Ever walked out of an “advocacy meeting” with your admin and thought, Is anything ever going to change?

You brought the data. You showed the charts. You quoted the position statements. And still, you walked away with the same ridiculous caseload, or worse- another responsibility placed on your shoulders.

All that effort doesn’t move the needle. It just keeps you running in circles.

In this episode of the School for School Counselors Podcast, I’m grading advocacy as it stands in our profession right now... and let’s just say the report card isn’t pretty.

I’ll unpack why the version of advocacy we’ve been handed sets us up to fail, the traps that keep us stuck shouting into the void, and four strategies that actually move the needle.

If you’ve ever wondered why “advocating harder” hasn’t worked for you (and what you can do differently), this episode is your permission slip to stop playing small and start leading with influence.

References (Annotated)

American School Counselor Association. (2017, December). Advocating for your school counseling program using visibility strategies [Online newsletter]. Advocacy Everyday. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/newsletters/december-2017/advocating-for-your-school-counseling-program-usin?st=nj
This piece includes ASCA’s suggestion to print business cards and introduce yourself with the correct title, examples of the “visibility” strategies counselors are told to use.

American School Counselor Association. (2019). ASCA National Model: A framework for school counseling programs (4th ed.). Author.
The central framework promoted by ASCA, often positioned as the path to respect and clarity for the profession.

American School Counselor Association. (2019). The school counselor and ratios [Position statement]. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/About-School-Counseling/Position-Statements/ASCA-Position-Statements
States the well-known 250:1 ratio and is often used by counselors in advocacy conversations with administrators and policymakers.

American School Counselor Association. (2019). The school counselor and the role of the professional school counselor [Position statement]. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/About-School-Counseling/Position-Statements
Outlines the 80/20 direct vs. indirect services expectation, another widely circulated talking point in counselor advocacy.

American School Counselor Association. (2023, July–August). Advocating for the ASCA National Model. ASCA School Counselor Magazine. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/Magazines/July-August-2023/Advocating-for-the-ASCA-National-Model
Reinforces the idea that promoting the Model itself is advocacy, often suggesting visibility strategies like correcting titles or distributing materials.

Fisher, R., Ury, W., & Patton, B. (2011). Getting to yes: Negotiating agreement without giving in (3rd ed.). Penguin Books.
Classic text on principled negotiation. In this episode, it supports the idea of “interest-based framing”- aligning your advocacy with campus goals, not rigid positions.

Lewicki, R. J., Barry, B., & Saunders, D. M. (2020). Negotiation (8th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
Contemporary negotiation and organizational change research. Cited here for the evidence that small, repeated asks layered over time create lasting change.

*********************************

⭐️ Want support with real-world strategies that actually work on your campus? We’re doing that every day in the School for School Counselors Mas

What if the tools you’ve been told to use as a school counselor are actually working against you?

In this highlights reel, I’m recapping eight of the field’s most popular practices and giving you the real verdict on each.

You’ll hear the truths nobody disputes, the traps that keep counselors spinning their wheels, and the takeaways you can actually use on a real campus.

I’ll even hand you the one-liners and micro-actions you can take straight into your next meeting.

But this isn’t just a recap. It’s a truth bomb episode.

By the end, you’ll know what to keep, what to ditch, and how to defend those choices when the pressure to “do more” shows up.

Hit play and let’s level up.

*********************************

⭐️ Want support with real-world strategies that actually work on your campus? We’re doing that every day in the School for School Counselors Mastermind. Come join us! ⭐️

**********************************

All names, stories, and case studies in this episode are fictionalized composites drawn from real-world circumstances. Any resemblance to actual students, families, or school personnel is coincidental. Details have been altered to protect privacy.

"What you say in here, stays in here…”

We’ve all said it, but it’s a promise that never came from schools, and it’s costing us trust with students, parents, and administrators.

In this Graded episode, I examine how near-absolute confidentiality has been implemented in school counseling, the fallout it’s created, and why the grade I’m giving it might surprise you.

We’ll trace how confidentiality migrated from clinical counseling into schools without informed consent, why the line we were trained to use is misleading at best, and how it has fueled parental distrust, administrative micromanagement, and even new state legislation.

If you’ve ever felt caught between protecting student privacy and keeping parents informed, this episode will give you the clarity- and the courage- you need to move forward differently.

References (Annotated)

American Counseling Association. (2014). ACA Code of Ethics. Alexandria, VA: Author. https://www.counseling.org/resources/aca-code-of-ethics.pdf
The foundational ethical guide for all counselors. Section B.1.b. and A.2.d. directly address confidentiality with minors and the need to explain limits clearly.

American School Counselor Association. (2022). ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors. Alexandria, VA: Author. https://schoolcounselor.org/ethics
School-specific ethical standards. Section A.2.a. emphasizes protecting confidentiality “to the extent possible,” while A.2.d. requires informing students upfront about its limits.

Harrichand, J. J. S., Knight, A. M., & Captari, L. E. (2021). Moral injury among mental health professionals: Risk, impact, and recovery. Counseling and Values, 66(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1002/cvj.12155
Explains how moral injury—acting against one’s ethical compass—contributes to counselor stress and burnout. Directly ties to the personal cost of impossible confidentiality decisions.

Isaacs, M. L., & Stone, C. B. (2001). Confidentiality with minors: Current views and practices of school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 4(4), 258–265. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156759X0100400405
A classic study showing how school counselors navigate confidentiality with students. One of the earliest peer-reviewed examinations of the real-world gap between ethics and practice.

Remley, T. P., & Huey, W. C. (2002). An analysis of legal and ethical issues in school counseling. Professional School Counseling, 6(1), 33–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156759X0200600107
An overview of common legal/ethical dilemmas in school counseling, including confidentiality, and strategies for reducing liability while maintaining professional integrity.

Stone, C. (2017). School counseling principles: Ethics and law (4th ed.). Alexandria, VA: American School Counselor Association.
Widely used textbook by Carolyn Stone, the leading voice on legal and ethical issues in school counseling. Offers detailed guidance on confidentiality and parent rights.

*********************************

⭐️ Want support with real-world strategies that actually work on your campus? We’re doing that every day in the School for School Counselors Mastermind. Come join us! ⭐️

**********************************

All names, stories, and case studies in this episode are fictionalized composites drawn from real-world circumstances. Any resemblance to actual students, families, or school personnel is coincidental. Details have been altered to protect privacy.