School-based family counselling

Domain V · Systemic, relational, group & community · Brian Gerrard · USA

What it is

School-based family counselling (SBFC) is not a single manualised therapy. It is an interdisciplinary metamodel: a framework that organises mental health work for students so that school and family are linked. The people who practise it include school counsellors, social workers, school…

Format

• What the metamodel covers. An SBFC-associated account (University of Pretoria, on van Schalkwyk's work) describes the metamodel as a broad systems frame that places a child's problem within all their interpersonal networks: family, peer group, classroom, school (teachers, principal, other students)…
• Assessment and SBFC case conceptualization (about 1–3 contacts). The practitioner gathers information from the family, the teacher, school records and observation; carries out a family strength assessment; and writes a conceptualization that covers all metamodel areas. Move on when there is a…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Certification and fidelity. The cited sources describe no licensing, certification or fidelity monitoring for practising under the SBFC name. Training routes: the Cal State LA graduate SBFC programme (an MFT+PPS/CWA track, co-coordinated by Michael Carter and Emily Hernandez, with an SBFC clinic where Carter is director and Hernandez co-director); the University of San Francisco programme in the past; and the annual…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• What the metamodel covers. An SBFC-associated account (University of Pretoria, on van Schalkwyk's work) describes the metamodel as a broad systems frame that places a child's problem within all their interpersonal networks: family, peer group, classroom, school (teachers, principal, other students)…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• disclosures that need follow-up; agree a referral route with the teacher in advance.
• punitive-only responses; ignoring online bullying; the families of targeted children being left out of the response.
• programmes that reach engaged students only. Working looks like changes in attendance and referrals among the targeted students.
• the parent hearing advice as criticism; overloaded plans. Working looks like the parent reporting a strategy they used and its effect.
• low attendance by the families most in need (go to them: see 4.1); lecturing. Working looks like parents trying the skill and returning.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.