Wellbeing Challenges for International School Counsellors: The Research (originally written for SE Asia School Counselling Network)

Wellbeing Challenges of International School Counsellors: Research Findings I have recently been trawling the internet for research articles for my doctorate in safeguarding in international schools, and I came across this article: ‘A phenomenological analysis of the role and wellbeing challenges experienced by professional international school counsellors‘ by Scott Langston and William Van Gordon published in the British Journal of Guidance and Counselling (4 Oct 2023). Despite a gobful of a title, it actually has some pretty strong themes that I hear a lot in supervision sessions and in group discussions at our annual conference. Conducting semi-structured interviews with 8 professional international school counsellors, the authors found 3 main themes: I’ve only got one pair of hands! This theme related to workload and how school staff did not always fully understand what our job is Empathy is a two way street This related to the value of interpersonal relationships and online support with peers and other mental health professionals – we need help too! A balancing act We need to keep up regular healthy habits and have social connections. What was really interesting to me was the similarities between what I hear as a clinical supervisor, how I felt as a school counsellor and the research. I would often say to my counselling colleague that no-one really understands what we do as counsellors in a school, until they are pulled into one of our crises and into the vortex. The lack of understanding of the role of school counsellor means for some people they are used an extra teacher – covering lessons, doing playground duties, coaching sports teams and various other things. There was also a lack of a detailed job description for some counsellors meaning it was difficult for them to maintain boundaries and have other staff really understand what they do, including the many hours they spend, not only talking to students but also to teachers and parents. There was also a sense of isolation for many of the participants, and a need to come together with other international school counsellors. The strategies that Langston and Van Gordon (2023) suggest are as follows with a few reflective thoughts: The Role of the International School Counsellor There should be a baseline job description that could be adapted to local schools and circumstances. I think this could be particularly useful for schools that do not work to the American or ISCA model such as Social and Emotional Counsellors in British Schools. Clarify the extent to which counsellors are expected to do non counselling duties. Without a very specific job description this may be difficult. It would also be useful to write these as blocks of time? Allow counsellors to manage their own time. Make the role clear to the community. How do you describe and inform teachers, support staff, parents and senior management about your job? Direct Support International School Counsellors should be encouraged to network with others in the same role through international conferences, training and online groups. You can find out more about our annual conference and join our facebook group here. But more locally, can you set up or attend a group for international school counsellors in your city or country? Clinical supervision is a must. I would also argue that having a supervisor with international school experience is incredibly valuable. You can find a list of supervisors here. Develop school crisis plans in advance, so if the worst happens it doesn’t all land on the counsellors head. Do you have crisis plans in your school? Or procedures about how to work with serious cases? Does everyone know what they are supposed to do in an emergency? Schools should conduct exit interviews to establish what may need to be put in place for the incoming counsellor. How does your school do handovers? Do they do exit interviews and do you feel comfortable enough to be honest? Facilitating Habits Schools should consider providing facilities or memberships to enable regular exercise. Does your school provide this? Use external faciliators for staff wellbeing days so the school counsellor can also learn as a participant instead of always leading. Do you feel your school has training or wellbeing days that are useful to you? Encourage healthy boundaries – e.g. no out of hours emailing. I would also encourage taking your work emails off of your phone entirely. If you are needed in an emergency they can always call you. How do you enforce healthy boundaries at work? There are lots of things to think about as we head into the school holidays, and if we reflect and find that there are some things we might like to change for the next academic year, we can start planning how we are going to do that. What do you think should also be included in the list?

Wellbeing Challenges of International School Counsellors: Research Findings