Exploring counselling outcomes in New Zealand schools.

Background: School counsellors with tertiary‐level qualifications have been appointed to permanent positions in secondary schools in New Zealand for nearly 50 years. Despite their perceived importance to their schools and communities, there have been no systematic studies examining the impact of their roles on students. Nevertheless, counsellors' roles have expanded over the years to include a wide range of mental health‐related services for students. Aim: The purpose of this study was to explore the outcomes for the well‐being of students counselled in New Zealand secondary schools. Method: Thirty school counsellors working in 14 secondary schools across the country during the 2019 school year provided scores on the Outcome Rating Scale (ORS; Duncan & Miller, 2000) The heroic client: Client directed, outcome informed therapy. San Francisco, CA: Jossey‐Bass, 2000) for the first and final counselling sessions of 490 students. Results: Seventy per cent of the counselled students were females, 64% were Pākehā (European), 14% were Māori, and 22% represented other ethnicities. Their counselling tended to be brief with 69% of students having fewer than five sessions. The average ORS score for the counselled students changed positively and significantly over time. The effect size of this change (Cohen's d = 0.87) was 'large'. Although boys had significantly higher first and last session ORS scores than girls, the average gain score for each group was similar. The average ORS scores for all of the ethnic groups changed positively over time, and their average gains were similar. Discussion: The observed changes over time associated with counselling were not unlike those observed overseas. The findings are notable given that in every participating school the ratio of counsellors to students (1:668) far exceeded ratios recommended by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA; 1:250) and the New Zealand Association of Counsellors (NZAC; 1:400). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]