01 Case Conceptualization _ 10
02 Counseling Goals and Strategies _ 22
03 Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder _ 32
04 ticks _ 46
05 Smartphone Overreliance _ 60
06 Learning _ 74
07 Advancement _ 86
08 Self-harm _ 98
Flight 09 _ 112
10 Guardian of the Client _ 126

For the professionalism of school counselors

For a counselor to become an expert means that he or she can accurately conceptualize the case at the beginning of the consultation.
Despite this important competency, it is difficult to receive specific help during training and education as a counselor.
Therefore, this book aims to help counselors improve their case conceptualization skills.
Professional counselors study psychology in college and are selected through a written exam, and do not have the opportunity to receive training before employment.
If you don't have a personal goal of developing counseling skills with guaranteed job security, you can provide counseling services at the level of school administration and mentoring, and even general counseling cases can be referred to external experts.


However, from the client's perspective, since they first encounter counseling in Wee classes in elementary school, professional counselors working in elementary schools have the greatest influence on forming the general public's impression of counseling.
Therefore, professional counselors need to make intentional efforts to supplement their counseling expertise beyond job security.

Case conceptualization and exhaustion

Improving case conceptualization skills prevents counselor burnout.
Beginning counselors recognize the difference between social conversation and counseling conversation.
Once you are able to conduct a counseling conversation, you must be able to gather the information you need to understand the client and the information you need to help them change.
At this point, effective counseling can be provided to clients who can resolve their complaints with emotional support therapy alone.
And in cases where case conceptualization is not well done, supervision can help the client effectively.


However, even after obtaining a professional license, counselors become exhausted when they cannot conceptualize cases.
Counselors may not realize that they are not conceptualizing the case.
You may not feel as rewarded as before in counseling activities, feel that there are many clients who are unusually resistant, or feel embarrassed when a client unexpectedly announces that they will be ending the counseling session early.
If it is not due to personal stress, it is necessary to check whether the case conceptualization ability is proportional to the experience as a counselor.


Case conceptualization may seem simple when you just look at the components, but it is a skill that is difficult to improve easily.
This is because case conceptualization is a cognitive skill and requires the work of discriminating and reintegrating a lot of information.
And above all, case conceptualization requires the counselor to face the client's information and take the time to think seriously about it.
However, counselor training in Korea is conducted through various workshops, to the extent that it can be called a workshop or special lecture culture.
In some ways, supervision can be considered a short workshop.
Workshops are helpful when learning new things.
However, workshops are not an appropriate educational method for participants to improve their cognitive complexity, but rather a place for the facilitator to demonstrate the cognitive complexity he or she has achieved.

Additionally, case conceptualization is a writing task.
The draft is completed by encountering the client's information, writing a first draft, checking whether the first draft accurately synthesizes the client's information and whether it is written in theoretical concepts, and proofreading.
If you receive supervision, it is helpful to receive feedback in the form of case conceptualizations written by the trainee, with corrections made in red pen.


The counselor's theoretical background

Case conceptualization should be centered on theoretical concepts that are consistent with the counselor's philosophical perspective, so that the theory can be consistently applied to the entire case.
When it comes to applying theoretical background to case conceptualization, the strategy of theory is often applied.
However, the first thing a counselor must check is whether the theory's view of humanity matches his or her own view of humanity.
And when applying theoretical concepts to case conceptualization, the content of the developmental process of the psychological problem explained by the theory is utilized.
For example, cognitive behavioral therapy explains that cognitive deficits and distortions, as well as behavioral immaturity and malformation, contribute to psychological problems.


Each theory has concepts that make the biggest impression on counselors and are therefore well remembered.
For example, the counselor's attitude of sincerity, unconditional positive regard, and empathy in the human-centered counseling theory are concepts that often appear in case conceptualization.
However, for case conceptualization, the discrepancy between the ideal self and the actual self that contributes to psychological problems and the resulting inability to fully experience the present can be utilized.
The counselor's attitude emphasized by the human-centered counseling theory corresponds to a counseling strategy, and is now utilized as a basic attitude by counselors of any theoretical background.


This book provides examples of case conceptualization based on cognitive behavioral therapy, among other theories.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is suitable for use with elementary, middle, and high school students, and is best used by counselors after receiving basic training.
Above all, cognitive behavioral therapy provides the most empirical data, enabling evidence-based practice.
Evidence-based practice refers to utilizing interventions with proven effectiveness in counseling. Research has already accumulated that shows cognitive behavioral therapy is highly effective in the counseling topics introduced in this book.


Focus on children and adolescent clients

This book is set in the context of school counseling.
The biggest difference between adult client focus and child/adolescent client focus is the assessment of the client's current functioning.
Irrational beliefs that might be assessed as cognitive distortions in adult clients may be cognitive deficits in child and adolescent clients.
Although the nuance of the word defect is negative, it can be interpreted as meaning that cognitive development is not yet complete, and thus information acquisition, evaluation, integration processes, and alternative thinking are not possible.

In child and adolescent counseling, the counselor's psychosocial and educational perspective on client change needs to be emphasized.
Children and adolescents are undergoing cognitive, emotional, and behavioral development, and for development, they need not only emotional support but also information provision, cognitive clarification and alternative suggestions, improved emotional regulation, the formation of new behaviors, and the correction of maladaptive behaviors.
It may be unrealistic to expect children and adolescents to gain insight during counseling and be able to correct or shape their own behavior.

Counseling goals vary depending on the client's complaint.
However, in a higher level concept, the goal of counseling for all appeals is to improve problem-solving skills.
If the child is highly aggressive, the goal of counseling should be friendly behavior rather than controlling aggression, and behaviors need to be learned to increase intimacy during counseling sessions.

Understanding the school context

School counselors must remember that their counseling occurs within the school context.
The school context is important for counselors' understanding of workplace organizations.
School counselors are managed by the principal, vice principal, and dean of students, and are in charge of a specialized area called counseling. Unlike subject teachers, only one counselor works at a school.
Working with colleagues at Wee Center and Wee School may be different in many ways.
As a counseling professional, you may find yourself in situations where your counseling work is not understood by administrators and subject teachers, and you may often be asked to explain your work.
However, school counselors also need to increase their understanding of the positions of administrators and subject teachers.


The school context is necessary to understand the client and to set and achieve counseling goals.
Schools have an academic calendar, and students' daily lives are influenced by the academic calendar.
It is necessary to check how the schedule for evaluations such as written tests and performance evaluations, as well as schedules such as club activities and parent-teacher conferences, are related to the issues for which the client is seeking counseling.


Cultural background of counselor and client

Counselors need to understand their own and their clients' cultural backgrounds.
Although there are many cultural factors to consider, counselors should pay particular attention to generation (age), gender and sexual orientation, and economic circumstances.
When the counselor is an adult and the client is a child or adolescent, the first cultural characteristic to consider in the counseling relationship is the age and generational differences.
Before meeting with a client, the counselor needs to briefly recall and confirm his or her own experiences as a child or adolescent.
Your own experiences may be similar or different from your client's experiences.
Regardless of the similarity of experience, adult counselors must remember that their clients are still developmentally children and adolescents when assessing them.

Generational differences can be found in a variety of experiences.
When conducting academic counseling, the counselor needs to determine how the learning experiences he or she had while attending school differ from the learning experiences the client is currently experiencing.
For example, the college entrance exam system differs significantly across generations, and the preparation process for each system also differs.
In counseling relationships, gender and sexual orientation can play out in a variety of dynamics.
In many cases, the counseling relationship consists of a female counselor and a female client.
While it is easy to build empathy through experiences of the same gender, new understandings through the perspective of the other gender are limited.
When the counselor and client are of different genders, it can be an opportunity to learn about the perspectives of the other gender, but it can also be a chance to feel that you are not receiving empathy or that it is difficult to empathize with the other gender.


Sexual attraction between counselors and clients can be a normal experience and should be addressed within the counseling session.
Acting outside of the session is unethical and, especially in the context of school counseling, violates the Act on the Protection of Children and Adolescents from Sexual Abuse and may result in legal liability.
Even if sexual attraction is not acted out, a counseling relationship in which sexual attraction is felt unilaterally or reciprocally hinders the effectiveness of counseling.
A client who is attracted to a counselor may complain about minor issues rather than open up about the issues that require help, and a counselor who is attracted to a client may easily overlook discrepancies between the client's statements and the actual situation.


A cultural influence that has a significant impact on life, but is often overlooked in school counseling, is economic circumstances.
The Confucian tradition of not speaking about money out loud may still remain within us.
And most of the time, it may be because the school counselors are in better financial situations than the clients.
Because privileged people don't feel the difficulties of their situation, it's easy to overlook the topic.
Resources should be provided to clients who are struggling financially.
It is also necessary to understand the psychological impact of economic hardship on clients and determine whether psychological impact is preventing clients from seeing their potential.
Additionally, we must help them develop the ability to generate problem-solving strategies in economically challenging environments.


If we consider the various competencies and perspectives that school counselors need to enhance their professionalism and develop more effective case conceptualization, we will be able to provide school counseling that effectively addresses students' difficulties.