Mental Health Couseling Programs

License professional counselors are professionals who have obtained a Masters degree or higher that have met all of the states and America Counseling Association

There are many forms of professional assistance that a client could seek. Each method can be equally effective depending on the situation. Client’s needs are important to identify, reason being is so you can decide what form of help is the best fit. In this essay, I will discuss mentoring, coaching, consulting, and counseling. I will provide examples of each and explain why each form is effective for each scenario.

The role of a counselor takes on many different forms, and it is a very important career, because it helps people make better life choices. The personal values we have, and also how we view the world, can help shape the type of counselor we will be. I will take a self-reflective view of what I hold dear, and also explain how my personal experiences have led me to chose a career in this particular helping profession. I will also describe the differences between the professional counseling, and other helping professions, such as social work for an example. I also will look at how accreditation, licensure, and certification, are important in defining what a counselor is, and does.

Mental health counselors have many things to consider when working with clients. Providing services to clients comes with several expectations. Some of the factors which counselors must be aware of include: cultural differences, environmental influences, client expectations, and stages of development which can all play a part in the needs of that particular client. Also included in this group of factors that must be considered are the ethical and legal responsibilities which play a vital role in the

The counseling profession is a complex and constantly changing field. This field contains several unique subcategories that can be intriguing and difficult to understand. However, I believe that if an individual has a strong professional identity, they can achieve a lot in their chosen field.

An additional barrier to multicultural counseling is client access to care. The utilization of mental health services by minority groups is low in the United States (Smith, Domenech Rodriguez, Guillermo, 2011). The fact that minority groups underutilize mental health services is attributed to systemic issues such as lack of affordable transportation, inconvenient office hours, demographic mismatch, language barriers, economics, and lack of clinics in neighborhoods with predominately ethnic minority groups (Smith, Domenech Rodriguez, Guillermo, 2011). To address these issues, multiculturalism in the mental health services field has committed to equipping more culturally competent counselors, encouraging community-based counseling efforts for easier access, increasing bilingual and culturally diverse counselors, as well social advocacy. Despite their recognition, these challenges are difficult to remedy and remain a problem for clients of minority groups.

It is important for counselors to serve as advocates for their clients and the counseling profession. Advocacy seeks to remove obstacles and barriers that can inhibit the client's growth, development and access to resources. The goal is to enhance the clients sense of personal power and cultivate and promote environmental change. I believe it's imperative to advocate for the counseling profession itself. Counselors can advocate for the profession by contributing to the development of a strong professional identity, lobbying for professional recognition, such as mental heath parity, and displaying professional accountability and pride. By engaging in professional advocacy, we can help ensure that counselors are seen as competent, credible service providers. It

A multicultural competent counselor refers to, someone who’s able to work efficiently with groups of students from culturally distinct groups (Thomas & Vines, 2008). Furthermore, culture competency plays a key role in how counselors diagnose and treat their patients from any background or culture. Surgeon General (2001) largely defines culture as a common heritage or set beliefs, norms and values. Culture can be applied to all groups of people but unfortunately; there are major mental health disparities amongst minority individuals compared to white individuals. According to the Surgeon General (2001), ethnic minorities have less access to mental health services than their white counterparts. Additionally, minorities

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

Counseling is a professional relationship that empowers diverse individuals, families and groups to accomplish mental health, wellness, education, and career goals (Carmichael and Erford, 2014).I had to learn what it meant to be a counselor in order to decide if it was a path that I was willing to go down. I have learned a lot over the last 10 weeks from wellness strategies, writing clear and concisely and making ethical decisions. I also learned how essential is was to participate in supervision, seek a consult and make sure that my treatment is evidenced based as well effective for the client. I also conducted an interview with a mental health counselor. This paper will take you through

Being a professional, goes beyond one’s role as a counselor. Being a professional includes advocating for my clients and for the advancement of the profession. As a professional, one should also engage in networking within the profession and with collaborating professions. A professional also requires one to maintain continuing education and to take advantage of training opportunities. Another important part of the professional field includes conducting research that will lead to betterment of the field of service.

Ethical dilemmas will be a constant as we embark into the field of counseling. Whenever human beings are involved there are a range of personality types, beliefs and characteristics that are involved. There are many views of counseling but it is very important to have a world view which captures the gamet of individuals. To be a professional counselor it is important to first know who you are, what your motivations are and morals. A counselor has many roles; they provide guidance, structure, spiritual guidance and counseling. The counselor has a huge respionsibility which includes making clear unbiased judgements, listening without persuading, acountability for

Mental health counselors take other professional’s feelings and needs into consideration. Counselors respect the obligations of other organizations and institutions. They treat other professionals with the same respect as they do with clients. Counselors work with others whenever necessary in cooperation to benefit the welfare of clients. When counselors are not competent in an area, they refer clients to a professional who has the competency to serve. When counselors have knowledge of incompetency of another professional they are obligated to inform the state licensing board or ethics committee (American Mental Health Counselors Association, 2010).

Often counselors are ineffective with culturally diverse clients since they see cultural differences as shortfalls instead of strengths. Also, counselors will regularly disregard to discuss a client’s issues with regards to current social issues confronting the client. Counseling experts create hindrances in counseling when they do not think about client’s issues with regards to educational, economic, social, political, legal, and cultural frameworks. The shortfall perspective, combined with a disregard to address social background issues, can delay the diverse counseling process. This delay in diverse counseling can also be seen when it comes to counseling competence and poverty beliefs. Counselors are prepared in diversity and multiculturalism

At the beginning of the semester, the framework for professional clinical counseling was presented during the class session. The objective was to study what the world calls “counseling” and how it is designed to provide the correct treatment to these people. The professional clinical model calls for a trained professional to handle the catharsis of the client in a controlled environment on the basis of a fiduciary relationship. Deliberate and guided questions are asked from the therapist to encourage catharsis. Once the professional compiles sufficient evidence via resources and intuitivism, a treatment plan would be prescribed. The client has a choice of accepting the treatment or