Abstract
School Counselors historically have faced multiple challenges that impact their lives personally and professionally. Due to numerous and competing demands, school counselors are likely to experience a plethora of stressors including role conflict, high student to school counselor ratios, minimal support, and increasing mental health needs of students. The COVID 19 pandemic exacerbated these challenges by changing and adding to the responsibilities of school counselors, reducing access to appropriate support systems, and increasing students’ needs for counseling services. This qualitative, exploratory study utilized phenomenological inquiry to examine the impact of these challenges on school counselors’ personal and professional lives. The research questions focus on how Covid 19 impacted school counselor roles, their personal lives, and how they coped with the impact of COVID 19 on their personal and professional lives. The study consisted of eight participants who were licensed school counselors in two Midwestern states. The findings included themes of minimal training in moving to an online platform, increase in role conflict and non-school counselor duties, minimal support and resources, and increased burnout. Implications for the profession include the need for school counselors to receive training in technology and virtual environments, being mindful of assigning non-counseling duties, and ensuring that school counselors have organizational and administrative support, access to supervision, and adequate resources to help prevent feelings of burnout.
Recommended Citation
Akgul, T., Brown, J., & Karch, L. (2021). The personal and professional impact of COVID-19 on school counselors: An exploratory study.. The Interactive Journal of Global Leadership and Learning, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.55354/2692-3394.1024
