It is beneficial to use a model, such as the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) national model, for a school counseling program because it is comprehensive and covers the six areas that are essential for a comprehensive school counseling program (Dollarhide & Saginak, 2012). The six areas that help to create a comprehensive school counseling program include that it is holistic, systemic, balanced, proactive, incorporated into the curriculum, and reflective (Dollarhide & Saginak, 2012). These six components can help to ensure that the school counseling program is supporting all student’s needs. Another benefit that Martin, Carey, and DeCoster’s (2009) research of various studies found, is that models that provide comprehensive developmental guidance curricula and interventions …show more content…
A comprehensive model, such as the ASCA national model, is comprehensive and provides preventative counseling methods, therefore, being beneficial to students’ overall well-being. Additionally, using a comprehensive model is important because it allows for internal evaluation and accountability of the comprehensive system even if the state does not provide an evaluation of the program services, methods, or outcomes (Martin, Carey, DeCoster, 2009). This evaluative process can help the school counseling program to change things that are not working within the program or understand new needs that should be implemented into the program. This built in accountability piece can help to ensure that the comprehensive school counseling program is effective for the unique needs of the students, school, and community. Being able to assess