Some months after starting my private practice in Japan, I (Yukio Fujikura) received an email from a Japanese American woman asking for an opportunity to do her counseling practicum at my practice. While living in Tokyo, she was pursuing her degree through an online school counseling program offered by a
Category: Member Insights
Articles written by members of the American Counseling Association
Counseling is a profession… but being a counselor is a way of life. A counselor personifies the values, beliefs, goals and practices on which the profession of counseling is based. Although becoming a counselor is necessarily developed through quality education and experience, the core of being a counselor comes from
We normally think of empathy in counseling as a benevolent act in which the insightful counselor deeply understands the grateful client. Carl Rogers considered this empathic connection the centerpiece of a successful counseling relationship. He offered the following metaphor of the imprisoned client being emotionally liberated by the counselor: One
“The tipping point,” a concept presented by Malcolm Gladwell in a book by the same name in 2000, occurs when an idea, trend or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips and spreads like wildfire. I believe helping women process the grief they experience after an abortion choice is an idea
Three years ago, I was asked to leave my position as a therapist and take a leadership role as a supervisor of school-based mental health services. At the time, I was seeing a small caseload of children at their school because of problem behaviors in their classroom environment. When I
Promotion of the evidence-based practice concept is widespread across the mental and behavioral health professions. Intrinsic motives include placing the well-being of our clients/patients/students at the forefront, desiring to discover and use the best practices available, and wanting to be respected as highly proficient professionals. Extrinsic motives include being eligible
In the September issue of Counseling Today, Courtland Lee, president of the International Association for Counselling and a past president of the American Counseling Association, wrote a “Through the Glass Darkly” column on counseling globalization. In it, he posed several important questions for counselors to ponder to become globally minded/competent
According to the International Coach Federation (ICF), “Coaching is an ongoing relationship which focuses on clients taking action toward the realization of their vision, goals or desires. Coaching uses a process of inquiry and personal discovery to build the client’s level of awareness and responsibility and provides the client with
When taking my undergraduate and graduate classes many moons ago, my least favorite courses were Biopsychology and Cognitive Processes, during which our professors would lecture at great length about the structure and function of the brain. As a student embarking on a new career in mental health, I was aware
Earlier this year, in an article for the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, we proposed that interpersonal skills training is fundamental to effective performance in all aspects of police work. We argued that although police officers receive expert training in tactical and legal skills, and that their mastery of these skills