The most important philosophical underpinnings of school counseling are rooted in the autonomy of the individual and his own right to become the best person that he can be. Autonomy means that the individual has the right to “control his own life” (ACA, 2014). The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) on the other hand talks of the second major underpinning as it mentions that one of its most important tenets is “each person has the right to receive the information and support needed to move toward self-direction and self-development” (ASCA, 2010). This means that counseling young students has the end intentions or objectives of bringing out self-development and improvement in the person while endowing him with the power to make decisions for himself and allowing him to take responsibility for his actions as well.
These two major concepts are important to any school counselor for several reasons. First, these concepts clearly define the role of the counselor as a facilitator in the mental, physical and perhaps even spiritual growth of the young individual. The counselor can therefore be compared to a mentor who guides the young mind to fruition and maturity. Also, these concepts can never be overstated because they both stress the nature of counseling itself – that counseling is for the purpose of improving the lives of these students, and to see to it that the students actually benefit from the act of counseling. These two concepts also imply that the counselor is accountable to the student – that in fact, whether or not the student has achieved self-direction and self-development are now metrics on which the effectiveness of the performance of the counselor may be measured.
References
American Counseling Association. 2014. 2014 Code of Ethics. Retrieved 27 February 2016 from: http://www.counseling.org/docs/ethics/2014-aca-code-of-ethics.pdf?sfvrsn=4
American School Counselors Association. 2010. Ethical Standards for School Counselors. Retrieved from: http://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/Resource%20Center/Legal%20and%20Ethical%20Issues/Sample%20Documents/EthicalStandards2010.pdf
