Deepest Needs Counseling

Every community mental health and local agency programs provide a needed service in the local community. Each program is important and provides everyone access to crucial mental health treatment and other needed resources. These programs provide services such as access to medication, emergency mental health services and counseling for everyone that do not have the means to pay for these services. Different centers provide specific services that are needed in a high-need area. One centers service may include group counseling, individual counseling, assessments, and pharmaceutical services at a low cost. Another center may provide services such as support groups, classes on different topics,

A doctoral degree combining both supervisory professional mental health counseling skills and counselor education has always been at the forefront of both my personal and professional goals. Being afforded the opportunity to pursue a doctoral degree in Counselor Education and Supervision will allow me the ability to enhance my professional competencies and achieve my set goals. My primary desire is to obtain a position as a college professor that will allow me to nurture the professional growth and maturity of future mental health professionals. Pursuing the doctoral degree will simultaneously assist in developing skillsets that will further prepare me for advanced opportunities in not only teaching but supervision and research. Additionally, I desire to devote time and research to small rural communities to establish prevention based programs that will bridge communities as it relates to mental health challenges. A PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision from Capella University will afford me the opportunities to positively impact change in future professionals and the communities for which I serve.

A mental health counselor is a counseling professional, whose duties involves helping individuals cope with difficult life events, managing mental illnesses, and referring patients to additional resources that can help them. Before they can start counseling, they need to follow their states specific requires. For instance, in Louisiana, one has to obtain a master’s degree from an accredited program, have the required hours of supervised practice and coursework, and pass the National Counselor Examination to be licensed and certified. In addition to receiving a license in this field, an individual has to complete an addition 40 hours of continuing education every year to renew their license. The Mental Health Counseling program, offered at Capella, would satisfy most, if not all, of the licensure requirements in Louisiana.

Counseling is defined as ”the use of therapeutic strategies to help clients address personal concerns and mental health issues” (Nystul, 2016). Pursuing counseling as a career involves many years of formal study and certification or licensure. After receiving licensure to practice as a professional counselors it is a requirement to maintain involvement and certification in certain associations in order to hold your license. These association often require further education and/or professional practice in order to maintain membership in these associations. It is quite obvious that counseling requires a large amount of commitment and passion in order to pursue it as a career and maintain a title as a counselor. I have conducted an interview with a professional counselor in order to further understand the experience of being a counselor. The interview that I conducted explores the requirements of maintaining and receiving a counselling career, the experience of being a counselor, and what characteristics or skills a professional may have. The Individual who agreed to the interview was a counselor by the name of Susie Facio. Susie Facio, through this interview, will be giving us a look at what influenced her to become a counselor, what her work entails on a day to day basis, and what qualities and skills she has acquired in order to become a successful counselor.

I believe counseling is a collaborative partnership between client and counselor. Furthermore, this collaborative partnership is built from trust and acceptance of both client and counselor. I hope in conjunction with clients to understand the issues and concerns so to help them tap into their wisdom, creativity, and strengths to meet their current challenges. I believe in a comprehensive perspective through which clients can better comprehend themselves in the framework that our thinking about events can lead to emotional and behavioral upset. Moreover, counselors are to provide a safe environment for clients to explore their challenges and identify ways to move differently in overcoming these challenges.

Providing therapeutic counseling. The Outpatient Therapy Clinic that "free, quality counseling to individuals, families, children and couples who are homeless, at risk of homelessness or unable to afford therapy" ( HYPERLINK "http://www.sdrescue.org/our-programs/mental-health-counseling/" http://www.sdrescue.org/our-programs/mental-health-counseling/). All counselors are licensed Marriage and Family Therapists.

The professional counselor’s job title I interviewed is a Program Counselor for the Women’s Mental Health Unit at Riverside General Hospital. The types of services and programs she offers as a counselor for the women’s mental health unit are: substance abuse counseling with in-house residents, detoxification, transitional living for the women’s unit, outpatient program, and mental health counseling. She also aids in helping her clients in gaining custody of their children.

On a bright and crisp morning of March 25, 2015, I interviewed Joni Roche and learned what a typical day was like for this Professional Counselor. Mrs. Roche has owned her own practice for nearly eighteen years and has truly loved every single part of it. Mrs. Roche has received a Master of the Arts degree and is a Licensed Profession Counselor and a Nationally Credited Counselor. During my interview with Mrs. Roche, I truly learned so many things from different counseling techniques, what it is like to have a private practice and the good and bad things counseling comes with that people do not necessarily speak about.

I am a mental health counselor working towards licensure in the state of Washington. I have a master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Antioch University Seattle. In my current counseling practice, I work with individual adults (over 18). I take a humanistic approach to therapy; in our sessions together, we will focus on the here-and-now of your experience, while also exploring your past and social context to the extent they are relevant to your present concerns. Our first meeting will be a time for you to tell your story; then, together, we will assess your concerns and issues, and decide on the goals toward which you would like to move (Hilton, 2016). As we continue through the therapy process, we

The mental health professional I interviewed was Carol McClelland of Freedom House Recovery Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Carol has worked with Freedom House for a year as the directory of outpatient services and is licensed as a LPC, LPCS, LCAS, CCS, and MA. Carol’s job requires her to be responsible for the direct oversight of all clinical operations and clinical integrity for outpatient services at Freedom House. The hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm, along with a crisis and detox center that is available for contact 24/7. Carol has plenty of experience in the mental health field, such as working as a dual diagnosis/substance abuse outpatient therapist, working with the severely mentally ill, working as a criminal justice outpatient therapist, and also working in a methadone clinic. She chose this career after her experiences in working with mental health, and her extensive education in psychology and counseling. Carol stated that outpatient services was the most interesting out of her job experiences, so when she was offered the job at Freedom House, she accepted.

Once upon a time being a therapist was considered a calling. The images of a counselor sitting back in their comfy cushioned chairs listening to hours and hours of patient's dilemmas, heartaches and mental health issues have been replaced with the hard cold facts that therapists today are

I did my study for this assignment in Stokes County, North Carolina which is where I recently moved to from Iowa. Stokes County is made up of several small towns but King, which is where I live, is the largest town. Stokes County is in the middle northern part of the state near the Virginia border, a mountain chain, and a lot of wilderness. Some of the towns are incorporated and some are not and a few only claim to be villages. Using the Population Economic Status Assessment, I looked at the State & County Quick Facts last revised: Feb-2015 and found that the county population is at about 46,588. The Caucasian population makes up 93.8% of the population, African American 4.4%, Hispanic 2.7%, and the remainder is 1.1%. The

The profession of counseling has a rich and bold history, evolving through the years from varied disciplines and birthing diverse specialties and branches along the way. Often referred to as the youngest of the counseling specialties is clinical mental health counseling. Despite physical health’s grasp on the nation, mental health has been a major focus at various times throughout history and continues to become an ever growing concern for people in general. As people come to better understand mental health issues and the demand for services grows, it is important to look at how clinical mental health counseling, and the counseling profession in general, has developed over time and how it has advanced to meet the needs of those seeking services.

My ride along took place in DeKalb, IL with NIU police station. According to, www.ers.usda.gov the “Census Places: 10,000 - 49,999” people in DeKalb so we are considered to be urban. Census.gov says the population as of July 1, 2014 in DeKalb estimates 44,054. As for race Census.gov records White alone, “A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. It includes people who indicate their race as "White" or report entries such as Irish, German, Italian, Lebanese, Arab, Moroccan, or Caucasian’’. Percent, April 1, 2010 at 74.9%. Black or African American, “A person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa. It includes people who indicate their race as "Black, African Am., or Negro"; or report entries such as African American, Kenyan, Nigerian, or Haitian”. The percent as of April 1, 2010 is 12.8%. And finally Hispanics or Latinos are “those who classified themselves in one of the specific Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino categories listed on the Census 2010 questionnaire -"Mexican," "Puerto Rican," or "Cuban"-as well as those who indicate that they are "another Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin." Census.gov records them at 12.5% percent, April 1, 2010. Median household income (in 2014 dollars), 2010-2014 was $38,357.

Mental and emotional health can have interpersonal, and social impacts; I want to provide evidenced-based mental, emotional and behavioral health interventions within the context of families, communities and larger systems, to children and adolescents. My goal as a licensed counselor will be to develop a collaborative relationship where each client feels empowered to act as an expert in developing effective coping skills, manage anxiety, depression, navigate difficult life transitions, and enhance communication skills and relationships. Reflective practice and self-evaluation will be an integral part of my practice. This also means being able to set my experiences, values, privilege, beliefs and biases aside during counseling sessions and allowing the clients goals and needs to take precedence. In order to be well-rounded in my profession, my day-to-day functions will include, assessments, psychological testing, counseling, personality testing, teaching, treatment plans, referrals, coordinate services, case-management, client-family- community education, documentation,