School counseling incorporates a variety of direct and indirect student services that focus on academic achievement, success, and personal development of students. CACREP and American School Counselor Association standards guide school counselors in upholding ethical practice and the delivery of counseling services. Short-term individual school counseling can aid in student success and achievement. This chapter examines individual counseling theory and its application to empirically based practice in the school. The efficacy of person-centered counseling, solution-focused brief therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, reality therapy, narrative therapy, and gestalt/expressive therapies are demonstrated through case studies. Practical applications and interventions are provided through case studies.

As with any profession, the roles, responsibilities, and foci areas will evolve as the technological and societal needs change. This chapter begins by providing foundational knowledge about the school counseling profession and its historical pathway. Key events in the United States have shaped the profession in recent years, leading to identification of the current trends affecting school counselors. Advancements in technology, increasing responsibilities, and future directions will be discussed.

According to the American School Counselor Association, school counselors have both an ethical and professional responsibility to help all students meet or exceed academic standards by supporting them with academic, career, and social-emotional development, with consideration for both the strengths and challenges that result from working with students with disabilities or other special needs. However, students receiving special education services are often excluded from school counseling interventions. The purpose of this chapter is to address the need for school counseling interventions related to exceptional students. This chapter will highlight this issue and provide recommendations for school counselor collaboration with special education staff to ensure appropriate service delivery to all.

The American School Counseling Association (ASCA) published a list of appropriate and inappropriate school counseling duties to serve as a guide for PK–12 education related to the intended role and focus of the school counseling profession. School counseling practicum and internship students, as well as recent graduates, are often surprised and frustrated with what they experience as an incongruency between their training focused on an aspirational model and real-life counseling practice. The reality of school counseling practice is that contracts almost always include an “other duties as assigned” clause for both classroom teachers and professional school counselors that require activities that seem unrelated to the training or role of school counseling. This chapter will provide a framework for understanding how these “inappropriate duties” can be embraced by practicing school counselors (while at the same time advocating for change) in order to make connections with students, encourage collaboration, and demonstrate creative approaches to various duties.

This chapter addresses gender and identity issues in PK–12 education, including gender fluidity, students who identify as transgender and the transitioning process, students who identify as LGBTQ+, and general school-based advocacy and safety issues. This chapter offers ways to create safe and affirming spaces for LGBTQ+ students in schools. It serves as a foundation for seeking more knowledge to best serve these affinity groups. Scholarly support and practitioner recommendations for school-based support including student-led groups, staff training, parent education, and safe school culture curriculum are presented.

While the community mental health profession has provided online counseling interventions regularly in the form of telehealth counseling, this counseling platform is not as frequently offered, nor explored, in the scholarly literature related to school counseling. With the onset of online PK–12 instruction throughout the United States in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, school counselors were forced to adjust their reach to align with the virtual platform. This chapter explores the best practice recommendations related to providing school counseling interventions in an online/virtual format.

Classroom engagements and lessons are an important part of the role of school counselors. Classroom guidance allows for systemic change and collaboration with the teachers. Classroom guidance should be implemented in PK–12 settings and focus on academics, career, and personal/social domains consistent with a comprehensive school counseling program. This chapter will focus on developmentally appropriate and culturally relevant classroom guidance lessons/presentations for each level of school counseling. A discussion of relevance, scholarly support, best practice, classroom management strategies and practical application will be provided.

This chapter serves as an introduction to building a comprehensive school counseling program (CSCP). In a CSCP, school counselors serve as collaborative leaders advocating for systemic change using data and incorporating an equity lens with every decision made. CSCPs are developed, delivered, and maintained to promote student success in academic, career, and social/emotional domains. Examples of how varying school districts throughout the United States approach school counseling programs are included. This chapter also provides guidance for school counselors through the process of developing a CSCP. Scholarly support for the benefits of a CSCP are presented, and practical application of the model, including the benefits of a CSCP for multiple stakeholders, are discussed.

Implementing data-driven school counseling interventions helps ensure school counseling program efficacy. School counselors benefit from being knowledgeable regarding the various types of data available in schools and having the skills to appropriately analyze assessment results to drive school counseling interventions and implement systemic change. Data can be used to advocate for equity and inclusion and identify opportunities for engagement.