Have you ever had coffee with a guidance counselor?
A mind expert, by the side of children, teachers, and parents

Counseling in elementary schools is different from counseling in middle schools.
We need to build a foundation for conversation together, starting with how to recognize and express our own emotions.
The authors call this time spent discussing with children what emotions are, what kinds of emotions there are, and how to express them, and gradually building concepts, experiences, and expressions about emotions, "mind classes."
The authors, who are developing counseling topics, mindfulness classes, and teaching materials for elementary school students, have colorfully presented stories of elementary school counseling and classes, and this is a diary and letter to be shown to homeroom teachers and parents.
This book introduces the various activities and roles of elementary school counselors and invites educators and parents involved in elementary education to join in.

“Who are you, teacher?” When I first heard this question, I was quite embarrassed.
“I’m a teacher...” I answered, but that wasn’t what the child was really curious about.
I had to find my own answers to the children's recurring questions, and this is how I answer them now.
“The teacher is a ‘comfort teacher’ who comforts the students in our school’s counseling room. When students have difficulties or problems, we think about them together and find solutions.”
---From "Who are you, teacher?"

Working as a counselor, I sometimes think about 'who am I?'
Could we say something similar to the lyrics of a song: "I'm a teacher, but I'm not a teacher, but I'm like a teacher?" While all teachers share the same desire to care for children, counseling teachers seem to have a different perspective and approach.
No, I think it should be different.

---From "Counselor? Counselor?"

Sometimes, the misconception that counselors will be comfortable in the counseling room can be very hurtful.
Sometimes I feel like I want to be recognized for what I do.
But isn't counseling not something you do by informing someone?
---From "The Reason for the Counseling Teacher's Existence"

Working as a counselor, I sometimes think about 'who am I?'
Could we say something similar to the lyrics of a song: "I'm a teacher, but I'm not a teacher, but I'm like a teacher?" While all teachers share the same desire to care for children, counseling teachers seem to have a different perspective and approach.
No, I think it should be different.

---From "Counselor? Counselor?"

Counseling in elementary schools cannot be done by a counselor alone.
The interest, support, and cooperation of fellow teachers are absolutely necessary.
Because of this, I invested quite a bit of time and effort into informing homeroom teachers about the counseling room.
In addition to providing guidance during meeting times when everyone was gathered together, we also invited students to the counseling room individually and visited classrooms directly.
The most important thing in this process is to fully explain the purpose and necessity of the consultation.
Since learning takes priority in school, if a child goes to counseling during class, the homeroom teacher may misunderstand or react negatively.
The homeroom teacher should not think about such a child and say, "Is he going to the counseling room because he hates class?"
---From "Taking Root in Elementary Counseling"

The elementary school counseling room is where most children experience counseling for the first time in their lives.
Depending on how they start and what experiences they have, children may become closer to or further away from counseling in the future.
Although it is said that awareness of counseling has improved a lot recently, some people still hesitate to seek it out because they think of it as a place to go when they have a problem.
Elementary school counselors should be mindful to ensure that children do not develop these biases and stereotypes during their first counseling experience.

---From "Taking Root in Elementary Counseling"

The second thing that comforted me was the supervision of counseling cases.
Supervision is a combination of 'super', meaning 'from above', and 'vision', meaning 'to observe or see', and means 'to supervise'.
A supervisor is a person who supervises, and a person who is supervised is called a supervisoree.
In counseling, supervision is all the evaluative and educational activities provided by a supervisor, who is a skilled professional, to improve the counseling skills of a supervisee who wants to become a professional counselor.
The biggest difference between educational analysis and supervision is where they are focused. The former focuses on the counselor's problems and self-understanding, while the latter focuses on how the counselor intervenes in the client's problems and what methods of counseling he or she uses.
By reviewing and supplementing my counseling process through supervision from a counseling expert, I was able to effectively resolve areas where I was at a loss and reduce my suffering and guilt.
---From "Counseling Teachers Need Comfort Too"

When I got to work this morning, there was a message on my work messenger.
“Counselor.
“Donggeun had counseling on Monday, but his attitude in class was bad yesterday and hasn’t changed at all…” The note started with this, and I could feel the homeroom teacher’s exhaustion, but I also felt a moment of discouragement.
Looking at the desk calendar, today is Thursday.
During that time, Donggeun and I only met once.

---“Can you get 100 points just by teaching it once?”

I imagined a scene where a child was embarrassed and felt wronged by being misunderstood by the teacher, and expressed my sympathy by saying, “I can imagine how upset the child must have felt after being misunderstood and reprimanded by the teacher.”
But the child said, “No, it wasn’t because of the teacher. I was upset because of the kids who were talking loudly in class.
“If they had been quiet, the teacher could have heard my voice,” he said.

Even when talking to my child about different topics, I tried to empathize.
I tried to empathize by saying things like, “It must have been fun back then,” or “That must have been hard,” but the child’s answer was always, “No.”
“That’s not it…” began, and his expression gradually hardened.
I was so flustered that my mind went blank and I couldn't even figure out how to spend the remaining time consulting.
Eventually, the child's silence became longer and longer, and I had to end the counseling session without being able to respond appropriately to the child.

---From "Empathy Must Be Studied"