Your School Counselor Connection

School Counseling Resources

• ACA Professional Development and Training Resources

  Books

  • A School Counselor's Guide to Small Groups: Coordination, Leadership, and Assessment (ASGW) edited by Sarah I . Springer, Lauren J. Moss, Nader Manavizadeh, and Ashley Pugliese
  • Developing & Managing Your School Guidance & Counseling Program by Norman C. Gysbers and Patricia Henderson
  • Cyberbullying: What Counselors Need to Know by Sheri Bauman
  • Active Interventions for Kids and Teens: Adding Adventure and Fun to Counseling! by Jeffrey S. Ashby, Terry Kottman, and Don DeGraaf 
  • Neuroscience-Informed Counseling With Children and Adolescents by Thomas A. Field and Michelle R. Ghoston 
  • Partners in Play: An Adlerian Approach to Play Therapy, Third Edition by Terry Kottman and Kristin Meany-Walen
  • Tough Kids, Cool Counseling: User-Friendly Approaches With Challenging Youth, Second Edition by John Sommers-Flanagan and Rita Sommers-Flanagan
  • Youth at Risk: A Prevention Resource for Counselors, Teachers, and Parents, Seventh Edition edited by David Capuzzi and Douglas R. Gross
    
    Youth who are supported by their families, schools, and communities are much more likely to be able to cope with life’s challenges. Unfortunately, the number of children and teens who engage in risky behaviors such as substance abuse, abnormal eating, suicide attempts, or unsafe sexual practices and who are exposed to abuse, bullying, violence, and homelessness continues at alarming rates. This latest edition examines the factors that put youth at risk and provides prevention strategies and strength-based interventions.
    
    
  • Solution-Focused Counseling in Schools, Fourth Edition by John J. Murphy (available September 2022)
    
    The latest edition of this award-winning text translates the theoretical foundations of solution-focused counseling into a practical, culturally responsive approach for students and mental health professionals in school settings. Text features include a variety of real-life examples and dialogues with preschool–12 students, experiential activities and practice exercises, and appendixes with tools for putting solution-focused counseling into immediate action.
    
    
    
  • Antiracist Counseling in Schools and Communities edited by Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy
    This groundbreaking book operationalizes what counselors need to know and do to combat systemic racism. Readers will learn how to define an antiracist approach to their work and behavior; proactively address racial incidents in schools; create college and career readiness systems for students of color; and apply antiracist perspectives to K–12 counseling practice, counselor professional development, school-family-community partnerships, counselor training programs, and counseling supervision.
    
    
    
  • Critical Incidents in School Counseling, 3rd Edition edited by Tarrell Awe Agahe Portman, Chris Wood, and Heather J. Fye
    
    In 30 chapters covering a diverse range of contemporary issues, school counseling experts analyze and discuss case incidents from a best practices perspective. Topics are organized around the CACREP Standards and incidents not only create teachable moments in the classroom and prepare counselors-in-training for the school counseling profession, but also provide excellent professional development for practicing school counselors.

   

  JOURNAL ARTICLES

  Journal of Counseling & Development

  • The Effects of Job Demands and Resources on School Counselor Burnout: Self-Efficacy as a Mediator
  • Evidence for Relationships Between Hope, Resilience, and Mental Health Among Youth
  • Exploring the Relationship Between School Counselors’ Perceived ASCA National Model Implementation, Supervision Satisfaction, and Burnout
  • Framework of Anti-Racist School Counseling Competencies: A Delphi Study
  • Interpersonal Stress, Interpersonal Competence, and Gender Matter for Adolescents’ Depressive Symptoms: Considerations for Counselors
  • An Investigation of the Relationship Between School Counselor Trainees’ Broaching Behavior and Their Racial Identity Attitudes
  • School Counselors’ Experiences With Lockdown Drills: A Phenomenological Investigation

  The Career Development Quarterly

  • Challenges for Parents of Color in Children’s STEM Career Aspiration
  • Children’s Career Expectations and Parents’ Jobs: Intergenerational (Dis)continuities
  • Dysfunctional Career Thoughts and Perceived Quality of Parental Relationships in Adolescents With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
  • Efficacy of a College and Career Readiness Program: Bridge to Employment

  Counselor Education and Supervision

  • LGBTQI+ Responsive School Counseling: Exemplary School Counselor Educators’ Curricular Integration
  • School Counselor Consultation Preparation: A National Study
  • School Counselor Educators’ Experiences Navigating Practicum and Internship During COVID-19

  The Journal of Humanistic Counseling

  • Black Children Matter Too: Disrupting Systemic Oppression in Education
  • Historicity in Advocating Student-Within-Environment: Being a Socially Just School Counselor
  • Is Humanism the Antidote? School Counselor Conversations Disrupting the Impact of Systemic Racism on College Attendance
  • Principles for Humanistic Responsiveness to Children and Adolescents Coping With the Pandemic
  • Safe Healing Circles: Mindful Self-Compassion Interventions to Address Racial Battle Fatigue With Teachers of Color

  Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development

  • Grappling With Race: A National Study of the Broaching Attitudes and Behavior of School Counselors, Clinical Mental Health Counselors, and Counselor Trainees
  • Multicultural Education and Perceived Multicultural Competency of School Counselors
  • Schools as Jails: Urban African American Adolescent Males’ (UAAM) Experiences and Perceptions of Violence in Low-Income Public Schools
  • Utilizing Latinx Cultural Wealth to Create a College-Going Culture in High School

  Continuing Education Courses

  • Justice and Advocacy: Antiracist Counseling in Schools 
  • Reaching out vs Lashing Out 
  • Crisis and Grief in Schools 
  • Counselor Tips for Success: Transitioning to New Positions in Schools 
  • Addiction in the Schools 
  • Counseling Students Who Have Experienced Trauma
  • ACA members can earn a free CE every month

  Additional ACA Resources

  • ACA Store
  • ACA Continuing Education
  • Counseling Today
  • The Journal of Counseling & Development
  • ACA Podcast, “The Voice of Counseling” 
  • Articles about school counseling in Counseling Today and The Journal of Counseling & Development
  • Tip-sheets on Creating affirming spaces for LGBTQ youth
  • A printable ACA + Human Rights Campaign support sign "I proudly affirm LGBTQ students, staff and families" 

• Anti-Racism Resources for School Counselors

  The need for anti-racism programs and education in schools is great. However, according to the Edweek Research Center, 82% of educators do not receive any such training to prepare them in their programs. 

  The ACA offers many resources for school counselors in their work to promote equity and inclusion in their schools and community including:  

  • CE Course: Justice and Advocacy: Antiracist Counseling in Schools 
  • Antiracist Counseling in Schools and Communities by edited by Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy 
  • Framework of anti-racist school counseling competencies: A Delphi study | Journal of Counseling & Development 
  • ACA’s Racism Resource Page 
  • Anti-Racism Toolkit 

  We recommend these additional resources specifically for school counselors as they work to make positive changes in their spheres of influence: 

  • The School Counselor and Anti-Racist Practices | American School Counselor Association
  • Special Issue: Anti-Racist Counselor Education | Teaching and Supervision in Counseling; The University of Tennessee 

  Here are some more resources that can be helpful in the anti-racist efforts of school counselors as well as all educators: 

  • Anti-Racist Curriculum and Black Studies in Schools | Committee for Children
  • Anti-Racism Education, Programs, and Resources | New York University
  • Anti-Racist Teaching & Learning Collective | Teaching guides, lesson plans, and other resources.
  • Addressing Race and Trauma in the Classroom: A Resource for Educators | The National Child Traumatic Stress Network
  • Anti-racism in your school: 5 books to help you navigate what’s next
  • Anti-Racism Toolkit: Curricula | The Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR)
  • A Guide to Equity and Antiracism for Educators | Edutopia
  • Becoming an Anti-Racist Educator | Wheaton College
  • Black Lives Matter At School is a national coalition organizing for racial justice in education, they offer Curriculum including lesson plans, classroom resources for all ages
  • Culturally Responsive Teaching: A 50-State Survey of Teaching Standards & A Reflection Guide | New America 
  • Effective Teaching Is Anti-Racist Teaching | Brown University
  • Embrace Race | Resources for young children available for parents, grandparents, other caregivers, and early childhood educators.
  • Examining Learning Through an Anti-Racist Lens  | Teach For America
  • From Culturally Competent to Anti-Racist-Types and Impacts of Race-Related Trainings | Hanover Research 
  • How some educators are teaching antiracism to the youngest students | PBS
  • How 3 school systems initiated antiracist practices | K-12 Dive
  • The Immigrant History Initiative seeks to educate and empower communities through the untold stories of immigrant diasporas in America.
  • Learning for Justice provides free classroom resources to educators, teachers, administrators, counselors, and other practitioners who work with children from kindergarten through high school, as well as professional development resources for educators. 
  • The Post-Pandemic Pathway to Anti-Racist Education: Building a Coalition Across Progressive, Multicultural, Culturally Responsive, and Ethnic Studies Advocates | The Century Foundation  
  • Reducing Racism in Schools: The Promise of Anti-Racist Policies | The Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut
  • Shaping an Anti-Racist School Culture | Teach For America
  • Social Justice Books | The best selection of multicultural and social justice books for children, YA, and educators.
  • Social Justice: Resources for Talking with Your Children | Glazer Children’s Museum
  • Social Justice Resources: They're Not Too Young to Talk About Race | The Children’s Community School
  • Talking About Race | National Museum of African American History & Culture
  • Talking to Children About Racial Bias | American Academy of Pediatrics
  • The Zinn Education Project offers free, downloadable lessons and articles organized by theme, time period, and grade level. 
  • The 1619 Project offers curriculum and lesson plans, with a mission to “challenge us to reframe U.S. history by marking the year when the first enslaved Africans arrived on Virginia soil as our nation's foundational date. Here you will find reading guides, activities, and other resources to bring The 1619 Project into your classroom.” 
  • 10 Anti-Racism Professional Development Books for Teachers | We Are Teachers  

  ACA Commitment to Equity:

  The ACA reiterates our condemnation of the bans on “critical race theory” and related efforts by state legislators: Joint Statement on Legislative Efforts to Restrict Education about Racism and American History. These restrictions are making equity work in schools even more difficult and are attempting to limit the ability of educators and school counselors to effectively and ethically teach the history of racial injustices and to confront the current inequitable reality many are still experiencing. As of May 2022, 42 states had introduced or passed such legislation. The legislation situation remains ongoing and fluid.

• College and Career Counseling Tools

  We offer these recommendations of a variety of college and career counseling resources to enable school counselors to help all students “reach higher,” starting at the elementary school level.

  College Scorecard – Developed by the U.S. Department of Education and Transparency Center, this tool is geared toward helping students find a college that is a good fit for them.

  Net Price Calculator Center – Helps students calculate the net price of any college program. 

  College Navigator – This site is designed to help students, parents, counselors and others find information on more than 7,000 colleges and universities. 

  Financial Aid Shopping Sheet – Students can use this tool to compare financial aid offers from different schools. 

  StudentAid.gov – This website is filled with resources for students, parents and educators about financial aid, FAFSA information and FAFSA completion tips. 

  State Academic Performance and Improvement Tool – Looking for state-level data to drive your annual program plan? Look no further than this Educational Trust webpage.

  Eight Components of College- and Career-Readiness Counseling – Learn how to focus your college- and career-readiness preparation and advising in developmentally appropriate ways for K-12 with this National Office for School Counseling Advocacy (NOSCA) guide.

  Learn how to establish a college-going culture by fostering preparedness for college and career pathways with these National Office for School Counseling Advocacy (NOSCA) guides:

  • High School Counselor Guide
  • Middle School Counselor Guide
  • Elementary School Counselor Guide

• Licensure Requirements

  Many professional school counselors choose to seek licensure in mental health to become more knowledgeable about mental health disorders and better able to recognize them when they occur in their students. In addition, licensure is key in setting up a private practice.

  Many school counseling graduate students opt to include the additional courses necessary for licensure while still in graduate school. As the licensure process may vary from state to state, it is best to check with your state’s counseling licensure board to determine the necessary steps, including the required coursework and the required number of clinically supervised hours. Some jurisdictions will count all hours worked by school counselors in their schools, while others count only the hours of direct contact with students. Some jurisdictions will not count any hours worked as a school counselor.

• Ethics

  Professional school counselors must follow federal, state and local laws, as well as the policies of the school district and the school in which they work. Difficult ethical dilemmas may arise when counseling minors—especially in the areas of confidentiality and managing boundaries. The American Counseling Association’s Code of Ethics provides guidance for how school counselors can address ambiguous situations that may arise as well as invaluable resources on ethical decision-making. 

• Community and Networking for School Counselors, Counseling Students, and School Counseling Educators

  ACA Connect, a networking portal exclusively for ACA members, provides opportunities to interact with other school counselors, school counseling graduate students, and counselor educators around the world.

• School Counseling Legislative Advocacy

  ACA is in your corner, tirelessly advocating for changes such as lower counselor-to-student ratios and more funding for school counseling programs.

• Career Opportunities for School Counselors

  Using ACA Career Central, school counseling professionals have access to a comprehensive digital job board to facilitate finding a rewarding position.

• Resources for School Counseling Graduate Students

  As ACA members, school counseling graduate students will find many valuable resources, including free liability insurance, which is required by most counseling programs when doing in-school fieldwork (practicums and internships).

  ACA also offers the following:

  • Consultations and help with a job search through ACA Career Central
  • Books of interest to graduate students, such as A Counselor’s Guide to the Dissertation Process: Where to Start & How to Finish, by Brandé Flamez, A. Stephen Lenz, Richard S. Balkin, and Robert L. Smith

  Learn more:

  • Job Hunting Tips and Resources
  • Find Public Schools, Private Schools or Colleges in Your Area
  • ACA Graduate Student Ethics Competition

• Resources for School Counseling Counselor Educators

  ACA offers the opportunity to order desk copies of books for consideration for course adoption, such as Evaluating Student Learning Outcomes in Counselor Education, written and edited by Casey A. Barrio Minton, Donna M. Gibson and Carrie A. Wachter Morris.

  The ACA Annual Conference & Expo helps keep counselor educators up-to-date on the latest evidence-based approaches to school counseling. 

• Trauma and Disaster Relief

  Schools face many natural and human-generated disasters. ACA is committed to providing resources to support school counselors in addressing the mental health needs of students, parents and staff affected by such events. In addition, ACA supports preventative programs for school counselors, including school-wide anti-violence programs and social skills training.

• School Counseling Issue Briefs

  These briefs provide counselors working in schools with concise information with recommended resources. Check out our Practice Briefs page to find additional quick reads on many counseling and mental health areas that are reputable and research-based. (ACA members only)

  • Addressing College and Career Readiness for Latinx Youth Maureen Quiles Ponce,
    Ph.D., LCPC 
  • Advocating For Equity In The Schools by Eva M. Gibson, Ed.D.
  • Autism Dr. Judith O’Rorke-Trigiani 
  • Brief Counseling Techniques for School Counselors by J. P. Oehrtman, Ph.D., LPSC
  • Bullying – Quick Overview and Resources by Kat Coy, M.S.
  • College Readiness: Strategies for Professional School Counselors by Frank Burtnett, Ed.D.
  • Covid19’s Impact on the Wellness of the School Counselor and Other Educators by Frank Burtnett, Ed.D.
  • Cultural Mistrust In Counseling by Dr. Thurman E. Webb Jr, Henry L. Benton III, and Harifah Hendrickson
  • Federal Legislation Impacting School Counselors, ACA Government Affairs
  • Human Trafficking Awareness for School Counselors by Dr. Jared S. Rose, LPCC-S (OH), NCC, EMDRC, President, Association for LGBT Issues in Counseling
  • Internet and Social Media Use by Students by Frank Burtnett, Ed.D.
  • School Counselor Consultation by Jeffrey M. Warren, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke
  • School Counselors Supporting Immigrant Students and Their Families Eunice Humphrey, Ed.D., LCPC
  • Strategies for School Counselors Self-Care ACA School Counseling Specialist
  • Student Chronic Illness: Suggestions for Professional School Counselors by Simone Lambert, Ph.D., LPC, NCC, President, American Counseling Association
  • Support Following School Shootings by Gerard Lawson, Ph.D., LPC, NCC, ACS, Past President, American Counseling Association 
  • Supporting Students and Stakeholders through COVID-19 by Eva M. Gibson, Ed.D.
    Assistant Professor, Austin Peay State University
  • Time Management: Strategies for School Counselors by Frank Burtnett, Ed.D.
  • Tips for School Counselors Seeking LPC Licensure, ACA School Counseling Specialist
  • Tip-sheet on Creating Affirming Spaces for LGBTQ Youth by Vincent “Vinnie” Pompei, Ed.D. Director, Youth Well-Being Project, Human Rights Campaign Foundation
  • Transitioning Back to In-Person Learning: What’s Worth Keeping? by Frank Burtnett, Ed.D. 
  • Transitioning to a School Counselor Position in the “New Normal” School by Frank Burtnett, Ed.D.
  • Trauma-Informed Approaches for Counselors in Elementary Schools by Linda M. Colón, M.Ed., NCC, LPC, and Nancy N. Carlson, Ph.D., LCPC
  • Utilizing Families as Allies to Queer and Trans Students of Color by Christian D. Chan, Ph.D., NCC, Assistant Professor of Counseling, Idaho State University, President-Elect, Association for Adult Development and Aging (AADA)

• Related Organizations

  The ACA collaborates with many school counselor focused organizations to support the needs of professional school counselors.

  The Council of National School Counseling & College Access Organizations unites many school counseling-focused national organizations representing almost 20 million professionals, students and families, and believes that every student should have access to counseling and advisement to achieve post-secondary success.

  The Center for School Counseling Outcome Research Evaluation (CSCORE) is a national center dedicated to school counseling outcome research. Teams of graduate students, along with Center founder Ron Fredrickson, evaluate the best available research on school counseling practices and provide evidence-based resources for consultation, training, and technical assistance.

  The American School Counseling Association supports school counselors in helping students focus on academic, career and social/emotional development.

  The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) is dedicated to serving students and helping them pursue their post-secondary educational goals.

  College Board webinars offer information on best practices and ways to remove barriers to college access.