THE HIDDEN CLIENT IN SCHOOL CONSULTATION - WORKING FROM A NARRATIVE PERSPECTIVE

The consultations provided by school psychologists and other mental he alth personnel working within the school environment have the potentia l to affect many individuals. Some of these individuals, such as the c hild, the teacher, the school administrator, or the parent, are easily identified. Each in turn may be considered to be the client or, at le ast, a member of the client system. The web of individuals affected by a consultation also may include those whose identity is not obvious; these individuals have been previously labeled the hidden client. In t his article, we discuss a pragmatic approach to identifying and workin g with these hidden clients based on the notion that people are connec ted to each other by the meanings they generate through conversation a nd narrative.