Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Chapter 1 The Teaching Profession 23 They may organize playgroups that focus on good parenting skills. They may offer classes on how to communicate with teens. Parenting coaches can share knowledge and skills while offering encouragement and a community for parents to interact and ask questions. School and career counselors. Counselors are an important type of support professional. School guidance counselors help students learn social skills, solve issues, cope with personal crises, and make education and career decisions. They can help students determine their interests, apti- tudes, and abilities, and decide which courses they need to take to follow a specific career path. Career counselors help people make career decisions by leading them through the process of choosing and preparing for a career. They often offer assistance in completing résumés and preparing for interviews. Career counselors may work in colleges or government career centers. Entrepre- neurial opportunities are available for those who wish to work in private practice. School counselors must be certified in all states. In addition, a master’s degree is often a requirement for certification or licensing as a counselor. School psychologists. A psychologist studies human behavior and mental processes and develops theories to explain why people behave the way they do. Psychologists conduct studies and research to help understand and predict human emotions, feelings, and behavior. They look for patterns of behavior or cause-and-effect relationships between events. School psychologists work with students’ emotional, social, and learn- ing needs. They commonly have certain areas in which they specialize. Psychologists may work as part of a health care team to improve a student’s overall health and well-being within the school setting. Becoming a psychologist requires considerable time and commitment as psychologists must earn a doctoral degree. It usually takes between four and eight years of post-high school full time study to complete a PhD. Some graduate programs require completion of a master’s degree (2–3 years) before acceptance into a doctoral program. Others com- bine the master’s and doctoral degrees. Graduate programs include required coursework, compre- hensive examinations, and a dissertation or proj- ect at the doctoral level. Speech-language specialists. Communication is critical to learning. Some children struggle with speech. They may stutter, struggle to form sounds and words, or have trouble hearing or understand- ing language. When a child struggles with speech or language disorders, it affects their learning. Speech-language specialists are trained to diagnose and provide treatment that helps each individual student (Figure 1.16). They work closely with the student’s doctor, family, and teachers to address the speech or language challenge at all levels. Africa Studio/Shutterstock.com Figure 1.16 Speech-language specialists work with students who have communication disorders.