One of the common reasons people start counseling is because they want to know themselves better. The time required to achieve this self-understanding varies, but some counselors make helping clients get a clearer picture of their personalities the first order of business. Many of these counselors find that certain personality
Category: Counseling Today
Jacqueline Swank, an assistant professor of counselor education and researcher at the University of Florida, believes in the power of nature. “I grew up on a farm,” she says. “Every aspect of my life involved nature.” The barnyard and surrounding woods were her playground, but living close to nature offered her
Counselor educators hold the unique position of being gatekeepers for their profession, attempting to evaluate what harm a student might do to future clients if he or she has a deficit of skill or a lack of insight into his or her own behaviors, values, biases and abilities.
Suicide rates. Chain of command. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Military jargon and slang. For counselors, working with military veterans brings its own challenges and need for baseline knowledge. “Just as with any other culture that is different from your own, it is not enough to simply want to help members
Recreational marijuana recently became legal in Colorado, and several other states may soon follow suit. It remains to be seen what impact this decision ultimately will have on counselors working with clients in school, addictions, mental health and other settings. Catherine Iliff, a licensed professional counselor in Pueblo, Colo., says
Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) taps into the “instinctive bond” humans have with other living things, says Michigan counselor Amy Johnson. The practice can also build trust and strengthen the therapeutic relationship between a counselor and a client, she says. However, simply having a dog in the room during a counseling session
There is a saying often repeated among people who skydive, bungee jump, white water raft or take part in other adventure sports: “We take risk not to escape life but to keep life from escaping.” This phrase that encapsulates the adventure sports subculture also shines a light on the disconnect
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
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