Counseling Gifted Individuals and Their Families

• Read Assouline, Nicpon, and Huber’s 2006 article “The Impact of Vulnerabilities and Strengths on the Academic Experiences of Twice-Exceptional Students: A Message to School Counselors,” in Professional School Counseling, volume 10, issue 1, pages 14–24.
• Read Hawley’s 2000 article “Clinical Implications of Family Resilience,” in American Journal of Family Therapy, volume 28, issue 2, pages 101–116.
• Read Volker and Ray’s 2006 article “Counseling Exceptional Individuals and Their Families: A Systems Perspective,” in Professional School Counseling, volume 10, issue 1, pages 58–65.

Referring to the readings, explain the terms twice-exceptional student and gifted student. Identify and discuss at least two myths about gifted students. What are the implications of the myth with respect to differentiated interventions (using a variety of strategies to support student learning and achievement) and what are some strategies a counselor could suggest to teachers? In what ways may parents and counselors act as advocates for twice-exceptional or gifted students?

Imagine you are the counselor for the family in the case described in the Sudden Underachievement media piece.

• Identify the bio-psycho-social dimensions of identity of each of the family members that you would need to take into account in your work with the family based on your understanding of multicultural counseling and therapy.
• Consider the case from the standpoint of your specialization area and briefly identify concerns that would apply to your specialization (for example, if you are an addictions counselor, would you want to assess for substance use? If so, with which members of the family?)
• Explain what it means to take a systems perspective in terms of goals, and how counselors may incorporate the ideas of client/family expertise and resilience in their work.
• How could you incorporate client/family expertise and resilience in your work with this family to promote their optimal health and wellness?
• How could you incorporate advocacy in your work with this family at the school/community level?