Sociology

Research form different fields have placed importance on the issues of the youth at-risk.  A number of societal problems are related to harmful behaviors that at at-risk teens associate themselves with.  Unless these behaviors are modified, they will move on to become unproductive citizens in the future.  A number of cases presented by Ungar (2006) demonstrate the successful use of strengths-based counseling with at-risk youth.  In a striking statement, he emphasizes the need to understand the good things that teens say they derive from being bad (p. 8).  Thus, a counselors responsibility is to provide positive alternatives where they can direct their attention and energy while still getting the same amount of benefits.  Youth will accept our invitations to change when what we offer is satisfying to them as their less conventional pursuits (Ungar, 2006, p. 10).

Strengths-based counseling involves focusing on events or circumstances that are going right with the individual in the present or in the past, and using these to address their present challenges.  The approach consists of involving the individual in finding solutions about hisher predicament.  As Ungar (2006) also reiterates, it is imperative that the youth view people in authority as allies.  At the heart of strengths-based counseling is the creation of a safe environment and the establishment of a helping relationship.  These structures also must persist even if at first, there are those who turn down the alternatives presented. Ungar (2006) emphasizes, Resilience is as much about the structures we create around young people as their individual capacities (p. 17).

There is a lot to benefit from strengths-based counseling applied in the school setting.  Strengths-based school counseling as a positivisticoptimistic approach puts equal emphasis on both strengths and weaknesses.  The whole student population, therefore, can take advantage of the approach even if they are not considered at-risk.  The fundamental principle of strength-based counseling is the development of the human potentials so an individual is able to live happily and productively in the society.  Indeed, there is much to learn from this approach in developing resiliency among the students, especially those who are in transition and are facing the challenge of leaving their comfort zones.

Currently, I am doing my internship in a high school that will soon be closing with its last batch of graduates this year 2010.  Part of my job is to work with transitioning students in fulfilling the required course credits to earn their diploma and transfer to another school.  Understandably, the thought of going to another school is challenging and anxiety-provoking.  A few, if not most, students are gripped with fear about the ideas of adjustment, fitting-in and finding new friends.  In a striking case, one student who only needed half of gym credit to graduate expressed her discouragement to work on gaining the credits.  During our conversations, it became apparent that her immigrant status is the root cause of her apprehensions and limiting her to achieve greater heights.  This has affected her self-esteem and her expectancy of success.  Using strengths-based counseling, I hope to help her appreciate her strengths and learn from her triumphs so she can break this debilitating factor that hampers her from pursuing that path to success.

The case above is only one of the varieties of challenges that the youth have to deal with everyday.  The school has every resource  time, people and physical environment  to help these students rise above their perceived limitations and transcend the explicit challenges.  Strengths-based counseling has the framework that can address the case presented above, as well as other problems that hamper the current and future academic and personal success of students.  Once a student is developed to build on hisher strengths, nurture a hopeful disposition and view failures as learning opportunities, she becomes resistant to change and empowered to deal with the obstructions to academic and personal success.  Indeed, it is the best way to equip the students with the skills to survive and thrive successfully in life.