Called to the scene of a fire, Michael Dubi immediately noticed the elderly woman. She stood in place, silently, simply watching as her home and all of her belongings were consumed in flames directly in front of her. “She could not speak or move,” says Dubi, president of the International
Category: Cover Stories
It’s been said that the only constant in life is change. Counselors aren’t exempt from that rule, as anyone who has made the transition from graduate student to new professional, from one job setting to another, or from practicing professional to retiree can attest. Sometimes the change is exhilarating, as
In the world of stereotypes, a counseling session goes something like this: The client lays on the couch, revealing his innermost thoughts to the therapist, who sits in a leather chair, glasses perched low on her nose as she slowly nods and inquires, “And how did that make you feel?” In
So, this is life. Long, busy workdays and weekends with little rest. A weak economy and constant worry over the prospect of losing a job or even a home. Nonstop technology that never allows us to unplug. Ever-growing pressure on kids (and therefore on parents) to be involved in every
It wasn’t talk therapy that Michelle Wade’s client needed most during crisis. It was text therapy. The safety plan for Wade’s adolescent client dictated that she call Wade, a private practitioner in La Plata, Md., whenever she felt like cutting herself. But instead of calling, the client kept texting Wade.
It’s a good thing Jodi Mullen didn’t become a counselor exclusively for the compliments. Mullen, an associate professor and coordinator of the mental health counseling program at the State University of New York at Oswego, recalls working with a 12-year-old European American girl from a middle-class family whose presenting problem,
When Chad Betters wants his students to grasp what it means to have a disability, he shares the story of a former client. The woman had been a nurse for 19 years but developed an allergy to latex as a result of her work. “By developing this condition, the client
When Kim Olver set out to find 100 happy couples to profile for a book, it turned into a much tougher task than she had ever anticipated. It also affirmed for her the genuine need for a book about making relationships work. “It took me two years to find 100
Julie Bates offers a sobering thought to anyone who assumes that certain individuals choose a life of addiction. Bates, a doctoral candidate in counselor education at Penn State University, worked for three years at a methadone clinic in Massachusetts. One of her clients, a 23-year-old woman who exhibited track marks
Michael Chaney knew from a very young age that he was gay, a fact that meant he also had years to process what it meant to be gay. “People who don’t grow up that way didn’t need to go through that process,” says Chaney, who is president of the Association