A recent government survey indicates more Americans are getting the help they need in crucial areas – such as heroin addiction – and our nation’s behavioral health is improving in some aspects, including the abuse of prescription pain medications. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration recently released the
Month: January 2014
Advocacy must mean more to professional counselors than legislative action on Capitol Hill and calling child protective services when we suspect that our clients have been abused. That doesn’t mean these forms of advocacy are not valued or not needed, but we must incorporate other forms of advocacy into our professional
Two things to share with you this month. The first is that your ACA staff is in the final phase of planning as we prepare to host somewhere in the neighborhood of 4,000 professional counselors, counselor educators and graduate students who will gather for the annual ACA Conference & Expo
For many years when asked to describe my perfect job, I would say, “I’d like to be a corporate priest.” What I meant was that I could imagine a mental health professional being woven into the cultural fabric of an organization in a way that would allow her or him
Under the banner of social justice and advocacy, counselors must also address the societal, historical and political issues that continue to oppress others.
Athletes experience the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat and everything else that comes between the highs and lows of competition. Sometimes, though, they need help managing the accompanying feelings, which is one reason sports counseling has become a growing specialty. Unlike sports psychology, which focuses primarily on game-time performance,
Although there are differing definitions of self-esteem, most counseling clients would probably use the common cultural definition: a feeling of having respect for yourself and your abilities. Of course, defining self-esteem isn’t the same as understanding the important role it plays in emotional health. It’s a role that many clients may
I sit up straight in my chair in the small office, nudging my glasses up the bridge of my nose and hoping my new client doesn’t realize we’re the same age. Yet her comfort level with these new surroundings appears seamless as she tucks her legs underneath her and explains
“There are wonderful tools available for all forms of technology which, when used ethically and knowledgeably, can enhance both our ability to provide support to clients in and out of our offices and likely improve or simplify how we run our offices.”
At first glance, gifted children would seem to be “immune” to issues of low self-esteem. After all, these children are generally thought of as successful high achievers. However, people who study and counsel gifted students say this is a potentially harmful misperception. These experts caution that while gifted children are