Expert Interviews & Perspectives in Counseling

Exploring one’s sexuality or gender identity is, by its very nature, an existential pursuit. In fact, LGBTQ+ clients often seek out therapy to help make sense of their phenomenological experience.

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.

Too much caring without proper boundaries can cause emotional stress and strain on the counselor. Even with sufficient self-care measures, chronic day-to-day occupational stress can wear down even the most experienced professional.

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.

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.

As a counselor, you hope to have a good ending in which the therapist and client have a final session to say goodbye and discuss aftercare plans. This is not always the case. To increase the odds of a good ending, termination must be discussed throughout the counseling process, starting at the first session.

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.

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.

Mental health internships offer students the opportunity to learn hands-on clinical skills in various settings. Most graduate-level psychology programs require students to complete a practicum and an internship experience prior to graduation.

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.