Professional Counseling

Professional Counseling CNLS/502 August 27, 201 Professional Counseling Counseling can be refer as a voluntary and confidential process that takes place within the context of a professional, which includes individuals, groups, or members of a family. The goal of a counselor is to listen to their patients to gain a more concrete understanding of their clients concerns. Once understanding is gained the counselor works with the client to help effectively identify the concerns the client has. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a growth for counseling jobs within the next 10 years. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the number of Employment opportunities will surpass the number of graduates especially in rural areas (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S. Department of Labor, [BLS] 2010). A counselor can understand that people evolve throughout their lives and constantly require assistance during their transitions. A counseling hopeful can choose different career paths if they want to become a professional counselor. Guidance and career counselors typically assist people seeking a career or vocational employments. A guidance counselor works in a school setting from elementary school to a university. In, the Elementary to High school setting they provide aptitude assessments to test and evaluate students. A career counselor works outside the traditional school with individuals or a group of individuals looking for a new career or to grow in their current job. Typically they assist people with their resumes and provide them with career advice. Marriage and family therapist provide professional assistance to individuals, couples, and families facing adolescent behavioral problems. In addition, marriage and family counselors treat other mental health issues that affect the general population; for example, they work with childhood sexual abuse, panic disorders, families living with HIV, gay and lesbian youth (American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy [AAMFT] 2010). Substance abuse counselors work with individuals facing drug dependency. This is possibly the most career challenging for counselors because these individuals tend to have some type of mental difficulty and behavioral issues. Furthermore, there is a high rate of relapse for these individuals throughout their lives. Some of the locations that provide employment are halfway homes, shelters, jails, and community treatment centers. The two fields of interest are rehabilitation counseling and mental health a brief description of the primary roles and their goals of treatment will be explain. Community programs and state departments employ rehabilitation Counselors; additionally, they can be employ in the private sector working with profit and nonprofit agencies. Other areas of employment may include schools/universities, residential facilities and rehabilitation centers (All Star Directories [ASD] 2010). A rehabilitation counselor would typically work with disable people, either in individual or group settings, educating employers about the American disabilities act, and placement agencies that would refer the disable individuals to job agencies. Additionally, the primary goal is to assist the individual lead a more independent life. The rehabilitation counselor also works with the individuals family to assist them in dealing and managing the individuals disability. Furthermore, the counselor sets appropriate expectation the type of job the disable person will have. Counselors can also work closely together with each other; for instance, it is not uncommon for a rehabilitation counselor to work close with a guidance and career counselor. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the projected growth for rehabilitation counselors is 19%. The Bureau of Labor statistics estimates that the need for rehabilitation counselors will grow because of the increase in the elderly population, which is likely to develop physical, mental, and developmental disabilities (BLS, 2010). A mental health counselor is a broad term use to describe those in the counseling field. A person can become a mental health counselors without specializing in and individual field: furthermore, most professionals gain experience has mental health counselors before choosing their specialized field and receiving their certification in other specialized fields within the counseling specialties. It is believe that 25% of Americans suffer from mental issues (ASD, 2010). Typically a mental ealth counselors works with a variety of special group of individuals seeking assistance with substance abuse problems, marital problems, stress, depression, etc. After earning a master’s degree counseling a person can choose to become license has a rehabilitation, marriage and family therapy, and substance abuse counselor, Mental health counselors can be found in mental hospitals, substance abuse centers, college counseling centers, and various nursing homes agencies. Employment opportunities for new counselors continue to increase in the future because of the growing demand for the services. Regardless whether a new graduate chooses to work in the private or public sector. References All Star Directories, Inc. (2010). All Psychology Schools. Retrieved from https://www. allpsychologyschools. com: https://www. allpsychologyschools. com/faqs/rehabilitation-counseling. php American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. Retrieved from https://www. aamft. org/families/index_nm. asp Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-

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