A Phenomenological Investigation of Universal Mental Health Screening: Making Meaning for School Counseling

In the United States, K–12 schools have been going through a double pandemic: the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing systemic racial injustices. Multitiered systems of support (MTSS), including universal mental health screening (UMHS), are highly recommended to assist students through these pandemics. While research on MTSS for school counselors is ample, school counseling UMHS literature is much more limited. As such, in the present study, we conducted a phenomenological investigation of participants’ experiences with UMHS, recruiting multidisciplinary, school-based UMHS team members, particularly school counselors. In describing the essence of participants’ experiences with UMHS, we identified 2 themes. The first theme is UMHS shifting the school culture, with subthemes (a) prioritizing prevention, (b) increasing collaboration, (c) using data, (d) gaining a holistic perspective, and (e) advocating for school counseling. The second theme is working through roadblocks, with subthemes (a) liability, (b) screener concerns, (c) resistance, (d) lack of time, and (e) staff wellness.