Interview With A Professional Counselor

Welcome to my counseling practice. The information provided to you will consist of my professional services, background, and business policies. If you have any questions about the information provided in this document or in regards to any other counseling services I provide, please feel free to ask me during our session.

I conduct a forty five minutes interview with Robin Gibson, a mental health professional that is actively involved in counseling divorced couples, remarried couples, and blended families in my local area of Hartsville, South Carolina. Robin Gibson has been a licensed counselor for eighteen years. Robin’s credentials consist of a LCP, Licensed Professional Counselors, and a CAC, Certified Addition Counselor. Robin is one of the licensed behavioral health counselors at Care South Carolina Community Health Center located at the Hartsville cite. Care South Carolina Community Health Center offers a variety of services that includes medical care of Family Practice, Pediatrics, Chiropractic, Dental, HIV/Aids, Counseling, Pharmacy, and Community Outreach,

Counselors should not be imposing their value or beliefs on their clients. Likewise, Lichtenberg, Goodyear, Hutman, and Overland (2016) demonstrate that counseling pays particular attention to people’s strengths and diversity (p. 222). The AMHCA Code of Ethics (2015) emphasizes the counselor-client relationship through respecting the client. The history of counseling takes into consideration not only credentials and training needed to be a counselor but also reaching out to the

The American Counseling Association website defines professional counseling as “a professional relationship that empowers diverse individuals, families, and groups to accomplish mental health, wellness, education, and career goals.” As the counseling profession has grown and the demand has increased over the years there has been some confusion of what the difference is between counseling and psychotherapy. Sharf (2012) reports, often times

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.

The purpose of this paper is for me to present a summary of a personal interview had with Heather Smith, a clinical mental health counselor. It will further explore a day to day basis on how working as a clinical mental health counselor, may be. Lastly, it will also reflect my personal reflections about my future as a counselor based on information learned in this course.

I chose to interview Mrs. Dukes because she is a hard worker and she absolutely loves and enjoys what she does. My goal for the future is to work at MD Anderson Cancer Center, and she will be able to give me great insight about

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

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.

I conducted an interview on Tina Hildebrant; she is my girlfriend’s mother and has been a family friend for many years. Tina’s very first job was working at the Davenport Moose Lodge as a salad lady. She stocked the salad bar with all of the toppings and sauces. After Tine left the Davenport Moose Lodge, she moved to a new position at Neurology Consultants PC. She worked there from 1998 to 2017. She worked for 20 years without changing her job title. She felt over whelmed, over worked, and under paid at times. Besides the three things she felt, however; on the other side she felt like she accomplished many tasks every day. She thought working at Neurology Consultant PC was beneficial because it helped her talking with the public and communication skills. Tina now works for the

Mental health counseling as distinct helping profession is relatively new when compared to other mental health disciplines Carmichael and Erford, (2014). In addition, the general public as well as professional counselors is often perplexed by and has difficulty ascertaining the true meaning, purpose and intentions of what counseling is, what it is not and how it differs from other closely related helping professions. I had the opportunity to interview a clinical mental health counselor who based on his experience, and what I’ve learned throughout my course this semester will help me to gain a better understanding of what this profession actually stands for. Throughout this paper I will reflect on the legal; and ethical issues professional counselors

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,

I would talk to Stephanie and ask her whether her parents are aware of what is going on. If she has not told them anything about it, then I would schedule a meeting with her parents and let them know what is going on. It is very important for the parents to know what their child is going through, because they can help them through such situations. As stated in the textbook, “self-esteem is related to” one’s “overall school experience, both academically and socially” (108). Therefore, a school counselor may also have to get involved in this. I would tell Stephanie to stay away from Alison and her friends because their friendship is not worth it.

When I was deciding who I should pick to interview, I thought Rochelle Plett would be a great person to fit. Rochelle is a director at Hannah House Maternity Home has been working for 2.5 years. I am interested in becoming a social worker lately, and after I got to know about Rochelle’s story, I would like to be in this field even more.

What implications does this information have: In my opinion consultation and consultants with collaboration and collaborators go hand in hand. As a professional counselor it is important that we provide consultation to help the client understand their behavior and that change is possible. Sometime we might have to discuss a client situation with another co-worker or supervisor to better help the client. This mean that collaboration getting together with the client to discuss and help the client come up with possible solution in ways to change their behavior by using other methods. As professional counselor we do not have the answer but we are able to help the client to live a better life and make reasonable decision.