The Mental Health Counseling Role of School Counselors.

Abstract

Today's schools are called upon to educate a growing population of students whose social-emotional needs often interfere with the learning process. Conditions contributing to student mental health problems-poverty, homelessness, substance abuse, physical and sexual abuse, and domestic and community violence-are fast becoming a normal part of the family and neighborhood culture within which many students grow and develop. Through the inclusion process in special education, all students with mental health problems, no matter how serious, are offered the opportunity for education in the mainstream. As schools move forward in meeting the needs of these students, important questions must be asked about whether the services offered at present by school guidance counselors are adequate for the task at hand. Mucher (1996) agrees, suggesting that a more thoroughly trained mental health practitioner, who can bring together families and schools, is a necessary step. This article examines the implications the changing mental health needs of students and families have for the role of the school counselor and suggests that a mental health counseling role more aptly addresses those needs. CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS By almost any demographic yardstick, mental and emotional distress are taking an alarming toll on the young. A report from the National Institute of Medicine (National Advisory Mental Health Council, 1990) estimates that 15% to 22% of the nation's 63 million children and adolescents have mental health problems severe enough to warrant treatment, yet fewer than 20% receive any type of mental health services (Costello, 1990; Tuma, 1989; Zill & Schoenborn, 1990). The National Institute study further indicates that children in recent years tend to manifest mental health problems at an earlier age. Homelessness is on the increase with 60,000 to 100,000 children homeless on any given night (Bassuk, 1991), with 43% of those children not attending school on any given day (Hall & Maza, 1990). By 1992, 22% of all children were living in families with incomes below the poverty line, with one in four living with only one parent (Dryfoos, 1994). The likelihood of living in poverty increases significantly if single parent households are headed by a female-55% of children residing in single-parent families headed by the mother live in economically impoverished conditions (Dryfoos, 1994). The rate of children born to single parents has also increased from 5% in 1960, to 10% in 1970, to 29.5% in 1991 (Cherlin & Furstenberg,1991). The needs of students requiring a mental health response in schools have increased significantly. Suicide, sudden death (either natural or accidental), and acts of individual and gang violence are routine crises for today's schools (Thompson, 1995). In fact, violent death through either accidents or homicide accounts for the majority of deaths in the 15-24 age group (Edgar & Howard-Hamilton, 1994). Prior to the last decade, depression in children was viewed as nonexistent (Ramsey,1994). Today, the American Psychiatric Association (1992) estimates that from 3 million to 6 million children suffer from clinical depression and are at high risk for suicide. At a recent meeting of school counselors with the first author in Frederick, Md., every one of the 15 present stated that he or she was working with depressed children. Nationally, the number of children admitted to psychiatric hospitals tripled between 1980 and 1986 from 17,000 to 43,000 (Darnton, 1989). The numbers of students diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder continues to rise, so that this now represents one of the most frequently diagnosed disorders in childhood. Estimates suggest that from 3% to 20% of our nation's children are affected (Erk,1995). DECREASED COMMUNTY SERVICES Even with the movement toward school-based and school-linked services, most community mental health services remain isolated and fragmented from school initiatives and inaccessible to students and families. …

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