For many people, the beginning of the new year is a time for resolutions. If you would indulge me for a moment, there are a couple of “professional resolutions” that I think are worth consideration.

Many of us came into the counseling profession imagining ourselves sitting across from a client who needed our support or in front of a group of students who needed some guidance. That direct work is a significant part of what we do, and counselors are exceptionally skilled at assisting clients. Another aspect of the work we do relates to advocacy and social change. We sometimes conceptualize advocacy as the work we do for a client who needs assistance accessing resources or overcoming barriers. Social change often occurs when we notice barriers impeding access to counseling services or other resources for groups of people and we take steps to advocate on behalf of all those who are affected.

We are in a time in the counseling profession’s history when we also need to recommit ourselves to advocating on behalf of the profession. Counselors who came before us blazed trails to ensure that counselors were included in schools, and others started and concluded the process of securing professional licensure in all 50 states. But we cannot rest on our laurels. Consider some of the current issues facing our profession.

The ratio of students to counselors continues to creep upward, and cuts to education budgets require school counselors to take on more (and often inappropriate) work. Some states have been proposing unified licensure boards, combining counseling, social work, marriage and family therapy, and psychology all under one board, which would dilute the professional identity of each profession. Board members who are not licensed counselors could have great influence over counseling practice in those states. In addition, ACA has been actively working to address the challenges of portability for licensed counselors across the country. We have great staff who work on legislative advocacy and government affairs year-round, and they will tell you that we need more voices speaking out on behalf of counselors. (For more on the work of our ACA Government Affairs team, visit counseling.org/government-affairs/public-policy.)

Advocacy on behalf of the profession may seem daunting. But in reality, the skills that counselors use every day, such as building relationships and helping people understand complex problems, are the same skills that are important in advocacy. Whether we are talking about a local school board member, a state policymaker or a U.S. senator, advocacy begins by forming relationships before you need those relationships. We start by trying to educate stakeholders on the importance of the work that counselors do every day. Then, when a specific issue needs our voice, they already know who we are and the value of the work we do.

The other thing that sometimes intimidates people about advocacy is believing that they need to be policy experts on everything. In reality, it is helpful to know the broad strokes of what is involved in your issue, but what really compels people are the stories they hear about the work you do and how it affects the clients or students with whom you work. It’s sometimes uncomfortable for counselors to talk about themselves, and it may feel immodest to say that your work is important, but you are in the best position possible to tell the story of how counseling changes lives.

These are challenging times for the counseling profession and for many of the people we serve. Would you consider making a resolution for the year ahead to make one new relationship with a stakeholder or to make calls once a month on behalf of the work you do and the clients you serve? Your voice speaking on behalf of the profession cannot be replaced.

Happy New Year!