Author’s note: Although this article is written mainly for school counselors, its basic concept and the strategies it contains are easily adaptable to other counseling fields. When the paperwork begins to mount and the phone calls never seem to stop, school counselors often wonder, “When am I going to get
Category: Member Insights
Articles written by members of the American Counseling Association
Today’s counseling students bring a unique array of characteristics and perspectives not previously seen in our classrooms. For instance, it is not uncommon for students to approach classroom assignments through technological means rather than by engaging in thoughtful dialogue. Counselor educators have a responsibility to learn about these students and
Counselors are good at relationships, or so they say. As folklore would have it, counselors are the “knowers” of all things relational and, therefore, can and should be “masters” when it comes to their own personal relationships. But is this really the case? As a counselor, I thought I was
Summer 2019 update: The American Counseling Association has created a state-by-state guide with updated information on licensure requirements across the country. Go to counseling.org/knowledge-center/licensure-requirements for information on licensure in your state or U.S. territory. **** As an existentially oriented counselor, I am well versed in the absurd, but I
Life guarantees us two things: change and loss. Together they compose the unpredictable rhythm of life. They also exert tremendous pressure on the soul. If we don’t stop long enough to notice, we’ll wake up one day and wonder why the light has gone out of our eyes and why passion
He had made his Decision. My family and I were halfway to London when our train made one of its usual stops at a station. Normally, the doors would close again in about 30 seconds, and we would be on our way. But this time, we waited for five minutes. It
A normal day for a professional counselor too often entails focusing on remedial concerns. So many clients suffer from the aftermath of trauma and violence, while severe mental health concerns such as anxiety, co-occurring disorders and chemical dependency — among other mental health disorders — also necessitate in-depth therapeutic treatment. That reality
A Columbus, Ohio, mother and her two children are stabbed to death. A mother and grandmother is beaten and shot to death in Newark, Ohio. A Logan, Ohio, mother with three children under the age of 6 is kidnapped and strangled; her body is dumped in a sewer. The commonalities? Each of
On Jan. 24, I was sitting in the break room of my office in a human rights organization in Cairo, Egypt, where I work as a counselor for African refugees. As the oldest person in the office, I argued that the demonstrations scheduled for the next day would probably be like
Robotic counselors. Virtual solutions. Personality uploading. These are not science fiction fantasies but real possibilities that lie just beyond the horizon for the field of counseling. According to some futurists, a trend of great historical magnitude is unfolding: the exponential growth of technological development leading to an event referred to as