The Lived Experiences of Guidance

Counselors in Their Personal Mental

Health Challenges

By:

Allavado, Rennier P. (Significance of the Study)

Bosito, Danica Mae C. (Definition of terms)

Favor, Arzen Nio H. (Research Problem and Objective)

Fronda, Miriam D. (Introduction)

Santos, Dane Syryle A. (Scope and Limitations, Conceptual Framework)

HUMSS-2

Submitted To:

Mr. Alvin Tiamson

Introduction

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines mental health as "a

condition of well-being in which a person knows his or her own ability, can

cope with regular life stress, can function productively, and can make a

significant contribution to his or her society" (2010, p.2). Most essential and

necessary to a complete comprehension of this discussion is that mental

wellbeing is much more than the lack of mental illnesses. Over the course of

any person's life, they are extremely likely to have a mental health condition on

their own or to have direct contact with someone who does. Health conditions

or mental illnesses involve substantial changes in a person's comprehension,

emotional state, and behavior, thus negatively affecting the individual's

capacity to participate in his or her personal and professional relationship. It is

important to explain the distinction between a psychiatric condition or

disability and a mental health issue when addressing mental health. Mental

wellbeing is a wider concept that can include a mental disorder or a person

dealing with problems that may be serious enough to affect a person’s lifestyle

or practices.

Common mental illnesses include:

• Mood disorders – clinical depression, bipolar disorder, seasonal affective

disorder
• Anxiety disorders – obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress

disorder, phobias

• Eating disorders – borderline personality disorder

• Attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention deficit hyperactivity

disorder (ADHD)

• Schizophrenia and psychosis

• Substance abuse and dependency disorders

• Self-harm and suicide

As discussed previously, psychiatric disease and mental health issues

impact a large segment of the world's population. Although common across

populations, there are different classes of individuals at higher risk. Sampling

of these communities may help us gain better understanding on such

phenomena that can and will affect an individual.

Apart from the family structure, the school system has the most

interaction with young people during their preparation years. Throughout the

day, adults spend a number of hours engaging with, watching, and guiding

these young people as their young brains, bodies, social control, interpersonal

and coping skills grow. It is not shocking to find that some of these adults tend

to identify distinct mental health issues in the students with whom they

interact, while at the same time peers can also begin to recognize or be

deprived of the mental health concerns of others. Individuals with strong links
to the education sector recognize that "psychological well-being is a

prerequisite for students' progress in school and that, as teachers are

responsible for educating all children to read, school mental health services are

responsible for ensuring that all students have the psychological skills they

need to learn." Schools not only act as frontline mental health support for

children and youth, but for many, school counsellors can be the only mental

health support available. So it is vital for us to access or isolate the variances

of such issues for further understanding the different life aspects of guidance

counselors when it comes to dealing with their own personal mental health.

Mental wellbeing is perceived to be a key component of the position of licensed

school counsellor; understanding of terms, signs, treatments, tools, and

psychiatric interventions is vital to the provision of services to the school

community in helping not only the students but also the staffs.

Research Problem and Objective

MAIN RESEARCH PROBLEM: What are the Lived Experiences of

Guidance Counselors in Their Personal Mental Health Challenges?

MAIN RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: To determine the Lived Experiences of

Guidance Counselors in Their Personal Mental Health Challenges.

As far as everyone is concerned, a Guidance Counselor is a person in

charge in giving help to those students who suffer from mental health problems

that usually occur in schools. A Guidance Counselor is defined as a person

that gives advice to people who are having a hard time. But do people realize
how these counselors make solutions in any problem their client is facing?

Hence, this research aims to find out how Guidance Counselors handles their

mental health and how they give advice to others.

Furthermore, imagine a world without “Guidance and Counselling”, it is

simply a loss for everyone right? Many people will have hard times because

they do not have anyone to hear them out. With that being said, we should

keep our hands up to those people who are experienced in dealing with another

person’s mental health because if we look closely into their jobs, it is not easy.

The primary objective of the study is to determine how does Guidance

Counselors handle their mental health during challenges? Ans how does

Guidance Counselors fix problems despite of what is happening to our

community right now?

Scope and Limitations

This study is confined to determine the lived experiences of guidance

counselors in dealing with the challenges of their own personal mental health

through a series of interviews that will be conducted through social media

means. The researchers will conduct an interview with a sample population of

5 school guidance counselors. The researchers aim that this research will

present well and provide understanding and essential information to the lived

experiences of guidance counselors in their personal mental health challenges.

Initially, this study will confine itself to interviewing different guidance

counselors as to give context on their respected lived experiences.

follows: The generalizability of results is affected by the purposive sampling

process. This research would not apply to all aspects of the life of guidance

counselors. Despite the fact that using lived experiences to research

phenomena is a popular technique, this study does not yet have a full image of

these evaluations. We haven't looked at gaps in quality requirements or tolerate

any form, for instance, that could explain a few of the inconsistencies between

encounters. Moreover, the result will expose unique look on different guidance

counselors lived experiences dealing with their own personal mental health

challenges. Interviews with guidance counselors, on the other hand, can yield

slightly different perceptions of the uniqueness of one's life depending on the

procedure used during the interviewing phase.

Conceptual Framework

GUIDANCE LIVED MENTAL HEALTH

Significance of the Study

This study hopes to create awareness and enlightenment about The

Lived Experiences of Guidance Counselors in Their Personal Mental Health

Challenges. This study will provide relevant data and information that will

benefit the following:

information that would help students to have a better understanding on how

important to understand the experiences of every Guidance Counselors in

handling their personal mental health challenges.

To the Teachers: This study will provide them information to their

concern regarding to their personal and mental health challenges.

To the Parents: This study will aid the parents in a way that they will be

guided and aware of handling and sorting personal mental health challenges

not only to the experience of Guidance Counselors but also to give them

information and guidance in applying it to their experiences as well.

To the School: This study will aid the school by providing them ideas to

maintain the good relationship to the high personnel of the school regarding

their personal mental health challenges.

To the Future Researchers: it would definitely attribute an additional

knowledge and gain information in this research by a lot of data were being

learned. And the information presented may be used as reference data in

conducting new research. It serves as a basis in conducting further information

and knowledge to the future researchers that is related to this study.

Definition of Terms

• Guidance Counselor – A guidance counselor is a great source of help for

both parents and students alike, a person who can help you understand
educational goals and meet them. It is not uncommon to be struggling with

school, mental health, or life in general. Many feel isolated, especially young

people who are still developing their voice and their place in the world. Many

countries across the world have mandated school counseling, giving people the

resources to meet their challenges and thrive in school life.

• Lived Experience – In qualitative phenomenological research, lived

experience refers to a representation of the experiences and choices. It is a

category of qualitative research together with those that focus on society and

culture and those focus on language and communication. In the philosophy of

Wilhelm Dilthey, the human sciences are based on lived experience, which

makes them fundamentally different from the natural sciences, which are

considered to be based on scientific experiences. The concept can also be

approached from the view that since every experience has both objective and

subjective components, it is important for a researcher to understand all

aspects of it. In phenomenological research, lived experience are the main

object of study, but to determine the understandable meaning of such

experiences. In addition, lived experiences is not about reflecting on an

experience while living through it but recollective, where experience is reflected

on after it has passed or lived through.

• Mental Health – Mental health includes our emotional, psychosocial and

well-being. It affects how we think, feel and act. It also helps determine how we

handles stress, related to others, and make choices. Mental health is important
at every stage of life from childhood and adolescence through adulthood. Over

the course of your life, if you experience mental health problems, your

thinking, mood, and behavior could be affected. Many factors contribute to

mental health problems, including:

 Biological factors, such as genes or brain chemistry

 Life experience, such as trauma or abuse

 Family history of mental health problems

• Mental health challenges

. There are many types of mental health challenges, Example of specific Mental

Health Challenges:

 ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)

 Anxiety (Panic Disorder)

 Autism Spectrum Disorder

 Bi-Polar Disorder

 Depression

 Eating Disorder

 Post-Trauma Stress Disorder (PTSD)