Elementary School Counselors’ Experiences Counseling Students With Chronic Illness

Abstract

The diagnosis of a chronic illness for an elementary student can result in myriad school issues. This phenomenological, qualitative study examined 15 elementary school counselors’ perceptions of experiences in working with students with a chronic illness diagnosis. Four themes emerged from the findings: training issues, counseling experiences, skills and interventions demonstrated, and school stakeholder interactions. Implications for school counselor training and practice as well as future research are discussed.

Keywords:

• child counseling
• chronic illness
• school counseling

Additional information

Funding

Research efforts for this study were financially supported by an Association for Child and Adolescent Counseling (ACAC) research grant.