Professional Development for School Counselors

Originally Written for the publisher Wiley’s client: https://www.school-counselor.org/

School counseling careers have arcs. 

As students, school counselors begin with an interest in helping others. 

When successful, they can start a career that fulfills this aspiration as a school counselor by becoming resourceful and knowledgeable individuals. 

The first step to becoming a school counselor is obtaining a school counseling master’s degree. From there, most states require professional certification to practice in a school environment.

School counselors need to consider an additional but often forgotten practice: networking. 

Professional development for school counselors through networking allows them to learn new skills at every stage of their careers, make the most out of their jobs, and, most importantly, promote their ability to support students.

How School Counselors Can Advance Their Careers Through Networking 

Networking involves attending events and participating in social gathers where professionals can make meaningful career connections.

Options for networking in all professions include attending conferences, school counseling master’s seminars, and even informal meetings with experts and professors. 

Professional development for school counselors can benefit from networking uniquely because colleague support aids in furthering education, which is essential for improving school counseling practice efficiency.  

Furthering Education

Through networking with other school counselors and experts in related fields – such as social work and psychology – school counselors aid themselves and other school counselors in fulfilling one of their most crucial occupational roles:

Continuing to learn. 

A school counseling master’s is not enough for continuing education. According to the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), school counselors who cannot adapt to new information cannot help some of their clients. 

Adapting to changes requires that professionals pay attention to them. Reading academic research reviews is one way of keeping up to date.

Networking is another way school counselors can stay up to date on the latest actionable research. In addition, by speaking with other school counselors and industry experts, counselors can enhance their practice by incorporating new ideas from others in the industry. 

Support from Colleagues 

School counseling careers can be grueling at times. However, you will very often encounter a scenario or situation that another school counselor has faced before.

Getting support from colleagues for these scenarios is invaluable because other practitioners can share the experience with you. But, as a result, proper practical support in the form of advice or advice-like storytelling can only come in a helpful parcel from another school counselor. 

Likewise, there are situations you could never have anticipated that took others off guard. Speaking with other school counselors and learning about their experiences will allow you to plan for potential issues.

Professional development for school counselors can sometimes feel confusing and even inaccessible. However, by networking with other school counselors, you’ll have the chance to learn what steps they took to stay ahead in the field. 

Opportunities and Events

Finally, as also noted by ASCA, school counselors are supposed to be resourceful. Such resourcefulness is not only reserved for students but is instead holistic in its reach. 

As a result, anyone asking a school counselor for advice on events or opportunities for career or academic advancement has a reasonable expectation that they’ll receive an optimal answer. 

That is why school counselors are resourceful to one another. Ideally, by definition of their occupation, they tend to make careers out of offering resources. 

School counselors are resources to each other through sharing and hosting events, conferences, and networking opportunities that stimulate growth and learning. 

Counselors further in their careers have sounder perspectives on school counseling than those just getting started. 

What looks like a good opportunity or an interesting school counseling master’s seminar two years into a job might hold a different value for that same counselor 15 years later. 

Still, networking with highly experienced school counselors is required to identify such mistakes earlier rather than later. 

Likewise, finding out about good events from experienced school counselors is an excellent strategy for obtaining networking opportunities to find even more experienced school counselors.

Professional Associations for School Counselors

Not all school counselors start with a strong network. For such counselors, learning how to begin creating one is only sometimes clear. 

Luckily, professional associations for school counselors exist to aid the professional development of school counselors by helping produce a robust professional network. 

While these associations require memberships to access all features, all provide free resources and tools for school counselors to begin their networking journey. 

The American School Counselor Association 

The ASCA has been assisting school counselors with career development since 1952.

By providing counselors with publications and research materials, along with events and opportunities to network with other school counselors, the ASCA is a great place to start networking as a school counselor. 

The American Counseling Association 

Also founded in 1952, the ACA is an organization and community dedicated to American school counselors' professional and educational development. 

One helpful free feature the ACA provides is an online job opportunity board. In addition to networking opportunities, direct access to available jobs is always a positive bonus. 

The National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc. 

The NBCC is a name all school counselors will become familiar with at some point, as National Certified Counselor (NCC) is the exclusive counseling board certification.

In addition to its stance as the premier board certification in school counseling, the NBCC provides counselors with endless educational resources on its website for developing as school counselors. 

Most importantly, being an NCC brings a stamp of authority, inevitably creating networking opportunities. People will want to speak with you because they see you as an expert, and school counselors will make new connections due to these conversations. 

The Association of Child and Adolescent Counseling 

ACAC is an excellent resource for discovering and attending networking events, as ACAC hosts its conferences and career development workshops. 

Likewise, ACAC has its own journal called the Journal of Child and Adolescent Counseling. This journal is an indispensable resource for counselors looking to improve the quality of care they can provide to their child and adolescent clientele. 

The National Education Association 

The NEA is not a school counselor-specific organization but is available to all school staff members. 

NEA also hosts national events for school staff from all backgrounds to share stories, information, and advice on achieving professional excellence. Professional development for school counselors requires speaking will educational professionals, not just other counselors. 

The Next Steps to Becoming a School Counselor 

Learning when to ask for help is necessary for almost any career path. In school counseling, professional networks offer a judgment-free, safe space for practitioners to share their experiences and support each other.

One of the primary benefits of obtaining your school counseling master’s is developing a knowledge base that will lead to success in the field.

But almost just as importantly, degree programs today are more than ever stressing the importance of networking with other experienced practitioners.

Request more information about getting a degree in school counseling and begin taking steps toward creating your professional network today.