Background and Aim: The purpose of this study was to explore the challenges and solutions of the role of counseling in schools from the counselors' perspective.

Methods: To achieve the aforementioned goal, a critical paradigm with a qualitative approach and a phenomenological method with Van Manen's 4-step strategy were used. The research field included counselors of secondary schools in Marivan, from whom 7 counselors were selected using the convenience sampling method with the theoretical saturation criterion. The research tool was a researcher-made semi-structured in-depth interview. The data analysis method was the deductive-inductive method.

Results: The findings were obtained in two main categories: 1. Challenges for counselors in four categories: challenges from clients (students), challenges facing students' parents, challenges for counselors themselves, challenges from administrative and school staff. 2. Solutions were also obtained in four categories: solutions for facing student challenges, solutions for how to face students' parents, solutions for reducing specific challenges in the counselors' field, and solutions for interacting with administrative and school staff.

Conclusion: Based on this research, it can be suggested that education should address the challenges of consultants in several ways in order to increase the quality of their work.