In a life of ups and downs, football has been a constant for Chris Harris, a 34-year old limited licensed professional counselor (LLPC). Among the struggles Harris has faced was a battle with severe depression that threatened to derail his life at a young age. Football served as a saving grace
Month: September 2015
The Rolling Stones were a popular group when I attended my first junior high school dance. My memories of the dance are good ones, complete with great music and good friends. I remember spending that day picking out my outfit, listening to music and counting down the hours until my
We need only to open a newspaper, tune in to the nightly news on TV or visit a website highlighting the day’s news to learn about amazing people who consider themselves ordinary but do extraordinary things. I’m not referring to athletes who set new records or titans of business who
Most of our clients come to us for help with relationship difficulties, work-related stress, persistent anxiety, chronic depression or other well-researched and commonly encountered challenges. Most of us feel that our education and experiences have effectively prepared us to deal with these conditions. Armed with a time-tested array of evidence-based
The mental health workforce in the United States is a leader in mental health and substance abuse treatment innovation. Currently, the vast majority of treatment focus is on the relatively small portion of the population that is substance dependent, but those with an “at-risk” level of use may go untreated.
“Rose” and “Steve” came to American Counseling Association member Laura Marshak for couples counseling because they felt they had been growing further and further apart ever since their son, “Sammy,” who was now in elementary school, had been born with cerebral palsy. Out of necessity, Steve had become the primary breadwinner
This past summer, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, pediatrician Priscilla Chan, announced that they are expecting a baby. This celebrity baby news grabbed headlines for a different reason than most, however. The couple’s announcement included a candid acknowledgment that they had been trying to have a baby for
The most important tools a counselor can use to help a client struggling with addiction or substance abuse are genuine compassion and a deep understanding, say Ford Brooks and Bill McHenry, licensed professional counselors (LPCs) and co-authors of the second edition of A Contemporary Approach to Substance Use Disorders and
Nonprofit News aims to help demystify many of the areas associated with successful nonprofit programming — programming that is typically not a part of clinical programming. One of the biggest concerns for clinicians working in nonprofits is the need to find and secure funding through grants and donations. For counselors,
Licensure is a “rite of passage” for most mental health professionals. When new professionals graduate with either a master’s or doctorate in counseling, they usually have great expectations of taking the world by storm. There is one pesky reality standing in the way, however. I am of course referring to