Disciplines and Ideas in Applied Social Sciences

Lesson 3 Professionals and Practitioners in Counseling

Roles and Functions of Counselors

Counseling is an intimate form of learning, it demands a practitioner who is willing to be an authentic
person in the counseling/therapeutic relationship (Corey, 2015). It involves the person to be immersed in
someone else life, and be able to give an authentic support and understanding, especially in the school and
clinical setting. Much in our country’s setting, where we have a young population. Counselors faced a daunting
task to understand this current population. And even in the pandemic setting, counselors are defined by the roles
and functions that they do, both in the clinical and school setting; and mostly appreciated on the outcome that
they produced for the benefit of their clients. Counselors have the duty to their clients, especially if they come
seeking comfort and care, counselors’ roles become more of a responsibility to their clients. When counselors
counsel, wounds are opened, feelings will be explored and perception and growth will be secured as the
counselor and client journey to wellness and back to functionality in society (Corey, 2015).

Roles of Counselors
Here in the Philippines, Counseling is a profession (R.A. 9258 also known as the Guidance and
Counseling Act of 2004) that allows you to help others manage their responses to life’s challenges (Cleofe et
al., 2015). It is more just listening, its “active listening”; its more emphatic, it’s caring; the relationship of client
and therapist/counselor are guided by rules and regulations (Code of Ethics, R.A. 9258) so as to protect not only
the Counselors, but also the rights of clients. And as the counseling profession evolves, so do their roles and
functions to adapt in the changing times, to response to various changes such as, economic, social and
technological. And this changes also affects clients. Most especially in the academic or school setting, the role
of a counselor is important in the school to assist students in their academic well-being (Cleofe et al, 2015).
Some examples of these are the increasing number of students whose parents that are overseas workers; the
better facilitation of students’ learning by addressing their behavioral concerns; progress in knowledge and use
of technology in the classroom; and cultural diversity in the classrooms by having students from either different
regions in the country or different countries. Given this situation, the guidance counselors are considered
important members of the educational team. They provide assistance to students’ academic pursuit, socio-
economic need, career plans and moral development. In this way, the guidance and counseling program ensures
that students are able to cope well with their circumstances. This results in nurturing students who shall be
responsible and productive members of society.

Functions of Counselors
Erford (2014) emphasized that professional school counselors do not take rigid and static set of functions in the
educational system. This means that professional counselors perform their roles in a continuous state of
transformation in response to the current challenges. Therefore, professional counselors function as follows:
1. Providers of individual and group counseling services. School counselors take an active role in
counseling groups or individuals. In a school setting, professional counselors are equipped not only in helping
individuals understand themselves, but also in providing correct evaluation of either behavioral or clinical
problems a student may have.
2. Developmental classroom guidance specialists. Professional counselors also prepare lessons and
implement guidance instructions to students. These are executed by developing clear and measurable objectives
to meet the needs of the students. To meet these objectives, professional counselors deliver talks, seminars,
Disciplines and Ideas in Applied Social Sciences
workshop, and other interesting activities. Lastly, professional counselors improve their programs and mode of
instruction through consistent feedback and evaluation.
3. Leaders and advocates of academic success. Professional school counselors have an ethical
responsibility of promoting academic success by helping students identify barriers affecting school
performance. These barriers may be personal (example: living with an absentee or separated parents); socio-
emotional (ex. peer pressure); moral dilemmas (ex. failing an exam or cheating to pass an exam), or career-
related barriers (ex. indecisiveness about a course in college). Professional counselors guide the students by
identifying strategies so they can positively cope with these challenges and see these challenges as opportunities
for growth.
4. Career development specialists. Professional counselors also provide activities that will prepare
students for the demands and requirements of their chosen profession. These activities include formal writing of
resumes, having proper responses to job interviews and knowing appropriate clothing for job applications.
Furthermore, to ensure proper coping and success in the workplace, professional counselors help students
develop essential, basic skills such as effective communication, creativity, decision-making, critical thinking,
and work ethics.
5. Agents of diversity and multiculturalism. Professional school counselors are trained to deal with
and address the needs of people from different cultural backgrounds. For example, because of the ASEAN
Integration foreign students study in our country; counselors may provide assistance to these foreign students
through activities that allow interaction with Filipino students, aimed at helping them cope with their new
environment. At the same time, the counselor will also carry out a program for the Filipino students, aimed at
helping them demonstrate hospitality, respect, and understanding for their foreign classmates.
6. Advocates of students with special needs and students-at-risk. Professional counselors give
attention to students with special needs-such as the athletes, honor students, students with absentee parents,
those with learning disabilities and other clinically diagnosed students. They are special groups who need
additional assistance to help them cope better-by providing comprehensive assessment programs to better
understand and address their special needs. For example, students with absentee parents might have stronger
needs-in comparison with students whose parents are always around-for social and emotional support. With
this, the counselor may help them become engaged in extracurricular activities or he or she could even organize
a symposium that will help them become more adjusted with their situation. With professional counselors also
concerned with the promotion of mental health, they could also organize activities that will help students
understand depression, anxiety, phobia or addiction.
7. Advocates of a safe school environment. Conflicts, which may lead to violence, happen in some
school communities. For instance, there are issues on bullying-physical, verbal, cyber, psychological, etc.
nowadays. Hence, a comprehensive school counseling program with intervention components such as school
bullying campaign and peer and mentoring can address this issue.
8. School and community collaboration specialists. To ensure student’s holistic development and
success, professional school counselors work in collaboration with the other school authorities and with the
parents of the students. For example, they cooperate with teachers to better assist students with learning
difficulties or behavioral problems. At times, school counselors are tasked to prepare seminar to facilitate
teachers’ better understanding of the personality dynamics of students. Though conferences, counselors
collaborate with the parents to best facilitate and promote excellent academic performance of the students.
Finally, counselors also collaborate with the mental health practitioners when a student needs referral.
For example, those with depression may experience hormonal imbalance resulting in depressive moods. To
provide proper response to the circumstance, the professional help of a psychiatrist or a clinical psychologist is
needed.
Disciplines and Ideas in Applied Social Sciences

Name: _____________________________________ Date: _______________ Score: _____________

Activity 1.1. Situational Analysis
Objective: Determine the Roles and Functions of a counselor in given situations
Directions:
1. Identify what role and function is or not portrayed in given situations.
2. Provide the role and functions for each given situation. Provide explanation.
3. Answer the follow-up critical thinking questions.

Situation 1
Counselor Manabat only sees that students who have financial capacity, deserve to go to better schools. So, he
organizes career orientation for students who are in middle class. He organizes a different career orientation for
the others who cannot afford.
Roles and Function: _________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

Situation 2 For Counselor Domingo, the LGBTQ+ community and students who have multicultural
backgrounds are all accepted in a Catholic school. So, counselor Domingo provided a seminar for all the
incoming grade 11 and 12 students in the school.
Roles and Function: _________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

Situation 3 The school is having a crisis of academic performance for grades 11 and 12 students. Their school is
having a NAT next month. The principal tapped the services of Guidance Counselor Morales for the students’
improvement and development. Ms. Morales requested a meeting of both the parents, teachers and other related
parties to discuss some academic interventions and rehabilitation measures to promote development of the
learners.
Roles and Function: _________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

Critical Thinking Questions: Write your answer at the back of this paper.
1. Can you trust a counselor especially when discussing some of your problems in your family? Why?
Why not? Give your explanation.
2. Is counseling strictly for students who have behavioral problems? Should relationship problems in
school count as an aspect to consider in counseling? Defend your answer.
Disciplines and Ideas in Applied Social Sciences
3. Why do you think counseling should be a professional one, given that even teachers can also counsel
and give advice? Do you think teachers are also good counselors? Defend your answer.