As an Intern: A Formal Exposure to Guidance and Counseling - Essay Example

Guidance and Counseling play an important role in an educational institution. "It is a concept that institutions, especially schools, should promote the efficient and happy lives of individuals by helping them adjust to social realities." (Columbia Encyclopedia) During the internship in an educational institution under Guidance and Counseling, I was tasked to assist the counselors and staff of the said department. I was exposed to testing and Psychometrics including its administration and interpretation, counseling sessions, and seminar programs that are in response to the collective difficulties of the students.

The best activity that I have observed and experienced is assisting in a seminar program organized by the department. The program aimed to help students in coping with the stress that they encounter in school, with emphasis on how to react and deal with bullies in school. As part of the program organizer, the first step that we have considered before holding the event is to assess the current needs of the students through a survey done to every student. It was embedded in the counseling sessions wherein the students were asked some personal questions related to the problems that they encounter in school, family, and other matters.

From the survey, the collective experiences and problems encountered by most students are stress related to bullying. After identifying the top problems, the guidance counselors have designed a program to help address the common problems of students through information dissemination and seminars. Indeed, the program was very helpful to students and I believe that one way of solving a dilemma is through knowing and learning how to solve it. On the other hand, Even though I consider all the tasks relevant to the guidance programs but there are some tasks that I feel less productive.

Particularly, I feel less productive whenever I do administration tasks such as photocopying, collating seminar materials, and checking of test papers. I am aware that administration tasks are very important to function well as a department. If I will be employed in an institution as a Guidance Director, I would gladly implement specific programs that are certainly beneficial to all. The guidance and Counseling department will aim to serve as the helping hand of each student, parents, and school administrators in addressing problems about the student's welfare.

As stated in allaboutcounseling.com, "counseling is any relationship in which one person is helping another person to better understand and solve some problem." Indeed, the department should maintain good professional and personal relationships to some extent with each client. To carry out the goals of the department, as a director, the welfare of the counselors is also given attention. There should be a program wellness that is intended to address the counselors' needs, burnout problems, and others.

They should also be assessed from time to time to check whether they need training for improvements. The programs will have to be congruent with the goals of the Guidance and Counseling center. It will be called the "Community Wellness and Enhancement Program" and aims to equip students, parents, and school administrators in facing current and future difficulties to encounter.  

It is going to be more of a preventive than solving. In that way, we are ensuring that everyone is geared toward facing his or her school problems. In a guidance center, some services will be offered namely Information Services, Psychological Testing, Placement, and counseling. Information service will provide general information to students, administrators, and parents that will be helpful in some aspects of their lives through bulletin boards, advocacy campaigns, wellness programs, seminars, and forum. Psychological Testing should be administered to students for assessment of skills, interests, personality, and aptitude with the use of standardized psychological tests. “A psychological test is one of the sources of data used within the process of assessment; usually more than one test is used.” (Wikipedia.com) Testing will be helpful in job placement, career counseling, and individual counseling. While Counseling is the face-to-face interaction between a qualified counselor and a student that aims to solve a problem or attain a certain goal.

Most important of all, as a guidance director, one should be able to motivate guidance and counseling staff to attain the goals of the center. The staff should always be friendly, accommodating, and willing to help. In that way, the center will create a friendly environment that is open to everyone.