How To Be a School Counselor Abroad 101

Hi everyone! My name is Marissa Marshall and I am a senior psychology student here at TCNJ. I am currently in Greece, spending my last semester of college completing a psychology internship abroad. This has been the most amazing, life changing experience and Dr. Leynes has been so kind as to allow me to share it with all of you through this blog. I have always had a ridiculous urge to travel and to see and experience different ways of life. Through a lot of help from the psychology department and aid from the Gilman scholarship, a scholarship specifically designed to help students interested in studying abroad, I have not only been able to travel abroad but have also been able to work in and experience my field in another culture. Being an intern in another country has allowed me to experience both a different way of life and a different perspective on the helping profession in a much deeper and more complex way than any other study abroad experience ever could. Working here in Greece has seriously been one of the most eye-opening and self-expanding experiences of my life.

My internship is with the middle school counselor at an American school here in Athens. The experience so far has been much more in depth and rewarding than I had ever expected. Two weeks ago I officially started working with students and was able to speak with them during individual sessions to discuss anything from bullying, to self-esteem, to anxiety management, learning difficulties, and problems at home. The experience was an incredible insight to cultural differences in the universal concerns of growing up and how those concerns are dealt with. The students were amazing, sweet, funny and sometimes way too cool for me, but most of them really opened up and seemed to be really comfortable talking with the guidance counselor about some very personal stuff. The guidance counselor is amazing and the students absolutely love him and I think that makes a huge difference in their ability to benefit from the guidance services. Next week, we will hopefully be starting a self-esteem group for about six students which I will be leading (yikes!). All six of them are really amazing kids and I really think this could be a great experience for them. They are all very open and really want to be a part of the group, I'm really excited to share this experience with them.