A Week in the Life of a

School-based Counsellor
A week in the life of a
school-based counsellor.

In this booklet six school-

based, person-centred
counsellors describe and
reflect on a week of their
work. It is intended to be of
interest to counsellors and
others who would like to
know more about the day-to-
day pressures and rewards of
working as a counsellor in a
school setting.
The names of the counsellors
and young people, where
they are mentioned, have
been changed to maintain
the confidential nature of the
work.
More information about the project
and further copies of the booklet can
be obtained from:
The Counselling Unit
Faculty of Education
University of Strathclyde
Southbrae Drive
Glasgow
G13 1PP
 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

A Week in the Life

of a School-based Counsellor

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

Published in 2006 by the University of Strathclyde,

76 Southbrae Drive, Glasgow G13 1PP

© Michael Hough 2006

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher,
nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is
published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

ISBN: 1 900743 53 1

Book design by Tom Malone

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

Introduction

S
chool-based counselling is relatively new in Scotland. It is
beginning to find a foothold in some secondary schools
and there is growing interest in primary schools. Why so
late on the scene and why the interest now? Secondary
schools in Scotland have, since the late 1960’s, espoused
a commitment to the education of the “whole pupil”
not just the academic domain. This found expression,
in secondary schools, in the appointment of teachers of
“guidance” (now recently renamed - pupil support) who
took on a pastoral role to support the emotional, social
and behavioural development of young people attending
school. These teachers were able to absorb many of the
social and emotional problems facing pupils and assist
them to achieve their potential. They did this through
a variety of interventions including the application of
counselling skills. So no real need for counsellors? Well,
not quite. In the last five years there has been a growing
awareness and appreciation of the need to address the
mental health and emotional well-being of young people.
This awareness has gathered momentum and now
health officials, policy makers, and educationalists are
recognising the link between positive mental health and
educational achievement.

For many years initiatives to address these issues

operated outside of schools. Social and educational
initiatives to bring together professionals to offer “joined

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

up” working have been around for some time. However,

with all systems under pressure, it was not long before it
was recognised that bringing services into some form of
harmony, even co-location, would have huge advantages,
particularly for the age group in compulsory education.
Perhaps counsellors could work in schools?

During this same period, the growth in counselling

training was phenomenal. People were interested in what
counselling had to offer. In Scotland, the person-centred
approach has been particularly strong and Dave Mearns,
with others, established at the University of Strathclyde
Faculty of Education, one of the biggest counsellor training
centres in Europe. This meant that when the interest in
school-based counselling was converted into demand,
there was a supply of counsellors and personnel with
sufficient appreciation of the needs and ethos of schools
to bring together the various components of a school
based counselling response.

This publication has grown out of the recent experience of

six school-based counsellors who were invited to reflect
on and offer some insights into their work in schools.
“In but not of the school”, was one of the catch phrases
that guided their approach. They are all person-centred in
their orientation and training. They each have experience
of working with young people and share an enthusiasm
for working with that age group. The accounts that follow
reflect both the diversity and the commonality of such work.
They are intended to be of interest to those counsellors
who are considering working in a school-based setting
and who might find the examples of practice help them
attune to the opportunities and pressures of such work.

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

The focus is the experience of the counsellor.

We have gone to considerable lengths to protect the

identity and anonymity of any young people referred to.
Their names and details have been changed. Names of
schools have been omitted and finally, the names of the
counsellors have also been changed.

Mike Hough
July 2006

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

Acknowledgements

With thanks to Colin Carson, Gillian Ferguson,

Sandra Grieve, Brian Hayward, Tom Malone,
Franny Mawditt, Michelle Quinn and Jacquie
Sharp.

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

Annie’s Week

“Children’s lives! This is not how childhood

should be. I love my work with these young
people and it is the most challenging work I do.”

I
work in two schools. One is a large comprehensive school
with 1100 pupils, 7.5% of whom have free school meals.
The catchment area is very mixed, from leafy suburbs to
very poor city housing schemes. Ten years ago the school
had a very poor reputation; nowadays it has more placing
requests than it has places. The other school is very small
and currently has a roll of 80. It is a school for children
with special educational needs and, like the large compre-
hensive, it has a very wide and disparate catchment area.
I have been working in the large comprehensive for five
years and the small special needs school for five months.
In many ways the schools are very different and in many
ways they are similar. I feel very welcome in both places.
The young people in the small school have a very broad
range of backgrounds and abilities; some are unable or
reluctant to use language, and others are very articulate
and wouldn’t be out of place in the comprehensive school.
The young people in the comprehensive school also have
a broad range of backgrounds and abilities; some are very
bright and articulate, others wouldn’t be out of place in the
small school.

I spend three and a half days a week in schools, the rest of

my time is taken up with my private practice as a person-
centred therapist, psychodramatist, supervisor and trainer.
In addition I have children, grandchildren, my father and

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

friends. So life is never dull.

So, what’s a typical week for me? Let’s take this week.
Monday I am working in the Borders, running six
workshops on bereavement for children at a conference
on Mental Health, and then it’s off to the city in the evening
to meet with parents at the comprehensive for a Mental
Health Awareness meeting. Tuesday I see my clients at the
comprehensive. I have a lovely room in this school. It is my
third room since being there and I love it. People pass in
the corridor outside and if the door is open, they say ‘Wow,
how can I get in there!’ Morning coffee with the guidance
staff, then a break because my next client does not appear.
But no, a second-year girl, who has been my client in the
past, has locked herself in her mother’s car in the car park
and is refusing to come out. Her mother has had enough
and has gone home. The Depute Head asks me if I will
talk to her. She lets me in the car and twenty minutes later
is back in school. Wednesday is a fairly uneventful day
at the comprehensive; I see seven clients and go home.
Thursday is my small school day, I arrive around nine, see
my first client of the day, then it’s off to the coffee shop run
by the 4th years. Loads of parents come on Thursdays and
the cheese scones are great! I have an interesting room
in this school. It used to house the photocopier and the
tuck shop. It is small, but very comfortable and in between
clients I can watch the primary children at play, from my
window. Friday morning I am back at the small school, no
cheese scones today, but I get some time with the staff
and more clients.

So, who are my clients? Let me see if I can give you a

flavour of them.

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

Kate is in sixth year. She is a bright, lively girl. Her

father died two years ago and since then she not only
misses him, but finds it increasingly difficult living at
home with her Mum and fourteen year old brother who
has autism. He needs a lot of looking after and her Mum
relies heavily on her. Some nights she doesn’t get much
sleep and in her fifth year her schoolwork suffered.
Although she did well in her Highers, she did not, in
her view, do well enough. I’ve been seeing her for
five months. She engages well with the counselling
process and is able to explore how she feels most of
the time. Sometimes she is just exhausted and tearful.
She thinks she might implode.

Chris is in first year and lives with his Mum. He has never
known his Dad. He has been bullied, not at school but
in his community. He is increasingly fearful and doesn’t
go out on his own. He has no friends and feels much
more relaxed in the company of adults. He thinks other
children are unpredictable and silly. He likes coming to
see me and talks openly about how he experiences the
world and how relationships mystify him. He wants to
be a grownup; children terrify and annoy him. Maybe
he’ll be a policeman when he’s older, then he’ll be able
to control those around him.

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Sam is in third year. He comes from a big family, with

different Mums and Dads. His Mum died just before
Christmas after a long illness. He lives with his aunt.
His two younger sisters live with his Dad, but that is as
much as his Dad can manage. They are all going to the
football on Saturday, but they support a different team
from him. He’s small and sparky and uncertain and he
self harms. He thinks I’m just another social worker,
wants me to ask him questions and let him get back to
class and yes, he does want to see me next week. I’m
better than maths!

Andrea is in second year. Her brother is in prison. He

was convicted on a rape charge. He had three children,
two girls and a boy. The boy died of cot death the week
before her brother’s trial. She keeps seeing his face
and now her Mum has fallen out with her brother’s
girlfriend and she can’t see her nieces, or her brother,
just flashbacks of the baby. She’s in tears a lot of the
time; her brother didn’t do it.

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Children’s lives! This is not how childhood should be.

I love my work with these young people and it is the
most challenging work I do. If only it was as simple as
Chris’s solution, become a policeman and control those
around you. It is so different working with young people.
Often in my work with adults they are reflecting on their
childhood and adolescent experiences. They are doing
that from a distance, not always a safe distance, but a
distance nonetheless. My school-based clients are in it. It
is the “here and now” for them. They are testing ever-
shifting boundaries, not an easy business. I find that it is
important to work with them in a way that pays attention to
boundaries and to work with them with a light touch. I am
willing to be with them in whatever way we can manage.
Sometimes we talk about Eastenders, sometimes I listen
to them rant or cry or watch them draw or move things
around. Sometimes we have toys or games to play with.
They may not be in control of much, but they are certainly
in control of their session.

I haven’t said much about working in the school

environment. Schools are focussed on an external rather
than internal locus of evaluation for the individual. If our
sessions are to help the young people develop an internal
locus of evaluation, I need to be able to sit with some tricky
stuff. I am not much of a rescuer ordinarily and I notice that
rescuing is much more tempting for me with this client
group in this environment. I’m not talking about child
protection issues here, rather I’m thinking about times
when a young person is telling me about an inappropriate
action they intend to take. I think about adolescents as
being people in the raw; sometimes I am thrown back to
that raw time in my life, and the thing I take to supervision
most often is ‘what is the boundary between “being with”
and “colluding”?’

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

And now it’s Saturday. I’m writing this piece and reflecting
on my week, my clients and my work. My week has been
long, my clients have been amazing and this is the work
I was born to do. Never in my wildest imagination did
I think I would end up working in schools, but I’ve been
lucky, my schools are warm and welcoming. In any event,
they are where the kids are and for that reason alone, they
would be worth it.

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Barbara’s Week

“Bringing together my counselling experience

with my experience of working with young
people did not seem like a particularly big leap
but I have to say that I have been surprised at
some of the issues and challenges this work has
thrown up.”

P
rior to starting with the school’s counselling project (and
now concurrently) I was working as a counsellor with
women in a primary care setting. Although I had a lot of
previous experience of working with young people, most
of this did not involve counselling; it has only been since
August 2005 that I have worked as a counsellor in a school.
Bringing together my counselling experience with my ex-
perience of working with young people did not seem like
a particularly big leap but I have to say that I have been
surprised at some of the issues and challenges this work
has thrown up.

Being a school counsellor a day and a half a week is just

part of my working week so I have to fit it in with my other
job and my personal life and this means that I’m not as
available or flexible as I would like to be to help develop
the work and get support for myself.

The school I work in was positive in welcoming counselling

in to the school and my link person, the depute head
responsible for guidance, has always been supportive of
myself and the service. Even so I’ve not found establishing
a counselling service particularly easy. Some of the on-

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going difficulties for me are

• how the service could be better utilised, only 3 of the 7
guidance staff have made any referrals,
• the room I use for counselling getting used when I expect
to be in it and
• because of my other commitments, my inability to attend
team meetings to help develop an understanding of my
role and build links.

The school itself is not huge and has a role of just over
600 pupils with 15.3% entitled to free school meals. The
school, although appearing to be located in a fairly affluent
area, also includes two areas that are designated areas of
priority treatment. There are also other schools in the area
with higher performance figures, which attract some of
the potential pupils from the catchments.

Counselling in a school.

I knew counselling young people was going to be different

from counselling adults but it is only now that I am doing
both that I have become really aware of the particular
issues involved in counselling young people and those
that arise from being a counsellor in a school. It is easy
to under-estimate the impact of fitting in with the school
system yet not being a part of it, relating to other staff but
also maintaining a distance, generally having a different
role and only being there for a small part of the week. No
matter how accommodating the school is, counselling is
new in schools and is only a very, very small part in the
functioning of the school and it sometimes feels as if it
doesn’t quite register, which is why getting established is
a slow process.

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I have a desk in the guidance base so I am easily accessible

to guidance teachers, as I spend some time there when I
am not counselling, but this has not made it noticeably
easier for teachers to relate to me or make referrals. I
counsel in a room that is out of the way (which gives the
young people some privacy) but as the room is pleasant
and useful for other functions, I have found myself without
access to this room, which has then caused me problems
in seeing people elsewhere. I now realise that it would
be better to be located in another room but as space,
particularly small rooms, is very limited this is not so easy
to do. Not feeling secure with a room has had a bigger
impact on me than I would have expected.

Counselling young people.

One of the significant differences for me is how young

people come to be using the service, and what their
expectations and understanding is of counselling. In my
NHS work this is an issue to some extent but with the
work in the school this feels more persistent and often
unresolved. As I write this it makes me think how as
counsellors we can explain to people what counselling is
about, but in a sense it will be what it is to different people
and I think this is especially true for young people. This can
make it a real challenge for me as a counsellor, as I have
been particularly aware of how young people engage in
their own unique way and that can often mean me being
uncertain about what they are getting from the experience
or what sense they are making of the process.

On reflecting on the young people I have seen so far

which totals 15, 6 males and 9 females, almost every one
of them has come along and told me quite a lot about

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themselves and their situation at that first meeting, often

very personal and painful stuff. Each person, when asked
at the end of the session, said that they would like another
appointment but 3 did not come back again and another
4 only came for a couple of sessions. Even with those
who have continued to see me for more sessions I have
noticed a real difference between what can take place in
the 1st session and any subsequent ones. It seems as if
the unspoken expectation is that you go along, sometimes
feeling that you have been sent, and you have to explain
what the problem is in detail and then you are not quite
sure what to do after that

Even those that stick with it can be left appearing a bit

bewildered as to what they are doing there and what they
should be talking about, and this uncertainty can lead to
me questioning what I am doing. Is this really counselling
when the young person I’m seeing comes along and tells
me about what they were doing at the weekend? What
sense do they make of telling me about their drinking
when I don’t advise them of what to do or make the usual
adult responses? Does it feel like I’m not bothered or does
it seem as if I approve when I don’t tell them off? And how
does it feel when you try to explore this type of interaction
when it happens? Weird??!!!

Young people approach things differently, including talking

to adults who generally hold all the power. What I have
had to do is to try and be with the young person and their
process, even when it is unclear what is going on, and all I
am relying on is a felt sense that there is something more
not being said. A young person that I have seen since I
started at the school would come each week and tell me
what he had been doing at the weekends, his interests and
his confrontations with teachers. Sometimes something

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seemingly significant would be dropped in and I would try

to acknowledge it as it sped by.

I explored this in supervision and came to the conclusion

that it is very hard to know what was going on for him and
I had to guess at some things and wait. The waiting has
sometimes been tough but important. A few weeks ago,
after talking for a while about how everything was fine,
he spoke about how really depressed he felt and how bad
it was for him, at times feeling suicidal; however, this is
not something he necessarily wants to keep talking about.
I have to judge getting the balance right in encouraging
him to speak if he wants but not pressurising. In fact it
is that balancing act that I do each day when counselling
young people that feels different; somehow it feels a more
conscious process of engaging with them.

Conclusions

Being a school counsellor has in lots of ways been more

difficult than I expected, especially the isolation. The
counselling work with young people I enjoy, but in many
respects other aspects of the job over shadow this.

Counselling young people constantly challenges me to

trust in the process and the young person in a way that
doesn’t happen to the same extent with adults. I feel more
tested in my ability to be person-centred and I have to keep
a watchful eye on my parent/adult part while responding
appropriately to child protection concerns.

I have also found myself doing some things that I would

not have expected myself to do because I am working in
a school context and the service needs to fit within that
system.

I am looking forward to continuing to learn and develop

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as the service becomes more established and despite the

difficulties I am glad to be part of something that addresses
the needs of young people and is accessible to all pupils
in the school.

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Claire’s Week

“I also relish the challenge: I don’t know what

will come through the door and that makes for a
very interesting life! “

The context

T
he school I counsel in has a roll of nearly 900 pupils. The
catchment area is mainly suburban with a high level of
employment, mostly owner-occupied housing with some
council housing. The number of free school meals stands
at 66.

I taught Religious Education for 29 years but have always

been interested in counselling and ‘search / personal
growth’. I finally decided to train as a counsellor and after
3 years I completed my MA in Counselling at Durham
University (2005). During my training I had a 2-year
placement at a G. P.’s surgery; 1 year at Place 2 Be (play
therapy with primary children) and 1 year working with
children who had been sexually abused (primary and
secondary). Having completed my training and having
decided to leave the north-east of England and return to
Glasgow I applied to the Schools Project; this is my first
year (2005 - 2006). I work between 2 schools for 3 days a
week. The other 2 days I am employed in another school
to support pupils who are out of lessons for a variety of
reasons.

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The week - what I do

I work in one of my schools every Tuesday and every

other Thursday. I always arrive by 8.40 to set the room
up (an old base for the Art Department - redecorated and
‘gutted’ it has become very nice!). I have hung pictures; I
have soft chairs, a lamp, a filing cabinet and a desk / chair.
I can lock the door when I am out and about. It is in a
main thoroughfare (the girls’ toilets and the dining hall
are adjacent) so I always let pupils away slightly before
the bell. My day ends after I have seen my last client - the
time varies according to the number I see that day. I am
mostly scheduled for 4 appointments but it can be less or
more!

My main contact is the Head of Guidance although I have

also met other Guidance Staff. I find staff are friendly
and will say ‘hello’ in passing. I have not yet met parents
although I have chatted to one mother on the phone
who wanted to know about the Counselling Service. I
have a leaflet and poster in every room (well - I asked all
register teachers to display them!) and other spare leaflets
available for anyone who wants them. To make further
contact with pupils I visited Assemblies and registration
classes to introduce myself.

I take sandwiches with me for lunch; I use facilities in the

staff room and I can do photocopying for administration
purposes.

The clients

Since the end of October I have seen 12 pupils: 4 boys and

8 girls from S1 to S6. Two do not have English as their first
language - with one I have to take care over complexity of
language. Some have come to see me once; others I saw

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for perhaps 6 sessions; a few at the time of writing (end

of January) have become long-term. I find I am busier in
my other school but the Counselling Service has been in
place there for several years. I think Guidance teachers
have to get used to the idea of making referrals when the
Service is new.

I try to be flexible and give clients choice: pupils decide

themselves how many sessions they want, how frequently
they come and the length of the session. For example to
ease one pupil out of counselling I saw him for ½ an hour
every 2 weeks; he and others having ended counselling,
know they can return when they want. An appointment
can be made via their Guidance teacher or clients can text
me.

Issues brought by clients vary. One pupil lacked confidence

and worried about being at High School. Another pupil
feels sick at the thought of going to school; yet another
was violently attacked and is dealing with the aftermath.
I see pupils who have panic attacks and who have very
difficult long-term home circumstances. Sometimes
existential issues arise: can I control everything? Will I
die tonight? Then there are pupils dealing with being part
of two nuclear units who have to negotiate relationships
with divorced / separated parents and their new partners.
Older pupils bring exam pressure and performance related
stress; others do not like school. For some it feels like
something is wrong in every area of their life.

I find pupils are committed to attending and are happy

to complete paperwork, which provides research data for
the Schools Project. For some, one session is enough:
perhaps the issue has been resolved by the time they
reach me or counselling is not for them. Others keep
their further appointments - some even making the effort

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

to be in school that day because they have a counselling

session.

Poor attendance can be an issue and for some is part of a

bigger, difficult picture. I always have counselling journals
or books with me in case of absenteeism; I write absent
pupils a note saying I was sorry to miss seeing them and
when I have re-scheduled them. The Head of Guidance
passes on my letters.

My response to clients

I describe myself as a person-centred, integrative

counsellor (these are not terms I use with pupils!) I believe
passionately that the relationship between counsellor and
client is crucial; I try to offer the core conditions and work
always with the client’s agenda.

I offer a variety of ‘tools’ or techniques: in my room I have

a few art materials, stones, buttons, soft toys, play dough
and ‘Angel Cards’. I tell pupils they are there for them to
use if they want, to help them explain something; all have
been used and I think the objects help create a relaxed
atmosphere. (I lock them in the filing cabinet at the end
of the day). I work with the symbols the pupils introduce;
I may offer a relaxation or visualisation exercise. I am
interested in bodywork and Gendlin’s ‘Focusing’ has
been useful; I am also interested in how neuroscience is
impacting on therapy; I think there is so much available
and developing in the world of counselling which can be
of use to pupils. On occasion I have created information
sheets - for example ‘Understanding Stress’ (I have two
‘levels’ - I guess that is the teacher in me who is used to
differentiation!). I am always careful to invite clients to
try something out; I explain what I will offer and some

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have said ‘that doesn’t work for me’.

I have always enjoyed young people and my stint as an

R.E. teacher involved talking about both personal and ‘big
issues’ - so counselling has felt like the next step in my
career. However, I do struggle at times with how directive
to be: should I give out information? If someone seems
‘jetlagged’ due to sleep deprivation and lack of routine do
I say so? I take these concerns to supervision plus my
feelings of ‘stuckness’: how do I help the monosyllabic
pupil? The pupil who ‘doesn’t know’? How about the
client for whom school attendance is a huge issue? And
how and when do I disclose if ‘child safety’ appears to
be raising its head? These are some of the challenges
of working with teenagers, who do not have the choices
available to adults. At the same time changes can happen
fast with them and issues are often immediate without a
long history attached.

Conclusions

I love my job. I feel it is a privilege to work with teenagers

on a one-to-one basis, in depth. Clients have said coming
to counselling helps ‘get something off their chest’ and
sometimes the counselling room is the only place at the
moment where they can talk freely. I think they grow but
I do too - counselling is not one-sided and I value what
the relationship puts me in touch with. I also relish the
challenge: I don’t know what will come through the door
and that makes for a very interesting life!

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Dawn’s Week

“I have found that in counselling pupils in

schools I have become more aware of the other
people who play a part in their lives. As a result,
I have a keen sense of the family dynamics
whilst I continue to hold the pupil foremost.”

I
am a school-based counsellor and work in three Secondary
Schools. I also maintain a small private counselling and
counselling supervision practice. My previous work
settings have included counselling 16+ year old female
survivors of child sexual abuse within a statutory agency,
voluntary telephone counselling for children with a
National Helpline, facilitating group work with young
people on stress management and emotional literacy and
working with homeless young people.

I now work almost full-time counselling pupils in schools,

working an alternate 5 and 4 day working week. I have
worked in school A for 1 year, school B for 5 months
and school C for 7 months. All 3 schools are mainstream
Secondary Schools and have a pupil roll of between
850 – 1300 pupils. Two schools provide Roman Catholic
education, the other is non-denominational. One school is
located in the inner city, whilst both others are located on
the outskirts of the city.

Two schools are structured to provide a Guidance support

system to pupils, while the other operates a Pastoral Care
system. I have found that, as a counsellor in schools, the

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

Pastoral Care system seems to offer most ready availability

of Pastoral Care staff, i.e. if I want to find someone I usually
can.

Within a typical week my time is balanced between home/

family, counselling in schools, counselling supervision,
team meetings and training. I also maintain a small private
practice which keeps me in touch with counselling adults.

Typical Day School B

Starting after 9am enables me to miss the rush-hour

traffic, meet any family commitments and arrive at school
with physical and psychological ‘space.’

9.30am: First stop: check personal ‘dookit’ in staff area, where any
messages, school information and sometimes counselling
referrals have been left for me.

Next: Check the secure boxes where pupils can independently

refer for counselling via the tear-off slip on the counselling
leaflets. (Find only a pile of blank leaflets that have been
pushed in there, but this isn’t always the case.)

Head for ‘counselling room’, which has been converted

from a storage room by me and some members of staff.

The counselling room is situated near the Guidance Base,

allowing pupils to access it without being identified as
counselling clients. I have sole use of this room when I
am in school and it provides an additional nice space for
the Guidance staff to use when I am not. It is small, but
convenient and comfortable without too much surrounding
noise. It also has a lockable filing cabinet for my sole use.

Okay, need to fill the kettle for the day ahead and am just

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

heading to the canteen area when I meet a staff member

who lets me in on the fact that there is a room with a sink
nearby. I don’t have to trek miles every day, oh joy!

10.00am: See 1st client/pupil of the day.

10.50am: Interval- make use of that newly filled kettle whilst marking
up paperwork

11.05am: See 2nd client of the day

12.00: See 3rd client of the day

12.50pm: Lunchtime – However, this school want me to provide a

‘Drop-In’ session at lunchtime for those pupils who might
want to find out about the service or meet me. Today no
one ‘drops in’ and this gives me the chance to catch up on
the paperwork.

1.55pm: Lunch – Grab a coffee at a nearby café, very quiet because

everyone is back in school. Catch up with my own
thoughts.

2.50pm: See 4th client

3.45pm: End of school day – Finish off paperwork, write out Diary
sheet for Guidance Co-ordinator for next day at the school.
This informs her of the pupils attending, although I write
out permission slips for pupils to get time out of classes.

Check self-referral boxes again, tidy room, lock up, and

deliver diary sheet and any notes to relevant ‘dookits.’

4-4.15pm: Home

Variations on this day might involve seeing 5 clients

instead of 4, speaking with a member of guidance staff or
guidance co-ordinator regarding referrals, management
of any waiting list or referral procedures.

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

The Clients

From the three schools, I currently counsel 24 pupils.

Some of these I see weekly, fortnightly or occasionally
less frequently.

On a typical day I would see 4 or 5 clients. The following

is a brief account of my work with one client from each
school.

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

Female, 16yrs

I have been seeing this pupil for 5 months.

We began by meeting weekly; this reduced to
fortnightly at one stage when client felt more able
to cope, and then returned to weekly contact.
Resuming weekly contact was triggered not only by
exam stress, but also by the client’s increased sense of
isolation as she identified and slowly acknowledged
her own needs and where these were not being met.
Pupil is committed to counselling process despite
periods of absence from school.

Counselling Process

Beginning: Issues around sexuality, establishing a counselling

relationship.
Middle: As trust grew, pupil brought in further issues including
self-harm, relationship with food, and relationship with
family. Process highlighted loneliness, feeling unheard,
misunderstood, feelings of worthlessness, powerlessness
and hopelessness.
Current: Through being heard and understood in counselling, client
has been able to begin to hear herself and with difficulty
begin to share more of her actual experience with her
family. This has resulted in her family seeking further
support services via GP, They have also tentatively begun
to relate more honestly at home.

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

Female, 17yrs

I began working with this pupil 4 months ago. She self-

referred independently. We meet fortnightly to fit in
with pupil’s timetable as she does not wish to miss any
classes and uses her ‘free’ period.

Counselling Process

Beginning: Issues around ‘not fitting in’ with peer group, not fully
belonging to any group. Exploring hopes and expectations
in friendships, her role in friendships, others perceptions
of her, self-perception.
Looked at issues of assertiveness and confidence. This
led to pupil looking at the relationships in her family, her
position in the family, family dynamics, issues of power
and trying to become more independent.
Through acceptance, the pupil found the counselling
sessions became a unique space where she could risk
sharing more and more of her actual experience, in
particular the ‘unacceptable’ parts.
Current: As she has begun to gain a greater self-acceptance, she is
now experimenting with different ways of relating, daring
to have her own voice heard. Her relationships with her
peers are more connected as she identifies similarities
as well as differences. The main focus is with her family
relationships.

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

Male, 14yrs

I have been working with this pupil for 7 months. He

was referred by Guidance Co-ordinator. We initially
met on a weekly basis, which, reduced to fortnightly
and currently stands at 3 weekly.
The 3 weekly arrangement meets the pupil’s need
to both acknowledge and enjoy the things he has
resolved as well as beginning to think about the end
of counselling.

Counselling Process

Beginning: Pupil brought issue of parental separation, including the

losses, changes, conflicts, new relationships, divided
loyalties, rejections, and responsibilities.
Pupil appeared much caught up in how the separation had
impacted on others in the family who were very careful
not to rock the boat. His description of the effect on him
concentrated on practical arrangements. He presented as
very sensible, reliable and dependable with a willingness
to understand others’ perspectives.
The counselling process gave him permission to focus
on his own experience, identifying and voicing his own
feelings.
Middle: Pupil, through realising where he was ‘mediating,’ and
the cost to him of ‘keeping approval’, was able to ask for
changes that he needed to happen. A significant issue
relating to his family was resolved in a way that pupil now
feels much more valued by his family.
Current: Pupil recently again lessened the frequency of sessions.
He appears to have a much firmer sense of ‘self’ whilst
retaining his natural sensitivity to others.

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

Responding to Pupils

My approach to working with pupils in schools is based

on offering the basic core conditions of a person-centred
approach. From the brief outline of my work with 3 clients,
it is apparent that the pupils’ own process is facilitated
by experiencing the safety of confidentiality. Empathy
enables the pupil to hear him/herself, Unconditional
Positive Regard enables the pupil to accept him/herself
and Congruence enables him/her to find a voice. This can
create changes in relationships and situations.

Of course, the pupil lives in relationship with others and

any changes are dependent on the ability of significant
others to ‘meet them’ in these changes.

However, in my experience, it does seem that when the

pupils have the space to explore their own experience, they
are able to empathise with themselves, and then others.
This enables less defended and clearer communications.
They find a way to ‘fix things.’

All of this happens when the pupil has made contact with
you and a relationship has been established. Counselling
in a school context raises issues of CHOICE v choice. In
any counselling situation where people are referred by
others, there will be the need to separate REAL CHOICE to
be in counselling, from ‘pleasing people’ or ‘for your own
good’ choice. However, because of the position of young
people in society (i.e. they actually have less power) I pay
particular attention to ensuring the pupils feel they have
the freedom to leave or the freedom to stay.

Counselling young people in schools offers the opportunity

to explore with pupils where they do have personal power,
and invites them to own it. It is enormously satisfying and

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

encouraging to experience the individuality of each pupil

and it can be quite humbling at times to be ‘emotionally
connected’ with a young person to a depth that gives me
a unique place in their life, albeit temporarily.

I have found that in counselling pupils in schools I have

become more aware of the other people who play a part
in their lives. As a result, I have a keen sense of the family
dynamics whilst I continue to hold the pupil foremost.

No matter how intense the counselling relationship

becomes, I am a very small part of their life, which they
live daily without me and in relationship with others.

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

Elaine’s Week

“What continues to take my breath away in

working with young people is the weight that
is lifted off their shoulders by getting their story
out and having someone who cares, who wants
to listen and is interested in them and how
healing it is for them when they feel someone
else understands them.”

T
he school where I work as a counsellor is a non-denomi-
national, co-educational comprehensive six-year second-
ary school. There are around 1400 pupils, 130 teaching
staff and 30 members of support staff. The majority of pu-
pils come from prosperous and professional homes, with
around only 40 pupils accessing the free school meals.

In 2003, I started working as a qualified counsellor in the

voluntary sector. During this period I was able to gain
experience working with a wide diversity of clients and
issues, experiencing both long and short-term work.
In January 2005, I set up as a self-employed counsellor
and negotiated a contract with an organisation providing
a counselling service for young people, which amounts
to around 5 client hours per week. In 2005, I started
working as a school-based counsellor for one and a half
days per week. The rest of my week is devoted to the
responsibilities of family life. Occasionally there are one
or two evenings “off”, where I meet up with friends and,
free from expectations and responsibilities, enjoy “just
being”.

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

The first thing I’m aware of as I reflect on my being in

school is how quickly the day and a half is over. My typical
week would be arriving in the car park at 8.45am, signing
in and having ‘a catch up’ with the Depute Head over this
week’s arranged appointments and any necessary updates
left over from the week before and a quick ‘how are you?’;
all of this is usually done with at least two interruptions,
either by phone or others chapping at the door. Before I
know it, the last period bell has gone at 3.30pm for the
first day, then at 12.50pm on the second day. Just time
for a quick check in with the depute head to give feedback
and that’s another week over! Sometimes it’s like being hit
by a whirlwind and it takes the remainder of the week to
stand still again.

The counselling room has a tranquil and safe feel, which

is just as well because I tend to spend most of my working
life inside it. I choose most of the time to eat my lunch in
the room with the radio and a newspaper for company.
Occasionally, I socialise over lunch in the Depute Head’s
office, where other guidance teachers come for a catch up.
While I enjoy the company, banter and getting to know ‘the
people‘behind the titles, I’m always aware of the danger
of boundaries at different levels being crossed.

I generally see eight clients per week. Many issues are

family-based, like divorce, alcoholism, parent or sibling
relationship, breakdowns, bereavement, through to anger,
stress, self-worth, identity crisis, phobias, relationship
with teachers and bullying. What continues to take my
breath away in working with young people is the weight
that is lifted off their shoulders by getting their story out
and having someone who cares, who wants to listen and
is interested in them and how healing it is for them when
they feel someone else understands them. This in itself

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

seems to unburden them and they find their own way out
of the fog they were in. That’s not to say their problems go
away - very often they are powerless to change external
situations creating the difficulties but their perception
towards the problems seems to shift and they manage the
difficulties better.

Jim aged 12, has been coming for around 8 sessions,

trying to make sense of and pick up the pieces of his
shattered world after his parents split up because his
father had been having an affair for a number of years.
Week by week he confronts the overbearing feelings
of betrayal, hurt, anger and loss. How he has gone from
being a carefree and happy 12 year old to ‘a grown-
up’, carrying all grown-up responsibilities such as
worrying about how they are going to make ends meet,
caring for mum and brothers, cooking dinners, cleaning
the house and get used to mum having to work to pay
the bills. As if this wasn’t bad enough, he now finds
himself mourning the life he has lost. For Jim, he wants
someone just to listen, without giving their opinion; he
just needs to be held by someone who can bear the
unbearable.

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

Nancy aged 13 has been coming for around 12

sessions. Unlike Jim, she uses the therapeutic space
in a very different way. She explores the counselling
room, checking out the toys, making things with the
play dough, or drawing creatively, making pictures
for special people in her life. Her story seems deeply
buried and only every now and again does she feel safe
enough to risk sharing something of her past with an
abusive parent. For her, counselling is the only place
in the school setting she feels ‘wanted’, the space
provides her ‘freedom’ and helps her become a more
confident person. I find myself quietly sitting alongside
her, witnessing and validating her experience.

How I work with young people depends on how they

are in a session. How I respond very often is dependent
upon how easy or hard it is for the client to engage in
psychological contact. With some, a talking therapy is
what is required, but with others who find the face-to-
face talking too intense (more so boys), I may very well
invite them to ‘show me’ what it’s like for them, offering a
doodle on a paper, miniature people, or even stones lying
on the table.

The issues I take to supervision include:-

• Managing the maternal mother in me who wants to love,
hold and protect these hurting children and rather than
dismissing that part of me, actually looking at how I can
communicate from that tender place, without fulfilling
a parental role and in a way that is empowering and
nurturing for them.
• Working through transference and possible counter-
transference.

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

• Evaluating all the time my way of counselling, my motives

for working that way
• Questioning around my just being in the session and at
other times being more pro-active.
• Am I staying true to the heart of the person-centred
approach?
• Managing the waiting list.
• The management of my time and my well-being.
My counselling style has changed since working in the
schools project. As my confidence in myself has grown,
so too has my congruence and, as a result, I am bringing
more of myself into the counselling room. I enjoy the
engagement with the young people, being invited inside
their world and being interested and fascinated by their
unique styles of processing, and being a part of the clients
finding their own internal resources.

There is a gold thread that runs through my counselling

work, my family and social life. Each complements the
others, a philosophy which does take me back to the heart
of the Person Centred Approach - a quality of presence.
What is nice is to have this affirmed time and again by the
young people. Very often their deepest yearning is to be
noticed and understood by those ‘special people’ in their
life (whoever that might be…mum, dad) and to spend
time with them. Maybe it’s the grown ups who should be
listening to the teenagers?

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

Franks’s Week

“To be privy to the stories of children, who have

often felt alone in the world and to be able to
help them see their way through all that life
throws or has thrown at them, is incredibly
rewarding.”

I
work in a large secondary school, with approximately 1000
pupils, only 69 of which are entitled to free school meals.
The catchment area includes the town itself and outlying
areas, so there is a fairly balanced mix of ‘country’ and
‘townee’ pupils.

I have been a counsellor for a relatively short time, having

qualified in June 2003. I maintain a small private practice,
and I also do some tutoring of counselling skills at a local
university. I’ve worked in this particular school for nearly
nine months.

I arrive at the school around 8.30 and on the Monday I

always leave the first ‘slot’ in my diary free. This gives me
ample time and space to really arrive before engaging with
my first client. My room in the school is in an excellent
location with lots of natural light beaming in to keep all
the plants happy. I have my own computer, which is linked
to the school network. This makes emailing incredibly
straightforward and my main means of communication
with the pastoral team. I have the use of the fridge and
microwave that belong to the Biology department, who
very kindly allow me to use those facilities. It’s those small

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

things that I find myself really appreciating from other

staff members. It gives me a sense of being welcome,
which makes working in this particular school a very
pleasant experience. I even play badminton with a few of
the staff after school on a Monday evening. Lunch is often
a visit to the school dining area. Again, this gives me the
opportunity of making my face known to the pupils as well
as a few more members of staff - all part of the ‘marketing’
strategy.

The clients

I aim to see up to 10 clients over the two days. The clients

that use the service come with a wide range of issues, from
being bullied, to cases where the individual’s aggression
is getting them into difficulties with staff and other pupils.
Many of the clients I see, however, are really struggling to
deal with what is going on for them outwith the school.
Many have come through, or are in the middle of, some
family crisis and have lost the ability to concentrate and
apply themselves to schoolwork. Many just can’t wait to
leave school! Usually non-academic, they fail to see the
point of doing much of the work they are told they must
do if they are to be successful in life. Having said that, I
have never met any pupil who did not enjoy some aspect
of school. This offers up the opportunity of working with
those pupils in helping them to hold on to the positive,
while helping them acknowledge, and accept to some
degree, the negative aspects of their experience. Clients
can be between 12 and 18 and there is a huge difference
for me in working with an immature 12 year old on the
one hand, and working with a mature 18 year old on the
other.

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

The attitude of the pupils to counselling ranges from

suspicion to an eagerness to engage meaningfully from the
start. The process of referral has some bearing on this in
that, if the offer of counselling has been done with respect
and some measure of subtlety, then the pupil will usually
arrive less anxious than they would otherwise. Some
see it as part of a punishment that they have to attend
to avoid some other penalty. That is, after all, the nature
of what they are in some ways accustomed to. The most
important aspect of my job at that stage is to ‘educate’
those pupils (and referrers) so that they have a reasonably
clear understanding of the counselling service, as one in
which the client chooses to attend, and also to ensure they
understand the concept of confidentiality. This is what I
would call the ‘working to ensure adequately informed
consent’ part of the job.

Some pupils are reluctant to engage at all and some of

those decide against engaging. However, there are some
who after a very tentative start, begin to open up and
express themselves.

John is 13 and really struggling to maintain any kind

of relationship with his classmates. Everything he
experiences seems to get transformed into an episode
of Dr Who and one of his many adversaries. Usually,
one of the Daleks, who he describes as indestructible
at first, he then realises in discussion that they are
incredible vulnerable too. He tells me how he can really
relate (my words) to the Daleks since they always seem
to lose. This frustrates John and makes him very angry.
Sometimes he will watch the same episode again, as if
he is hoping for a different outcome.

40
 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

Then there’s Katy who is 17 and is trying to keep herself

together and get on with her life, and spends most of
the sessions talking about her father and getting really
angry at his apparent ‘thoughtlessness’.

In each of these cases I’m not aware of working any

differently with them though in one case the ‘story’ seems
to me to be grounded in reality whereas John’s story gets
described via a fantasy. The material John brings, however,
seems to me to be real in a paradoxical way. I suppose for
me, as a person-centred counsellor, it’s a simple case of
working with what the client brings, and doing my best
to engage in a way that seems helpful. There is definitely
a richness to working with ‘kids’ that I haven’t noticed as
much in my private client work with adults.

The challenging part of the job for me is to keep track of every

client’s different story. Schools tend to be incredibly busy
places where different priorities can kick in, particularly
in the spring term when exams are looming large. Then
I might get more ‘no shows’ or pupils forgetting simply
because they are so busy. Then I might not see a client for
three weeks and I’ll have forgotten where they were.

More challenging than that, however, is the trying to get

the balance right in terms of encouraging pupils to take
responsibility for their own counselling. Depending on
age and maturity, this ability to take responsibility varies
greatly among pupils. Many of them are used to others
doing everything for them. So remembering appointment
times without being reminded is a big deal.

There are times when I’m just not sure how best to respond,

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

or work with a particular client, in which case I would use

supervision to try and find a new perspective or a way
forward. At the moment I am aware that the sessions are
becoming very predictable with John and I have a desire
to do something about that, apart from simply noticing
my experience in the sessions. There are also times when
I have real concerns for a particular client and not sure
what to do. It is at these times in particular that I find
myself seeking the assistance of my supervisor.

I have two black and white pictures on the wall of my

counselling room. One shows a picture of a post box with
a small stool to help the children reach up. Ten small
children in a queue are waiting for their turn to post their
letters. Timothy, who was one of my very first clients, was
obviously taken by this picture and so I asked him what it
made him think of when he looked at it. “Be patient”, he
said.

It struck me then that, whether he was advising me or

himself or both, there was great wisdom in those words
from the mouth of a twelve-year-old boy who looked after
his own mother. And so I’ve tried to take his advice and
try and be patient with the pupils who come through the
counselling-room door.

Conclusion.

This is potentially a wonderful and privileged job. To be

privy to the stories of children who have often felt alone
in the world and to be able to help them see their way
through all that life throws or has thrown at them, is
incredibly rewarding. Yes, it is hard work at times, but it
feels meaningful and important. To be able to offer the
pupils a choice in something that happens ‘in school’,

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 A Week in the Life of a School-based Counsellor

to offer something valuable and otherwise unavailable,

gives me good reason for doing what I do. To have the
opportunity to work alongside other professionals and to
fight my own corner in a productive way, simply adds to
that sense of satisfaction. There are of course times when
things don’t go as planned and I’m knocked back the way,
but that would happen in any job.

43
Published in 2006 by the
University of Strathclyde,
76 Southbrae Drive,
Glasgow G13 1PP

© Michael Hough 2006

ISBN: 1 900743 53 1