Skip to Main Content

School Counseling Direct vs. Indirect Hours Guide

Activity

Type

Description

Student Individual Counseling Session

Direct: School/Guidance Counseling

Delivery of counseling services to an individual student.

Crisis Counseling

Direct: Other

Provision of counseling services to students, families, or school personnel in response to an emergency or significant event. School counselors provide short-term counseling and appropriate referral to outside sources, when necessary.

Group Counseling

Direct: Group Counseling

Facilitation of group counseling with students on various academic, personal-social, and career topics.

Student Peer Program Services Delivery

Direct: School/Guidance Counseling

Facilitation of peer programs, such as peer mentoring, while engaging with a student. If student is not present, this is Indirect.

Student Advising or Analysis

Direct: School/Guidance Counseling

Planning individually or with multiple students; actions may include goal setting, career/college guidance, etc., which may involve analyzing skills, achievements, etc.

Active Consultation

Indirect: Other Indirect/Administrative Hours

Actively engaging with administrators, teachers, parents, mental health professionals, community members, etc. to support a student’s growth, wellness, performance, etc.

Observing Consultation

Indirect: Other Indirect/Administrative Hours

Attending support meetings with administrators, teachers, parents, mental health professionals, etc., but not actively engaging in interactions.

Classroom Guidance

Direct: School/Guidance Counseling

Teaching/delivering material to a classroom to advance academic, personal-social, or career counseling program action plans.

Counseling Program Action Plan Services

Direct: School/Guidance Counseling

Implementing counseling program goals by engaging in service delivery, such as implementing career days, college meet-and-greets, etc.

Counseling Program Action Plan Preparation and Analysis

Indirect: Other Indirect/Administrative Hours

Activities to support counseling goals that are not engaging of students/stakeholders, such as lesson planning, program planning, data collection, data analysis, etc.

Teacher or Parent Training

Indirect: Other Indirect/Administrative Hours

Providing instruction/feedback to teachers, paraprofessionals, student family members, etc. to support academic, personal-social, or career-related counseling goals.

Task Meeting Attendance

Indirect: Other Indirect/Administrative Hours

Receipt/observance of material, discussions, meetings, or trainings to support the school, such as school safety, school improvement team initiatives. in which the counselor does not actively engage.

Supervision

Indirect:

Supervision (various forms)

Triadic or individual supervision by the site supervisor, group supervision provided by Walden University instructor, etc.

Clinical Observation

Indirect: Other Indirect/Administrative Hours

Inactive observations for data collection, such as ABC chart information, behavioral frequency counts, etc.

Test administration or Test Monitoring

Indirect: Other Indirect/Administrative Hours

Activities that typically should fall outside of the role of a school counselor but are often required by individual districts.

Professional Development

Indirect: Other Indirect/Administrative Hours

Activities to advance knowledge or skills related to counseling services—reading books about specific interventions, attending conferences or trainings, etc.