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Personal Vision of Professional Effectiveness

Laura Silva

CSPU 512: Advanced Counseling and Intervention

Dr. Diane McSweeney

Brandman University 
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As a School Psychologist I aim to utilize my positive demeanor to foster relationships as

a leader in my school community with fellow teachers, administrators, families, and students. I

aim to comprehensively address the child’s needs by exhausting potential resources to assists the

child, their families, and teachers in creating an environment and interventions that promote

success specific to the child. In doing so the child will be allowed to explore their surroundings

in a more functional and beneficial manner than had I not assisted. In helping teachers to adjust

their classrooms, expectations and intervention strategies, and parents to adjust their

communication and expectations the child’s life can be positively impacted dramatically. A large

influence in joining the area of school psychology comes from a deep seeded belief that if

children’s opinions were genuinely heard by caretakers and teachers, and given individualized

attention in the process that social-emotional development would benefit drastically. Therefore, a

large aim in being effective in my profession would be to understand the child and their needs to

effectively communicate to caretakers and other professionals how to impactfully assist children

in their development.

Personal Background and Beliefs

Realizing early on that the classroom was not where I belonged but working with that

population was, was a revelation which allowed me to explore other professions within the

education system. Choosing school psychology was not a straightforward decision, especially

considering I had not come across one in my own personal education experience. Only once I

met a school psychologist at an inclusion school did I meet a school psychologist who introduced

me to the profession and solidified my interest in the field. Prior to meeting this school

psychologist, I had been influenced to want to work with children and adolescents with special
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needs through family members with, school counselors and children with needs that I have

worked with thus far. The most influential motivator to becoming a school psychologist was

realizing that I would have benefited greatly from services myself as an adolescent with

undiagnosed Attention Deficit Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder; navigating the the

education system myself without supports was a difficult experience, especially now having seen

those now available for the students I work with.

Having the opportunity to work with populations at high risk and high need in a variety

of contexts, accompanied with my own experiences, broadened the meaning of school

psychology. It is not simply assessing and report writing, but instead an essential advocate for

families and teachers in need of assistance. While this may sound very general, school

psychology is so multi-faceted that a simple description does it the most justice. Thus, becoming

a school psychologist means helping students, like myself, in a troublesome time by assisting

their family and teachers to understand their needs while also fighting for the services each

individual child and family deserves. The opportunity to do so for these families and children is

inevitably going to be challenging, but ultimately rewarding considering I have first-hand

knowledge on the impact a school psychologist could have had on my education experience and

how I intend to be that school psychologist I needed.

Considering this is a demanding and sometimes heart wrenching profession, it takes a

broad range of knowledge accompanied by specific personal characteristics to be a successful

school psychologist. While there is an array of professional competencies that may be listed,

personally the following are of the most importance: (1) strong active listening skills, (2)

legality, (3) high ethical standards, (4) organization, and (5) time-management. The ability to

listen actively is a difficult task but is critical when communicating with teachers, parents, and
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children because delving deeper into vague information (i.e. “he never listens” “she hits her

friends”) to find the root cause (i.e. too much stimulation) can be life-altering for students.

Additionally, considering the high level of confidentiality paired with regular ethical decision

making it is imperative that organization be used to ensure sensitive information is contained and

used appropriately. Finally, time-management because of the typical high caseload and need to

ensure high need cases are fulfilled but that others are completed as well.

The following are the personal characteristics that that are of the most importance in the

field of school psychology: (1) empathy, (2) approachability, (3) an understanding of personal

care, and (4) time management. These aspects are critical as a school psychologist for a variety

of reasons. Empathy, rather than sympathy which evoked pity, allows a school psychologist to

resonate with their students and families fostering a stronger sense of togetherness in turn

building these essential relationships for further growth and development long-term. Empathy

speaks to approachability as well; a school psychologist should attempt to remove the stigma

associated with the term “psychologist” by remaining humbled while creating a positive presence

on their campus. An understanding of personal care is critical in school psychology because

working in mental health is impossible without a strong and consistent understanding of one’s

own mental health; it is just as important for school psychologists to advocate for their own

mental health as it is for us to assist the children we work for to learn to verbalize their need for

mental health (i.e. breaks, stimulation, food, sleep, etc.).

Strengths

Having grown up surrounded by special needs children, ranging from medical fragility to

mental health needs, not only increased my empathy for and knowledge in this population of
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children but it gave me the drive to pursue this type of career. Then later finding out I was a part

of this population, having been diagnosed in my 20’s, has all dramatically affected my

worldview. Prior to my diagnosis I was a pre-K teacher, where I learned the classroom was not

for me, and a nursing student with the intention of specializing in pediatrics, despite my

queasiness around blood. After having been diagnosed and sharing my experience with a school

psychologist, it became abundantly clear that, (1) nurses should not be scared of blood and, (2) I

was meant to provide the service to students I desperately needed as a child. These experiences

that shaped my worldview are huge strengths I bring to the field because I am more easily

relatable to students making me more approachable, able to strongly empathize with the

population of students, and can see from the student’s point of view as I have been in their shoes.

To maximize the use of the strengths I bring to the profession I will utilize continued education

to regularly broaden my knowledge in how to address and work with populations outside of my

“home court advantage” as well as those within. To ensure all families and student receive

equitable service all legal and ethical considerations will be taken into account while also

exhausting resources that could be of potential assistance to families.

Limitations

Inevitably each school psychologist, or anyone for that matter, has their shortcomings

within their profession and personally. Considering my personal experiences, it may be difficult

for me to recognize when I need to prioritize my mental health and time-manage to allow for

this. While I have great time-management skills when needing to meet a deadline, incorporating

time for myself is a trait I am still attempting to master. Self-care in this field is critical, as

previously mentioned, and it essential for being an effective and great school psychologist.
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Having already realized this about myself I have began to adjust my frame of thinking and

scheduling to incorporate productive and relaxation time for myself. For instance, every

weekday, I make sure that I take 2 hours of my day to do something non-school or work related

and have made Saturdays a non-working day where I do not check emails, do not go on my

laptop, and so on.

Reflection

As a school psychologist I aim to destigmatize the word “psychologist” at my school

site(s), and instead be the person students, teachers, parents, and administrators can come to as

wanted. Instead of being someone that people go to when they need “help,” I want to be a

reliable line of defense that proactively and reactively meets needs. It is my aim to be known by

not just the parents and teachers of children with needs, but rather to the entire campus

community for support, advocacy, or simply an ear. In addition to this, I aim to sustain the

reputation I have in my current position, someone who will get the job done efficiently and with

the highest level of care available. To maintain my level of professional excellence I posses

currently and will have as a school psychologist I will continue to stay up to date on current laws

in the field to inform my professional ethical decisions. Most importantly, I will remain

grounded and humbled by reflecting on my experiences and providing the level of care I wish I

had received for each student, family, and teacher I have the privilege of assisting.