In a school setting, a school counselor does brief counseling which addresses problems within a few sessions. The school setting is different than a therapeutic/clinical setting where diagnosis and treatment plans are created and treatment is administered for a longer period of time.
The goal of school counseling is to address issues which impact learning while at school. If issues continue to impact the student's learning at school, after intervention by the school counselor, a referral to an outside resource will be suggested to the parent/guardian.