The purpose of this study was to analyze the experiences of school counselors regarding the suicide of clients by a qualitative research method. For this purpose, data were collected through in-depth interviews with a middle school counselor who had experience of losing a client to suicide, and the data analysis results are as follows.
Counselors were found to experience internal experiences, external conflicts, and processes of change after the client s suicide. First, the counselor looked back on the suicide client, reflected on the past when he was evaluated by his own standards and regretted it, and it was found that he experienced emotions such as sadness and invasive thoughts about the client. In addition, the counselor externally experienced the problem of handling the case and locating responsibility. Also, after the client s suicide, he recognized the relationship with the current students and tried to welcome them as they are. So he overcame the pain and tried to grow as a true counselor.
In this study, it was found that the counselor did not experience the complete mourning process due to environmental constraints after the client s suicide, and that unresolved problems of mourning have a lasting impact on the counselor s life. Therefore, it suggests the need to protect the counselor from the problem of the task and responsibility for handling the case that the counselor has to bear after the client s suicide, and it is necessary to prepare a support system to help the counselor s grieving.