Orientación Psicológica Escolar Vol VII Antonio Tena Suck

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Temas selectos en orientación psicológica, Vol. VII
Orientación psicológica escolar
D.R. © 2013 Por Editorial El Manual Moderno S.A de C.V.
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Department Chair and Co-Director, School 
Counseling
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UNIVERSIDAD IBEROAMERICANA
Antonio Tena Suck
Director del Departamento de Psicología
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Diseño de portada
Orientación psicológica escolar. -- México : Editorial El Manual 
Moderno : UIA, 2013. 
xii, 66 páginas : ilustraciones ; 28 cm. –- (Temas selectos en 
orientación psicológica ; v. 7)
 
ISBN 978-970-729-158-4 (Obra completa) 
ISBN 978-607-448-348-2 (v.7)
ISBN 978-607-448-349-9 (v.7 versión electrónica) 
1. Orientación (Psicología). 2. Salud mental – Aspectos psicoló-
gicos. I. Universidad Iberoamericana (México, D.F.). II. título
 
158.3023scdd21 Biblioteca Nacional de México
V
Introducción ................................................................................................................................................ VII
Antonio Tena Suck
María Suárez Fernández.
Colaboradores .............................................................................................................................................. IX
School Counseling: Multiple Possibilities ........................................................................................................ 1
Donna A. Henderson
Department of Counseling
Wake Forest University
Confidentiality any records: 
Critical issues for counselors working in schools ............................................................................................. 7
Lynn E. Linde
Educational Specialties Department
Loyola University Maryland
School-Based Suicide Prevention Programming: 
Responding to Mexico´s Rise in Youth Suicide ............................................................................................... 15
Darcy Haag Granello & Paul F. Granello
The Ohio State University
El ABC para el manejo del TDAH .................................................................................................................... 25
Eduardo Barragán
Departamento de Neurología Pediátrica
Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez
Cómo enfrentar la apatía y la depresión en adolescentes en el ámbito escolar ................................................ 35
Bárbara Sánchez Armass
Centro Eleia
Foros Virtuales de Discusión: Prácticas de Uso y Desafíos 
Psicopedagógicos para los Docentes ..................................................................................................................... 45
Gabriela Rosalía Barajas Díaz y Laura Elena Porras Hernández
Universidad de las Américas, Puebla
Acoso entre iguales: Características personales 
y sociales en jóvenes mexicanos .................................................................................................................... 55
Armando Ruiz Badillo
Universidad Pedagógica Nacional
Unidad Ajusco
La necesidad de una certificación profesional 
para psicoterapeutas mexicanos .................................................................................................................... 63
Patricia García Fernández
Asociación Méxicana de Orientación
Contenido
VI
Introducción
El pasado 19 y 20 de octubre del 2012, realizamos el IV 
Congreso Internacional AMOPP “Counseling Escolar 
y Vocacional. Estrategias eficaces dentro y fuera de la 
escuela”, avalado académicamente por la Universidad 
Iberoamericana y el National Board for Certifed Counselors, 
por sus siglas NBCC. Este evento se llevó a cabo en las 
instalaciones de The American School Foundation A.C., 
Campus Cuidad de México.
En la Asociación Mexicana de Orientación Psicoló-
gica y Psicoterapía A.C. AMOPP, pensamos pertinente, 
dada la calidad de los ponentes y de los contenidos 
temáticos, realizar la edición de la revista como 
“Orientación Psicológica Escolar”. Esta revista responde 
a la imperiosa necesidad de ampliar la visión y alcance 
de la profesión del orientador psicológico escolar en los 
centros educativos ante los complejos retos que enfrenta 
la educación actualmente. 
Por lo que presentamos el volumen VII de la revista 
Temas Selectos en Orientación Psicológica (TSOP). La 
cual se mantiene como una serie de publicaciones anuales, 
bilingües, organizada en números monotemáticos 
continuos, que se integran por artículos inéditos de 
autores destacados en el área de la psicología y de la 
orientación psicológica. 
El objetivo de esta publicación es promover la salud 
mental en contextos no tradicionales de prevención. 
Ubicando con exactitud a la orientación psicológica en 
el mundo de los profesionales, proporcionándoles un 
marco teórico de referencia que les permita adoptar una 
identidad y un concepto funcional de salud psicológica. 
Los artículos que se presentan ayudarán a la promoción de 
una práctica profesional eficiente frente a los problemas 
que aquejan a nuestra sociedad actual; profesionales y 
estudiantes de medicina, psicología, psiquiatría, trabajo 
social y educación, entre otros; encontrarán en Temas 
Selectos en Orientación Psicológica, las herramientas 
adecuadas para el ejercicio profesional de sus funciones. 
Se busca atender a un mercadoen expansión y que 
se reconozca el rol profesional del orientador psicológico, 
de importancia determinante para el cumplimiento de su 
misión de ayuda en el campo de la salud mental.
Los orientadores escolares, entre otras cosas, suelen 
involucrarse en procesos de:
• Acompañar a los estudiantes en la resolución de 
problemas sociales o de comportamiento a través 
de sesiones individuales y/o grupales.
• Desarrollar habilidades como organización, gestión 
del tiempo y hábitos de estudio eficaz.
• Desarrollar con los estudiantes metas académico-
profesionales realistas, desarrollando un plan para 
lograrlas.
• Identificar y evaluar habilidades e intereses en los 
estudiantes a través de estrategias de desarrollo de 
aptitudes, evaluaciones y entrevistas con los profe-
sores, con los administradores y padres para ayudar 
a los estudiantes a tener éxito.
• Impartir clases y talleres sobre temas tales como 
acoso escolar, abuso de drogas y planificación para 
la universidad o análisis profesiográfico de carreras, 
etc.
• Identificar y divulgar posibles casos de negligencia 
o abuso entre los estudiantes y padres para plantear 
y desarrollar los recursos fuera de la escuela para la 
ayuda adicional.
• Desarrollar objetivos realistas junto con sus clientes a 
través de la toma de decisiones objetivos profesionales 
y de elección de carrera.
• Desarrollar y potenciar habilidades relacionadas a la 
búsqueda de un trabajo, elaboración un CV, prepa-
ración para una entrevista de trabajo etc.
• Resolver problemas en el trabajo, tales, como con-
flictos con jefes o compañeros de trabajo.
• Ayudar a los clientes a seleccionar y aplicar progra-
mas educativos para obtener los grados necesarios, 
credenciales u orientadores de habilidades de trabajar 
con clientes en diversas etapas de sus carreras. 
• Orientar la labor de los estudiantes para empatar sus 
habilidades y competencias con posibles puestos de 
trabajo de acuerdo a sus grados académicos.
• Dotar al profesorado y al equipo directivo de estrate-
gias para la resolución de problemas dentro y fuera 
del aula. 
• Potenciar la convivencia entre los miembros de la 
comunidad educativa. 
• Guiar la labor directiva para que responda a los 
requerimientos y debilidades de la comunidad edu-
cativa. 
• Apoyar al estudiante en su desarrollo educativo, 
emocional y profesional. 
Nuestro propósito no es exigir una transformación radical 
de la figura de los orientadores psicológicos en los centros 
educativos de enseñanza, sino animar al lector a reconsi-
derar el trabajo diario que este ejerce en ellos e incitarle a 
la aplicación de algunas de las estrategias expuestas que 
pongan en valor el nuevo rol que la escuela en general, 
requiere de este profesional.
VII
Introducción
Los autores de los artículos son profesionistas con 
una amplia experiencia en el campo de la orientación 
psicológica escolar, que en sus trayectorias profesionales 
se han topado con circunstancias que les han permitido 
ahondar en ésta área tan apasionante de la educación.
En el artículo sobre “School Counseling: Multiple 
Possibilities “la Dra. Donna A. Henderson nos comenta 
de la construcción de un programa de orientación escolar 
eficaz el cual tiene cuatro puntos críticos por desarrollar. 
Destacando también que las escuelas rebosan energía y 
posibilidades. Estas instituciones ofrecen oportunidades 
para crecer y aprender. Las escuelas crean laboratorios para 
las dificultades del mundo y permiten a los estudiantes 
descubrir habilidades para la vida de muchas maneras.
Por otro lado, la Dra. Lynn E. Linde en su aporte 
intitulado: “Conf identiality any records: Critical issues 
for counselors working in schools” nos mete de lleno en 
los problemas relativos de confidencialidad y la toma 
de notas, las cuales son particularmente cruciales para 
los orientadores escolares. Ya que, usualmente brindan 
anotaciones de orientación psicológica, que son parte de 
la crónica del estudiante y anotaciones personales que 
no compartirían con nadie. Si bien comenta Linde, no 
hay leyes para explicar quién puede acceder a la crónica 
del estudiante, los orientadores deben seguir códigos de 
ética para manejar adecuadamente la confidencialidad 
de sus anotaciones e información sobre los estudiantes. 
Recomienda por otro lado que, las escuelas que carecen de 
políticas y métodos tengan que desarrollar las directrices 
para proteger la información de los estudiantes y defender 
los derechos de las familias.
El suicidio es un fenómeno complejo que exige 
nuestra atención, pero desafortunadamente, su prevención 
y control no es tarea fácil. Los doctores Darcy y Paul 
Granello, de la Universidad de Ohio, nos comentan 
del riesgo de suicidio entre los adolescentes mexicanos 
como un problema importante de salud pública, en su 
artículo : “School-Based Suicide Prevention Programming: 
Responding to Mexico´s Rise in Youth Suicide”, abordan el 
riesgo de suicidio en los jóvenes a través de programas de 
prevención universal en las escuelas, de la educación de 
prevención del suicidio, educación para la salud mental 
y monitoreo de la depresión. Es crucial desarrollar una 
cultura donde la prevención del suicidio sea vista como 
una responsabilidad compartida.
El ABC para el manejo del TDAH con el Dr. 
Eduardo Barragán nos plantea cómo a través de un 
tratamiento multimodal podemos mejorar las condiciones 
que favorezcan que un número importante de estos 
pacientes puedan tener la factibilidad de ser tratados, 
quitando el estigma social que genera el tratamiento 
y las presiones sociales hacia quién decide una opción 
de esta naturaleza. Enfatiza que la precaución y el 
conocimiento exacto de la psicofarmacología por parte 
de los especialistas que se dedican a trabajar con pacientes 
con TDAH deberán ser de la más alta calidad, para 
asegurar un tratamiento exitoso.
Por otro lado, Bárbara Sánchez hace una revisión 
teórica de “Cómo enfrentar la apatía y la depresión 
en adolescentes en el ámbito escolar” términos que se 
parecen pero que no son iguales y que, puede ser la gran 
diferencia en su manejo. En este artículo se presentan 
ambos problemas y una propuesta de intervención donde 
el rol del maestro es fundamental, ya que una pronta 
detección e intervención puede ayudar al adolescente a 
salir de este obstáculo. 
No podemos negar la importancia y relevancia de 
“Los Foros Virtuales de Discusión: Prácticas de Uso 
y Desafíos Psicopedagógicos para los Docentes”. Las 
autoras Gabriela Rosalía Barajas Díaz y Laura Elena 
Porras Hernández nos plantean que siguen siendo 
incorporados como herramientas de comunicación y 
colaboración en ambientes de enseñanza y aprendizaje 
en línea, el poder revisar los usos que se dan a estos foros, 
a partir de las percepciones positivas o negativas que 
tienen los estudiantes al respecto. Y es por ello que se 
describen los retos que deberán enfrentar los docentes 
en sus intervenciones psicopedagógicas, a fin de que 
puedan diseñar y gestionar aprendizajes significativos 
en la virtualidad. 
El término inglés bullying se refiere a cualquier forma 
de maltrato psicológico, verbal o físico producido entre 
escolares de forma reiterada a lo largo de un tiempo 
determinado. Se da mayoritariamente en el aula y patio 
de los centros escolares. El acoso escolar es una forma 
característica y extrema de violencia escolar , en el presente 
artículo, el Dr. Armando Ruiz Badillo presenta datos de 
estudios recientes en escuelas secundarias de la Ciudad 
de México y se describen las principales características 
de los protagonistas en el acoso.
Esperamos que el presente volumen de TSOP, siga 
reconociendo la labor y la identidad profesional de los 
orientadores psicológicos, en esta ocasión reconociendo 
a los que de forma callada trabajan en el ámbito escolar.
Antonio Tena Suck
Universidad Iberoamericana 
María Suárez Fernández.
Asociación Mexicana de Orientación Psicológica y 
Psicoterapia (AMOPP).
VIII
Colaboradores
Dra. PatriciaGarcía Fernández
Estudió Psicología en la Universidad Iberoamericana. 
Es Maestra en Psicología Clínica con especialidad en 
Terapias Sistémicas Posmodernas por la Universidad de 
las Américas. Se doctoró en Investigación Psicológica por 
la Universidad Iberoamericana. Tiene una especialidad 
en Psicoterapia Psicoanalítica por el Council of 
Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, cursó un diplomado en 
Supervisión de Practicas Psicológicas en la Universidad 
Iberoamericana y cuenta con MHF por el National 
Board for Community Counseling International. En el 
2010 fue Secretaria del Consejo Técnico de AMOPP-
Certificaciones. Ha trabajado como psicoterapeuta en 
práctica privada y como académica de asignatura en la 
Universidad Iberoamericana desde 1988. 
Dr. Eduardo Barragán Pérez
Médico General, Pediatra y Neurólogo Pediatra. 
Graduado de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de 
Guadalajara de Medicina, y Pediatra y Neurólogo 
Pediatra de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de 
México, del Hospital Infantil de México Federico 
Gómez. Jefe de Residentes del Hospital Infantil de 
México (1999-2000). Adscrito y Profesor adjunto de 
la especialidad de neurología pediátrica del Hospital 
Infantil de México Federico Gómez (UNAM). Maestría 
en ciencias médicas y odontológicas (UNAM). Profesor 
Asociado a Pediatría, Universidad La Salle (Hospital 
Español). Coordinador de la clínica de trastornos Neuro-
Conductuales y de cirugía de epilepsia (cirugía refractaria) 
del departamento de Neurología, Hospital Infantil de 
México. Vocal del departamento de Enseñanza, Hospital 
Infantil de México Federico Gómez.
Entre sus líneas de investigación destacan: Trastornos 
del neuro-desarrollo (TDAH y comorbilidades, Lenguaje, 
Trastornos Generalizados del desarrollo). Autor de 6 
libros (TDAH, Epilepsia), autor y coautor de más de 50 
capítulos de libros nacionales e internacionales y más de 
100 artículos y presentaciones de trabajos en congresos 
nacionales e internacionales.
Dra. Bárbara Sánchez Armass 
Licenciatura en Psicología, Maestría en Psicoterapia 
Psicoanalítica y Doctorado en Clínica Psicoanalítica. 
Labora desde hace 12 años en la práctica clínica. 
Actualmente, atiende pacientes.
Da clases a nivel licenciatura y maestría en el 
Centro Eleia. Dirige un grupo de investigación sobre la 
adolescencia en México en el Centro Eleia.
Dra. Donna Henderson
Donna Henderson, Ph.D., es una profesora de orientación 
psicológica en Wake Forest University. La Dra.
Henderson es una National Certified Counselor (NCC; 
Orientadora Nacional Certificada), una Licensed 
Professional Counselor (LPC; Orientadora Psicológica 
Profesional Licenciada), una North Carolina School 
Counselor (Orientadora Psicológica Escolar de Carolina 
del Norte), y una Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS; 
Supervisora Clínica Aprobada). Ella ha sido la autora 
de más de 30 publicaciones sobre salud mental y 
orientación escolar como también ha sido coautora 
de varios libros: Counseling children, 8va edición 
(2010); Developing an effective and accountable school 
counseling program, 2da edición (2007); Counselor 
preparation, 13ra edición (2012); y Handbook of school 
counseling (2003). La Dra. Henderson ha servido como 
presidenta de la Chi Sigma Iota (CSI), presidenta de la 
Association for Counselor Education and Supervision 
(ACES; Asociación para la Educación de Orientadores 
y la Supervisión) y en el Consejo Gubernamental de la 
American Counseling Association (ACA; Asociación de 
Orientación Norteamericana), como también en muchas 
otras posiciones de liderazgo, nacionales e internacionales, 
en el campo de la salud mental y la orientación escolar.
La Dra. Henderson ha ejercido en el campo de la 
salud mental y ha sido una educadora en orientación 
escolar por más de 15 años. Ella es la coordinadora 
del programa de orientación escolar en Wake Forest 
University y ha funcionado como presidenta interina para 
el departamento. Como profesora, la Dra. Henderson ha 
enseñado cursos en orientación escolar, orientación de 
niños, desarrollo del periodo de vida, procedimientos de 
valoración, consultación, ética de la orientación, prácticas 
de orientación y pasantías de orientación.
La Dra. Henderson ha servido como miembro 
del equipo visitante a la localidad para el Council on 
Accreditation for Counseling and Related Educational 
Programs (CACREP; Consejo sobre la Acreditación de 
Orientación y de Programas Educacionales Relacionados), 
proporcionado servicios de consultoría para universidades 
en asuntos de acreditación. 
IX
ColaboradoresColaboradores
Es una entrenadora experta del proyecto de Mental 
Health Facilitator (Facilitador de Salud Mental) de la 
NBCC International, una división de la National Board 
for Certified Counselors (NBCC, Junta Nacional para 
Orientadores Certificados), proporcionando instrucción 
para países que están desarrollando programas de salud 
mental y de orientación escolar.
Dra. Lynn E. Linde 
Is an Assistant Clinical Professor and the Coordinator of 
Clinical Experiences in the School Counseling program 
at Loyola University Maryland. She received her Master’s 
in school counseling and doctorate in counseling from 
The George Washington University. She is the former 
Branch Chief for Student Services at the Maryland State 
Department of Education, State Specialist in School 
Counseling, and was an elementary special education 
teacher and secondary school counselor. She was the 
2009-2010 President of the American Counseling 
Association and is the current Treasurer of ACA. She 
is also a member of the Ethics Revision Task Force, the 
chair of the Ethics Appeal Panel and the chair of the 
School Counseling Task Force. She was the Southern 
Region representative to ACA Governing Council, 
Past Chair of the ACA—Southern Region, and Past 
President of the Maryland Association for Counseling 
and Development, and has chaired several committees 
and task forces. She is an ACA Fellow, a recipient of the 
Carl Perkins Award, and has received a number of awards 
from ACA, its entities, and from the State of Maryland.
Dra. Darcy Granello
Darcy Haag Granello, Ph.D., is a Professor of Counselor 
Education in the College of Education and Human 
Ecology at The Ohio State University. She is an 
Ohio Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor with 
a Supervising Credential. She has published over 60 
articles in peer-reviewed national journals, has made 
over 100 international, national, and state presentations, 
and has secured over $750,000 in grants. She is co-
author of three books (Suicide: An essential guide 
for helping professionals and educators; Suicide, self-
injury and violence in the schools; Counseling Today: 
Foundations of professional identity.). One of Darcy’s 
research foci is in suicide prevention, assessment, and 
intervention, and she has received more than $500,000 
in funding to develop and implement a comprehensive 
suicide prevention plan for the OSU campus. Her 
second area of interest is in counselor education, 
specifically the cognitive development of counselors, 
counseling supervision, conducting outcome assessment, 
and attitudes towards persons with mental illness. 
Darcy and her husband, Paul, are certified American 
Association of Suicidology trainers for assessing and 
managing suicide risk, certified suicide prevention 
gatekeeper trainers, and Red Cross Mental Health First 
Responders. Together they regularly conduct 3-hour and 
6-hour trainings on suicide prevention, assessment, and 
intervention to practicing counselors and other helping 
professionals.
Dr. Paul Granello
Paul F. Granello is an Associate Professor of Counselor 
Education at The Ohio State University. He is an 
Ohio Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor with 
supervising credentials. Paul is a founding partner with 
the Ohio Department of Mental Health in establishing 
the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation. He is currently 
the recipient of $2.3 million in federal funds for suicide 
prevention under the Garrett LeeSmith Act. Paul has 
presented and trained on suicide over 100 workshops 
nationally and internationally and has co-authored three 
books on suicide (Suicide: An essential guide for helping 
professionals and educators; Case studies in suicide: 
Experiences of mental health professionals; Suicide, 
self-injury, and violence in the schools), and a textbook 
(Wellness counseling). Paul is a QPR certified suicide 
prevention instructor and an SPRC trainer. Paul also 
conducts research on psychotherapy outcomes and the 
psychological and social characteristics of individual well-
being. He has published over 20 articles in peer reviewed 
national journals, has authored 9 book chapters on 
suicide, anxiety, technology in counseling, and wellness, 
and has published two DVDs on counseling techniques 
with Prentice Hall.
Dra. Gabriela Rosalía Barajas Díaz
Es Doctora en Psicología por parte de la Universidad de 
las Américas, Campus Puebla. Cuenta con una Maestría 
en Administración, un Diplomado sobre Innovación para 
el Aprendizaje y otro sobre Tecnología para la Educación 
por parte de esta misma Universidad. 
Fue reconocida por la Universidad Iberoamericana 
Campus Puebla con el premio al “Mejor desempeño 
docente” durante 10 periodos y recibió el premio “Scholar 
UDLAP 2009-2010” por haber obtenido el mejor 
promedio como estudiante de posgrado. 
X
TSOP Vol VII. Orientación psicológica escolar
Desde 1985 se  ha desarrollado en el campo de 
la consultoría a diferentes instituciones (financieras, 
industriales y de servicios), escuelas y universidades, tanto 
públicas como privadas en lo relacionado con sus procesos 
de cambio, su planteamiento estratégico y la alineación de 
las prácticas organizacionales, la integración y coaching 
de equipos directivos y la facilitación de procesos 
humanos y formativos.   
Dra. Laura Elena Porras Hernández
Es Directora del Departamento de Ciencias de la 
Educación en la Universidad de las Américas, Puebla, 
además de ser Profesora e Investigadora de tiempo 
completo en la misma institución. Obtuvo el grado 
de Ph.D. en Tecnología Educativa por la Concordia 
University, Montreal Canadá, con especialidad en Me-
dios: Investigación y Desarrollo, así como en Desarrollo 
de Recursos Humanos. Ha sido consultora en proyectos 
de desarrollo con medios en empresas privadas y 
gubernamentales tanto en México como en Canadá. 
Sus líneas de investigación se concentran en el 
estudio de procesos cognitivos y afectivos mediante 
el uso de nuevas tecnologías en educación, ambientes 
de aprendizaje colaborativo, formación y desarrollo de 
docentes para la integración de tecnología.
Forma parte del grupo de investigación sobre 
Tecnologías de Información y Comunicación para la 
Educación y el Desarrollo Social, el cual ha desarrollado 
proyectos en esta línea desde 1999 hasta la fecha, 
financiados por agencias nacionales e internacionales. 
Es miembro de la Association of Educational Commu-
nications and Technology, (AECT) y de la American 
Educational Research Association (AERA).
Dr. Armando Ruiz Badillo 
Cuenta con el grado de Doctor en Psicología por la 
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Facultad 
de Psicología 2002-2006. De Maestría en Psicología 
Social por la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 
Facultad de Psicología 1994-1997. Y de Licenciatura 
en Psicología. Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana 
Unidad Xochimilco.
Es Miembro del Sistema Nacional de Investigadores 
CONACyT con nivel I a partir del 1 enero de 2009. 
Es Maestro con perfil deseable PROMEP a partir de 
septiembre de 2005.
Trabaja actualmente como profesor de tiempo 
completo en la Universidad Pedagógica Nacional, UPN 
(Unidad Ajusco). Profesor Titular “C”, tiempo completo. 
De marzo de 2001 a la fecha Integrante del C.A.; 69 
estudios psicológicos de proceso educativos, del AA 
3 Enseñanza y aprendizaje de la ciencia humanidades 
y artes. Es profesor del programa de posgrado en el 
Doctorado en Educación y la Maestría en Desarrollo 
Educativo, y en el programa de la Licenciatura en 
Psicología Educativa. 
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Dona A. Henderson
Department of Counseling 
Wake Forest University
henderda@wfu.edu
Abstract
This short explanation of building a counseling program 
in schools has four critical points. First the program 
foundation is the belief that all children can learn and 
need to be supported to accomplish their success. Se-
cond all young people can benefit from knowledge and 
skills in the academic, career and personal/social areas 
of life. School counselors are wonderful people with 
many admirable talents and attributes that they use in 
many ways in school settings. Finally school counseling 
interventions can be grouped into activities of classroom 
guidance, individual planning, responsive services and 
system support. Determining the time allocation for each 
of these four and the types of activities within them 
allows counselors to plan a concentrated program that 
serves the school population.
Key words: school counseling, guidance counselors, 
orientation, school population.
School Counseling: 
Multiple Possibilities
Resumen
Esta breve explicación de la construcción de un programa 
de asesoramiento en las escuelas tiene cuatro puntos 
críticos. En primer lugar, el fundamento del programa 
es la creencia de que todos los niños pueden aprender 
y deben ser apoyados para lograr su éxito. En segundo 
lugar, todos los jóvenes pueden beneficiarse de los co-
nocimientos y habilidades en el desarrollo académico, 
profesional y las áreas personales/sociales de la vida. Los 
consejeros escolares son gente maravillosa con muchos 
talentos y atributos que se utilizan en muchos aspectos 
admirables en el entorno escolar. Finalmente, las inter-
venciones de orientación escolar se pueden agrupar 
en las actividades de orientación aula, planificación 
individual, servicios receptivos y soporte del sistema. 
La determinación de la asignación de tiempo para cada 
uno de estos cuatro y los tipos de actividades dentro de 
ellas permite a los consejeros para planear un programa 
concentrado que atiende a la población escolar.
Palabras clave: asesoramiento escolar, orientación, 
consejeros escolares, población escolar.
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Introduction
Schools teem with energy and possibilities. These ins-
titutions provide places for young people to grow and 
learn. Schools create laboratories for the vagrancies of 
the worl d and allow students many ways to discover life 
skills. Many adults have a variety of responsibilities in 
managing the facilities and people in schools. One such 
position is classified as a school counselor. School coun-
selors’ work varies according to the needs of the school 
community and resources available. However their most 
critical task involves maintaining a spirit of hope for 
all the people schools touch. School counselors believe 
in bright futures and unlimited choices. They serve as 
beacons of optimism, courage and promise. This article 
will outline the foundational beliefs, common tasks, and 
work allocations that will aid in school counselors as they 
work for better futures for all.
Beliefs
Most countries commit a significant portion of their 
budget to educate youth. Yet the goals of education may 
differ among nations and among citizens. Some consider 
the purpose of education to be building knowledgeable 
human beings, a learned populace. Others deem the in-
tent to be growing citizens of the state. Another motive 
for education consists of providing the marketplace with 
productive workers who can carry on the fiscal mission 
of the nation. The intent of schooling could also be to 
develop thoughtful consumers who will guard resources 
and the environment.Education may look different if one 
of these objectives outweighed or eliminated the others. 
One honorable mission that cannot fail to inspire would 
be to design education to change the world by preparing 
each child to thrive. In 1918 the National Education 
Association Commission on the Reorganization of 
Secondary Education in the United States stated: “…
develop in each individual the knowledge, interests, ideals, 
habits and powers whereby he will find his place and use 
that place to shape both himself and society toward ever 
nobler ends” (Ballantine, 2001, p. 136).
Unfortunately all is not well with schools. The 
mission and management of education continue to create 
heated discussion and mixed reactions. Schools are victims 
of competing agendas – for example some of the goals 
of the business world may contradict those of the faith 
community. Without determining common ground the 
education of children may be splintered by those different 
goals. Additionally schools are crowded. The building 
may have been constructed to accommodate fewer people. 
Populations are more transient, demographics are less 
predictable and resources too strained. Decision-makers 
rely on quick responses without considering long-term 
implications. More predicaments that face education 
could be listed without capturing all the competing forces 
that complicate delivering an educational system. 
Knowing all those complications can exasperate even 
the most patient and committed. A more encouraging 
stance would be to determine a singular focus that 
could guide all decisions, a statement that would 
reorient schools and education to help young people 
succeed. A young man spoke at the beginning of the 
school year to educators in Texas. The recording of 
his speech can be found at http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v+HAMLOnSNwzA. The crux of his message 
could serve as the needed emphasis in all schools – believe 
in me, believe in yourself and believe in your colleagues. 
That simple concentration would produce schools that 
serve all children.
Foundations for School Counseling
School counselors have the unique, persistent privilege 
of helping everyone involved in schooling focus on 
that fundament goal – believing in children and their 
possibilities. School counselors maintain hope, a critical 
component in student success. The Gallup Student Poll 
tracks data of public school students in grades 5 through 
12 across the United States by administering a web-
based survey (Lopez, 2009). The group who designed 
the survey determined three key indicators of student 
success based on extensive research. The three indicators 
are hope for the future, engagement with school and 
student well-being. Hope refers to the ideas and goals 
for the future. It influences attendance, credits earned 
and grade point average. The findings indicate that high 
hope scores predict college success more robustly than 
grades or standardized test scores. Engagement refers 
to involvement in school and well-being denotes how 
people think about and experience their lives. As noted 
above, these researchers contend that students who look 
to the future, connect to their schools and feel positive 
have a much greater chance of a successful life. More 
information is available at http://www.gallupstudentpoll.
com/121082/about-us.aspx.
School counselors agree and have documented their 
beliefs in the possibilities for all. The American School 
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Counselor Association (ASCA, 2010) Ethical Standards 
for School Counselors begins with these statements:
• Everyone deserves to be treated with respect and 
dignity
• Everyone deserves to be informed and supported
• Everyone deserves to understand the meaning and 
impact of choices on future opportunities. 
Although treating everyone with respect and dignity 
seems easy, schools house many challenging situations to 
that belief. Students call each other nasty names, teachers 
can be extremely unpleasant, parents demand their way. 
Participating in those heated interactions stretches the 
bonds of acceptance. Furthermore school counselors 
may find difficulties in delivering information across 
the school population and then helping each person use 
that material effectively. Anyone who has been involved 
with leading students through course selection for the 
coming year knows those pitfalls. Finally counselors 
walk the delicate balance of realistic hope as future 
plans develop – for example students who refuse to take 
advanced math classes are limiting their opportunities 
in postsecondary education. Counselors are called upon 
not only to understand the reluctance but also to deliver 
facts about limitations that choice may create. Thus 
those foundational statements in the Ethical Standards 
are not only aspirational but also the basis of the school 
counseling profession beliefs, no matter how difficult the 
ideas are to enact on a daily basis. 
ASCA also has prepared some sample mission 
statements for school counseling programs. Those 
proposed statements include similar fundamental beliefs. 
A sample statement would be all children can learn. 
Another example asserts that all young people deserve 
the chance to succeed. Schools should meet the needs 
of all students constitutes another declaration. Every 
child has the right to a safe, secure learning environment 
also affirms an optimistic approach to education. Those 
 model statements attest to the creed that all young people 
should be treated as though they can join the successful 
people in the world and that school counselors will help 
them do so. 
Focus
The focus school counselors choose to advance these 
beliefs can be discovered in a document titled National 
Standards for School Counseling (ASCA, 2004). The 
material guides decisions about the knowledge and 
skills for students to gain. The document also contains a 
comprehensive design and organized delivery system for 
the school counseling program. Significantly the paper 
also outlines ways to incorporate school counseling into 
the mission of the school. The three broad categories in 
the Standards identify academics, career, and personal/
social components. Each of those three contains more 
detailed classifications. The academic section refers to 
the knowledge and skills students need to be successful 
in schools. School counselors help students prepare for 
the world of work, the career category. The third part 
incorporates self-knowledge for young people so they 
understand and accept themselves and others. These 
Standards highlight areas for student growth. They can 
be used to build both educational content and multiple 
interventions. The content of the Standards can stand as 
the counseling curriculum but should also be integrated 
across other content areas so that the entire school tea-
ches these life skills to all students. The competencies 
and indicators for students that are outlined include the 
following:
Academic Development: 
Standard A: Students will acquire the attitudes, know-
ledge and skills that contribute to effective learning in 
school and across the life span. These include improving 
academic self-concept, acquiring skills for improving 
learning and achieving school success.
Standard B: Students will complete school with the 
academic preparation essential to choose from a wide 
range of substantial post-secondary options, including 
college. This involves improving learning and planning 
to achieve goals.
Standard C: Students will understand the relationship 
of academics to the world of work and to life at home 
and in the community. Thus students relate school to life 
experiences as they master this standard.
Career Development:
Standard A: Students will acquire the skills to investigate 
the world of work in relation to knowledge of self andto 
make informed career decisions. Students develop career 
awareness and employment readiness in this standard 
focused on successful transition from school. 
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Standard B: Students will employ strategies to achieve 
future career goals with success and satisfaction. They 
accomplish this by acquiring career information and by 
identifying career goals.
Standard C: Students will understand the relationship 
between personal qualities, education, training and the 
world of work. They acquire knowledge to achieve their 
career goals and apply their skills to reach those goals.
Personal/Social Development:
Standard A: Students will acquire the knowledge, atti-
tudes and interpersonal skills to help them understand 
and respect self and others. They acquire self-knowledge, 
interpersonal skills in order to accomplish that unders-
tanding. 
Standard B: Students will make decisions, set goals and 
take necessary action to achieve goals by applying their 
self-knowledge.
Standard C: Students will understand safety and survival 
skills by acquiring personal safety skills. 
Functions
While these standards provide direction, they do not 
necessarily outline daily activities. One description of the 
school counselor’s job includes three broad functions. The 
first duty includes developing and managing a program 
or plan based on the fundamental beliefs outline above 
and focused on student standards identified earlier. The 
second responsibility of school counselors involves delive-
ring the program and services focused on student success. 
Additionally school counselors need to assess to see if the 
plan is working in the desired ways. Basically then school 
counselors plan, provide and check their work.
That simplification may understate the variety 
of functions included in school counseling. School 
counselors are busy people. Some of the many ways they 
work include these important behaviors: counseling, 
guiding, collaborating, consulting, coordinating, 
connecting, serving, collecting, responding, teaching, 
modeling, and many others. School counselors build 
bridges to the future, that hopeful guiding light. 
Counselors interpret for children and adults who cannot 
understand each other. Counselors broker possibilities, 
matching resources with need. Certainly counselors 
juggle many tasks and needs. They serve as confidant for 
many people, displaying a warmth and compassion that is 
uncommon and compelling to all. They are patient, calm, 
supportive, accepting and optimistic. School counselors 
are essential to schools in many ways.
Activities
Fortunately counselors can arrange their work into four 
areas of activities identified by Gysbers and Henderson 
(2012). Those elements of a plan for school counseling 
programs include classroom instruction, student plan-
ning, responsive services and system support.
Classroom instruction denotes the instructional 
program that delivers information to students. The 
instruction focuses on the knowledge and skills needed 
to be successful and may be taught by the counselor, the 
teacher or both. Counselors may spend between 15 to 45 
percent of their time in classroom instruction. The subject 
matter may be specific to academic, career or personal/
social content described by the National Standards or 
may be interdisciplinary, folded into other subjects such 
as developing a budget as a math lesson. The benefits 
of classroom instruction for school counselors include 
reaching many students and understanding the classroom 
environment. Classroom lessons in the academic area 
would include topics like study skills, following directions 
and school-related anxiety. Career lessons may revolve 
around awareness of various careers, exploration of 
career options and decision-making models. In the 
interpersonal/social focus classroom instruction could 
focus on dealing with a bully or making friends or 
enhancing communication skills. Counselors will find 
many possibilities for classroom instruction.
Student planning highlights the many opportunities 
for the school counselor to work as the “orientador,” 
an advisor or someone who guides. This work involves 
counselors developing ways to help students prepare for 
their futures and may involve between 5 to 35 percent 
of a counselor’s time. Within the student planning 
work counselors assist young people with personal 
goals and plans. Counselors support students with 
planning, monitoring and managing school progress. 
Counselors help students with transitions in their school 
work. Counselors also work with students, parents, 
guardians and other school personnel in this objective 
of preparing for the future. In order to accomplish 
these goals, counselors may incorporate appraisals of 
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students’ abilities, interests, skills and achievements. They 
may also advise about goals and plans to achieve the 
student-selected goals such as course selection, financing 
education and what different majors mean. Preparing 
students for steps beyond formal schooling falls within 
the scope of student planning. 
The responsive services component refers to the 
range of responses from the onset of difficulties to 
crisis intervention. The services are designed to meet 
students’ needs and have the common goal of getting 
the student back to functioning in a school. Counselors 
may spend between 25 to 40 percent of their time in 
responsive services. In most cases the interventions are 
goal-oriented and may include support, problem-solving 
and connecting to resources. These services are designed 
for immediate needs as well as long-term concerns such 
as family distress or social alienation. In this area of 
work counselors may consult with parents and guardians, 
teachers, school personnel and the larger community. 
Generally the work involves individual and small 
group counseling with the focus either on prevention, 
intervention or follow-up. Referrals to social support 
networks often occur in responsive services. These more 
personal interactions are often the most appealing area 
of school counselors’ work. The privilege of sitting with 
someone who is struggling and helping the person find a 
way to make things a little better allows the compassion, 
patience and optimism of school counselors shine.
System support comprises the fourth element of the 
work in schools and may take from 10 to 20 percent of 
a counselor’s time. Those functions include professional 
development activities; consultation, collaboration, and 
teaming with others; managing the counseling program; 
analyzing the program and student achievement; and 
performing the counselors’ responsibilities to the school 
such as committee work, bus duty or other assignments. 
This work element allows for the planning and evaluation 
needed to deliver a well-designed sequence of instruction, 
planning and responsive services as well as determining 
whether those activities are efficient and effective. Thus 
system support activities involve ways to support the 
counselor and the program.
In order to operate in a purposeful way, school 
counselors need to identify support. Counselors may 
form an advisor group of parents and teachers to 
help make the many choices related to program focus 
and activities. Counselors would also want to engage 
administrators in decisions. Counselors make themselves 
indispensable personnel in schools by the work they 
do to create caring schools. That work is easier when 
administrators understand and are involved in choices. 
Another important aspect of the school counselor’s stance 
in schools is a clearly identified focus to guide the work 
– that guide may behope, it may be a statement of belief 
in children or it might be the vision of a better future. 
Deciding on that framework allows easier decisions for 
school counselors who are organizing their time and 
efforts. 
School counselors have many choices. One includes 
whether efforts will be concentrated on academic, career, 
or personal/social topics or a combination of all. As those 
concentrations are clarified, the ways goals and objectives 
will be evaluated should also be stated. Counselors will 
need to determine ways to address that concentration and 
describe those activities. Counselors will next identify 
needed resources and responsible people to carry out the 
work. A timeline that outlines the sequence of efforts 
should be developed. A calendar that includes time 
allocations, an annual plan for activities, the variety of 
services and audiences allows ongoing monitoring. 
References
Gysbers, N. C. & Henderson, P. (2012). Developing and man-
aging your school counseling program. 5a ed. Alexandria, VA: 
American Counseling Association. 
Lopez, S.J. (2009). Well-being, success and the Gallup Student 
Poll. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/strategiccon-
sulting/148118/wellbeing-success-gallup-student-poll.
aspx.
American School Counselor Association. (2004). ASCA 
National Standards for Students. Alexandria, VA: Author. 
American School Counselor Association. (2010). Ethical 
Standards for School Counselors. Alexandria, VA: Author.
Ballantine, J.H. (2001). The sociology of education: A systematic 
analysis. 5a ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Gallup Student Poll. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.
gallupstudentpoll.com/121082/about-us.aspx.
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Lynn E. Linde
Educational Specialties Department 
Loyola University Maryland
llinde@loyola.edu
Resumen
Problemas relativos a la confidencialidad y las anotacio-
nes son particularmente cruciales para los consejeros 
que trabajan con estudiantes menores. Los consejeros 
escolares por lo general brindan anotaciones de aseso-
ramiento, que son parte de la crónica del estudiante y 
anotaciones personales que no comparten con nadie. 
Si bien, no hay leyes para explicar quién puede acceder 
a la crónica del estudiante, los consejeros deben seguir 
códigos de ética para dirección en la confidencialidad 
de anotaciones e información sobre los éstos. Escuelas 
que carecen de políticas y método tienen que desarro-
llar las directrices para proteger la información de los 
estudiantes y defender los derechos de confidencialidad 
de las familias.
Palabras clave: consejeros escolares, consejeros de 
menores, confidencialidad, registros de estudiantes, 
notas personales.
Confidentiality and records: 
Critical issues for counselors 
working in schools
Abstract
Issues concerning confidentiality and record keeping are 
particularly critical for counselors who work in schools 
with minor students. School counselors typically keep 
counseling records, which are part of the student’s 
record, and personal notes, which are not shared with 
anyone. If there are no laws to outline who may access 
a child’s record, counselors should look to applicable 
codes of ethics for guidance regarding confidentiality 
of records and information about students. Schools that 
lack policies and procedures need to develop guidelines 
to safeguard student information and protect the confi-
dentiality rights of families.
Key words: school counselors, counseling minors, 
confidentiality, student records, personal notes.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Lynn E. Linde, Loyola University Maryland, Timonium Graduate Center, 
2034 Greenspring Drive, Timonium, Maryland 21093.
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The cornerstone of the counseling relationship rests upon 
the clients’ trust in the services provided by the counselor. 
Each professional school counselor has a responsibility 
to uphold the trust clients place in them. Hence, they 
must seek high levels of education, training and super-
vision and constantly question their ethical behavior 
and adherence with legal mandates to ensure that the 
highest quality of services is provided to their clients. 
This is particularly important as professional school 
counselors often practice in settings where they have 
little oversight or supervision from another counselor, 
work independently, and address numerous confidential 
issues. The work of counselors is further complicated by 
the fact that they work with minor clients, the majority 
of whom need parental consent for many services.
One of the greatest challenges facing professional 
school counselors is to how handle the myriad ethical and 
legal issues they face each day. Due to the nature of school 
counseling, professional school counselors must be prepared 
to help students who present a variety of concerns and 
issues each day. Counselors follow the mandates of 
school laws and policies and codes of ethics to guide 
their behavior and decision-making. In the absences of 
such guidance, counselors must look to codes of ethics 
and sound counseling practices to guide their actions.
In Mexico, professional school counseling is an 
emerging profession and does not have the mandates in 
place to guide practice that are common in the United 
States. While the laws and policies that guide practice 
in the United States (US) do not apply to professional 
school counselors in Mexico, it may be helpful to review 
these mandates for guidance in creating policy that will 
be useful for professional school counselors in Mexico.
This article will review the major US federal law 
that governs student records, The Family Educational 
Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974, and discuss 
what constitutes a student record and counseling notes. 
FERPA further discusses the confidentiality of student 
records and access to these records. Confidentiality 
in counseling is also addressed in codes of ethics and 
provides guidance for counselors when working with 
minor clients. Lastly, this author will suggest the types of 
records counselors may wish to keep and some resources 
for creating policies.
What is an educational record?
The Family Rights and Educational Act of 1974
In the US, educational records are governed by the federal 
law The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act 
(FERPA) of 1974 (20 U.S.C. 1232g). This law governs the 
creation, inspection, dissemination and access to educational 
records in all pre K -12 grade public schools and any non-
public schools and institutions of higher education that 
receive funding from the US Department of Education. 
It is continuously updated to remain current and has a 
number of provisions. More information about the law 
can be found on The US Department of Education’s we-
bpage for FERPA, including its provisions, information 
for parents and schools, and other useful information: 
http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/index.html.
FERPA defines an educational record as all records of 
a student’s achievement, attendance, behavior, testing and 
assessment, school activities, and other information that 
the school collects and maintains. Since 2002 with the 
enactment of the law No Child Left Behind, discipline 
information is also part of the educational record and 
follows the student as the student transitions from one 
preK-12school to another. The only information which 
are exceptions to inclusion in the educational record are 
personal notes, which will be discussed later; reports to 
Child Protective Services for abuse and/or neglect; and, in 
some states, information from law enforcement agencies 
about specific students.
The FERPA has several provisions. The first 
provision is the annual notification,which requires that 
schools or systems annually send a notice to parents or 
guardians each year which outlines the parents’ rights to 
review their children’s records and to file a complaint if 
they disagree with anything in the record. The school 
or system has 45 days in which to comply with the 
parents’ request to review the records. There are penalties, 
including loss of federal funding, for any school or system 
that fails to comply.
Second, the law limits who may access the records 
and specifies what personally identifiable information 
can be disclosed without informed consent from the 
parent or guardian -that is, what constitutes directory 
information or public information. Under FERPA, only 
individuals “with a legitimate educational interest” can 
access a student’s record. This includes the new school 
when a student transfers. The sending school may send 
the records without the parents’ consent, but should make 
every attempt to inform the parent that it has done so. 
The major exception relates to law enforcement; the 
school must comply with a judicial order or lawfully 
executed subpoena. The school must also make whatever 
information is needed available to the school’s law 
enforcement unit. All states and jurisdictions have 
incorporated FERPA into state statutes and local policies, 
but with some variance regarding aspects such as what 
constitutes directory information (Linde, 2011).
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The rights of consent transfer to the student at age 
18 years, which is the age of majority in the US, or when 
the student attends a postsecondary institution, but 
information can be shared with the parents if the student 
is a dependent under The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 
rules. The rights of the parents of students who are older 
than 18 but still in secondary schools are not specifically 
limited by FERPA. Noncustodial parents have the same 
rights as custodial parents, unless their rights have been 
limited or terminated by the courts. Unless the courts 
have granted authority, stepparents and other family 
members who do not have custody of the child have no 
rights under FERPA (Linde, 2011).
The Protection of Pupil of 1978, often called the 
Hatch Amendment, gives parents additional rights. 
It established certain requirements when surveys are 
given to students in preK.-12 schools. It does not apply 
to postsecondary schools as students are of the age of 
majority and can consent without parental involvement. 
If the survey is funded with federal money, informed 
consent must be obtained for all participating students if 
students in elementary or secondary schools are required 
to take the survey, and questions about certain sensitive 
personal areas are included. The Hatch Amendment lists 
eight sensitive areas, which include issues such as religion, 
political affiliation, mental or psychological problems 
of the student or family, sexual behavior and attitudes, 
illegal or incriminating behavior, and family income 
information unless needed for program eligibility. It also 
requires informed parental consent before the student 
undergoes any psychological, psychiatric, or medical 
examination, testing, or treatment, or any school program 
designed to affect the personal values or behavior of the 
student. Provisions for increased parental consent were 
strengthened under No Child Left Behind for the Hatch 
Amendment (Linde, 2011).
The new provisions of PPRA also apply to surveys 
not funded through the U.S. Department of Education 
programs. These provisions give parents the right to 
inspect, on request, any survey or instructional materials 
used as part of the curriculum if created by a third party 
and involving one or more of the eight delineated areas. 
Parents also have the right to inspect any instrument used 
to collect personal information that will be used in selling 
or marketing. Parents always have the right to refuse 
the involvement of their child in any activity involving 
the eight previously delineated areas. PPRA does not 
apply to any survey that is administered as part of the 
Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement 
Act (IDEA, 2004).
As can be seen from the previous discussion, there are 
many constraints in schools to assessment, testing, and 
surveying students and how this information is used and 
shared. Counselors need to become knowledgeable about 
the policies and procedures for their school or system to 
ensure they do not breach confidentiality.
The US law does recognize the right of students 
older than age 18 years to access their own records, and 
accords them the same rights as parents of students 
younger than age 18 years. However, the law does not 
specifically limit the right of parents whose children are 
18 years of age or older to access their child’s records, 
particularly in cases where the child is still living at home 
and is financially dependent on the parents. The law also 
gives noncustodial parents the same rights as custodial 
parents. Unless there is a court order in the child’s file 
that limits or terminates the rights of one or both parents, 
both parents have the same access to the child’s records. 
School personnel also must provide copies of records such 
as report cards to both parents if requested (Linde, 2011).
The word “parent” is used to designate the legal 
guardian of the child, who may not be the biological 
or adoptive parent of the child, but some other legally 
recognized caregiver. Stepparents and other family 
members have no legal right to the student’s records 
without court-appointed authority, such as adoption or 
guardianship. Many students do not live with a parent 
or guardian, but with some other relative or kin. This is 
called kinship car; the care giver has physical custody of 
the child -24 hours a day, 7 days a week- but lacks legal 
custody of the child. Under FERPA, this person has no 
educational decision-making rights for the child and 
cannot access the child’s record or give consent.
Agencies not part of the school system may not access 
the records of any student without the signed consent of 
the parent or legal guardian. Some states have worked 
out interagency agreements wherein a parent signs one 
form that designates what records may be shared with 
which agencies, making individual forms unnecessary. 
Local school and school system policies outline how 
information may be shared at these meetings and whether 
signed informed consent is needed.
Counseling Notes
There are two types of counseling notes that most pro-
fessional school counselors keep: counseling progress 
notes and personal notes. Counseling progress notes 
are those notations that professional counselors keep 
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regarding their interactions with the students on their 
case load. These notes are part of the educational record 
and generally include such notations as:
• When the counselor counselor sees the student;
• The general reason for seeing the student;
• Any action taken as a result of the meeting or activity; 
and 
• Any follow-up that may be needed.
These notes are often used for accountability purposes. 
The professional school counselor may wish to keep track 
of the services s/he provides throughout the year and, in 
some cases, may want or need to document interventions 
for specific children. Counseling notes would not include 
any information that the professional school counselor 
considers sensitive or that should not be shared with 
parents or other faculty members.
The second category of notes kept by most 
professional school counselors are personal notes. As 
delineated by FERPA, personal notes are an extensionof 
the counselor’s memory and are “sole possession” notes. 
They may include the counselor’s impression of the client 
or session. They may not be shared with anyone except “a 
substitute maker,” who is a substitute for the counselor 
and takes over the counselor’s job. Personal notes must 
remain separate from the educational record and it is 
critical that professional school counselors do not tell 
anyone that they have such notes or share them. In the 
event that happens, the notes are no longer personal, but 
become part of the educational record (http://www2.
ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html).
With the advent of electronic records, it is important 
that professional school counselors take care when keeping 
their note electronically. In most schools, computers are 
linked and technology staff and administrators can access 
whatever is on a school’s computer. Counselors must 
ensure that others cannot access their notes; this may 
mean that they keep their notes on a different device or 
write them by hand and keep them in a locked and secure 
place. Care must also be taken when using tablets and 
smart phones for record keeping to ensure that electronic 
data cannot be breached (Linde, 2011).
Codes of Ethics
In the absence of laws or court cases to guide practice, 
counselors rely on the codes of ethics of the profession 
for direction. Ethical standards have been created by 
professional associations to guide the behavior of its 
members. Herlihy and Corey (2006) find that ethical 
standards serve three purposes: to educate members 
about sound ethical conduct, to provide a mechanism for 
accountability, and to serve as a mechanism for improving 
professional practice. These standards are based on.
Ethical standards are based on generally accepted 
norms, beliefs, customs, and values. The ACA Code of 
Ethics (American Counseling Association, 2005) is 
based on Kitchener’s five moral principles of autonomy, 
justice, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and fidelity (Linde, 
2011). Autonomy refers to the concept of independence 
and the ability to make one’s own decisions. Counselors 
need to respect the right of clients to make their own 
decisions based on their personal values and beliefs and 
must not impose their values on their clients. Justice 
means treating each person fairly, but it does not mean 
treating each person the same way. Rather, counselors 
should treat clients according to client needs, which 
will be different for each client. Beneficence refers 
to doing good or what is in the best interests of the 
client. In counseling, it also incorporates the concept 
of removing conditions that might cause harm as well 
as providing the best services one can. Nonmaleficence 
means doing no harm to others. And fidelity involves 
the concepts of loyalty, faithfulness, and the honoring of 
commitments. This means that counselors must honor 
all obligations to the client, starting with the counseling 
relationship.
Laws are also based on these same, generally 
accepted norms, beliefs, customs, and values. However, 
laws are more prescriptive, have been incorporated into 
a legal code, and carry greater sanctions or penalties for 
failure to comply. Both laws and ethical standards direct 
appropriate behavior for professionals within a particular 
profession to ensure that the best interests of the client 
are met. When laws and ethics appear to be in conflict 
with each other, the professional must attempt to resolve 
the conflict in a responsible manner (Cotton & Taryvdas, 
2007). Counselors must make their clients aware of the 
conflict and their ethical standards. But because there 
are greater penalties associated with laws, counselors 
will often follow the legal course of action, assuming 
there is no harm to their clients. Many ethical standards 
recognize that other mandates must be followed and 
suggest that counselors work to change mandates that 
are not in the best interests of their clients. In the absence 
of laws or other legal requirements, courts may look to 
the established standards of behavior of a profession to 
determine liability (Wheeler & Bertram, 2012).
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The 2005 American Counseling Association 
Code of Ethics and Record Keeping
The American Counseling Association (ACA, 2005) 
revises its code of ethics approximately every 10 years. 
The sixth and most recent revision was put into practice 
in 2005. The association is currently revising the code of 
ethics and anticipates that it should be in effect during 
2014. The 2005 ACA Code of Ethics can be viewed at 
http://www.counseling.org/Resources/CodeOfEthics/
TP/Home/CT2.aspx. It addresses the responsibilities of 
professional counselors toward their clients, colleagues, 
workplace and themselves by defining the ideal standards 
for one’s behavior. All members of ACA are required to 
abide by the Code of Ethics, which is a condition of mem-
bership, and action is taken against member who fails to 
do so. While other counselors are not required to abide 
by the Code of Ethics, it is the standard of behavior for the 
profession and in the absence of any laws or other legal 
mandates, is the standard against which the behavior of 
all professional counselors will be measured.
The Code of EthicsThe Code of Ethics is divided 
into eight areas: (A) The Counseling Relationship; (B) 
Confidentiality, Privileged Communication, and Privacy; 
(C) Professional Responsibility; (D) Relationships with 
Other Professionals; (E) Evaluation, Assessment, and 
Interpretation; (F) Supervision, Training, and Teaching; 
(G) Research and Publication; and (H) Resolving Ethical 
Issues. Each of these areas details specific discusses 
respecting one’s client and the background each client 
brings to the counseling setting; maintaining professional 
behavior with clients and other professionals; practicing 
with the best interests of the client in mind; and 
practicing within the limits of one’s training, experience, 
and education. Section H provides direction for members 
resolving ethical dilemmas.
The ACA 2005 Code of Ethics does not speak 
specifically to the issue of school counseling records, only 
to the broader issue of records in counseling as a whole. 
Section A.1.b Records states:
Counselors maintain records necessary for rendering 
professional services to their clients and as required by 
laws, regulations, or agency or institution procedures. 
Counselors include sufficient and timely documentation 
in their client records to facilitate the delivery and 
continuity of needed services. Counselors take reasonable 
steps to ensure that documentation in records accurately 
reflects client progress and services provided. If errors are 
made in client records, counselors take steps to properly 
note the correction of such errors according to agency or 
institutional policies (ACA, 2005, p.4).
The American School Counselor Association 
(ASCA) Ethical Standards for School 
Counselors and Record Keeping
One of the divisions of the American Counseling Asso-
ciation is the American School Counselors Association. 
This association is dedicated to the practice of professio-
nal school counseling and offers numerous resources and 
materials for counselors who practice in school settings. 
ASCA developed a parallel set of ethical standards that 
uses the tenets of the ACA Code of Ethics but specifically 
addresses counseling practice in the school. The ASCA 
Ethical Standards for School Counselors was last revised 
in 2010. As with the ACA standards, ASCA’s standards 
discuss putting the counselee’s best interests first, treating 
each student as an individual and with respect, invol-
ving parents as appropriate, maintaining one’s expertise 
through continuing professional development, and beha-
ving ethically and professionally. There areseven sections 
in the Ethical Standards. They are: Responsibilities to 
Students; Parents/Guardians and Confidentiality; Res-
ponsibilities to Colleagues and Professional Associates; 
Responsibilities to School, Communities and Families; 
Responsibilities to Self; Responsibilities to the Profes-
sion; and Maintenance of Standards.
Section A.8 specifically addresses student records 
and states:
Professional school counselors:
a. Maintain and secure records necessary for rendering 
professional services to students as required by law, 
regulations, institutional procedures and confiden-
tiality guidelines.
b. Keep sole-possession records or individual student 
case notes separate from students’ educational records 
in keeping with state laws.
c. Recognize the limits of sole-possession records and 
understand these records are a memory aid for the 
creator and in absence of privileged communication 
may be subpoenaed and may become educational 
records when they are shared or accessible to others 
in either verbal or written form or when they inclu-
de information other than professional opinion or 
personal observations.
d. Establish a reasonable timeline for purging sole-
possession records or case notes. Suggested guide-
lines include shredding sole possession notes when 
the student transitions to the next level, transfers to 
another school or graduates. Apply careful discretion 
and deliberation before destroying sole-possession 
records that may be needed by a court of law, such 
as notes on child abuse, suicide, sexual harassment 
or violence.
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e. Understand and abide by the Family Educational 
Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA, 1974), which safe- 
guards student’s records and allows parents to have 
a voice in what and how information is shared with 
others regarding their child’s educational record (p.3).
As can be seen from the noted section, ASCA incorpo-
rated the mandates of FERPA into its Ethical Standards, 
thus making adherence both an ethical and a legal issue 
for professional school counselors.
Confidentiality Rights and Responsibilities
Confidentiality is one of the most complex issues in coun-
seling, regardless of the setting in which one practices. 
If clients are to share personal and sometimes sensitive 
information, the client must trust that the counselor will 
handle the information appropriately and not share with 
anyone else without the client’s permission. This sense 
of trust and privacy creates confidentiality, which is the 
cornerstone of all counseling. Confidentiality is what 
separates counseling from other interpersonal interac-
tions and places the counselor in a position unique to 
counseling. The rights to confidentiality belong to the 
client, not to the counselor, and may not be breached 
unless the client gives consent or in cases where disclosure 
is mandated by the courts or laws.
Counseling minors presents specific challenges to 
confidentiality. Every state sets the age of majority; for 
most states it is the age of 18, as it is in Mexico. However, 
the majority of students with whom professional school 
counselors work are not yet 18 and therefore may not 
legally give consent, except for particular situations. 
The problem is that the students have the ethical right 
to confidentiality, but the legal right remains with 
their parents or legal guardians (Remley & Herlihy, 
2010). Approximately 20 states protect student- school 
counselor confidentiality through statute (Cotton 
&Taryvdas, 2007), but generally include significant 
restrictions. Schools are reluctant to allow absolute 
confidentiality for students as there is no legal support 
to do so.
School counselors try to balance the ethical rights 
of the child against the legal rights of the parent. Often 
school counselors will ask what they should do if a parent 
wants to know what they are discussing in sessions. 
While the parent may have a legal right to know what 
is going on, the child may not wish to share the specifics 
of the counseling sessions. Section B.5.b, Responsibility 
to Parents and Legal Guardians, of the ACA Code of 
Ethics states that:
Counselors inform parents and legal guardians about 
the role of counselors and the confidential nature of the 
counseling relationship. Counselors are sensitive to the 
cultural diversity of families and respect the inherent 
rights and responsibilities of parents/guardians over 
the welfare of the children/charges according to law. 
Counselors work to establish, as appropriate, collaborative 
relationships with parents/guardians to best serve clients. 
(ACA, 2005, p. 8).
This statement creates a dilemma for professional 
counselors. To resolve this dilemma, Remley and Herlihy 
(2010) suggested that the counselor first discuss the 
issue with the child to determine if the child is willing 
to disclose the information to the parent. If the child 
does not want to disclose, the counselor should try to 
help the parent understand that the best interests of the 
child are not served by disclosure. If this does not work, 
the counselor should schedule a joint meeting with the 
parent and child to discuss the issue. If the parent is 
still not satisfied, the counselor may have to disclose the 
information without the child’s consent.
Some professional counselors would suggest that 
this type of situation may reflect a deeper family issue. 
While the parent or guardian has a legal right to the 
information, there may be an underlying “family secret” 
that the parent does not want known, and the counselor 
should be sensitive to the difficulties the child is sharing 
or exhibiting. If that is not the case, then perhaps the 
parent’s concerns reflect cultural differences, and the 
counselor needs to be sensitive to the family’s traditions 
and beliefs (Linde, 2011). 
Many professional counselors suggest that at the 
beginning of the first session of each new counseling 
relationship, the professional school counselor should 
discuss confidentiality with the minor, explain what it 
means, and point out the limits of confidentiality. Some 
counselors choose to hang a sign on the wall of their 
office that outlines this information as a reminder of 
what is discussed in the first session. While the issue of 
confidentiality with minors appears simple on the surface, 
in reality it is a very complex issue that has generated a 
significant amount of research and professional discourse. 
As the use of technology increases in counseling settings, 
the discussions will continue and expand. There are 
significant challenges to keeping electronic information 
confidential.
ASCA Ethical Standards and Confidentiality
ASCA’s Ethical Standards for School Counselors re-
cognizes the inherent dilemma for confidentiality when 
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counseling minors. The standards reflect the need for 
school counselors to have a collaborative relationship with 
parents/guardians and to respect the role of the parents 
in the lives of their children. They further outline that 
counselors must inform parents of the types of counseling 
services provided. Section B.2 Parent/Guardians and 
Confidentiality states:
Professional school counselors:
a. Inform parents/guardians of the school counselor’s 
role to include the confidential nature of the coun-
seling relationship between the counselor and the 
student.
b. Recognize that working with minors in a school 
setting requires school counselors to collaborate with 
student’s parents/guardians to the extent possible.
c. Respect the confidentiality of parents/guardians 
to the extent that is reasonable to protect the best 
interest of the student being counseled.
d. Provide