The focus of career counseling has been on helping individuals successfully enter the world of work. This chapter provides a description of the career counseling specialty, defining the roles and functions, employment settings, and clients of career counselors. It provides a brief history of the professional specialty, with information on historic and current credentialing. The chapter outlines professional credentialing and licensure matters for career counselors. It describes ethical and legal issues specific to the practice of career counseling and explains diversity issues and ethical decision making. It differentiates the roles and functions of practitioners of career counseling from those of practitioners of other counseling specialties. The chapter reviews the assessment issues of career counseling. Career counselors practice in a variety of settings and render services to diverse individuals, corporations, and organizations. They must have sufficient knowledge and training to assess clients and administer tests.

Membership in a profession offers an individual status and responsibility. Law and medicine, both considered models of professionalism, are founded on a body of knowledge, technique, and practice. This chapter describes the mental health professions and outlines types of degrees, degree requirements, licensure requirements, board certifications associated with a profession, and the scope of practice of the professions. The chapter helps the reader distinguish counseling from psychology and the other mental health professions. Psychiatrists are licensed physicians who hold either the MD or DO degree. Psychologists treat individuals with psychotherapy and counseling, and assess individuals with IQ, aptitude, personality, and interest tests. Psychiatric nurses are master’s-degree–trained nurses with specialized coursework in psychotherapeutic approaches. Marriage and family therapists focus on relationship concerns experienced by couples or families. Social workers generally specialize in public policy or clinical social work.