‘I’m overwhelmed by the number of students with anxiety issues. I worry we’re letting them down’

I previously worked as a history and English teacher and, recently, was appointed guidance counsellor at my school. I’m taken aback by the number of students coming to our attention with mental health and anxiety issues. There is relatively little time for career guidance and I worry that we can’t offer a meaningful response to mental health issues

When I entered the profession in 1998 the allocation of about one guidance counsellor per 500 students was perceived as being barely adequate to deal with the diverse demands of the entire school cohort.

In the latter years of my guidance counselling role, the demands emanating from referrals through our care team meetings at Junior and Senior Cycle levels were growing exponentially.

Guidance counsellors, who are deemed to be qualified to provide counselling in educational settings as part of the personal supports provided to students, are now dealing – as you have found in your first year in the role – with an avalanche of referrals from classroom teachers who observe growing levels of mental health challenges.

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As you are aware, guidance counsellors are supported by the Department of Education through professional counselling supervision of their work with students every six to eight weeks. This service is a lifeline of support to ensure you are giving the highest quality counselling support to your students.

But where does that leave you in relation to what your teaching colleagues, students and parents see as your primary role: guiding children through their educational journey while in school, and into the next stage of their vocational journey following the Leaving Cert?

[ ‘Why are CAO points so high if there are so many pathways to careers nowadays’ ]

As you indicated to me in your message, you are working long hours to cope with all of the demands on your time. As I did, you are likely to be seeing Leaving Cert students right until the last day of June when your colleagues have long settled into their summer holidays as they finalise their CAO choices by July 1st deadline for course choices.

Minister Foley recently announced a tender seeking service providers for the development and delivery of additional supports to complement existing supports and structures in post-primary schools. The resources and support developed, she says, will support students, parents and school staff by enhancing the capacity of student support teams and building the capacity of staff to promote whole school approaches to wellbeing and mental health awareness.

These supports cannot come quickly enough, especially at a time when HSE health services are under huge pressure. Whether they are enough to meet the rising demand, however, remains to be seen.

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