Professional Roles

Although school counselors are not therapists, counselors can use ideas of behaviorism theory in their profession. One of the roles of the school counselor is to help students with behavior. All of behaviorism is pointing towards behavior.  When looking at classical conditioning with Watson, he shows how behaviors are learned over time by responding to surrounding stimuli. Although counselors can’t make students cry deliberately as Watson did, counselors can look at a child’s behavior and help them cope with what is triggering the behavior. When looking at operant conditioning with B.F. Skinner, he shows that behaviors are learned because of what will happen if one behaves a certain way.  This brings up another role of a school counselor.  School counselors reward students for good grades, good attendance, and participation. Even though school counselors are not therapists, counselors can still use the ideas of behaviorism theory. Counselors can use student’s responses to rewards to help motivate student behavior in a positive way. (Notes, 2020) 

If your end goal is to become an LPC, the Behavioral therapy approach is an option available for you to use. Behavioral therapy may be an appropriate form of therapy for any age range depending on your clients specific needs. Becoming an LPC will give you more flexibility in choosing the right type of behavioral therapy for your specific client whether it be CBT, Solution Focused, Dialectical Behavior, or REBT. You may use these different types of behavioral therapies through whichever area you focus in: individual counseling, group counseling, marriage counseling, addiction counseling.