Integration of the Family Therapy Specialist into Public School Pupil Personnel Services

Abstract

SUMMARY The integration of a full-time family counseling specialist into the Pupil Personnel Service (PPS) Team of the modern public school is described. The roles of the present specialists are delineated as well as the problems inherent within the present Pupil Personnel Services Team. Inclusion of a family counseling specialist on the PPS Team would help schools avoid the antagonist position they find themselves in when a family opposes their suggestions and interventions. In such cases, the PPS Team attempts to wrest control of the case from the parents which subjugates the family, limiting the family's inherent resilience and strength. The family comes to resent the PPS Team, seeing them as blameful and controlling. Conversely, the PPS Team comes to resent the family, claiming it is “dysfunctional” in some way and using diagnostic labels to satisfy themselves that their “expert” actions are justified. This antagonist position in the schools arises more out of fear of litigation than good case management. We propose a new integration of family system and school system. Creation of a family counseling specialist who is highly trained in systems, narrative and structural/strategic family therapy could ameliorate this antagonist problem. Numerous functions for such a new specialty are listed as well as suggestions for including this member into PPS Team work.