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Jamie Hanlon, University of Alberta
School counsellors who have dealt with a client’s suicide, and those who work with at-risk clients, need more and better supports, says a University of Alberta researcher.
Carley Christianson, director of student support for the university’s Faculty of Education and a former school counsellor, and co-author Robin Everall, department chair in educational psychology, recently published a study in the British Journal of Guidance and Counselling based on interviews and input from school counsellors who have dealt with a client’s death by suicide.
Their research has indicated that these professionals, while helping others in the school community deal with the loss, lack the supports to deal with their own grief and lingering feelings of guilt over the loss of someone with whom they had a personal connection.
“There’s not a lot of recognition about that sense of personal loss, as well as the professional questioning about their identity and their competence as a mental-health professional,” said Christianson. “The confidentiality issue is really important, and there are not a lot of places to be able to share the intimate details of what happened and how it happened.”
And, unlike counsellors or psychologists in private practice, the loss of a client in this setting can be particularly unsettling because of the special environment of the school.
“It’s a very different kind of experience that you can’t leave behind or escape from; there’s no escape from this,” said Everall. “Even moment by moment within a working day, there are always constant reminders, whether it’s the person’s locker that you walk by or seeing the children that were friends [of the deceased].”
Christianson notes that the participants displayed a tremendous resilience by remaining in the profession despite being surrounded by constant reminders and triggers, as well has potentially having new clients with similar problems. However, the initial traumas often remain in the background, leaving counsellors to deal with a host of their own problems, including post-traumatic stress or stress within interpersonal relationships.
Because of the distinctiveness of their role, counsellors need to recognize their own need for healing. Everall notes that this could truly be considered as a case of “physician, heal thyself,” and one that requires them to employ one of the most basic tenets of trauma recovery: communication.
“That feeling of being alone gets in the way of people seeking help,” said Everall. “And to build some resources—a close professional relationship with another school counsellor that you trust to do that debrief to deal with your own personal loss—is a really critical element to personal and professional health.”
Christianson recommends that schools ensure counsellors have the supports and resources in place to help students in crisis. And when divisions are looking to cut costs and save money, she hopes that parents will recognize the important role school counsellors have and remain vocal in keeping those vital services.
“I think [parents] want their children to be well cared for,” said Christianson. “In addition to being well cared for with instruction and curriculum, students also need to be well cared for as people, as individuals, as kids.”
Christianson and Everall advocate teaching aspiring counsellors the importance of self-care. They also urge practicing school counsellors to develop their own supports to manage their own grief and stress as a matter of ethical and professional responsibility.
Moreover, Everall notes that current counsellors need to see their own recovery and self-care as vital, not only for themselves, but also for the students and their entire community.
“We need to help counsellors understand that self-care is a critical component of being a good caregiver,” she said. “By taking care of themselves, it means they are able to have more of an impact on the community, and they’re not going to burn out. We don’t want the good people to leave because they care so much; we want the good people to stay because they can do so much for others.”
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