The Influence of Counselling Experiences with Students on Teachers’ Wellbeing and Job Satisfaction

School counselling in Hong Kong has been influenced by both Chinese and Western traditions, given its historical background. While teachers have a crucial role in supporting students’ holistic development, less is known about how teachers’ perceptions of their counselling role impact their own wellbeing. Adopting the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) framework, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten Hong Kong teachers to explore their perceptions and executions of student counselling. Driven by their educational values, teachers committed to taking on counselling roles to support students, which had a dual effect on their wellbeing. While enhancing job satisfaction, intense commitment to counselling could lead to increased workload and emotional exhaustion. Despite differing training backgrounds and assigned duties, teachers navigated a spectrum that entailed two counselling approaches: the solution-focused approach and person-centred approach. They grappled with role ambiguity and conflict, which led to confusion and a sense of powerlessness. Strong teacher-student relationships and fostering holistic student growth were key motivators, sustaining teachers’ commitment to both teaching and counselling roles. Through understanding how Hong Kong teachers comprehend and position themselves within the hybrid East–West cultural context of school guidance and counselling, this study highlights the importance of defining teachers’ counselling roles and responsibilities as distinct from their traditional teaching duties or those of other counselling professionals. Future teacher training programmes, guidelines, and school resources should be reviewed to safeguard both teachers’ and students’ wellbeing, sustaining teachers’ job satisfaction in evolving educational contexts. 242/250 words.