professionals within the school and community settings and form a main part of this support team in the school setting. School counselors work to remove systemic barriers that hinder student access to appropriate supports, and advocate for students within the school setting who are not yet able to advocate for themselves. 

Supporting all individuals and populations is imperative for a practicing school counselor. Many counseling approaches and theories explain the need for counselors to address issues related to justice, oppression and privilege (Brady-Amoon, 2011). Many populations do not have access to resources, therefore seek support from a school counselor as their first resource. School counselors should be aware of power imbalances, privilege, class, cultural views and intersecting identities relating to social justice and differences within the populations they serve (Crumb et al., 2019). School counselors may uphold a humanistic approach in their practice at the school setting by using their knowledge to advocate for systemic changes (Brady-Amoon, 2011). Such an approach could bring awareness to the student’s full potential in their academic work and personal or social skills, and a humanistic approach to advocacy can support the growth of the school overall (Brady-Amoon, 2011). Through a humanistic approach counselors can uphold social justice advocacy. “Social justice cannot take place without advocacy” (Lowery et al., 2019, p. 4). Social justice addresses inequities in education, striving to alleviate them.

Jessie Koltz, Ph.D., NCC, NCSC, LSC, ACMHC, is an assistant professor and program director of the School Counselor Education Program at Utah State University. Contact her at Jessica.Koltz@usu.edu.