This graduate-level, introductory textbook provides instructors and students with a comprehensive overview of the profession of clinical mental health counseling (CMHC). Designed to cover the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) 2016 Standards and to provide an inclusive overview of the work of professional counselors, the book offers an in-depth exploration of the professional knowledge, skills, current issues, and dynamic trends in professional counseling that are essential parts of the educational journey of emerging clinicians. It provides readers with practical, applicable, real-world information upon which they can build through-out their programs of study and practice. Issues such as strength-based approaches, the various settings in which clinical mental health counselors may practice, record keeping and documentation, advocacy, professional roles, third-party payers and managed care, and self-care and professional development are vitally important to new counselors, and these subjects often are glanced over in an information-packed curriculum. In addition, the book covers the topics of crisis, disaster, and trauma, which constitute relatively new areas of emphasis within the CACREP Standards. Conceptually, it book looks at the history, roles, functions, settings, and contemporary issues of counseling through the lens of human ecological and integrated systems-of-care approaches. Unique to this particular textbook, and in juxtaposition to an ecological perspective of the individual, a focus on integrated systems of care in clinical mental health endeavors provides students with knowledge and skills that can help them to move seamlessly into the current world of work as clinical mental health counselors. The textbook is comprised of five sections, spanning the following clusters of CMHC-relevant information: (a) Introduction to Professional Counseling and Clinical Mental Health Counseling, (b) Working With Clients, (c) Practice Issues, (d) Working Within Systems, and (e) Client-Care and Self-Care Practices.

One of the historical pillars of rehabilitation counseling has been the use of assessment throughout the rehabilitation process. With this historical emphasis, it is not surprising that the focus on assessment and the methods and techniques used have changed and evolved. As a result, students, practitioners, and researchers are on a constant quest for updated and current information to guide and inform practice, policy, and research. This constant quest for updated and comprehensive information is directly relevant to the assessment of individuals typically served by rehabilitation and mental health practitioners and is the focus of this book. To date, there has not been a book that has been able to provide a comprehensive discussion of topics applicable to service delivery across both setting. This book attempts to fill this gap. One factor that guided the development of this book was the authors’ goal to provide both the foundational information necessary to understand and plan the assessment process and combine this material with information that is applicable to specific population and service delivery settings. To achieve this goal, each of the chapters is written by leaders in the field who have specialized knowledge regarding the chapter content. The chapters provide practical hands on information that allows for easy incorporation of the material to rehabilitation and mental health practice. To further strengthen practical application, case studies and templates have been incorporated where applicable to highlight specific key aspects to promote application to service delivery. Second, this is the first assessment book to be developed after the Council on Rehabilitation Counselor Education and Council on the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Programs merger. Finally, the authors hope that the readers of this book can apply this information to enhance the overall quality of life of the individuals they work with, especially individuals with disabilities.

The field of counseling is an exciting and challenging career choice. It is a profession that has a prolific history of enabling person-centered counseling approaches for individuals, couples, partners, and families, and facilitates therapeutic services for children, adolescents, adults, and older adults. This book offers an excellent resource for graduate-level coursework that relates to an orientation to the counseling profession, professional issues, and special topic seminars, as well as other counseling-related coursework. It provides both contemporary insight and practical strategies for working with the complexity of real-life issues related to assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of diverse clients and their families. The book provides professionals with chapters organized into the 10 CACREP and CORE content areas that address the awareness, knowledge, and skills required to work with children, adolescents, individuals, groups, couples, families, and persons from diverse cultural backgrounds. The content areas are: professional counseling identity, ethical and practice management issues, case management and consultation issues, multicultural counseling awareness, counseling theories and techniques, career counseling and human growth, assessment and diagnosis, counseling couples, families, and groups, counseling specific populations, and contemporary issues in counseling.

Aside from the study of theories of counseling and psychotherapy, there is probably no other area of study that is more related to the everyday practice of counseling that than the area of professional ethics. This book is a major revision of the prior edition, providing continuity to faculty who has used the book in teaching courses on ethics in counseling, but with notable changes and additions. The new edition has a distinct and timely focus on counseling as a profession. A new section provides material that not only applies to mental health practice generally, but it applies specifically to specialty practice with chapters specifically titled and focused on counseling specialties. Many of the early chapters are updated versions of those that appeared in the earlier edition. The book has been organized to provide the developing mental health professional with a clear and concise overview of ethical issues in counseling and psychotherapy. It intends to provide a thorough and scholarly foundation, defining ethical concepts and practice, legal issues, methods for clarifying values, decision-making models, and contemporaneous and emerging issues. The book is broad in its coverage of the most practiced specialties in mental health practice, and provides an efficient and effective overview of the broad scope of particular areas addressed in counseling. The specialities addressed are: mental health counseling; school counseling; couple, marital, and family counseling; rehabilitation counseling; addictions counseling; career counseling; and group counseling. It is hoped that this book will inspire ethically sensitive counselors and psychotherapists who will reflect before acting and who will consult with educated colleagues at those moments when ethical dilemmas arise. Ethical counselors and psychotherapists are those who have the best interests of their clients at heart, and who also respect the rights that derive from being professionals.