Is anyone out there working as a counselor in an international school with certification in school psychology?

I have a friend in Bombay who was able to get a psychologist position, but said a lot of the positions she interviewed for in Cambridge were for counselor positions. I was just wondering, since there are a lot more counselor positions out there, whether it was common for schools to employ psychologists to work as counselors.

Is there much of a learning curve involved for psychologist-counselors in international schools?

Are psychologist-counselors respected by certified counselors?

Are there any counselor duties I would find particularly difficult to perform with my training?

Scheduling and college-related counseling are two areas I'm somewhat concerned about.

At most international schools the counselor/psychologist position is a combined position.

Schools of course look for formal psychological training with a clinical emphasis. Counselor is really a mixed bag of job duties. You have to understand that cultural approaches to mental health vary GREATLY by region. In Asia, students dont talk about their problems with strangers or in "therapy" type situations, it would cause a sever loss of face. If they have a problem they talk to a close friend for example. Usually the counselor is part of the admin team. You wont really do a lot of psychometric testing either, remember most international schools are private and either can be selective about who they admit, or dont want to absorb the cost of testing. Most parents would prefer maintaining the illusion that their kids are bright and special anyway. Many schools also dont do Special ed, either al all or they do special ed "lite". In my past experience. You might have the Stanford Binnet and maybe the Strong interest inventory available (sample set).

Their just isnt a lot of need for a psychologist, really most kids are pretty well adjusted, and have pretty comfortable lives. Occasionally you get the depressed student who's going through a breakup with their boyfriend, or a family member dies (acute depression). Most of the time the counselor is a part of the Discipline Management process.

School Psychologists are more seen as clinicians and psychometricians. Counselors are more seen as the therapy provider types.

The learning curve depends on the school and what your duties are. Yes counselors may and often do do college advising, and working with the master schedule.

Honestly, the hardest thing will probably be finding things to do with your time. Its a pretty cushy job really.

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Psychologists are often welcomed in the roles of school counselor because it allows for some educational assessments to be done in house. It can be a struggle in many countries to find a good source for this. Psychologists can also be a huge help to Student Support Teams in schools since they are familiar with much of the "jargon" found in ed psych reports. No matter what services a school provides, the reality is students with all level of needs are present in the international schools. While the number of emotional issues might be less than in public schools, they are there and can be quite serious.

If you are interested in working in a secondary role, there are a few schools out there who separate college placement work from the pastoral (emotional) care. The key is to make sure the job description is clear during the interview process. Many schools do require an extended contract due to the extra work involved before the school year starts and in wrapping up the records at the end of the year. This may or may not include additional compensation.

Good luck!

Thanks for all the input, especially the clarification as to what exactly "pastoral care" entails (I thought it had some sort of religious connotation).

I've heard that psychologists often have the opportunity to do some private psychoeducational testing as a side gig while working internationally, and this can be quite lucrative. Has anyone heard of this happening? My friend said I'd have to get a different kind of visa if I wanted to do this.

Would doing it under the table have negative consequences? I know that a lot of teachers do private tutoring to boost their incomes, so I would imagine it would be a similar situation.

It can be VERY lucrative. Depends how much money you want to invest and what the scope of it is (if your doing testing or disabilities for a parent and they want you to write a report or testify, you could get in trouble).

The visa issue depends what country your in. Generally if your hired as a school counselor/school psychologist then that visa will allow you to do those things regardless if your at the school or not (of course your employer and contract may prohibit such extra curricular work) as they are within the same scope of duties.

As far as negative consequences that depends where you are and who you work for.

Sweet.

I guess I'll buy a WISC kit before I go over...

I think you will find your training/experience as a psychologist quite valuable to many schools. The key is the experience you have w/ counseling - I know that in my experience in the NYC Department of Ed the school psychologists focused primarily on testing - you will probably find in the int'l school setting that you're doing a little of both and more on the counseling end. Unlike the distinction in previous posts, I don't separate the terms counselor and clinician - I am a trained mental health professional and so I am very much both.

International schools are becoming more reflective of the real world - meaning, that they can't be more selective as they used to be because more students with a combo of learning disabilities, ADHD, autistic spectrume etc. are coming and they are responding to that by bulking up on their Learning Support/student support staff. At last year's Cambridge Search fair, I interviewed with several "top-tier" schools in Asia who welcomed my degree and credentials because of this. At my current job, I think they find my ability to understand the psychoed evaluations, the diagnoses, and medications some of our students have invaluable - especially since we are in a remote part of the world where it is difficult to find this type of support. I even find it frustrating sometimes because I don't have a clinical team to refer to whenever I have my own questions or doubts.

I think one of the big differences is that you will find yourself not only seeing students individually, but doing classroom presentations/groups as well and participating in schoolwide programming ie - character education, anti-bullying, etc. Fortunately, I did plenty of this in my previous job and was able to present that in my interviews.

As for doing the testing on the side - it depends on the school, but I think it may very well be part of your job duties. Moreover, I think it will be a relief to many parents/schools since you don't have to refer them to do the assessment in their home countries - where often times it simply doesn't get done.

If you ever care to discuss the more in-depth - feel free to PM me. I'm always game to get more clinicians in the int'l school field. :)