School counselors, also known as guidance counselors, assist students to endure tough classes, depression, peer pressure, and other problems that might negatively affect their probabilities for success. School counselors need some qualities that are useful in their line of work. Some of these characteristics include being people smart, having math abilities, observational skills, compassion and a right-thinking cap. Advanced education also helps counselors understand how to keep students on the right path academically and socially.
According to Ascar (2014), school counselors need to collaborate with other teachers or with other experts to ensure ideal outcomes are attained. From this, it is evident that school counselors need to have people skills. One’s skills enable them to listen to other people’s views and also be able to relate to students with an open mind. Excellent skills ensure the school counselors identify the most appropriate words to use different situations. Finally, counselors should poses excellent interpersonal skills for when relating with their students, other colleagues or when resolving conflicts.
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American School Counselor Association (2014) argues that school counselors should have good observational skills. Counselors have to look past words to be able to help students. Observational skills will help in spotting subtle signs of problems that students may be going through at home or school. The capability also necessitates in identifying students’ interests, abilities, and personality traits through tests or interviews. Counselors sometimes work in the classroom, where they observe the behavior and relationships of students. They use the information that acquired to give feedback to students and parents or to qualify students for curriculums that could help them (Alyson, 2013).
School counselors need to be compassionate in their line of work. Compassion and empathy will be able to help them in understanding the problems that students have as well as work efficiently with people in stressful situations. Furthermore, school counselors need critical thinking skills that include judgment, logic, and reasoning. Critical thinking will help them identify a problem, find alternative solutions and select the one that is most likely to work (American School Counselor Association, 2014).
Therefore, it can be considered that aside from competencies, certain personality traits make a person more likely to succeed in counseling. The above mentioned are some of the leading characteristics that are required to be successful in counseling students as well as to achieve a productive session when working together with the administrators.
References
Alyson, J. (2013). Qualities & Characteristics of Guidance Counselors.
American School Counselor Association (2014). Mindsets and Behaviors for Student Success: K-12 College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Every Student. Alexandria, V.A Press.
