Professional Counselors: Defining a Unique Identity within the Profession as it Relates to the Role of Effective Professionals

The purpose of this paper is to review my professional identity as a Marriage and Family Therapist and to reflect on my developing beliefs within my selection of the counseling profession. My professional identity is beginning to be developed throughout my education with Liberty University. I will address the Marriage and Family Therapist professional counselor role and how this position differs from social workers, clinical psychologists, and professional counselors. By reviewing the differences in counseling positions, I will be able to express the differences from my previous experiences with pastoral counseling, and outline what my

Counsellors are required to have adequate training and supervision to help maintain them throughout their professional lives. Counsellor must be respectful of their professional position and remain loyal to their clients.

How does one develop a professional identity? What characteristics are need to be considered to professional? The world is full of individual who aspire to reach a certain level of professional identity and counselors are no different. As a professional counselor, we are called to help clients to deal with various issues that include stress management, addictions, marital problems, substance abuse, suicidal ideation, self-esteem problems, etc. The insights and information that we provide to our clients during their sessions will have enabled them to make positive choices and bring about changes that are crucial in assisting them to realize their future goals. At the end of the counseling sessions, we anticipate that the client would have been helped to rectify or prevent conflicts. In an environment where an infinite number of problems are presented and solutions developed, counselors face countless ethical dilemmas. This paper briefly describes how I plan to create my professional identity as a professional counselor.

The opportunity of talking to a Professional Mental Health Counselor was very informative on October 19, 2015, I had a chance to meet K.W. she is a License Professional Counselor in Mental Health that holds her (LCPC) for the last ten (10) years. Ms. K.W. also holds her Therapist license in the arena of counseling for the last past six (6) years were her services of care is Mental Health, and Addiction Counseling were her population is men and women that struggles with addiction problems and mental health that is called co-occurring disorder in an outpatient setting.

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

As the standards of the counseling profession are continuously being shaped, I desire to play a role in the educating

Counseling is a tool that is widely used by many people. Merriam Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary defines counseling as advice and support that is given to people to help them deal with problems, and make important decisions. This paper examines the career of a Licensed Professional Counselor, the education requirements, certification and licensure levels or requirements, salary, and the future of this profession.

This paper will provide the reader with a reflection of my professional identity. This will focus on the role of a professional counselor and the differences between a professional counselor and other related professionals. It will also integrate how religious and spiritual beliefs can impact professional counseling. It will summarize my beliefs and values and what I plan to do so that I will not impose my beliefs on clients. Also, I will reflect on what I have learned during this course and how it will impact my future as a counselor.

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.

Dollarhide, C.T., Gibson, D.M., & Moss, J.M. (2010). Professional identity development: A grounded theory of transformational tasks of new counselors. Counselor Education & Supervision, 50.

As a counselor, being aware of the theoretical approaches and which ones best suit your perspective on human nature, complications, and change for an individual is vital. Not only is understanding the approaches important, but the counselor’s own values and personal philosophy are equally fundamental for the counselor to do their job efficiently.

Nuekrug, E. (2014). A Brief Orientation to Counseling, Professional Identity, History and Standards. Brooks/Cole Cenage Learning.

The beginning section of the book describes the challenges counselors face in dealing with clients. (1). Moving from Two Areas of Competence to Three (2). Blurred Personal-Professional Distinctions (3).Expanded Definitions of Training (4). Confronting Dominant Views of Mental Health (5). Establishing a Scientific Base (6). Defining Relevant Ethical Standards (McMinn, 2011). After mapping out the challenges facing interdisciplinary integration, McMinn first divides his renowned book into eight rewarding chapters including summary and reflection following each of them. He also uses vignettes in order to ask his readers”What if this Happens” scenarios (McMinn, 2011)

Treatment manuals are a set of guidelines put in place for practitioners to use in manual-based treatments when treating an individual with a disorder. These manuals generally not only include the guidelines for the therapy but they also include different kinds of workbooks and homework for the client to do. The workbooks and homework can enhance the effectiveness of the client’s treatment (Lambert, 1998). These manual based treatments can sometimes be called empirically supported therapies. Manual- based treatments are time limited and are generally based on the actuarial approach. There can be multiple treatment manuals for the same disorder such as depression (Lambert, 1998). The reason for the multiple manuals for one disorder is because manual have guidelines for different forms of therapy, such as cognitive, behavorial or even psychological therapies; all which can be used to treat the disorder that the client may be suffering from (Lambert, 1998). All treatment manuals are not the same. Some vary in size and length, while others vary in the explicitness of the guidelines for the treatment of a particular disorder.

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.