Psycho-pedagogical counsellors work pedagogically/therapeutically in schools.
“The task to allow children to experience security and shelter, to enable their attempts at autonomy and protect these, to furnish them with an experience of their own identity – this is all really a pedagogical problem. Now, however, we are dealing with children who have experienced these things fragmentally, if at all. Here the duty to educate them – regardless of who was supposed to have done so – has been neglected.
Thus the neglected educational duty becomes a therapeutic problem: This child has to be given the opportunity (and the necessary time!) to catch up in his development.”
Jegge, Jürg (1991). Dummheit ist lernbar. Erfahrungen mit Schulversagern. Zytglogge Verlag. Bern.
The goals of psycho-pedagogical counselling are:
Ø Through continuous care to assist the integration of children who require additional help in emotional and social developments.
Ø Through crises interventions to provide short-term help (in cases of divorce, illness, death in the family, delinquencies, drug abuse, abuse, sexual abuse, …).
Ø To arrange life with parents, other pupils and teachers more satisfactorily.
Ø To be a mediator in cases of required cooperation between the school and other institutions, for example the school psychologist, clinics, the Youth Welfare Office.
Ø To offer help and support appropriate to the conflicts in an unbureaucratic and non-discriminating way as possible concerning the time and the place of the help offered.
Ø Integrated assistance for individual cases, which means an inevitable addition to all the pedagogical support and assistance measures offered by the City of Vienna School Authorities.
This scheme is carried out by experienced teachers with a special training at the University Clinic for Child and Youth Neuropsychiatry. It is their task to deal with conflicts and challenging behaviour which consistently hinder education and/or the development of the child`s personality.
Thus psycho-pedagogical counselling embraces the emotional, social, somatic and the psychological field.
The psycho-pedagogical counsellor is available to the pupils, the parents and teachers of each school and requires a room which has been especially adapted for his needs. Here the children can express themselves in their own language and play, and talks with parents and teachers can take place there.
In this protected atmosphere conflicts can be presented, feelings and emotions “played through” and coping strategies learned (aspects of Depth Psychology, Play Therapy and Discussion Therapy).
Counselling takes place only when mutually agreed on. That means it relies on the voluntary participation of all involved since a fundamental for a working relationship in this delicat field of emotions is trust. Only thus can deficiencies in the development of the personality of the child be made up on and energies and ressources to cope with the demands of life be released.
Relationship patterns and communication patterns should be brought to light in talks with parents and teachers. (Aspects of Family and Systematic Therapy.)
Having gathered experience since nearly 30 years, we know that the establishment of this scheme in schools has embraced many children who otherwise would not have taken advantage of continuous therapeutic help. Threshold anxieties diminish sharply and trough the physical presence of the counsellor over the entire school year difficulties in counselling are easier to overcome. This leads to a reduced drop-out rate.
A decisive element in psycho-pedagogical counselling is mutual help and exchange of experiences during weekly team sessions.
Additionally to these a job-accompanying competent (supervision) continuous reflection is indispensable. Some psycho-pedagogical counsellors make their experiences available to teachers by means of “Balint Groups”.
THE HISTORY OF THE SCHEME OF PSYCHO-PEDAGOGICAL COUNSELLING
Growing from the wish of some teachers to improve the daily routine with behaviourally disturbed children a self-help group was formed in 1975 at the University Clinic for Child and Youth Neuropsychiatry lead by Dr. Max Friedrich (As a Balint Group). …………..
This first group developed the concept of psycho-pedagogical counselling based on the need to offer help qickly and unbureaucratically where conflits arise.
The project was started in the school year 1977/78 and was run with expansions as a self-administered group under the professional guidance of Chief Physician Dr. Max Friedrich until February 1987. At that time each counsellor was on staff at the school he/she was assigned to.
Since Summer Term 1987, however, the councellors have been on staff at this Special Educational Centre (Schools for special psychosocial needs and integrativ care )
and thus come under the inspectorate of Special Needs Schools.
At present 56 counsellors are on staff at the Special Education Centre in the 20th district of Vienna, Jägerstraße 11-13 (head Eva Posch-Bleyer);