An Evidence-Based Systems Approach to School Counseling: Advocating Student-within-Environment(Family Systems Counseling: Innovations Then and Now)

This book presents strategies for using systemic theory and evidence-based practice in schools to support students, the adults in their lives, and their wider communities. Beginning by introducing and explaining the Advocating Student-within-Environment (ASE) theory, each chapter then addresses a specific school-based issue, such as academic achievement, crisis, trauma, and resiliency, from a systemic and environmental lens. Practical and accessible, the chapters are filled with case examples, evidence-based interventions, and helpful tools to show how counselors can incorporate the approach into their practice. Extending beyond school and student problems, this text also explores greater system functioning, such as community outreach and state level intervention, discussing advocacy and political issues. This book is essential for school-based professionals who are looking for new ways to work with students, families, and their communities. It will also be of interest to mental health professionals who work systemically, such as marriage and family therapists and community counselors.

Table of Contents:
1. ASE Theory: Introduction and History 2. Advocating Student-within-Environment as a Systems Theory to School Counseling 3. Utilizing ASE to Work within the School System 4. The Practice of Advocating Student-within-Environment 5. Developing Student Learners in School Systems 6. Advocating for the Neurodiverse Student 7. An ASE Approach to School-Based Mental Health 8. ASE Approach to Crisis: Prevention, Response, and Recovery 9. ASE and the Data-Minded School Counselor 10. Example ASE School Counseling Behaviors

About the Author :
Matthew E. Lemberger-Truelove is Professor of Counseling and Higher Education at the University of North Texas, U.S.A. He is the Editor of the Journal of Counseling and Development and the Associate Director for the Center for School Counseling Outcome Research and Evaluation. His scholarship includes empirical and theoretical writing. His empirical work pertains to counseling practice with children and adolescents, especially in economically challenged K12 schools. Hannah Bowers Parker is Associate Professor in the Department of Counselor Education at Florida Atlantic University, U.S.A. Bowers has been working with children and families for over a decade, both as a marriage and family therapist and a school counselor.

Review :
“With an expert blend of theory and practice, this exciting and timely text clearly explains a deeply systemic model for conducting school counseling. Approaching the work with keen awareness that students are active learners in complex intersectional contexts, the authors provide invaluable ideas for empowering school communities to develop collaborative skills for addressing today's educational and mental health needs.” Carey Dimmitt, Ph.D., Professor, UMass Amherst and Director of the Ronald H. Fredrickson Center for School Counseling Outcome Research and Evaluation, USA “An important and necessary text - Drs. Lemberger-Truelove and Bowers Parker are complex thinkers who communicate their ideas clearly. To make real change in students’ lives, school counselors must be able to think and act on both an individual and ecological level simultaneously. This text provides practical strategies for school counselors wanting to address the complex challenges today’s students encounter.” George McMahon, Ph.D., Clinical Associate Professor and Associate Department Head at the University of Georgia, USA “Finally, a textbook for school counseling that considers the social determinants of mental health, academic achievement, and the need to modify school environmental conditions inextricably linked to student outcomes! ASE theory can potentially transform how school counselors provide therapeutic interventions in schools, including targeting multiple levels of influence.” Joseph M. Williams, Ph.D., Professor of Counseling at The University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, USA