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.
Who’s Trained in LGBTQ+ Mental Health? Affirmative Counselors, Gender Therapists & More
07/27/21
In the field today, there is an observable stratum of allies, yet their dedication to this goal varies a great deal, as does their level of skill, training, and overall experience. For this reason, it’s worth noting the distinct strengths and potential limitations of allied counselors, affirmative counselors, gender specialists, sex therapists, and LGBTQ+ counselors.
Beyond Cultural Competence: Cultural Humility, Intersectionality, and Decolonizing Mental Health
07/08/21
Cultural competence was introduced in the 1980s by social workers and counseling psychologists as an approach to working successfully in multicultural contexts. Primarily concerned with learning about the cultures of those with whom we live and work through the examination of behaviors, attitudes, and policies, cultural competence was embraced by the healthcare community and has been used widely throughout the industry.
A Salary Guide for All Counseling Careers: How Much Do Counselors Earn? (2021-2022)
06/16/21
Wages for counselors vary widely based on the type of counseling services offered, the level of education, and more.
How Self-Awareness Makes You a Better Counselor
06/09/21
One of the most effective tools you will use, as a counselor, is your self-awareness. In a therapeutic session, this perspective allows the counselor to question his or her own thoughts, feelings, and biases. Without this process, counselors may react to their own and their client’s subconscious programming.
Informed Consent: Ethical Considerations for Working With LGBTQ+ Clients
05/17/21
As always, clients should be encouraged to ask questions, yet due to the long history of discrimination, LGBTQ+ individuals may have some unique concerns pertaining to their privacy, emotional safety, and legal rights.
What Behaviors Correlate with Happiness? An Expert’s Guide to Being Happy
04/28/21
On July 12, 2012, the United Nations established March 20th as the International Day of Happiness.
How to Grieve a Client’s Death Ethically
04/22/21
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.
Occupational Therapy Month: An Expert’s Advocacy Guide for OTs
03/30/21
During the month of April, the U.S. medical community celebrates Occupational Therapy (OT) Month to honor the more than 213,000 occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants, and students who work to improve the lives of their clients and families.
Mental Health Disabilities and Employment: An Interview with the Social Security Administration
03/22/21
Two benefits programs that may be available to individuals with disabilities—including those caused by mental health conditions—are Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). While SSDI is based on the amount a person worked/contributed to social security taxes prior to applying for benefits, SSI is determined by financial need.
Advocacy Guide for National Drug & Alcohol Facts Week (2021)
03/22/21
Telling kids to ‘just say no’ just doesn’t work. Today’s approach to drug education and substance use disorder programs has to focus, instead, on high doses of compassion and science. The stakes are high: nearly 21 million Americans have at least one addiction, but only 10 percent receive treatment; more than 90 percent of those who do have an addiction started to drink alcohol or use drugs before they were 18 years old.