Will counseling actually help kids if parents are unwilling to address the foundational issues?

I personally dealt with this myself, and my answer is yes!

I come from a background where mental illness is not a real thing. My parents wanted quick fixes to my issues and, ironically, they acknowledged I had problems to deal with and those problems were real, but did not acknowledge that I had mental illness.

Of course, it is always situational, especially how receptive the kids are.

In my case, what really helped was learning effective coping skills that were catered to my personality and personal problems. My counseling was extremely good at teaching me that although I cannot change my problems and problems will always be there, I can change how I view each situation and I am in charge of my reactions. It took about a year to believe what my counseling was saying was more than just positive thinking, but I am at a place where I have retained information from my counseling sessions and apply them to every day life!

Hi Diane B, Obtaining a MA in Counseling and Preventive Mental Health is great! I wish you well. And you are right, working with multiple stakeholders (teachers, families, and students ) can be a challenge. However, I do believe Counseling can help students even when parents are not supportive. While they are at school, couselors can equip them with knowledge and skills students need to grow social-emotionally and academically. And if home is the challenge, then counselors will the best they can. Usually referring families to county resources and placing students on multi-tiered supports is how we can help. 

I believe that counseling can in fact help kids regardless of the involvement of the parents to resolve any underlying issues. Creating an awareness is an initial step in helping children understand and as a parent of a 5 year old you would be surprised at the level of understanding a child can have that we may not realize. I spent quite a few years working in a GED program and ran into a barrier where parents did not want any involvement nor did they foster their child's education, through speaking to my students about the value of education and that it offers more than just knowledge but can provide growth and development many of them came to a greater level of understanding than their parents had attained.