Counseling Co-workers: Two Heads Are Better Than One

We all know that ASCA recommends a 1:250 school counselor-to-student ratio. Having a counseling co-worker at the elementary school level used to be unheard of. Although I know many elementary counselors are still flying solo in 2023, many school districts are attempting to find the funds to support increasing the number of counselors in elementary schools.

I spent my first twelve years in school counseling without a counseling co-worker, so I know all about that life and how overwhelming it can be. I know there are still many of you who are not only flying solo, but you are also working between at least two schools, and that is something I can’t even begin to wrap my brain around. (Kudos to each of you!!)

Solo school counselors are still making lemonade out of lemons. Even though you are doing it all by yourself, you are meeting deadlines, supporting your students, and getting the job done without a counseling co-worker. The title of this post is simply a suggested mindset if you are fortunate enough to decrease the counselor-to-student ratio at your school.

Counseling Co-workers Share the Load

Near the end of my 12th year, I received the news that my school would be getting a half-time counseling position. That was really great news to hear. I was excited about having someone to assist with making more improvements to the school counseling program. There were things I wanted to do for a while, but I couldn’t seem to make it all happen while fulfilling all of my assigned responsibilities on top of implementing my program. I knew the students and staff were going to benefit greatly from having an additional counselor. I also knew that I was going to have to shift my mindset from doing everything on my own to sharing the load.

One thing that was very important to me was my relationship with all of the students in the school. I knew that some schools with counseling co-workers often split the grade levels. After being the only counselor at the school for so long, I couldn’t fathom there being grade levels I would never see.

So, as I began to plan what the next school year would look like, I thought about a schedule for seeing students that would allow both counselors to see all students. We would divide the students by K-2 and 3-5 and alternate months. With this plan, I would see K-2 in September (for example) and then see 3-5 in October while my counseling co-worker worked with K-2.

Even though this met my personal need of wanting to continue to work with all of the students, it also was beneficial to them. All of the students at our school had the opportunity to form relationships with both school counselors. If a student needed to see a counselor and one wasn’t available, that student was still familiar with and had a relationship with the available counselor. If a student wanted to see a specific counselor, that was fine as well.

It also was nice to change things up and work with different students each month.

Having A Good Working Relationship

My new co-counselor ended up being one of my former interns. I wrote about hosting a school counseling intern last month, and I talked about how much I really enjoyed the interns I’ve been able to work with over the years. I was thrilled to be able to officially have her work with me. Even though she was hired as a half-time counselor, our principal found funding to make her full-time until the district eventually changed the position.

Having the opportunity to work with someone who was my friend really helped drive home how important a good working relationship is. It’s hard for me to imagine trying to coexist in a school counseling program with someone I could never see eye to eye with.

Over the years, we learned each other’s strengths and honed in on those. There were some responsibilities we split evenly and others we led independently for the good of the program. There were also many things we did together so the other wouldn’t have to do whatever it was solo. After a little time, we had a pretty solid routine.

Communication is important in any relationship, and establishing that with your counseling co-worker is key, especially at the beginning. Make sure to talk about everything – what you like and what you don’t like. Make decisions together. Always run things by your co-counselor so you are both invested in whatever plans are in the works. Before long, your team will run like a well-oiled machine.

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Having a counseling co-worker is so rewarding. It’s a huge benefit to your students and staff, and it allows you to get more accomplished with just a tiny bit less stress. (A teeny tiny bit… Because we were still a little stressed! LOL)

Let me know in the comments if you work solo or have a counseling co-worker.

If you are still adjusting to having a counseling co-worker and want to discuss how to improve your situation, feel free to connect with me.

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