CS Features – Expert Interviews, Guides, Professional Advocacy & Research in Counseling

Joining a counseling profession is about more than understanding licensing requirements and reading step-by-step guides. This is a profession committed to continued education, listening, and learning. To be a successful counselor or therapist, you have to be engaged with and aware of the larger conversations in the community.

Whether you are just starting your counseling career or already working in the field, CS features cover topics relevant to you. It holds scholarship and resource guides, expert interviews, tips for avoiding burnout and compassion fatigue, discussions of the latest academic research, and detailed analyses of the most pressing advocacy issues within counseling professions. Overall, we bring you into the conversation around the biggest issues in counseling and professions today.

How Do Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) Augment Cognition?

Calendar Icon 04/17/25 Laura Freberg, PhD

The goal of BCI technology is to translate brain activity into actions or sensations. The technology picks up Signals from the brain and communicates via Bluetooth to a computer application. The application decodes the signals and translates them into actions, such as the movement of a cursor or prosthetic device.

The Fight for MFT License Portability Across States

Calendar Icon 04/01/25 Matt Zbrog

As one of the five core mental health disciplines recognized by the federal government under the Public Health Service Act, MFTs are licensed and trained to provide individual, family, and group psychotherapy services from the perspective that relationships matter.

Guide to Transgender and Gender Counseling Degrees and Schools

Calendar Icon 03/28/25 Alex Stitt, LMHC

If you aspire to work with trans and nonbinary people as a mental health professional, there are many trans-focused career paths to explore, depending on your area of focus and level of training and certification.

Guide to Counselor Education Loan Forgiveness Programs

Calendar Icon 03/25/25 Vanessa Salvia

Over the years, the rules have changed, so it makes sense to know what you can and can’t expect when it comes to counselor education loan forgiveness programs. The College Cost Reduction and Access Act (CCRAA) made certain counselors eligible for loan forgiveness.

How to Teach Client Responsibility

Calendar Icon 03/25/25 Lisa Hutchison, LMHC

Some clients begin therapy without learning healthy boundaries or taking responsibility for their actions. For many, their behaviors are a reflection of the abusive systems they were raised in. Abusive systems teach a skewed perception of responsibility through blame and shame. These circumstances do not take away the need for personal responsibility but offer an understanding to counselors who encounter these behaviors. A part of therapy will be to hold the space, validate these experiences, and teach clients personal responsibility.

Instilling Hope in Your Clients

Calendar Icon 03/24/25 Lisa Hutchison, LMHC

When clients show up for therapy, they often have exhausted all other resources, such as Internet searches, self-help videos, books, and other people’s advice. They may feel drained and unsure if therapy can help them.

The Importance of Silence in Therapy

Calendar Icon 03/20/25 Lisa Hutchison, LMHC

An important part of the empathic process is holding the space or creating quiet moments for your client. It is in these times, when less is said, clients and counselors can have the most profound insights.

How to Grieve a Client’s Death Ethically

Calendar Icon 03/19/25 Lisa Hutchison, LMHC

There is no formal training on how to deal with client loss. If you are a counselor long enough, you will face a client’s death.

International Boost Self-Esteem Month Resource Guide (2025)

Calendar Icon 01/31/25 Matt Zbrog

February is International Boost Self-Esteem Month, an annual event dedicated to improving self-esteem among people across the globe. And it’s especially important this coming year after a series of lockdowns have forced everyone to spend more time alone with themselves than usual.

Pregnancy and the Brain: Is “Momnesia” Real?

Calendar Icon 12/05/24 Laura Freberg, PhD

Pregnant women often complain about sudden lapses in memory. We all have had the experience of walking into a room and then completely forgetting what we planned to do, but pregnant women seem to report these lapses more frequently than others of the same age. Are these experiences due to tiredness and sleep deprivation? Or are there other explanations?