Dr. Catherine Gachutha on import of school counselling
Prof Catherine Gachutha on import of school counselling
Catherine is the Director at Kenya Institute of Business & Counselling Studies (KIBCO) and Chairperson of Kenya Counselling and Psychological Association (KCPA), an umbrella body of counsellors and Psychologists standards of practice. She has taken a moment to share with us more about the importance of incorporating school counseling especially in the wake of the recent fire tragedies.
School counselors play a large role in supporting their students’ learning and development, including social-emotional attunement, skill development, and the ability to reflect and learn from their emotions in a healthy manner.
“These three areas are central to the role of school counselors and are essential in helping students understand and effectively address rising trends and incidences in schools,” she notes. “these if not properly checked are powerful forces that affect students’ learning outcomes and psycho-emotional development. They affect students’ ability to construct meaningful world views and seek pathways that ensure the basic human needs for safety, personal fulfillment, and community life.”
When traumatic events happen, counselors have a responsibility to the students they serve to help them comprehend the situation, console them, and help them to move forward. This can be done in a number of ways.
*Comprehension*
First, students need to be able to healthily comprehend the events that have taken place. Counselors can help by learning as much as they can about the given situation and evaluate their personal resourcefulness for the tasl. Once this is done, they can better help their students cope with the events.
“Phenomena such as violence and terrorism need to be understood before they can be resolved,” “School counselors’ self-knowledge about these issues is important. They need to be aware of how violence and terrorism affects them personally, what thoughts go through their minds, what they feel and in what ways they think they can respond to violent and terrorist acts. This will help them gain deeper insights into what students may be experiencing as they are confronted with such events.”
*Collaborate*
In order to best reach the students they serve. In this regard, counselors will have to work with parents, administrators, teachers, and members of the community. Violence and terrorism deeply affect everyone and can traumatize individuals and communities. Through community dialogue, reflection and collaboration, counselors can figure out the best ways to address these issues.
“School counselors, teachers, and other professional support personnel need to establish dialogic interactions that will keep dealing with emerging trends especially in the digital age,”. “This can be accomplished by newsletters, at PTO meetings and via other communication vehicles that allow parents to know how they can help reinforce their children’s learning at home.”
*Counsel*
When events in the community impact the emotional well-being of students, one-on-one interaction and small group interactions may be necessary to students’ well-being. Whether the event is largescale, such as the events that happened in Manchester, or more community based, students will need emotional support.
“The scars left from such events do not simply fade away,”. “School counselors are often on the front line in having to provide answers when there are none, and to provide comfort and support, which seems inadequate to help others come to terms with and heal the wounded hearts, minds, and psyche of those devastated by such events.”
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