The Role and Life of a Mental Health Counselor
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
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It can be a tough job and time management plays a crucial key in it.
Legal and Ethical Issues
In dealing with the families, a lot of the parents ask questions about their children as well as what things are discussed in therapy. For instance, parents want to know if their child is sexually active. The law does not allow her to disclose that information for someone who is over the age of 14. Counselors protect the confidential information of prospective and current clients. Counselors disclose information only with appropriate consent or with sound legal or ethical justification (American Counseling Association, 2014). Mrs. March stated she makes sure that she keeps an open mind and respects the difference of her clients. She understands that they have various cultural backgrounds, different economical statuses and some come from broken homes.
Theoretical Perspectives Mrs. March believes that, the developmental level of the client should be taken into account. If a counselor is aware of and understands the developmental level of their client, their treatment can be developed. Case conceptualization refers to how professional counselors understand the nature of clients concerns, how and why problems have developed and types of counseling interventions that might be helpful (Bartly and Mears, 2014). Ms. March gathers all the information
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
The philosophy that underlies the counseling profession is unique among mental health professionals. According to Remley & Herlihy (2014), the philosophy is made up of four components. First, counselor 's view mental health challenges through a positive, wellness-oriented lens. The primary goal of the wellness model is for the client to achieve the highest degree of mental health possible. Psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers follow the medical model of mental health. The goal of these clinicians is to cure the client’s illness, which differs drastically from counselor’s view of clients.
This essay will explore the counselling relationship along with the benefits and limitations as well as discussing other factors that have an important impact in relation to the outcome of counselling. Counselling is an interpersonal relationship between the client and qualified therapist, the relationship involves communicating with the client and using skills to explore the client's feelings. The counselling/ therapeutic relationship can be used in all types of counselling such as psychodynamic, humanistic, behavioural, person centred and cognitive therapy. As mental health disorders increase so does the need to deliver effective counselling, which means that the therapeutic relationship is more crucial than ever. (Miller, Hubble, Duncan and Wampold 2010; Norcross and Lambert 2011).
As the standards of the counseling profession are continuously being shaped, I desire to play a role in the educating
In order for the counseling process to be effective for the client the characteristics and behaviors of the mental health counselor must be effective. To be an effective mental health counselor the process must include both the art and science of helping clients when they struggle. This paper will address both effective and ineffective characteristics of the given transcript along with an explanation of how a counselor’s characteristics or behaviors influence a session with a client.
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.
Counseling others is a difficult job that requires people to listen, take notes, and respond in ways that are positive and helpful. It is important that trust be built between the counselor and the patient so that the patient will feel comfortable speaking about issues that are private or embarrassing. There are many different types of counselors including drug counselors; marriage counselors, grief counselors, job counselors, diet and exercise counselors, and others that can help people improve their lives in different ways. Counselors are trained to offer advice and listen to issues that may be bothering other people. They are not allowed to prescribe medication or expected to provide
Becoming a mental health counselor wasn't an easy decision to come about. Hard to become prior to choosing to be a mental health counselor I have a desire to be a special-education teacher, specialize in working with children on the asperger's spectrum of autism. The reason I decided to choose to change my professional goals was because I thought as a counselor I will be able to work with children on different disabilities and adults on a one-to-one basis. Dream experience as a preschool teacher, many colleges have said that I have a sense of counseling and understanding when dealing with children and people. My previous class prior to this class give me a better understanding of what my goals are and how to reach them. So I truly believe
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.
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.
When attempting to identify as a professional counselor, it is important to understand the basic elements of counseling as it pertains to individual specializations. The wellness model and the key philosophies of the counseling profession: wellness, resilience and prevention are examined. The ability to articulate the roles and characteristics to understand how they relate to the different professional roles is
Case conceptualization explains the nature of a client’s problem and how they develop such problem ( Hersen, & Porzelius, p.3, 2002) In counseling, assessment is viewed as a systematic gathering of information to address a client’s presenting concerns effectively. The assessment practice provides diagnostic formulation and counseling plans, and aids to identify assets that could help the client cope better with concern that they are current. Assessment is present as a guide for treatment and support in the “evaluation process. Although many methods can be employed to promote a thorough assessment, no one method should be used by itself” (Erford, 2010, p.269-270). Eventually, it is the counselor's job to gain adequate
* conducts client intakes, focusing on diagnostic and functional evaluations, then makes recommendations to the primary care provider concerning the
A typical day for Mr. Khalid Scott starts with prayer. He prays that God gives him the serenity, the power and the courage to deal with the things that will be set before him as he does the job he was destined to do. As he drives to the VA he mentally prepares himself to deal with his clients and the issues they may present to him.