U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet has agreed to co-sponsor a bill that would allow professional counselors to be reimbursed for care of clients who have Medicare health insurance, an issue the American Counseling Association has long advocated for. The Colorado Democrat’s endorsement of the bill carries significant weight because he sits

“Follow your heart but take your brain with you.” Relationship science has come a long way since Alfred Adler shared those words of wisdom, but they remain just as applicable today as when he wrote them in the 1920s. Modern scientific studies, ranging from smelling T-shirts (seriously) to connecting couples

People in need of help don’t always show up automatically on counselors’ doorsteps and request services. Sometimes counselors have to be intentional about first forming connections with potential clients and inviting them to investigate the therapeutic process. In other instances, counselors may need to get out of their offices and

The mission of occupational licensing boards is public protection. In essence, that means a licensing board exists to ensure that unqualified persons do not practice in a profession. Licensing boards do this by applying a set of standards to determine minimum qualifications. Supporting licensees and applicants is important, but protecting

A recent survey of first-year college students reveals that a majority felt emotionally unprepared for college, while more than 1 in 3 (38 percent) felt anxious most of the time during their first term. The survey, a project cosponsored by the Jordan Porco Foundation, the Partnership for Drug-free Kids and

One of the many reasons solution-focused counseling is a good fit for school settings is because it’s a client-directed approach, says John Murphy, a longtime school psychologist and author of Solution-Focused Counseling in Schools. School counselors often find the bulk of their time consumed with noncounseling tasks. When they are

John Duggan spends the majority of his workdays talking counselors through the challenges that inevitably confront them in their jobs. From insurance paperwork to licensure issues, questions run the gamut, says Duggan, the American Counseling Association’s manager of professional development. Duggan, a licensed professional counselor (LPC) and licensed clinical professional