Elementary school counselor's work with children of divorce

The number of elementary school age children who have experienced parental divorce has increased greatly in recent years. The purpose of this study was to determine how elementary school counselors view their role in relation to children of divorce. Elementary school counselors in the state of Tennessee were surveyed to find: (1) what specific training they have obtained for working with children of divorce, (2) what duties regarding children of divorce were accepted as a responsibility, (3) what approaches and interventions they have employed in working with children of divorce, and (4) what obstacles hindered counselors' attempts to provide services to children of divorce.

Forty-nine counselors responded to the survey. It was found that the vast majority of respondents accepted working with children of divorce as a responsibility of the counseling and guidance program, and nearly all were working with these children in some way. Several factors were found to be considered obstacles to providing services to children experiencing divorce. Those most often considered problematic included lack of time, lack of adequate referral resources, lack of adequate educational resources, lack of adequate training, lack of parental support and difficulty indentifying children in divorce situations. A rather small percentage of the respondents were found to have had specific training for working with the child who had experienced parental divorce. Some ways to alleviate the problematic areas were discussed. The implications of the findings have been discussed and suggestions for future research and development in the area of counselors' work with children of divorce given.