The role of school counselors by prevention and offering help to pupils and students with mental health problems

Šolska svetovalna služba opravlja različne naloge in je v oporo učencem, učiteljem in staršem. V magistrski nalogi nas je zanimalo, kakšna je njena vloga pri izvajanju preventivnih dejavnosti in nudenju pomoči učencem in dijakom s težavami v duševnem zdravju. V teoretičnem delu smo najprej opredelili nekatere ključne pojme, kot so duševno zdravje, duševna motnja, dejavniki tveganja in varovalni dejavniki za razvoj duševnih motenj. Zanimalo nas je, kakšno je stanje na področju duševnega zdravja v Sloveniji in v evropskem prostoru, še posebej pri otrocih in mladostnikih. Na kratko smo predstavili nekatere najpogostejše duševne motnje v otroštvu in mladostništvu. V nadaljevanju smo tematiko umestili v šolski prostor. V predzadnjem poglavju teoretičnega dela smo zato najprej predstavili šolsko svetovalno službo, njena temeljna načela in naloge. Na koncu teoretičnega dela pa smo opredelili vlogo šolske svetovalne službe pri preventivi, nudenju pomoči in preprečevanju stigmatiziranosti učencev in dijakov s težavami v duševnem zdravju. V empiričnem delu smo prikazali rezultate kvalitativne raziskave. Opravili smo tri polstrukturirane intervjuje s svetovalnimi delavkami osnovne šole, gimnazije in šole za storitvene dejavnosti. Raziskovalna vprašanja smo razdelili na štiri sklope, in sicer nas je zanimalo, v kolikšni meri se svetovalne delavke srečujejo s tematiko duševnega zdravja, ali izvajajo preventivne dejavnosti na to temo, kateri so po njihovem mnenju ključni znaki za prepoznavo posameznih primerov učencev/dijakov s težavami v duševnem zdravju, kako sodelujejo z zunanjimi ustanovami/strokovnjaki, oddelkom, učitelji in starši ter, ali menijo, da so dovolj usposobljene na področju preventivnega delovanja, prepoznave konkretnih primerov in nudenja pomoči učencem/dijakom s težavami v duševnem zdravju. Na podlagi dobljenih rezultatov kvalitativne raziskave lahko sklepamo, da ima šolska svetovalna služba pri delu z učenci/dijaki s težavami v duševnem zdravju pomembno vlogo. Intervjuvane šolske svetovalne delavke se s tematiko duševnega zdravja pogosto srečujejo, najpogosteje v obliki kurativnega delovanja. Preventivnih dejavnosti je po njihovem mnenju premalo oziroma manj kot kurativnih. Učenci in dijaki s tovrstnimi težavami se nanje velikokrat obrnejo na lastno pobudo. Kot ključen znak za prepoznavo težav v duševnem zdravju so intervjuvane svetovalne delavke omenile spremembe vedenja, kot so izogibanje socialnim stikom, spremembe razpoloženja, menjava družbe. Pri soočanju s predsodki so izpostavile pomen pogovora in izobraževanja o težavah. Ugotovili smo, da si intervjuvane šolske svetovalne delavke želijo pridobiti več specifičnega znanja, kar se tiče posameznih duševnih motenj in konkretnejših napotkov za nudenje pomoči učencem ter dijakom s težavami v duševnem zdravju.School\u27s counselling service does various jobs and offers support to pupils, teachers, and parents. The master’s thesis presents the role of the school’s counselling service in performing preventive activities and offering help to pupils and students with mental health problems. In the theoretical part, first some basic terms (such as mental health, mental disorder, risk factors and safety factors for the development of mental disorders) are explained. It is researched, what the mental health condition in Slovenia and in the rest of Europe is like, especially with children and the youth. Some of the most common mental disorders in childhood and adolescence are also presented. Furthermore, this subject matter is placed into the school environment. In the next to last chapter of the theoretical part, the school’s counselling service is described together with its basic principles and tasks. The last part includes the role of the school’s counselling service in prevention, offering help and prevention of those pupils and students’ stigmatization that have mental health problems. In the empirical part of the thesis, the results of the qualitative research are introduced. Three half-structured interviews were conducted with school counsellors at a primary school, a secondary school and at a school for service industries. The interview questions are divided into sections, and they are: to what extend are school counsellors coming across the topic of mental healthare the preventive activities related to this topic being performedwhich are (in their opinion) the key signs to recognize individual cases of pupils/students with mental health problemshow do they cooperate with external institutions/experts, the class, teachers and parentswhat is their opinion on how well they are qualified in the field of preventive functioning, recognizing concrete cases and offering help to pupils/students with mental health issues. Based on the received results it can be concluded that the school’s counselling service has got an important role when it comes to working with pupils/students with mental health issues. The interviewed school counsellors often come across with the subject matter of mental health, most often this is in the form of remedial service. In their opinion, there are fewer preventive activities than remedial services. Pupils and students with such problems often search for their help self-initiatively. A change in behavior, such as avoiding social contacts, a change in mood and a change of friends’ circle are the key signs that the interviewed school counsellors named as the signs used to recognize the mental health issues. They stress the importance of conversation and special education about such issues in connection with prejudice confrontation. The research shows that the interviewed school counsellors want to gain more specific knowledge concerning individual mental disorders and concrete instructions on how to offer help to pupils and students with mental health problems