School counselling services are facing increasing challenges. Once mainly concerned with
learning difficulties, but in the last five years, there has been a massive rise in the number of
counselling services dealing with the increasingly complex problems of students and their
families.
In my master's thesis, I am exploring and, by reviewing the professional literature and
conducting research in the area of the Municipality of Celje, aim to demonstrate and point out
that counselling work has changed considerably in the last five years, and how; particularly
impacted by the coronavirus epidemic. The problems and difficulties are many and varied, some
of them requiring very in-depth knowledge and skills. During the epidemic, it has even become
more apparent that counsellors need specific skills in the field of mental health. All these issues
require much more commitment from counsellors than used to be necessary. Also,
administrative work and work tasks not directly related to counselling take up many hours a
week, which can put unnecessary stress on counsellors, making them feel incompetent and
unfulfilled in relation to their students.
The theoretical insights and findings of this research may provide new insights into school
counselling. The master's thesis will contribute to the understanding of the (over)burden of
counselling work and what counsellors need in order to be able to perform their tasks more
competently. Most importantly, it will contribute to understanding how counselling work could
return to its original function - that the counsellor is there solely for the students, their families
and the teachers who need their expertise.
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