Examining Individual and Organizational Factors of School Counselor Burnout

Relationships between role stress, professional identity, and burnout among contemporary school counselors

“…Professional identity moderated the relationship between role stress and two subscales of burnout: deterioration in personal life and exhaustion. The relationship between role stress and these specific sub‐scales of burnout is further supported by a recent study by Fye et al (2020), who found a positive correlation between stress and the exhaustion and deterioration in personal life dimensions of burnout. These two components of burnout were found as strongly correlated in previous studies (Lee et al, 2007), implying they share similar aspects of burnout.…”

“…This recommendation is in line with previous studies claiming that professionals who had not received adequate training to fulfill their various roles are more prone to burnout (Huebner, 1993). Despite efforts to produce clear role guidelines, the reality remains that school counselors engage in various noncounseling duties (Bardhoshi et al, 2014; Gutierrez & Mullen, 2016), which contributes to role stress (Fye et al, 2020). Fye et al (2020) suggest that counselor educators and supervisors should allow students to get acquainted with various counseling and related duties expected of school counselors within the school environment.…”

“…Despite efforts to produce clear role guidelines, the reality remains that school counselors engage in various noncounseling duties (Bardhoshi et al, 2014; Gutierrez & Mullen, 2016), which contributes to role stress (Fye et al, 2020). Fye et al (2020) suggest that counselor educators and supervisors should allow students to get acquainted with various counseling and related duties expected of school counselors within the school environment. That could allow graduate students to explore school counselors' professional identity and the real and ideal roles of the school counselor, a process that might alleviate role stress.…”

School Counselor Burnout, Job Stress, and Job Satisfaction by Student Caseload

“…These overall findings suggest that lower caseloads may be a buffer for reduced burnout, but there is also a need to explore further the relationships among these variables with more detail and clarity. Fye, Cook, et al (2020) examined the relationship between individual and personal factors that contributed to burnout. While Fye et al did not examine caseload specifically, they found that organizational factors, such as role ambiguity, were predictive of burnout.…”

“…School counselors handle many important academic-related tasks and are often the primary mental health professionals in schools. Principals can support school counseling professionals by providing resources and supports and reducing their clerical and administrative noncounseling duties to serve students effectively (Bardhoshi et al, 2014;Fye, Cook, et al, 2020). Principals can also consider contextual factors of school counselors' caseloads (e.g., numbers of students with disabilities, students who are undercredited, students experiencing attendance and truancy issues, and other needs; McCarthy et al, 2010) when considering reduced caseload sizes so that school counselors can equitably and effectively serve and intervene with their students and families.…”