Help! My role keeps expanding

One of the most significant challenges facing the school counselling profession today is role expansion. Counsellors are no longer responsible solely for academic guidance or university preparation. Instead, they are increasingly expected to address student well-being, safeguarding, family dynamics, identity development and career decision-making, often simultaneously. 

Although this expansion reflects the growing recognition of the counsellor’s value in schools, it also presents a serious risk: professional burnout.

This resource focuses on how counsellors can respond to this challenge by applying best-fit principles, maintaining professional boundaries and engaging in reflective practice. Drawing from my experience as a school counsellor and social worker at The Philippine School Dubai, my aim is to support counsellors in sustaining effective, ethical and humane practice.

Accepting the limits of the role

Today’s students navigate a range of pressures, including academic performance, social media influence, family expectations and uncertainty about future pathways. Counsellors are often the first points of contact for these intersecting concerns. Without clear frameworks, the role can become reactive and emotionally exhausting.

A critical insight from professional counselling literature is that effectiveness is not measured by how much a counsellor absorbs but by how well they guide. As the psychologist Carl Rogers noted: “The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.” 

This principle applies equally to counselling practice: when counsellors accept the limits of their role, they can work more sustainably and ethically within it.

One practical response to role expansion is the application of best fit principles. Best fit shifts conversations away from status-driven outcomes toward alignment between a student’s abilities, values, well-being and long-term growth.

In my work with senior high school students, reframing questions from “Where will I be accepted?” to “Where am I most likely to thrive?” consistently reduced anxiety and promoted thoughtful decision-making. Students became more engaged in understanding themselves rather than chasing external validation. 

This approach supports academic success and emotional well-being, while preventing counsellors from carrying responsibility for unrealistic student ambitions.

Setting effective boundaries

As counselling roles expand, boundary-setting becomes a core professional skill. Counsellors are facilitators and advocates, not decision-makers. Blurring this distinction increases emotional strain and ethical risk.

Safeguarding remains central to this work. In high-pressure academic environments, mental health concerns may escalate quickly. Clear referral pathways, accurate documentation and collaboration with senior leadership ensure that counsellors support students without operating in isolation. 

Maintaining boundaries does not weaken care. Instead, it strengthens it by ensuring consistency, accountability and sustainability.

Looking after your own well-being

Counsellor well-being is not optional; it is an ethical responsibility. The following steps encourage conscious self-awareness, rather than reactive coping: 

• identify your self-care needs
• set realistic goals
• create a self-care routine
• evaluate your progress twice weekly
• adjust your plan if necessary.

In my own practice, small, consistent self-care routines – protected reflection time, peer consultation and clear work-life boundaries – have been essential in helping me maintain emotional presence with students.

Taking a whole-school approach

Responsibility for curtailing role expansion cannot rest solely on individual counsellors. In my school context, I have worked closely with my senior leadership team to normalise different definitions of success and to integrate best fit language into parent and student conversations. 

Using anonymised well-being data has strengthened advocacy for realistic expectations and systemic support. This whole-school approach reinforces the counsellor’s strategic role and reduces the pressure to “fix” challenges individually.

Counsellors need to be able to meet expanded expectations without compromising their own health. This allows us not only to support individual students more effectively but also to contribute to a resilient, reflective and values-driven global counselling profession.