Behavioral Therapy And Interpersonal -social Rhythm Therapy

According to merriam-webster.com, bipolar is defined as having or marked by two mutually repellent forces or diametrically opposed natures or views. Similarly, Bipolar disorder is when has alternating sessions of depression and manic. Bipolarity is one the many mood disorders which belongs in the category of clinical syndromes in the classification of disorders (Weiten 605). Although the cause is not yet clear, it has many symptoms and two of the therapies that are used to treat bipolar disorder are Cognitive-behavioral therapy and Interpersonal -social rhythm therapy. Although there is an ample amount of information to learn about the bipolar disorder some of the most general points are who it’s mainly found in, its causes, and its†¦show more content†¦Some of the patients even need to be hospitalized as well as being given medication (Parachin 83). Patients may be unable to distinguish between hallucinations and reality. Because such individual are not in a stable mental state, some are not even aware of the fact that they are diagnosed with a disease (Parachin 83). This disorder can have episodes of only mania or both mania and depression. Such episodes can be beneficial or disadvantages depending on the mood. For example, when someone is very energetic during his or her manic period things can be done a faster and more efficient rate. On the other hand, when someone is depressed he might not want to go out and miss on out on great opportunities that may come along only once. The second type is Bipolar Disorder II where the mood swings are much milder. Although most patients go through mild depression some can have severe sessions. The main difference between this and II is the absence of mania. Because of the prevalence of hypomania the energy levels are not so high. Mildness of this category makes this much safer when compared the first disorder and others may see such individuals as very moody. The last type of the Bipolar disorder is cyclothymia. Although the name might sound daunting, this is actually the mildest from. People with this disorder never reach out for diagnosis. For the most part they are functional but more prone to mood swings. The therapies used to deal with Bipolar

Definition And Categories Of Homelessness - 2161 Words

Definition and Categories of Homelessness The Early Years The meaning of homelessness has changed many times in the past years, we have forgotten that casual laborers, vagrants, and the wandering poor were not unseen in early years, whereby homelessness is an uneasy situation in society. According to Shlay Rossie, (1992), homelessness is an individual without a home or a permanent place, but current perspectives indicate that intermittent homelessness falls into the definition. At the beginning vagrancy focused on skid row with the attention on single room hotels, boarding houses, and cheap places to eat, on the community that attracted transients, though they were not homerless, whereby they had had a place to sleep with an address.†¦show more content†¦According to Hubley et al. (2014), the quality of life for homeless is lower than that of the general population because of his or her living conditions, such those who live on the streets with no place for personal care. There are no difference in the quality of life of gender s, but there are more services available to mothers caring for children than there are for single men, whereby there is a need for more male services. â€Å"Los Angeles County is the homeless capital of the USA, with at least 88,000 homeless in 2005 (Reese, Deverteuil, Thach, 2010).† The reason for the high number of homeless is the lack of income, a drop in non-existent welfare support and not enough affordable housing, as a result has people into homelessness. The rent in California is high with a studio apartment running an average $843 per month, which is not within the affordable rent for a minimum wage earner nor a recipient of Supplemental Security Income. According to Reese et al. (2010), a majority of the homeless are in the older, diverse urban neighborhoods where homeless services have a habit of gathering. As a result of low-income living in one area, the degree of mental disabilities and substance misuse are roughly twice as high among the homeless compared to the entire County. Imminent Homeless According to Shlay Rossie, (1992), intermittent homelessness is the movement in and out of his or her living situation, whereby the individual has

Principles of Auditing and Other Assurance Services

Question: Discuss about the Principles of Auditing and Other Assurance Services. Answer: Introduction: Richard H. Walker, Director of Enforcement, the Securities and Exchange Commission had once opined that in pursuit of acquiring and retaining more clients in the competitive environment, the audit companies have constantly seen to explore the ever expanding market of non audit services for the large corporate and multi nationals. (Hay, 2015). Independence in context of auditing refers to a person power of judgment not being negatively affected by the wishes of the other person. This means that for an auditor to be unbiased he should not be affected by the undue influence of the clients. The credibility of the annual report is automatically enhanced whose auditor has been given an unquestionable independence to operate in his arena. (Bansal, 2013). Independence of auditor has resulted in numerous benefits for the stakeholder and this is the primary reason behind the accounting standard bodies constant effort to promote independence globally. Independent Audit has helped the management to pinpoint on the causes of its poor performance and helps to overcome it. Adherence to the accounting standard in ensured through the independence of the auditor. Auditors are responsible to judge the fairness of the payouts made to the employees especially the CXO. Their vigilance, act as a deterrent to the dishonest employees on committing fraud. The banking industry globally is reeling under the problem of loan default by big names of the industries. A credible financial statement arising from independent audit not only helps the banks to judge the credit worthiness of the lenders but subsequent financial statements gives an idea about the recoverability of the loan during the repayment tenure. (ICAEW, 2017) The corporate tax revenue of the government is highly dependent on the taxes, the computations of which are found in the financial statements which are verified by the auditor. (Wang., Hay, 2013). Such instances have highlighted repeatedly the need of the independence of the auditors attached to the organization. (Bansal, 2013) Issues on Auditors independence have gained importance in New Zealand, which has prompted the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand (called ICANZ) to conduct an enquiry in this issue, the stock exchange of New Zealand responded with change in listing requirements and the Security Commission to conduct a study on the issue. Although failures of company are not very common in New Zealand but the glaring examples of failure (Su, 2015) such as the scandal of Enron which had Anderson as is auditor, Australian company HIH Insurance and WorldCom have incited fear in the mind of the people. (Roy, 2015). Disturbance in the minds of people of New Zealand about whether the true and fair view proclaimed by the auditor is genuine or not, dates back to period much before Enron when the increasing trend of non audit fees charged by the auditor has been noticed by many people. The practices of providing audit clients with non audit service including advices which help them to remain competitive have often widely been seen as a threat to the independence. This trend which has slowly been emerging among the good companies as they feel that the highly trained auditors who is having a good knowledge about the affairs of the company can easily relate them to the external environment for the success of the company. (Cheung, Hay, 2004) Companies Act and ethical requirements as determined by ICANZ define the requirements for auditors independence in New Zealand. The Companies Act explicitly bars an auditor from being the director, partner or employee of the company. In fact the act goes further in debarring an auditor to even become a liquidator or receiver of the company. (Stuart, 2012). This is because the essence of the Companies Act is that the relation between the company and the auditor should not be such that it might affect in his judgment about the company. Drawing inspiration from the International Federation of Accountants Code of Ethics, ICANZ formulated ICANZ code of ethics which was supplemented by addition of Code of Ethics: Independence. These drafts and additions were prepared considering the scandals of International Auditing and accommodating necessary safeguards from the same. (ICAEW, 2017) The ICANZ code of ethics calls upon the accountant involved in this profession to maintain not only independence of mind while auditing but also to maintain independence in appearance. In order to maintain the independence of the auditor, every financial transaction taking place with the clients, should be reviewed for potential risk and loss of independence. This provision is also extended to cases where an auditor has a financial interest in the business operation of the client, a situation where the significant portion of the income of the auditor or his firm comes from a particular client or when a client has failed to pay a large portion of his fees. ICANZ to institute auditors independence called for continuous review of objectivity risk especially when there has been a personal dealing or any dealing with the family of the proprietors. (Cheung, Hay, 2004) According to New Zealand Shareholders association when auditors are entrusted with both the audit and non audit, the auditor actually is being compensated by the lucrative non audit work in comparison to the lowly paid audit work. Although the companies have been highlighting cost effectiveness and quality in support of the dual role, the association doesnt rely on the fact that the mistakes occurred in none audit services by the auditor will be given an independent view by the same person during the audit. (Nzshareholders.co.nz, 2017) Therefore in order to avoid compromise in both the roles, the association wants that payment for non audit work can exceed at the most by 25% of the audit work. The association further calls for disclosing the non audit work performed by the company so greater observation can be kept by the shareholders on the accuracy of the same. In fact it is suggested that any conflict in the non audit work should be documented well along with the impact of the conflict as suggested by the auditor. (Nzshareholders.co.nz, 2017) Studies undertaken on auditors independence have often concluded without exact solution to make a person give independent views about a company who pays him. Therefore one of the solutions which could help auditors to shift their biased focus from the company to the shareholders is rotation of auditors. Since the auditor now knows that he has a limited term anyways, he will avoid spoiling his reputation by giving favorable reports under unfavorable situations. He will also now be concerned that is current corruption and errors could be taken up by the future auditor who will be coming in his place. So although a favorable relation between the auditor and the client firm is desirable, independent audit to know whether the company is actually in a true and fair situation cannot be compromises in the interest of the shareholders. In several countries the accounting professionals themselves established the regulations and rules applicable to the professionals and members itself regulates compliance with these regulations. The accounting professionals mainly regulates its members in context to mater including monitoring, qualification, discipline and complaints entailing them to see appropriate rules and byelaws, such as accounting professionals code of ethics (Davis and Hay, 2012). Acquiescence with the regulations and rules and code of ethics and hence the codes associating to the independence it necessary. The main objective of the auditors are examining, comparing, gathering evidence, support comparison and examination, making an effective conclusion based on the analysis and evaluation and representing the conclusion and other comment. The independent governance audits in New Zealand are auditor regulation act 2011, public audit act 2001 and financial reporting act 2013 and so on. The purpose of theses reg ulatory bodies is to make sure that organizations incorporating all norms and regulations in its financial statement in effective and successful manner. Moreover, these bodies also ensuring that the organization is incorporating the entire objective, functions and regulations in successful manner or not. The controller and Auditor general is the responsible for mainlining and executing auditing functions in public bodies. The main roles and responsibilities of the controller and Auditor general are to set out the rules and regulations. The body also accountable to the public and the parliament for utilizes of public power and resources conferred by parliament. Under the public audit act 2001, the auditor general of New Zeeland is the auditor of all public entities that contains the government department, crown, statutory boards, local authorities and other public bodies. In executing the assurance work and audit the Auditor general seeks the assurance and audit work executes on the behalf of Auditor general enhances the performance of the public sectors and publics trust (Griffin, Lont and Sun, 2014). Section 9 of the public audit act 2001 declares that the Auditor general and absolutely all those who employee for the Auditor general must act separately in the presentation of auditor generals power, duties and functions. Independent in regards to contain the professionals independent of an Accounting auditor is determining the fundamental significant of independent. The auditor general offers independent assurance that individuals or public entities are performing, accounting and operating for their performance in observing with parliaments purpose. Statutory financial reporting framework The statutory financial reporting framework objective is to establish the different type of the entities that have statutory financial reporting responsibility, audit, representation and filing needs. Moreover accounting standard framework also set out the accounting standards to be implemented by entities with statutory financial reporting reponsiblteis. The New Zealand framework outlines the concepts which strengthen information showed in general objective financial and non financial information which is contained in or attends the financial statement. It is utilized by the financial reporting standard board in working with the international accounting standard boards to develop IFRS or in developing local FRS. The statutory framework reporting obligations includes the financial markets conduct ACT 2013, the financial reporting actc2013 and the financial reporting (amendments to other Enactments) Act 2013 (legislation, 2017). The financial markets conducts acts come into the focused on 1 April 2014. The act explains a new term of financial marketing conduct entities that includes issuers of the financial goods or products, buildings societies, as well as credit terms. This act includes the core financial reporting responsibilities on the audit, presentation and filing need for financial reporting marketing entities. The financial reporting act 2013 builds a framework for financial coverage by establishing out needs that are mainly applicable across a range of entities. Instead of this FMC act 2013 as well the FRA 2013 the financial reports (amendments to other enactment act) 2013, impacted changes to the applicable rules and regulations that govern the statutory framework of financial repor ting needs of particular entity types. Under the public audit act 2001, the Auditor general is the inspector of all public bodies such as state own enterprises, crown entities, schools, statutory boards, local authorities and their subsidiaries, tertiary education institutions including polytechs, universities etc (Nethercott and Smith, 2014). XRB also known as the external reporting boards that aims and objective is to accounting standards and standards for assurance partitions (xrb, 2017). In order to this the board ensuring the transparency and accountability for stakeholders. Moreover the auditor generals standards are based upon the principles established by the XRB i.e. external reporting board that implement to assurance practitioners who executed audits in NZ. Auditors general standards Auditors general standards Name of standards or statements Performance audits Financial report audits Inquiries Other auditing services AG PES 1* The code of ethics for guarantee practitioners Yes Yes Yes Yes AG-5* Other auditing services, performance audits and other employment carried by on the behave of the Auditor general Yes Yes Yes Yes AG PES 3* Control related with the quality Yes Yes Yes Yes AG-6* Inquires executed by the Auditor General Yes Yes Yes Yes AG ISA(NZ) Overall purpose of the independent auditors and conduct of an audits in accordance with the New Zealand international standards on Auditing Yes Yes Yes Yes An independent audit might not be possible if the member of the audit team has a financial interest or a self interest attached with the firm. In other words any sought of financial interest in the client firm can create self interest threat. An auditor usually wont like to lose a client even if it means thinking about the welfare of the shareholders. Therefore a certain degree of self interest is always attached but the level drastically increases with the size of the fee payable. However the biggest self threat is the ratio between the fees paid by a particular client and the total fees of the company. The higher is the dependence more is the self interest threat. It is obvious that no one like to highlight ones own mistake. That is obvious for the auditors who after charging hefty non audit fees would hardly like to showcase their mistakes during audit. In other words during self review it is very difficult to maintain objectivity. This problem can also arise when a decision which needs to be given in the current audit requires a review of the decisions given in the previous audit. Therefore for an independent audit self review threat also needs to be managed. Since independence is not only about external issues but also internal issues like self review. Advocacy is the act of supporting ones client firm by the auditor. While a certain level of advocacy comes with association, but unconditional support becomes a matter of concern. This can seriously then affects the independence of the auditor and goes against the audit reporting role of the company. Auditor is suppose to give his judgment based on the material facts but sometimes he gets carried over by the good relation he has developed with the firm, its directors or the employees. The mere faith on them or the inherent culture of the firm often makes them feel that no mistake can be committed by them. (Glover, Prawitt,2014). When such confidence creeps in the mind of the auditor about the client, he automatically starts taking lenient and soft views on the financial discrepancies of the firm and a simple explanation of the client is then taken on the face value. Auditors are always cautioned not to exceed the advisory role and to avoid developing any personal opinion about the company. (Ebrahim, 2001) Safeguards to Manage the Threats Auditors should constantly look out for threats and accordingly take step to reduce them to a level accepted by standards and avoid harming the shareholders. While accomplishing their task auditors should always consider each risk separately and see what steps they have taken to mitigate the same. The degree to which the safeguard will be applied will depend on the level of threat, the type of audit engagement, the organizational structure of the firm and the profile of the end users. Based on the above threats there are three broad heads for safeguard. (Islam, Karim, 2005) Accounting bodies, auditing committees, international organizations generally implement standards, guidelines, oversights, disclosure requirements and processes for monitoring the discipline and enforcement of the same.( Knechel, Salterio, 2016). This includes but not limited to having a streamlined procedure of appointment as auditor, good supervision by audit committee, a well explained disclosure of the role to be played by the auditor both in terms of audit and non audit activities and the corresponding payments from the process. The auditor or the audit firm should appoint personnel who are professionally well qualified and are well remunerated so that they are able to maintain their professional integrity. (Gay, Simnett,2000). Safeguard within the audit firms own system and procedures It is absolutely necessary for the audit firm to have an own streamlined procedures and guidelines which will act as a safeguard for the firm. Safeguards should ideally be extended to the operations and procedures for client engagement. (Pitt,2014). The audit firm should have in place regulations which make way for the auditors independence, internal policies to adhere to the safeguards, a review of the quality of work done in the engagement, performance review of the partners and an open door policy where any staff of the auditing team are welcomed to meet the senior level authorities to discuss the problem faced by them during the audit. Such safeguards are instrumental not only for the auditors independence but will go a long way to promote objectivity and fair practices. (Islam, Karim, 2005) In order to ease out the pressure on the auditors to maintain integrity when playing dual roles, there are certain categories of services which are prohibited for an auditor while performing non audit activities.( Blay, Geiger,2013). The first two types of threats are not within the complete control of the audit firm. This means that is a role which the client company needs to play in extending the safeguard for the audit firm. However the last safeguard is totally in the hand of the audit firm. (Dobler, M. 2014). If an audit firm has the last safeguard implemented diligently in the firm, then the auditors of the firm are less likely to show interest to work with a firm whose threats are not minimized to an acceptable level with the help of the given safeguards.( Romney Steinbart, 2012). A good audit firm will in fact never hesitate to turn down an engagement with the client who doesnt allow sufficient independence and have threat which can affect the independent audit.( Ruhnke, Schmidt,2014). References Bansal, S. (2013). Auditing and Assurance - CA (11th ed.). New Delhi: Best Word Publications. Blay, A. D., Geiger, M. A. (2013). Auditor fees and auditor independence: Evidence from going concern reporting decisions.Contemporary Accounting Research,30(2), 579-606 Cheung, J., Hay, D. (2004). Auditor Independence: The Voice of Shareholders. Auckland: The University of Auckland. Retrieved from https://www.uabr.auckland.ac.nz/files/articles/volume6/v6i2-auditor-independence.pdf Davis, M. and Hay, D. (2012). An Analysis of Submissions on Proposed Regulations for Audit and Assurance in New Zealand.Australian Accounting Review, 22(3), pp.303-316. Dobler, M. (2014). Auditor-provided non-audit services in listed and private family firms.Managerial Auditing Journal,29(5), 427-454. Ebrahim, A. (2001). Auditing quality, auditor tenure, client importance, and earnings management: An additional evidence.Rutgers University, 1-20. Gay, G. E., Simnett, R. (2000).Auditing and assurance services in Australia. Sydney: Mcgraw-hill. Griffin, P., Lont, D. and Sun, Y. (2014). Governance Regulatory Changes, IFRS Adoption, and New Zealand Audit and Non-Audit Fees: Empirical Evidence.SSRN Electronic Journal. Glover, S. M., Prawitt, D. F. (2014). Enhancing auditor professional skepticism: The professional skepticism continuum.Current Issues in Auditing,8(2), P1-P10. Hay, D. (2015). The frontiers of auditing research.Meditari Accountancy Research,23(2), 158-174. ICAEW,. (2017). Provision of non- audit services to audit clients | Ethics | Technical | ICAEW. Icaew. Retrieved 6 April 2017, from https://www.icaew.com/en/technical/ethics/auditor-independence/provision-of-non-audit-services-to-audit-clients Islam, A., Karim, W. (2005). Auditors' Independence and NAS. Wellington: VictoriaUniversityof Wellington. Retrieved from https://www.victoria.ac.nz/sacl/centres-and-institutes/cagtr/working-papers/WP36.pdf Knechel, W. R., Salterio, S. E. (2016).Auditing: assurance and risk. Routledge. Knechel, W. R. (2016). Audit quality and regulation.International Journal of Auditing,20(3), 215-223. legislation. (2017).legislation. [online] Available at: https://www.legislation.govt.nz/ [Accessed 6 Apr. 2017]. Nethercott, L. and Smith, A. (2014). New Zealands Thin Capitalisation Rules and the Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards in New Zealand.SSRN Electronic Journal. Nzshareholders.co.nz,. (2017). New Zealand Shareholders' Association Inc. | NZSA Best Practice Guidelines. Nzshareholders.co.nz. Retrieved 6 April 2017, from https://www.nzshareholders.co.nz/shareholders-best-practiceDetail.cfm?bestpracticeid=27 Oag.govt.nz,. (2017). About auditing Office of the Auditor-General New Zealand. Oag.govt.nz. Retrieved 6 April 2017, from https://www.oag.govt.nz/our-work/about-auditing Romney, M. B., Steinbart, P. J. (2012).Accounting information systems. Boston: Pearson. Roy, M. N. (2015). Statutory Auditors' Independence in Corporate Accounting Scandals: A Case Study of Satyam Computer Services Ltd.Prabandhan: Indian Journal of Management,8(2), 35-48. Ruhnke, K., Schmidt, M. (2014). The audit expectation gap: existence, causes, and the impact of changes.Accounting and Business Research,44(5), 572-601. Stuart, I. (2012).Auditing and assurance services: an applied approach. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Su, L. (2015).Do the auditors bear the consequences of corporate failures? The case of failed New Zealand finance companies(Doctoral dissertation, Auckland University of Technology). Wang, S. W. S., Hay, D. (2013). Auditor independence in New Zealand: Further evidence on

Professional School Counseling free essay sample

Professional School Counseling A school counselor assists students in developing strategies to surmount society before society surmounts them. By teaching children social skills, and also a way of coping, a school counselor serves as a role model among the youth. Their primary purpose is assisting children with educational, emotional, and social development skills that will guide them in the direction of a healthier future. In most schools there is at least one counselor. Most School Counselors work in secondary schools (Grubb). Most opportunities will occur to meet replacement needs. Outlook is dependent on pupil population so job opportunities are best in growing areas. Those in the area of specialty who are bilingual and bicultural may have better chances for employment. Beginners may have to work at lower paying or part-time jobs in order to gain experience in the field. Jesse B. Davis was the founder of school counseling. Jesse B. Davis was the first individual that becomes known for introducing â€Å"vocational and moral guidance† into the school system. We will write a custom essay sample on Professional School Counseling or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page â€Å"This was the first systematic guidance program in public schools† (A Brief History of School Counseling, 2011). Jesse B. Davis was a school administrator in Michigan who seen how the new classes in the school systems were challenging to the students so he created a guidance curriculum. Davis introduced his guidance curriculum at the Grand Rapids, Michigan School that he was a principal at. This program was introduced to 11th grade boys and girls during 1898 to 1907. He introduced this curriculum into an English class once a week. During this class that teachers would teach the lessons that were suggested by Davis. Frank Parsons was influenced by the work of Jane Adams. He was a social worker in Boston Massachusetts. Parsons began a house for people that were unemployed. He thought that vocational education should be introduced into the public school systems. Parsons introduced the Vocation Bureau in Civic Service House in Boston in 1908. This established the first vocational institute in the United States. He also wrote a book called â€Å"Choosing a Vocation† right before he died in 1909. The American Counseling Association started out being known as the National Vocational Guidance Association, which was founded in Grand Rapids Michigan. This form of vocation guidance that the above people developed began to spread throughout many of the larger cities. This spread also involved Eli Weaver. Eli Weaver wrote a book called â€Å"Choosing a Career†. He began to introduce vocational guidance in New York City Schools as early as 1906. Vocational guidance began to spread fast. By 1909, it was I introduced into Boston schools, then in 1911 into Cincinnati schools. Vocational guidance mainly was developed because of a fear of unemployment. This in return created a strong social reform and progressive education movement. By 1924 guidance counselors (School Counselors) began to get certified. Vocational guidance and school counseling began to grow between the 1920’s and 1930’s. This growth happened due to the progressive education in the schools. The progressive movement placed emphasis on personal, social, and moral development. Many schools refused this education, saying that it was an anti-educational movement and that they should only be teaching the fundamentals of education. All this added with the Great Depression cause a decline in the school counseling and guidance profession. â€Å"In the 1940’s the United States were using psychologists and counselors mainly to select, recruit, and train military personnel† (A Brief History of School Counseling, 2011). This usage of counselor in the military caused the 1950’s â€Å"the Guidance and Personnel Services Section in the Division of State and Local School Systems. In 1957 the National Defense Education Act was launched, which created an increase in vocational guidance. School Counseling has continued to grow since then. It has grown created new legislation and new professional developments. In 2006, congress created February 6-10 National School Counseling week. There were not very many requirements for those wanting to be a school counselor back during the development of the job. Most of the people that were school counselors were teachers that had very little to no training at all in the guidance field. The National Defense Education Act established different guidance institutes were teachers would attend summer guidance seminars to receive specialized training in different guidance techniques. These seminars would offer endorsements and certificates to the teachers that were participating in the school-counseling career. â€Å"By the 1970’s most states required that teachers earn a master’s degree in school counseling in order to be certified as a school counselor† (A Brief History of School Counseling, 2011). The master’s degree programs consisted of 30-36 semester hours. At present there are about forty states that allow non-teachers that have school counseling degree’s to become counselors at their schools. Many of these states also require that a counselor have internship hours in a school setting. A Licensed Professional Counselor is different from a Licensed or Certified School Counselor. Many Counselors that work in different settings other than school usually do not require a school counseling certification. In order to compete with other professional such as psychiatrists and social workers a counselor should obtain this certification. Duties of a school counselor are to work with students, school staff, families, and members of the community in order to make education easier for the students. Counseling programs in schools tend to create school success with â€Å"a focus on academic achievement, prevention and intervention activities, advocacy, and social/emotional and career development† (Hartley, Richard amp; McLearen, Cynthia, 2006). A School Counselor is a person that is a certified professional with a Master’s degree and specialized training. A counselor also is an educator who advocates for all students, coordinates services, consults, is a group leader, is a mediator, is a professional helping teachers, parents, and others to understand the development of children and youth, and finally a counselor is a professional who helps children understand themselves and others. A School counselor has many jobs. These jobs include (Hartley, Richard amp; McLearen, Cynthia 2006): †¢ Counsels with students individually and in groups †¢ Provides developmental classroom guidance activities †¢ Responds to students’ needs in crisis situations   Orients new students to school programs and settings †¢ Works with potential drop-outs and other at-risk students †¢ Actively participates in the referral process for helping students and families connect with community agencies †¢ Analyzes test results and provides information about students’ abilities, achievements, interests, and needs †¢ Coordinates efforts with other school professionals †¢ Conducts conferences with parents †¢ Guides students’ school and career plans †¢ Adheres to ethical and legal standards †¢ Pursues opportunities for professional growth Conducts periodic evaluation of the school counseling and guidance programs †¢ Helping a student to enjoy their educational experience †¢ Be someone that a student can talk to when needed †¢ Give parents and families appropriate information when needed †¢ Provide students counseling in order to ensure school success, personal development, behavior management, assertiveness, †¢ The counselor also provides ways for the students to deal with: stress/anxiety, anger, divorce, and grief amp;loss †¢ The counselor also teaches the student how to build their friendship skills and how to make smart decisions. The school counselor provides assistance to fellow staff members and students by promoting social skills †¢ The counselor keeps in contact with teachers and school administrators about the students’ progress and development Some counselors offer parents and children or just parents different programs that help them to learn more about their education. A counselor’s job is much more different than it was 50 years ago. Back 50 years ago a counselor was more concerned with just getting a student the classes they wanted to take. At present a counselor helps their students in a much broader way. The counselor helps students deal with almost any problem that might arise. The counselor helps to guide students toward productive futures, and tries to create positive environments for them to learn in. There are many different skills that a school counselor must be able to teach to students. These skills include (Maxwell, Nadine, 2007): †¢ Self-understanding and self-confidence †¢ Motivation †¢ Decision- making, goal-setting and planning †¢ Conflict resolution †¢ Interpersonal relationships/ social skills †¢ Communication skills †¢ Respect for others †¢ Appreciation for cultural/ethnic diversity Responsible behavior †¢ Career awareness †¢ Self empowerment and resiliency Narrative theory has provides a model that serves numerous and complex issues that help to face the diverse student population with whom all school counselors have the privilege to counsel in today’s schools. Schools continue to be challenged when they address the academic needs of Latino students in our schools for example â€Å"The graduation gap between Latino students and their classmates is an issue school districts are struggling with across the country† (McNeill, 2005, p. 23). The article particularly addresses the issue of Washington DC metropolitan school districts and specifically Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), and how â€Å"in the past five school years, the number of Latinos who dropped out from Fairfax County schools has more than doubled far more than their white, black or Asian classmates† (McNeill, 2005, p. 15). The Latino, Juan Pacheco who was a community activist and former FCPS student, shared that, â€Å"existing programs in school and community centers need to find better ways to engage children and provide them with ‘culturally appropriate’ role models† (Schumitz, 2004, p.101). Counselors are ethically obligated to find culturally appropriate ways for to interrupt in Latino student’s lives so that there is a way to ensure that all students have an equal opportunity in order to achieve academically. Narrative theory has the propensity to provide counselors with a culturally sensitive framework that hel ps to build counseling practices that take culture into consideration. This has occurred due to underlying assumptions and theoretical concepts that are based from those assumptions. Informed consent is usually a legal condition that a person can be said to have agreed upon by giving their consent based on appreciation and their understanding of the facts and implications of the actions they will be receiving. Usually an informed consent statement is given so that each individual that is receiving counseling services understand the type of services they will receive. This statement is something that describes that nature of services, the counselors’ credentials, the confidentiality information, office hours, and contact information. A patient has the right to know all this information. They have the right to know that their information will be kept confidential. Confidentiality and School Counseling is pretty much the same as regular counseling. It is understood that whatever is discussed between the client and the school counselor is confidential. Confidentiality is essential when wanting to develop trust among your clients. Dealing with minors is more complex than dealing with adults and confidentiality. School counselors should learn how to balance their clients, the parents of their clients, the school system and their ethical and legal responsibilities to all involved. The issue of confidentiality is raised quite often because of the complex balancing of student clients. In order to aid the school counselor in their attempt to weigh their ethical obligations they must identify those of which they consider to be their â€Å"clients. † Seeing School counselors are a part of the educational community they don’t only deal with the students they deal with the teachers, administrators, and the student’s parents. It is extremely important that as a school counselor on must clarify that their clients are the students. â€Å"The Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice of the American Counseling Association (ACA, 1995) and the Ethical Standards for School Counselors of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA, 1998) are two resources available to help school counselors manage privacy and confidentiality in their counseling relationships. The moral issues that are most often shown in relation to ethical practices of school counselors include the following: †¢ Veracity or telling the truth †¢ Justice or fairness †¢ No maleficence or doing no harm.