Guides to Counseling Careers & Other Resources

Anyone who aspires to become a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) or a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) will inevitably take the National Counselor Examination (NCE). While each state has different licensure requirements, the NCE is a comprehensive test administered by the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC) and used throughout the United States.

Society’s focus on destigmatizing substance use and mental health conditions while providing better treatment plans has helped millions of people pursue care. Still, counseling is tough for some because they can’t find anyone who understands or speaks their language.

More than 39 million adults with a substance use disorder did not receive treatment in 2022, according to the latest data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Nearly 95 percent of those not receiving treatment didn’t believe they needed help—but for 1.8 million adults who thought they did, barriers to treatment left them unwilling or unable to get support.

As the need for diversely skilled mental health professionals continues to grow, counselors are increasingly being recognized and celebrated for their role in supporting the mental healthcare needs of the public. New movements and regulatory changes are being introduced to make way for the future of the modern counselor.

Consensual non-monogamy (CNM), also known as ethical non-monogamy (ENM), includes many different relationship formations, often called polycules. There is no single template for what a polycule looks like, or how a polycule operates, since there are many possible combinations of people, personalities, and relationship styles.

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.

Over the past few years, teens have experienced an alarming increase in mental illness in the U.S. The 2010s, in particular, marked a decade of declining mental health capped off by the disruptive impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. By 2022, national survey data from the Department of Health and Human Services indicates that around one in every five adolescents suffered from a major depressive episode in the previous year, continuing an upward trend in depression that began around 2013.

Each year, the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) selects five school counselors who exemplify why we need the profession now more than ever, and from those five, one winner is selected. The School Counselor of the Year Selection Committee includes principals, school counselors, and representatives from education-related organizations.

The allure of e-cigarette usage for high schoolers is waning, according to newly published survey data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Electronic cigarettes, also known as vapes, entered the U.S. marketplace around 2007. The use of e-cigarettes surged by 900 percent among middle and high school students between 2011 and 2015, according to a report from the office of former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy.

Music is an effective tool to bring forth strong emotions from the past. Sometimes clients cannot find the words to express what they feel in a counseling session but can choose, sing, or play a song.