School Counseling in a Virtual World
By Marybeth Ferree and Kathy L’Heureux | October 2020
School counselors are trained to advocate on behalf of the child and for the role of the counselor. As a result, we find that we field questions from many different establishments. We also find ourselves carrying the burden of student and family issues during this pandemic. In what we might call a routine school year, ethical dilemmas, dynamic situations and other issues arise and we have to find ways to deal with each one accordingly. Has your role in 2020 felt different through this pandemic?
As we look at ways to provide a school counseling program for all students in a virtual or hybrid setting, we must still continue to address academic, career and social/emotional development. Delivering these domains can be challenging, especially in a virtual setting. Relying on data is important as we look to deliver services also in a brick and mortar building. This data can be attained by looking at your attendance, health office visits, office disciplinary reports and anecdotal data to assess what is best for that student moving forward.
Not only is there a learning curve for teaching remotely, but many questions for school counselors have surfaced: How am I going to meet with my students? Can I do groups? Is there any privacy if the child is at home? How do I know the parent is not listening? Safety became a real issue for many of us and a true ethical dilemma. It is difficult to fully comprehend the well-being of a child based on the view through a video camera. As a professional who is bound to report – and is also there to prevent – we are certainly in an ethical quandary as we try to fulfill our responsibility to the student.
As school counselors, we must maintain a private, safe environment for our students to come to. Throughout the past few months students may have experienced higher exposure to trauma, therefore a “safe, supportive and equitable learning environment requires us to provide structures for physical and psychological safety” (See “School Counseling During a Pandemic” in ASCA School Counselor, September/October 2020). Finding adequate space can be challenging, but it is important to advocate for your safeguards and follow the correct protocols as we continue to protect student safety and confidentiality. There are many challenges as we navigate virtual counseling and we must adhere to the ethical guidelines as we would in person. As the article states, “Best practice is to always inform parents or guardians for more than one or two more sessions. Every effort is encouraged to inform parents highlighting the limits of confidentiality in a virtual format.” Although guaranteeing confidentiality is impossible, remember anything that is said in that session has potential for other ears to hear.
Further information from the article:
“The ASCA Ethical Standards state that school counselors advocate for the safeguards and protocols to protect student confidentiality (A.2.m) and school counselors advocate for student safety at school (A.10.b)
School counselors can use the above points and the ASCA Ethical Standards in their advocacy efforts. The ASCA position statements The School Counselor and Safe Schools and Crisis Response, The School Counselor and Confidentiality and The School Counselor and Student Mental Health may provide additional advocacy support. As a school counselor, you need to understand how to negotiate your school’s political landscape. Advocacy efforts that come across as adversarial may do more harm than good. Diplomacy is an important skill to employ when advocating.”
Another resource you may find helpful is “Expanding support beyond the virtual classroom: Lessons and recommendations from school counselors during the COVID-19 crisis,” from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
At times like these, it is vitally important that we are communicating with our leadership, administration, supervisors and peers. Our responsibility to the students does not wane due to the pandemic. In fact, due to the many limitations, it may have expanded. We need to continue to build upon our relationships with our peers so we can create the most complete picture of a student’s life. This allows us to accurately depict what is happening and help students be safely successful in all aspects of their academic careers. While the ethical questions might feel trickier, the steps remain the same.
Finally, as school counselors we must advocate and protect our time with students and get creative in our approaches to maintain and support our comprehensive counseling programs. Throughout the pandemic, school counselors may be pulled to provide extra supervision, take on additional roles and responsibilities, and may even be covering for classrooms with no substitute teachers. Advocate for the time lost with students and problem-solve ways to make up those minutes with them. If we can work together with the administration, we can implement creative solutions.
If you have any questions regarding your ethical rights, please contact the NSCA Professional Standards and Ethics Committee as we continue our work to ensure student success.
Marybeth Ferree and Kathy L’Heureux are co-chairs of the NSCA Professional Standards and Ethics Committee.
As we look at ways to provide a school counseling program for all students in a virtual or hybrid setting, we must still continue to address academic, career and social/emotional development. Delivering these domains can be challenging, especially in a virtual setting. Relying on data is important as we look to deliver services also in a brick and mortar building. This data can be attained by looking at your attendance, health office visits, office disciplinary reports and anecdotal data to assess what is best for that student moving forward.
As school counselors, we must maintain a private, safe environment for our students to come to. Throughout the past few months students may have experienced higher exposure to trauma, therefore a “safe, supportive and equitable learning environment requires us to provide structures for physical and psychological safety” (See “School Counseling During a Pandemic” in ASCA School Counselor, September/October 2020). Finding adequate space can be challenging, but it is important to advocate for your safeguards and follow the correct protocols as we continue to protect student safety and confidentiality. There are many challenges as we navigate virtual counseling and we must adhere to the ethical guidelines as we would in person. As the article states, “Best practice is to always inform parents or guardians for more than one or two more sessions. Every effort is encouraged to inform parents highlighting the limits of confidentiality in a virtual format.” Although guaranteeing confidentiality is impossible, remember anything that is said in that session has potential for other ears to hear.Further information from the article:
“The ASCA Ethical Standards state that school counselors advocate for the safeguards and protocols to protect student confidentiality (A.2.m) and school counselors advocate for student safety at school (A.10.b)
School counselors can use the above points and the ASCA Ethical Standards in their advocacy efforts. The ASCA position statements The School Counselor and Safe Schools and Crisis Response, The School Counselor and Confidentiality and The School Counselor and Student Mental Health may provide additional advocacy support. As a school counselor, you need to understand how to negotiate your school’s political landscape. Advocacy efforts that come across as adversarial may do more harm than good. Diplomacy is an important skill to employ when advocating.”
Another resource you may find helpful is “Expanding support beyond the virtual classroom: Lessons and recommendations from school counselors during the COVID-19 crisis,” from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
At times like these, it is vitally important that we are communicating with our leadership, administration, supervisors and peers. Our responsibility to the students does not wane due to the pandemic. In fact, due to the many limitations, it may have expanded. We need to continue to build upon our relationships with our peers so we can create the most complete picture of a student’s life. This allows us to accurately depict what is happening and help students be safely successful in all aspects of their academic careers. While the ethical questions might feel trickier, the steps remain the same.
Finally, as school counselors we must advocate and protect our time with students and get creative in our approaches to maintain and support our comprehensive counseling programs. Throughout the pandemic, school counselors may be pulled to provide extra supervision, take on additional roles and responsibilities, and may even be covering for classrooms with no substitute teachers. Advocate for the time lost with students and problem-solve ways to make up those minutes with them. If we can work together with the administration, we can implement creative solutions.
If you have any questions regarding your ethical rights, please contact the NSCA Professional Standards and Ethics Committee as we continue our work to ensure student success.
Marybeth Ferree and Kathy L’Heureux are co-chairs of the NSCA Professional Standards and Ethics Committee.