Advocacy is key for the clinical mental health counseling profession. Clinical mental health counselor advocates (CMHCAs) rely on the advocacy competencies to guide their assistance to clients in removing barriers and to secure deserving resources, or to advocate on behalf of clients, groups, or communities. This chapter addresses the importance of advocacy and social justice advocacy, and the strategic positionality of the clinical mental health counselor as an advocate for addressing social and institutional barriers that reduce client access, equity, and success. It identifies the advocacy competencies and approaches to advocate for clients care, and emphasizes the ways that they foster resilience and growth. Specific cases illustrate clients' and professionals' understandings of and access to a variety of community-based resources. The chapter also addresses strategies to advocate for the profession and for clinical mental health counseling professionals.

This chapter sheds light on how the managed care system works as well as the counselor's role in managed care and the importance of advocacy and issues related to payment and reimbursement. It offers a starting point to understand the system, and counselors must continue to seek more resources, join organizations and build networks with other counselors and change makers to become active members of the professional community. Managed care is an integral part of the healthcare system, and it is imperative for counselors to be able to understand the system in order to navigate it better. Counselors can anticipate the issues that are related to cost and payments and can provide more efficient service to the clients, if they understand how managed care system operates. The chapter demystifies the issues of payment for counseling services, specifically third-party billing, managed care, medical assistance programs, and other issues therein.

The practice of professional counseling is governed at the national and state levels by a variety of governing boards and regulatory agencies. This chapter focuses on the legal and ethical issues that are salient to clinical mental health counselors. Specifically, it discusses the American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics, the American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA) Code of Ethics, state licensure and national certification, confidentiality, mandated reporting, duty to warn, and scope of practice. The chapter also focuses on the responsibility of counselors to engage in ethically based practice. In addition, the chapter connects the ACA and AMCHA ethical codes and the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs standards to several topics in ethical practice, including values clarification, bias assessment, boundary awareness and maintenance, and self-reflection. The chapter concludes with a case scenario to illustrate chapter concepts and a section on resources to provide further information.

It is important for beginning Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC) students to understand that their engagement in the CMHC specialty is one part of the larger professional counseling framework. This chapter provides a historical overview of the counseling profession and its developmental trajectory, emphasizing the origins of mental health treatment and the reemergence of counseling as a wellness-based approach. It offers discussion concerning the push toward a pathogenic model of conceptualizing mental illness and the subsequent, current resurgence of a strength-based notion of care. The chapter provides an overview of the major theories of counseling as a means for understanding the development of counseling as a unique and separate field from psychology, psychiatry, and social work. It identifies the specializations within the counseling field, the range of employment opportunities and the current labor market, and how counseling is integrated within a system-of-care approach.

Samantha has been the middle school counselor in a small rural district in the Midwest for the past 3 years. She has spent most of her time in program development and building relationships with students, parents, staff, and community partners. Currently, she is working with community and district administrators to increase access to Internet and other technology in her building for more program options; unfortunately, the district’s increasingly tight budget precludes upgrades to current systems. As the academic year comes to a close, she talks with Rachel, a veteran teacher with considerable experience in differentiation. Rachel is concerned about some of her math students. By year’s end, due to her differentiated curriculum, at least seven will have completed Algebra 1, the most advanced math class at the school. Rachel wonders what can be planned for them for next year. A few parents have expressed concerns about future classes as these students progress. She asks to meet with Samantha about this situation.

Ben, the middle school counselor from Chapter 5, continues to work with the district’s task force. There, he also meets Julie the district’s coordinator of gifted and talented services. Based on the superintendent’s concerns, Julie wants to re-imagine the district’s identification and programming for gifted youth. Ben’s experiences have given Julie new insights into potential roles of school counselors when working with high-ability learners and their parents. Julie was particularly drawn to Ben’s discussions of talking with parents about why their students were not identified. Ben’s frustrations with the gifted services have also included the pervasive mythology that the program is a “cookie” program used as a reward for “good” students with “good” behavior and even better grades—a myth that disenfranchises diverse populations in the school district, including underachieving students, and doesn’t accurately identity those students who may need services. Historically, because the district has implemented identification procedures in third grade, Julie has contacted several of the elementary school counselors in her district to get their perspectives. She is surprised by the range of their knowledge about identification and the degree of the school counselors’ involvement in this process. While Ben has informed her that all practicing school counselors have training in testing and assessment, not all have connected this with identification practices for gifted learners—until they meet with their first parent.

School counselors collaborate, consult, and coordinate resources. They partner with community agencies, empower parents and families, advocate for students, and are probably part of the leadership team in their schools. Every day school counselors probably make lists of tasks that must be accomplished and then prioritize those according to level of urgency. When prioritizing student needs, the needs of gifted students may not rise to the top in the mind of the school counselor. Most educators equate "gifted" with high-achieving, perfectionistic, perhaps slightly eccentric students who have helicopter parents. School counselors work with gifted students regularly. These students come with a variety of different concerns ranging from typical developmental needs to mental health concerns that warrant immediate attention and service. While gifted students are no more or less likely to experience concerns tied to mental health, they do experience the world differently by nature of being gifted.

As best friends in a small Midwestern town, Jon and Stephen, both extremely bright and inquisitive, often talked with each other about their dreams of jobs they would have as adults. Throughout childhood, made alive through imaginative play, their wide-ranging ideas about careers were inspired largely by television and movie characters. They were enthralled with the idea of “special powers” to save the universe, but soon realized that “superhero” wasn’t a career. A few years later, they considered becoming crime scene investigators, lawyers, emergency room doctors, and, briefly, even astronauts. Jon and Stephen were inseparable and were regarded by the elementary school’s Gifted and Talented (G/T) coordinator as the most academically advanced students in her memory. They loved to learn, had vivid imaginations, and inspired their classmates and each other to “dream big” about the future. They were big fish in a little pond (e.g., Marsh, 1987; Salchegger, 2016).

Then Jon’s family relocated to an affluent suburban neighborhood on the West Coast after his father took a position in Silicon Valley. Jon, in middle school, had to adjust to a new set of expectations and found the adjustment quite challenging—in fact, far more so than he had imagined. Surrounded by a large group of intense and extremely driven students, who all seemed to aspire to top-tier universities, and struck by the harsh realization that he was no longer one of the very best students, Jon now felt as if he were a fish out of water. He was plagued with self-doubt about his abilities and future educational and career prospects. Compared to the other students, who had long positioned themselves to earn coveted spots in the local STEM-oriented magnet high school, Jon felt inadequately prepared to compete and felt his excitement for learning fading quickly. Once a confident and enthusiastic student, Jon was immobilized by his fear of making mistakes, especially in the presence of his new peers, and he began to retreat from others both at school and at home. He had difficulty dealing with even minor setbacks and grew to resent the students who seemed ambitious and competitive. Adopting a defensive posture, Jon downplayed the importance of thinking about future goals; in his own words, it was “stupid” to worry too much about college and career. Although he generally maintained respectable grades (mainly to make his parents happy and to keep their anxieties at bay), he refused to take the most challenging courses at school and stopped taking academic risks. Since he was getting mostly As and Bs and an occasional C on his report card, Jon’s parents were not alarmed by the changes in his behavior and failed to notice that he had turned away from learning. His academic self-concept had taken a major hit.

In contrast to Jon, Stephen remained in the same small Midwestern school district for the remainder of his precollege years and continued to feel passionate—about everything! Stephen’s parents encouraged him to indulge his intellectual curiosity and explore every subject that captured his interest. But Stephen had difficulty narrowing his interests for the sake of establishing career direction. When he was first exposed to chemistry, for instance, he quickly memorized the periodic table and spent many nights at the dinner table teaching his younger brother everything he had learned about each element. Later, when introduced to physics, he could hardly contain his excitement about quantum field theory, cosmic inflation, fluid dynamics, and a host of other topics. Of course, he also loved math and was eager to learn computer languages. Adept not only in STEM subjects, Stephen also excelled in and enjoyed writing, history, and politics. However, because the school district was small and lacked resources, he often learned advanced content on his own by reading books and searching the Internet. The local public high school he attended offered few Advanced Placement (AP) courses, and school officials believed they could not justify offering additional AP courses just for him. Without his friend Jon, he had no intellectual peer with whom he could share ideas and interact meaningfully. As his precollege years progressed, Stephen did not gain sufficient clarity about educational and career direction to focus his efforts on developing any particular interest to a high level outside of the classroom.

Childhood bereavement support is provided by a variety of professionals including chaplains, social workers, mental health counselors, psychologists, child life specialists, nurses, school counselors, thanatologists, and educators. This chapter discusses the issue of professional accountability and ethical considerations when working with bereaved children and their families in order to offer a framework for standards for this important type of support. It is not enough to solely provide orientation training to volunteers, it is also important to offer continued training for both new and existing volunteers. Organizations that provide support to bereaved children should establish written, agreed upon standards of practice to which program staff and volunteers are held accountable. The parent or legal guardian of children attending individual support, peer support groups, or grief camps should be provided a clear description of services being provided. Services provided should fit within the mission, vision, and values of the organization.

Angela was extremely excited to begin school as a kindergarten student and was matched with a supportive teacher for her first year in the rural community in which her family lived. She was lively and talkative around adults, and her parents worked hard to find opportunities for Angela to connect with kids her own age. However, in their small community there were limited possibilities for connection, and Angela often retreated physically behind her parents in public.

During the first parent–teacher conference for Angela, her parents were surprised at the teacher’s observations that Angela was reading well beyond the level of her peers. Not knowing many other children with whom to compare Angela’s abilities, they had assumed she was on par with most other kids her age. While there were no services available in their school system until the third grade, the kindergarten teacher remarked that the Lees might want to look into additional enrichment opportunities for Angela elsewhere. However, the teacher was eager to provide additional reading opportunities. Because reading was one of Angela’s favorite activities, this arrangement seemed to be a good fit.

It was during Angela’s third-grade year that challenges began for her at school. She often came home upset that she was reprimanded at school, and she rarely talked about positive interactions with her peers. She shared with her parents that she did not have much in common with many of the girls in her class, and that they often teased her about her friendship with a boy in the class they all thought was “weird.” This social tension was exacerbated when she was reprimanded for not showing her work in math class. She expressed her frustration with “Why do I need to write out all the steps for something when I just know the answer!” A friend of Angela’s parents worked in the school Angela attended and shared with them that contacting the school counselor might be the best next step.

Developmental considerations provide great implications for counselors. Development follows a path that is continuously impacted by systemic, relational, and multicultural influences. These influences impact how children make sense out of and act in response to critical life circumstances. Incorporating a developmental perspective when counseling children and adolescents and aiding them in successfully mastering tasks at various developmental milestones continues to be a core and essential component of counseling. Children’s level of development effects how they respond to creative and time-efficient counseling strategies, interventions, and modalities. This chapter identifies the relationship between social, emotional, and mental health maturation with child and adolescent development. It demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of how developmental theory frameworks inform crafting and integrating client-centered counseling interventions, strategies, and best practice methods. The chapter develops an awareness of counseling implications when working with children with diverse developmental histories.

Trauma work with children and adolescents remains challenging on all levels and becomes increasingly complex when violence permeates various domains of life. Counselors must also consider the reciprocal relationships between trauma and neurological, psychological, social, cultural, and systemic factors that alleviate or exacerbate the experience of trauma. Early identification, assessment, and intervention remain critical components of trauma recovery. The inclusion of trauma-informed interventions such as emotional awareness and regulation, as well as mindfulness skills can help children and adolescents diminish symptoms that overwhelm internal coping mechanisms. This chapter helps readers to distinguish the complexity and range of trauma experienced by children, identify the neurobiological, social, psychological, and academic impact of trauma causing events on children, and recognize various trauma-informed and creative interventions when working with children and adolescent clients, as well as important considerations for school counselors.

Because future practicum and internship placements depend on the willingness of the field placement site, it is important that one should always be mindful of how one should complete the final internship placement. Ideally, besides completing all internship requirements, one will express their gratitude to the field site supervisor and colleagues in the school, agency and so forth, in addition to saying goodbye to the clients. A job search involves many facets: planning, résumé writing, mock interviewing, applying, interviewing, following up, dealing with rejection, entertaining an offer, accepting a job, and negotiating salary, to name a few. This chapter is devoted to completing the practicum/internship sequence and preparing for the job search. It addresses termination of the field supervisor–intern relationship. It also covers preparing for the job search, including preparing a résumé or curriculum vitae, letters of reference, cover letters, interviewing, and issues of licensure and credentialing.

The practicum and internship experience is the backbone of any counseling program. Beginning a practicum/internship represents a major step in our development as a counselor. The goal of this book is to provide orientation and guidance to help us successfully navigate our field placements. This chapter first discusses various general issues regarding the counseling profession itself; then, it offers a brief overview of the practicum/internship process. It reviews some basics of the counseling profession. The chapter briefly describes some of the key organizations that one will likely encounter as a student or over the course of our professional career. It provides brief introduction to the counseling profession, professional counseling organizations, licensure and certification, theoretical approaches, and our practicum/internship experience. The counseling profession has experienced dramatic growth in the past two decades and the future suggests continued expansion, particularly for the areas of clinical mental health, addictions, and clinical rehabilitation counseling.

Multiculturalism is a critical issue in the counseling profession. Cultural humility is essential for sound, ethical, effective practice, particularly when working with diverse populations. Multicultural counselor education seeks to establish a foundation for cultural pluralism in counselor training, counseling practice, and in the manner counselors conceptualize multiculturalism. This chapter provides an overview of some of the issues related to becoming a culturally competent counselor. Because of the wide variation in global cultures, no one can reasonably claim to be an expert. Therefore, it is highly recommended for counselors to continue their education well beyond the classroom through workshops, networking, and reading texts on multicultural counseling.

For professional school counselors and clinical mental health counselors to serve students with disabilities and adequately advocate within the comprehensive school and community contexts, they must first understand the legislation that exists. Congress set these legislations in place to protect the rights of students with disabilities and assure them access, inclusion, and a free and appropriate public education. This chapter helps to identify the disability categories under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the common characteristics of giftedness. It recognizes legislative mandates that apply to education of children and adolescents with disabilities and giftedness in grades Pre-K through 12. The chapter describes postsecondary transition issues for adolescents with disabilities entering postsecondary institutions. It expresses the connection between identity and disability. The chapter explains the role of the professional school counselor and clinical mental health counselors when working with students with disabilities and those classified as gifted.

This chapter offers guidelines to assist counselors in obtaining legal advice. Ethical decision making, by contrast, is the responsibility of the counselors themselves. It helps readers to identify ethical and legal issues with unique applications to counseling minors and distinguish between parents’ rights and the rights of minor clients. The chapter describes best practices in securing informed consent, defining confidentiality, determining competence, managing crisis, and dealing with boundaries and value conflicts when counseling children and adolescents. It explains how to best address situations when a minor client appears to be at risk of suicide, non-suicidal self-injury, or other dangerous behavior. Child and adolescent counselors are called upon to exercise their professional judgment when minor clients engage in risky behaviors such as non-suicidal self injury, sexual experimentation, or unsafe use of social media. The chapter concludes with discussion of consultation with adults who are important in the lives of minor clients.

This chapter adresses how to maintain a healthier, more balanced life during the practicum and internship. It provides insights into recognizing stressors that accompany counseling a struggling population of clients. The chapter provides several exercises for the purposes of self-reflection. The ability to step back from an experience, however successful or disappointing, can be key skill for personal success as a counselor. The chapter explains how to develop and maintain a healthy and mindful lifestyle. It also includes assessments on quality of life, burnout, and mindfulness.

Mental health professionals who work with students must be well-versed in the protective factors that maximize youth academic, social and personal success. One can and must cultivate healthy communities and teach youngsters to advocate for themselves as one advocate for them. Significant research points to strategic ways one can strengthen schools, families and communities. All too often, violence, substance abuse, bullying, sexual assault, suicidal ideation and more threaten student well-being. The profession calls upon professional school and mental health counselors to be ethical, skilled, culturally attuned and ready to engage in prevention and intervention as they work with students and families. This chapter expresses familiarity with social challenges to healthy child development. It helps to recognize the crucial role of professional school and clinical mental health counselors in the cultivation of positive school and community contexts. The chapter hypothesizes counseling from a strengths-based, curious, and creative stance.

Counselors serve an important role in the lives of youth. They provide safe spaces for children to express their emotions, fears, thoughts, and worries. Supporting children and adolescents of special populations and marginalized statuses requires that counselors (a) recognize how personal bias may impact the counseling process; (b) utilize culturally competent, theory-based techniques in counseling; (c) understand how socioeconomic status, poverty, race, gender, and sexual orientation impact children and adolescents; and (d) utilize practical, strength-based approaches to counseling. Counselors remain committed to the work of building strength-based, culturally competent, and inclusive practices. The counselor’s efforts to provide culturally responsive strategies and interventions will greatly influence the success of counseling diverse populations of children and adolescents. With this in mind, clinicians must remain critically reflective of their worldviews and biases and commit to the life-long process of cultural competence.

Children and adolescents depend on many systems to foster their social, emotional, personal, and developmental needs. School leaders, school counselors, communities, families, mental health counselors, and representatives from all systems in a child’s life need to collaborate and integrate care to produce the best outcomes for every child. This chapter identifies the many systems that impact child and adolescent development. It describes ecological systems theory and recognizes the many different types of families. The chapter explains how counselors in schools and mental health settings can adopt a systemic view of child and adolescents. It illustrates the impact of culture in the systems in which children and adolescents are embedded. The chapter explains how counselors can assist in collaborating with and connecting systems for best treatment outcomes. It outlines best practices for counselors working with children and adolescents.

The aging population is at a state of development that is not as focused on employment, and thus has difficulty finding its place in a society that defines people by their careers. Research is needed on the issues of aging workers, such as training needs, career transition issues, and retirement planning. Research is also needed on which accommodations, workplace modifications, and changes to policies and practices positively impact the retention and continued productivity of an aging workforce. Counselor practitioners are in a unique position to contribute to needed research design conceptualization, metrics, and analyses to test the multiplicity of interventions we will be exploring in the coming years to keep our aging workforce healthy and intellectually engaged in the employment environment. Counselors are experientially qualified to provide the needed services to keep this population productive and more fully engaged in their communities and continuing employment.

Everyone has needs and struggles. Awareness is a key step in assuring that the counselor’s needs and struggles do not negatively impact the children and adolescents with whom they work. A counselor should begin by knowing and acknowledging his or her own personal issues, strengths, and vulnerabilities and how these issues might be presenting in their work as a professional counselor. Self-awareness, support, supervision, boundaries, and self-care are the foundations of a sustainable counseling practice. It is not a sign of strength or quality of character to be able to individually suffer through or manage the stressors inherent in counseling work. In fact, independent or isolated management of stress is a liability. The counselors, who experience both effectiveness and well-being, acknowledge stress and the compassion fatigue that is inherent to this work. They show willingness to look at themselves and get the help they need.

Assistive technology (AT) has a profound impact on the everyday lives and employment opportunities of individuals with disabilities by providing them with greater independence and enabling them to perform activities not possible in the past. Self-esteem, self-efficacy, and motivation are described as central elements in increasing a consumer’s confidence and belief in self. Good outcomes and efficacy expectations, as well as strong motivation, help lead to successful adaptation to AT. This chapter presents the human component of technology, the relationship between consumers and technological devices/equipment, and the acceptance and use by consumers. It offers recommendations to assist rehabilitation professionals in helping consumers with accepting, utilizing, and benefiting from technology. There needs to be a close and appropriate fit between the technological device and consumer. Therefore, the need for the counselor to actively listen and engage the consumer in the process is essential to the effectiveness and outcome of AT success.

This chapter presents the elements of counseling that can influence self-awareness and growth among children and adolescents. It builds on the basics and offers guidance to enhance counseling effectiveness. Children and adolescents thrive within the context of responsive relationships and these relationships are central to emotional growth. A good counselor balances the child or adolescent’s need for support and the necessity of independence in self-reflection. The fields of motivational interviewing (MI), self-determination theory, and counseling with children and adolescents are filled with specific techniques to encourage growth and change. Accordingly, the chapter highlights key elements of counselor action. Of equal importance, there will be instances in which being present, in absence of action, will create space for the child or adolescent to experience and consequently increase awareness of his or her own self—a critical foundation for growth and change.

This chapter focuses on career counseling courses. In this course, students learn how career development theory can be applied to the practice of career counseling. There are three course objectives that are essential to this course: students will be able to identify career development theories and decision-making models; students will understand the roles, functions, and settings of contemporary career counselors; and students will practically demonstrate career and educational planning, placement, follow-up, and evaluation using mock clients or case study examples. The salient career counseling theories that should be touched on in this course are: Super’s life-space, life span theory; Roe’s personality theory of career choice; Gottfredson’s theory of circumscription, compromise, and self-creation; Holland’s theory of types and person–environment interactions; Krumboltz’s learning theory of career counseling; Lent, Brown, and Hackett’s social cognitive career theory; and Savickas’s career construction theory.

This chapter presents the American Psychological Association, the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, and the Council on Social Work Education. It discusses professional identity within the context of accreditation of disciplinary programs. The chapter identifies the purpose of accreditation, generic steps of the process, and the value of accreditation. In addition, it examines key questions pertaining to: (a) factors that distinguish counseling psychologists, counselors, and social workers, (b) how these professional identities are defined using Emerson’s Counselor Professional Identity Measure (2010) by history, philosophy, roles and functions, professional pride, professional engagement, and ethics, and (c) changes in and challenges to professional identity. The chapter provides relevant discussion not only on the stability of human services disciplines, but also on their ability to change and interpret the impact of change on professional identity and eligibility for credentialing and licensure of practitioners.

This chapter offers (a) a description of the empathy fatigue construct as it relates to other professional fatigue syndromes, (b) a recently developed tool (Global Assessment of Empathy Fatigue [GAEF]) that may be useful for screening and identifying professionals who may be experiencing empathy fatigue, and (c) resources for self-care of empathy fatigue and building resiliency. The chapter’s author hypothesizes that empathy fatigue may be different from other types of counselor impairment and fatigue syndromes. The experience of empathy fatigue is both similar and different from other types of counselor impairment or professional fatigue syndromes. Thus, it is hypothesized that the cumulative effects of multiple client sessions throughout the week may lead to a deterioration of the counselor’s resiliency or coping abilities. Developing a clearer understanding of the risk factors associated with empathy fatigue is pivotal in developing self-care strategies for the professional counselor.

Diversity courses can go by many names: Cultural Diversity, Counseling Diverse Populations, Multicultural Counseling, or Cultural Diversity and Advocacy. Diversity courses are critical to a counselor’s development. These courses build on the skills developed in other courses and prepare students to work with clients, couples, and families and in school systems on topics such as culture conflict and personal identity, gender and racial issues, sex and sexuality, lifestyle concerns, coping versus personal empowerment, and effective intervention models when working with ethnic and linguistic minorities, including building effective parent involvement programs. This chapter focuses on helping counselor educators teach the aforementioned topics to their students. It provides more in-depth introduction to the course purposes and objectives. Topics that must be broached in this course should revolve around the following ideas: culture being at the center of the therapeutic relationship, worldview, language, leveraging differences, self-awareness, counseling relationship, advocacy, religion, and spirituality.

Amid all the excitement of beginning practicum and internship, where many counseling students encounter their first actual clients, one must of necessity consider the nature of the counseling relationship. Many students are idealistic and likely attracted to the profession due to the helping nature of the field. Thus, it would be no stretch to say counseling students and professional counselors are idealistic with regard to philosophical orientation. Many schools and agencies do a very good job of creating safety plans for students, clients, and staff, but some do not. This chapter covers some of the basics regarding safety on the practicum and internship. Still, the potential of assault is real and counseling programs must prepare students to deal with it. The chapter explores various ways one might identify, defuse, or deal with violence during the practicum/internship.

This chapter offers a brief overview of common clinical issues one may encounter at the practicum/internship site, along with suggestions and examples to assist us in counseling and assessment. Students beginning the initial placement may find the experience difficult at first, because they are actually encountering real people with real issues instead of theoretical scenarios in a textbook or on an educational recording. Compounding the issue is the amount of information and data that accompanies counseling. The chapter outlines some of the basic skills to be aware of: building the therapeutic alliance, handling intake and basic assessments, understanding counseling techniques, and other basics. The most critical factor in establishing the counseling relationship is creating an attachment with the client or clients. Beginning counselors should be aware that the counseling process might be new as well as intimidating to clients beginning therapy.

Ethical and legal issues tend to be perceived as significant concerns among graduate counseling students and for good reason. Functioning in the client’s best interests includes protecting confidentiality, practicing within our scope of competence, avoiding harm, avoiding conflicts of interest regarding your clients, and refraining from sexual and business relationships with clients, to mention a few. This chapter discusses these types of ethical issues and many others. Counselors practicing in various specialty areas must also be familiar with the ethics of their particular specialty (e.g., American School Counselor Association, American Rehabilitation Counseling Association, American Mental Health Counselors Association [AMHCA]). The chapter focuses primarily on the American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics as it represents the counseling profession’s flagship organization. Understanding the ACA Code of Ethics can provide guidance and spare the student anxiety.

Documentation and record keeping are not only legal and ethical mandates, they are also instrumental in providing competent, quality care to clients. This chapter discusses the importance of the record keeping and documentation processes for clinical mental health counselors. Specifically, it reviews record keeping practices and policies. Also included are legal and ethical issues related to appropriate documentation and record keeping, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, subpoenas, and court orders. The chapter helps the reader to distinguish the content of clinical records and identify what is included in a client's clinical file. It helps to recognize the ethical obligation of professional counselors related to record keeping; and appreciate the legal elements of record keeping and how professional counselors can adhere to the laws regarding clinical documentation. The goal of counseling is to facilitate change for the client; quality record keeping is an instrumental element of that process.

Our professional roles have evolved over time, and there is a great variety among the roles and functions of clinical mental health counseling (CMHCs) in each and every different system of work. However, there are also great commonalities that continue to define our identity as professionals. This chapter takes an in-depth look at the variety of functions, counseling and administrative roles, and tasks that may be required of counselors in clinical mental health settings. Pertinent issues include balancing consumer care with administrative duties, balancing employee well-being with productivity standards/financial concerns, ethical marketing and recruitment, and remaining current in the field while in nonclinical roles. The chapter helps the reader to discuss the clinical tensions experienced among CMHCs in relation to their job roles and synthesize an understanding of the complex role a CMHC serves in relation to best practices, professional ethics, and legislative regulations.

Writing clear and descriptive clinical case notes is very different from most other types of writing. This chapter provides an overview on writing clear, concise, and effective case notes. Counselors have an explicitly stated legal and ethical duty to create and maintain client records on every client. Failure to maintain adequate records could form the basis of malpractice as it breaches the standard of care expected from a mental health professional. Counseling students should remember that like all other counseling training, developing good, clear, and concise clinical writing skills takes time and comes through experience. The practicum and internship placements are good beginning points for developing good clinical writing skills.

The practicum/internship experience involves not only the on-site clinical experience, but also structured supervision, individual and group, at the clinical placement and in the classroom setting. This chapter provides guidance to help us and our fellow students make the most of our supervision experience, both in the classroom setting and with our on-site supervisor. Remember, while counselors are specifically trained in supervision models (particularly at the doctoral level), not all on-site supervisors have received such training. Furthermore, on-site supervisors will vary in their supervision skill, just as clinicians vary in their counseling ability. Some excellent counselors may be mediocre supervisors, and there are mediocre counselors who are very good clinical supervisors. Clinical supervisors will vary in their skill and facility in providing helpful supervision to graduate interns as well as to professional staff.

Some counselor education programs have a Clinical Mental Health Counseling track and either a School Counseling or Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling (MFCC) track. Other programs may have all three and a nonclinical track from which students may choose. This chapter focuses on courses taught in the MFCC track. It summarizes some of the most helpful information to consider when prepping to teach a course in this track. These courses focus on helping students gain the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes to work with couples and families and introduce students to the theory, philosophy, and methods of systems work. The chapter focuses discussions and activities on topics such as systems theories, evidence-based interventions, contextualizing families, and cultural factors relevant to marriage. Courses in the MFCC track take a considerable amount of time to prepare. Like marriage, family, and child counseling, these courses are a spider web of processes.

Assessing and managing crisis situations are among the most challenging parts of the practicum and internship experience. No area of professional counseling practice creates as much stress and anxiety as crisis situations. Most practicum and internship settings, whether in schools, agencies, residential treatment centers, hospitals, and so forth, likely will try to screen potential crisis clients away from practicum and internship students due to the complexity and potentially litigious nature of a crisis. Because no screening system is perfect, however, counseling programs must prepare students for the possibility that they will encounter crisis clients on practicum. This chapter provides an overview of crisis situations and ways interns can begin addressing them. The most important information needed to address a crisis is to remain calm and to consult with the supervisor or a senior counselor if the supervisor is unavailable.

This chapter summarizes pertinent issues discussed throughout the text, especially reinforcing the multiple emphases on systems-of-care, ecological, salutogenic, social justice, and diversity approaches. In addition, the chapter identifies new frontiers for counseling practice, such as new opportunities for counselors within the Veterans Administration and TRICARE system, in hospital settings, in hospice programs and assisted living environments, in other community settings, in school-based programs, in college counseling centers, and in sports counseling. The chapter also addresses the influence of technology upon the counseling profession, discussing the Internet-based services, such as virtual counseling, and telecounseling. It provides a discussion of the ethical, legal, and practice concerns related to this developing branch of counseling. With our professional organizations and the advocacy efforts of our practitioners and educators, the future holds great promise for the further development of professional counseling as an important part of the field of mental health and wellness.

This chapter provided an overview of the possible effects that the work of counseling may have upon counselors themselves. It has long been recognized that exposure to the distressing experiences and feelings of others can cause similar distress in those who listen and provide intervention. We also recognize that counselors can derive benefit and grow from the work that they do with their clients. Finding approaches to the work of counseling that enhance the potential for growth while minimizing distress is significant part of maintaining successful counseling practice. The chapter addresses issues related to counselor self-care and maintaining a healthy ability to continue with the work of counseling. The issues that are addressed include vicarious responses to trauma (both positive and negative), a biopsychosocial systemic approach to counselor wellness, strategies for engaging in wellness-focused self-evaluation, techniques and tools for stress management, and approaches for maintaining a healthy work/life balance.

Counselors and clients are immersed in a social and cultural context and embedded in multiple systems and subsystems, such as family, workplace, community, and society. This chapter addresses system views, integrated care, barriers to treatment, multicultural issues, and the use of multicultural and social justice skills in the provision of clinical mental health counseling. Specific topics include a discussion of systems, holistic care, barriers to healthcare, and culturally competent counselors. The chapter further explores the connections between culturally competent care and the potential role for clinical mental health counselors in ascertaining the systemic need for new agency- and integrated healthcare-based programs. The student is introduced to basic tenets of system worldviews, developing integrated new programs aimed at meeting the clinical mental health needs of diverse and varied clients, and the application of multicultural and social justice skills in clinical mental health counseling.

Rehabilitation counselors have long played a central role in helping persons with disabilities achieve their independent living and employment goals. Although the profession of rehabilitation counseling evolved from the state-federal vocational rehabilitation (VR) program, the professional practice of rehabilitation counseling is no longer restricted to state VR agencies. This chapter helps the reader understand rehabilitation and the impact of related legislation on rehabilitation counseling practices and the inclusion and participation of people with disabilities. The chapter explains the evolution of rehabilitation counseling and professional issues related to the profession, including certification and licensure. The chapter also provides the basic principles of ethics, ethical behavior, and risk management related to the professional practice of rehabilitation counseling.

The rehabilitation counseling process generally involves the integration of multiple client supports and community resources and the coordination of services provided by a variety of agencies, programs, facilities, and organizations. This chapter reviews the community supports and programs with which rehabilitation counselors and their clients most frequently collaborate. In this overview of the services available for a variety of rehabilitation populations, including persons with multiple disabilities, the chapter reviews the following topics: community resources and services for rehabilitation planning; programs and services for specific rehabilitation populations; Social Security Administration programs, benefits, and work incentives and disincentives; independent living services; financial literacy and benefits counseling; services available through client advocacy programs; and services available from one-stop career centers. The chapter also defines and distinguishes Social Security Administration disability benefits programs, including Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income, and describes the eligibility criteria.

People with disabilities are one of the most stigmatized and marginalized groups in the United States. Traditionally, rehabilitation counselors use a supply-side employment approach to provide employment services for people with disabilities, with a focus on medical, psychological, social, educational, and vocational services to improve functioning, stamina, and job skills of people with disabilities. Demand-side employment, on the other hand, has a focus on workplace culture and disability inclusion practices (and the interaction of employer demands and the environment [e.g., the job economy]) as predictors of high-quality employment outcomes for people with disabilities. This chapter reviews the literature related to demand-side employment approaches to create employment opportunities and improve the quality of employment for people with disabilities. It also discusses employers’ perceptions about hiring people with disabilities. The chapter concludes with a discussion of effective disability inclusion policies, procedures, and practices that increase employment opportunities and quality of employment for people with disabilities.

Poverty can be defined as economic deprivation. This chapter provides an explanation of the process through which a poor individual is at higher risk for acquiring a disability or chronic health problem. This chapter is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on the connection between poverty and disability: poverty as a risk factor for disability; the impact of poverty-related psychological factors on career development and health; and the impact of social role devaluation on individuals who are poor and have a disability. The second part discusses how poverty and disability affect career counseling and job placement and what counselors can do to assist persons who are poor and disabled to make effective career decisions and obtain employment. The chapter enables the reader to implement counseling strategies that can ameliorate the impact of disability and poverty on career counseling and job placement.

Work is the primary organizing structure of life, and the significance of work in the lives of individuals with disabilities has been radically altered over the past half a century. This chapter introduces the centrality of work and discusses the role and importance of work in meeting basic human needs. It identifies specific outcome domains for the three human needs of survival and power, social connection, and self-determination and well-being. The chapter describes the Illinois Work and Well-Being Model and discusses how it can be used to guide rehabilitation counseling case conceptualization. When the centrality of work is the core value guiding vocational rehabilitation services for individuals with disabilities, the rehabilitation counselor is working to increase the individual’s power, social connection, and self-determination. These outcomes can be operationalized by multiple outcomes and cannot be measured by the traditional dichotomous outcomes of employed versus unemployed.

The state–federal Vocational rehabilitation (VR) system addresses employment disparities faced by people with disabilities by offering services to target individuals’ employment needs and promote consumer choice and empowerment. Vocational rehabilitation can play an important role in enhancing the psychosocial and vocational outcomes of people with disabilities. This chapter provides an overview of the state–federal VR program and the rehabilitation process and services associated with the public rehabilitation system. It reviews the best practices and outcomes of VR within the context of evidence-based practice. The chapter discusses the role and qualifications of VR professionals. There is empirical evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of state VR services in returning people with disabilities to competitive employment. Central to the effective delivery of VR services is the rehabilitation counselor, with support found for counselors with graduate training in rehabilitation counseling being more effective than counselors without degrees in rehabilitation counseling.

Vocational rehabilitation (VR) is a program and service that has been identified with the state–federal VR program for so many years that in the minds of many, the provided rehabilitation counseling service and the state–federal VR program are one and the same. This chapter discusses the roles of the rehabilitation counselor in private practice. It explains the areas of employment in vocational rehabilitation private practice and helps the reader differentiate the duties of a case manager from those of a vocational expert and those of a life care planner. The chapter discusses ethical considerations for the private practitioner and explains the litigation process in which private practitioners participate. The emerging opportunities are diverse and offer many new areas where experienced counselors can apply their knowledge, skills, and abilities. Many opportunities now exist in the area of private for-profit rehabilitation.

Employment is central to one’s identity, sense of achievement, and the overall quality of life. This chapter explains how and why employment is central to an individual’s life. It defines career counseling and explains the role of the rehabilitation counselor in the career counseling process. The chapter describes the stages of change and interventions that are commonly used in the career-counseling process. The role of the rehabilitation counselor in the career-counseling process is critical in assisting individuals with disabilities as they navigate through their journey in the pursuit of competitive employment. Rehabilitation counselors who embrace an active role in addressing these concerns, which are often perceived as barriers by the individual with a disability, will have a greater chance of increasing their likelihood of successful outcomes and growth. Strategies to facilitate change as well as frameworks that are more conducive to the diverse needs of individuals with disabilities are introduced.

The work of Rehabilitation professional (RP) is complex, spanning a wide range of competencies and practices. This chapter considers the practice of job development across several key professional processes. It identifies environmental trends that impact job development and explains how to develop collaborative relationships with employers in the community. The chapter discusses the importance of matching the job seeker to the employment outcome they achieve. It ends by pointing out that the work of the RP is important, not just to people with disabilities but also to businesses, employers, policy makers, and communities. Although this work can be at times demanding, frustrating, and perplexing, it is always worthwhile to return to this main truth: What RPs do contributes significantly to improving the employment outcomes and the lives of people with disabilities.

To set the stage for what counselors need to know, this chapter introduces the reader to an overview of theories that lay a foundation for working with adult clients. It provides a discussion of theoretical perspectives that relate to both individual development and contextual factors. To capture this intersection of influence, the chapter highlights Erikson’s (1950, 1963) psychosocial stage model, along with contextual and life span perspectives of adult development. It introduces the transition perspective, delving into the transition process itself. Adults face times that are increasingly challenging. A central theme in our current social context is change, reflecting the dynamic impact of forces across demographic, social, cultural, technological, political, and historical domains. A theory is a set of abstract principles that can be used to predict facts and to organize them within a particular body of knowledge.

This chapter uses the case study and relevant literature to understand using the transition model with work transitions. In looking at issues relating to self, one sees that it is important to consider salience, balance, resilience, self-efficacy, and meaning making. The dimensions of salience, balance, resilience, self-efficacy, meaning making, and sense of purpose are all critical aspects of a client’s work transitions. Listening for and asking about these dimensions will help counselors gain a more complete picture of a particular client’s experience and aspirations. The chapter looks at characteristics of the situation, support and strategies. It presents a multiplicity of issues related to the kinds of experiences, thoughts, and feelings that have an impact on adults engaged in work transitions. The chapter discusses what counselors might hear from the perspective of the 4 S transition model and proposition that all transitions involve moving in, through, out, and back in again.

Counselors hear stories about what might have been, about what should have been, and about what did not happen. Yet much research and counseling advice has been focused only on marker events such as marriage, childbirth, changing jobs, divorce, or being fired. Most of these events are observable; many have rituals and celebrations attached to them. Counselors have enormous power to help clients exchange heartbreaks for heartmends. Counselors need to help clients deal with nonevents. Thus, this chapter focuses on specific suggestions and strategies for counselors to use with their clients. It suggests a three-step program for counselors to use as they help clients work through their nonevents. The three steps are counselors need to use are: understand the concept of nonevents as a way to listen with a third ear; develop specific strategies for clients to use as they cope with nonevents; and teach lessons for life literacy.

Groups have been around since the beginning of humankind and across all cultures. People have historically gathered into groups to create, achieve, and resolve matters that would be otherwise impossible. Besides the potential to accomplish tasks, groups are sources of meaning and belonging, meeting needs for personal contact and interaction. This chapter focuses on group counseling as a useful modality for facilitating transition work with clients. Groups are complex, requiring counselors to combine individual counseling and group-leadership skills. It begins with some general information about the unique value of groups and discusses factors that are relevant to group work, including therapeutic factors, cultural diversity, and multicultural competencies. It also illustrates the different types of groups designed for adults who are experiencing various types of transitions. The chapter turns to an examination of the value of groups in helping people assess their assets and liabilities in each of 4 S areas.

Counselors must exercise their ethical and professional judgment responsibly. This chapter reviews decision making models applied in mental health contexts. It classifies past models based on theory and/or practice. The chapter describes in detail the Tarvydas Integrative Decision Making Model of Ethical Behavior and how it is applied to mental health practice. It is a model that brings together the best of ethical theory to date in one comprehensive model. The chapter presents the Cottone Social Constructivism Model of Ethical Decision Making as a theory driven approach. The model is built on radical social constructivism, a unique philosophy that purports that decisions are not made psychologically by a person; rather decisions are an outcome of the relational matrix within which a decision maker finds him or herself. Three intellectual movements are defined: principle ethics, virtue ethics, and relational ethics.

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 chapter defines terms related to the ethical practice of counseling and psychotherapy such as an “ethics”, “morality”, and an “ethical dilemma”. It differentiates professional versus philosophical ethics. The chapter outlines mandatory versus inspirational standards of practice. It also addresses professional credentialing issues, along with the need for ethical sensitivity in decision making. The chapter explains the system of ethics governance in counseling and defines skills necessary to become a professional decision maker. Decision making is a cornerstone of professionalism. Counselors must be viewed, and must view themselves, as intellectuals. They must also invest in their profession and be actively engaged in professional activities that better the profession and those served by the profession.

Counselors and other therapists providing counseling to clients diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be at greater risk for developing secondary trauma, also called vicarious trauma. While PTSD had been the focus of much research in the counseling field, less emphasis has been placed on counselor self-care. This chapter focuses on the rationale for counselor self-care.

This chapter focuses on the counseling speciality of disaster mental health. Topics include a discussion of the science behind various natural disasters and the psychological effects experienced by the survivors. Also discussed are the stages of disaster recovery and counselor actions within each phase. Additionally, this chapter describes the unique lived experiences of first responders and ways that professional counselors can intervene to support the unique. behavioral health needs of rescue workers. Finally, the counselor’s role in the COVID-19 pandemic is discussed.

This chapter focuses on understanding issues of loss and grief as well as their intersections with trauma experiences. It examines the classical theories associated with loss and grief, describing the transition to a postmodern perspective of how grief is experienced. The chapter describes interventions that can be used with clients experiencing loss and grief, along with the counseling implications. Practice-based resources are available online.

Rehabilitation counseling as a specialty area of counseling has been at the forefront of advocating for disability rights and the employment, inclusion, and integration of individuals with disabilities. The ethical and professional practice of rehabilitation counseling is similar to other counselors, yet with additional ethical responsibilities and considerations related to disability rights. The ethics of rehabilitation counseling have a more explicit emphasis on client autonomy, advocacy, and accessibility. The chapter describes the specialty of rehabilitation counseling, the historic trends in its evolution, and the sociopolitical issues of importance to the field. It helps the readers differentiate the roles and functions of rehabilitation counselors from those of other counseling specialties. The chapter discusses multiculturalism and diversity in rehabilitation counseling. Rehabilitation counseling has had a complex evolution. With such a diverse scope of practice, it is imperative that rehabilitation counselors only practice within their individual training, education, and supervised experience.

This chapter focuses on the effects of criminal victimization and ways that counselors can respond effectively. This chapter discusses specific counseling responses, including symptom management, short-term mental health stabilization, and longer-term counseling and psychotherapeutic strategies. The counseling implications for working with crime victims are elaborated.

The use of counseling technology and electronic communication between clients and counselors has received increasing attention. While there is great potential in using the internet to deliver counseling services, it is critical that counselors are aware of the ethical implications whenever they use technology to interact with clients. The chapter focuses on the ethical use of counseling technology and provision of distance counseling services. It identifies common ethical tensions underlying the decision to use technology when providing counseling services. The chapter promotes the critical-evaluative thinking underlying e-professionalism and technology ethics as necessary habits in the digital age. A focus on accessibility is critical because we are all dependent on digital technology as a necessary form of assistive technology to function in a digital society. Social media has become the way people communicate, and thus counselors need to inform clients about the inherent threats to privacy and confidentiality.

Group counseling raises some interesting ethical dilemmas because treatment involves more than one client. Because of the presence of individuals other than a counselor and one client, group counseling poses some interesting ethical dilemmas. This chapter discusses the origins, standards and specializations that characterize the area of group counseling, and issues related to its status as a formal specialty of counseling. It provides an overview of ethical and legal issues related to the practice of group counseling. The issues of confidentiality and privileged communication, informed consent, roles and responsibilities with clients and responsibilities of the group leader are addressed. The role and importance of group counselor values and competence are discussed, particularly in the context of issues of multicultural diversity. Counselors must be culturally sensitive and provide culturally competent services. They should develop comfort applying decision-making principles to dilemmas as they arise.

This chapter focuses on the ethical implications of trauma work. The chapter begins with a discussion of the five ethical principles and connects ethics to practice in trauma work. Next, the chapter defines and describes several key terms and concepts related to ethical practice, including wounded healers, compassion fatigue, ethical and moral behaviors, moral suffering, and self-care. The ethical implications of supervising counselors engaged in trauma work are described next, including the importance of addressing multicultural issues and intersectionality in practice. The crucial process of transforming from victim to survivor is described, as well as counselors’ ethical obligations in that process. Finally, a number of resources, related to ethical practice in trauma work, is provided online.

This chapter provides a brief overview of models of clinical supervision. It also offers a brief discussion of best practices, common struggles, and a salutogenic- or wellness-based approach to supervision, emphasizing how the latter complements parallel treatment interventions with consumers. Self-care is an important part of a counselor's efforts to maintain general and mental health. The chapter urges counselor trainees to develop continuing education and continued professional development as a part of their career-pathway planning. The discussion emphasizes the importance of remaining current, concerning clinical counseling issues as an ethical issue that is inherent in being a professional. The chapter focuses on the practice and importance of clinical supervision and continuing education for professional counselors. It reviews some of the most common theoretical approaches to supervision and how they may be used. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the ethical mandate and benefits of continuing education for counselors.

This chapter provides an overview of how clinical mental health counselors work with crisis, disaster, and trauma issues. A focus is placed on the pragmatic, neurobiological, and existential natures of crisis, disaster, and trauma along with the ways that these dynamics are implicated in numerous counseling scenarios. The chapter presents the basic crisis intervention skills, discusses disaster response, and emphasizes the importance of understanding trauma. It anticipates that students will have an advanced course that covers these important topics more fully. The chapter provides an adaptation-resilience building framework for conceptualizing disaster response. It then discusses the issue of psychosocial trauma from a multidimensional perspective, and elaborates some of the key aspects of trauma. The chapter explores the most salient issues involving crisis, disaster, and trauma, with a focus on their implications for the clinical mental health counseling (CMHC) profession.

This chapter makes a distinction between grief counseling and grief therapy. Counseling involves helping people facilitate uncomplicated, or normal, grief toward a healthy adaptation to the tasks of mourning within a reasonable time frame. The chapter reserves the term grief therapy for those specialized techniques that are used to help people with abnormal or complicated grief reactions. The overall goal of grief counseling is to help the survivor adapt to the loss of a loved one and be able to adjust to a new reality without him or her. Whatever one’s philosophy of grief counseling and whatever the setting, there are certain principles and procedures that help make grief counseling effective. The chapter provides guidelines for the counselor so that he or she can help the client work through an acute grief situation and come to a good adaptation.

The study of ethics is like a journey. This chapter provides a synopsis of responses to allegations of unethical or illegal practice. It defines prevention measures and ways to avoid breaches of ethics. The chapter describes ethical practice in counseling and psychotherapy. It outlines the consequences for victims of unethical conduct. The chapter defines the ethical professional counselor and describes the counselor’s response to an ethical challenge in the context of potential legal and professional scrutiny. It discusses what a counselor should do when confronted with an allegation of ethical misconduct. No professional is immune to ethical dilemmas—no matter how ethically sensitive counselors may be circumstances will always arise that place them in a quandary. It is important, however, that counselors recognize when they are facing a serious ethical challenge. With such recognition, wise counselors protect themselves from a naive decision and a possible breach of ethical standards.

School Counselors are uniquely positioned to work as individuals in educational settings to support children and their families, teachers, administrators, and other invested educators. This chapter reviews the school setting which presents distinctive legal and ethical challenges related to counseling minors. It discussed the various roles of school counselors’ within the school setting, as well as ethical challenges and considerations for practice. The chapter compares the ethical codes applicable to the practice of school counseling. It identifies strategies to maintain ethical school counseling practice. School counselors make significant contributions to the educational and personal development of students. When the law and ethics conflict or they cannot be clearly applied in the specific circumstances, school counselors seek consultation, consider ethical implications, apply an ethical decision-making model, and stay apprised of societal changes to make decisions ethically.

Tosha and Erik are the two school counselors in a large suburban elementary school. For 5 years, they have worked to create a school counseling program aligned with their state’s framework, which was developed with the ASCA National Model in mind. This year, they are hosting a school counseling intern, Tony, from a program in the school of education at a local university. Although the school counselors are grateful to have an intern with fresh eyes and new ideas, they wonder whether the supervision will require too much time and divert their attention from the report they must write prior to a visit by the state department of education later in the year. At the initial interview, Tosha and Erik learn that because Tony had already had several education classes, his program advisor suggested that he take some electives in areas of interest. During his student-teaching experience, he had been intrigued by creative and artistic students and therefore opted to take a few courses in gifted education. He is excited to be working with Tosha and Eric and wants to know if he might work with gifted students and find out how the gifted-education program is currently serving them.

Counseling adults in transition is an exciting and challenging job that gives us an opportunity to function at many different levels. Advocacy, consulting, and program development are three ways that one can assist the clients with their transitions–through changing the situation, enhancing their sense of self, developing more supports, and increasing the strategies available to them. Some counselors now work in the corporate world, and others are community organizers; some counselors design programs in colleges and universities, whereas others develop workshops for senior centers; some walk the halls of legislatures as lobbyists, whereas still others talk about mental health on talk shows, on their own or others’ blogs, on twitter, or other internet sites and social media. This chapter talks about a variety of ways counselors can do these things, including consulting, developing programs, and advocacy.

In a rural school district, Abby is responsible for creating and delivering gifted-education programming across all school levels. She wants to develop a comprehensive K–12 affective curriculum for it. Though the majority of students are from middle-class families, others come from families that are struggling economically due to unemployment, military deployment, parental incarceration, single parenting, and addictions. Teachers and administrators are concerned about student well-being. Bullying has been a school concern, and the community has been shocked by three student suicides among the “best and brightest” over the past 2 years. Abby believes that attention to the social and emotional development of gifted students during all school years might make a difference. She wants to collaborate with Jack, the one K–12 school counselor, in possibly cofacilitating two proactive small discussion groups of gifted students. She wants to observe his listening and responding skills and share information with him about giftedness. In the past, Jack has not thought of organizing small groups for gifted students, but agrees to the collaboration. He says they should conduct a needs assessment among students identified as gifted and organize a group of high achievers around a common concern, such as bullying or bereavement—an approach he used in the past with the general population. Abby has something different in mind, but is hesitant to advocate for her view, since group work is in Jack’s “territory.” After she learns some skills from Jack, she wants all identified students to have a small-group experience at some point. She also understands that programming should address needs of more than just high achievers, including highly intelligent academic underachievers, who currently are not viewed as eligible for it. Abby needs to have a clear rationale for both the group format and mixing achievers and underachievers in the groups before she talks with the counselor again.

This chapter examines what counselors hear about individual transitions. It shows how individuals experience their transitions in a unique manner, depending on their particular situation, the aspects of self that come into play, the support they have available, and the strategies they are currently using. The chapter discusses the triggers to internal transitions, some of which may come from internal awarenesses and some of which may be stimulated by external events. It turns the attention to the timing of these transitions. The chapter talks about the duration of the transition, and, addresses the source of control—or perceived control. It focuses on the self issues related to internal transitions, looks at issues of identity, autonomy, meaning-making, and self-efficacy. The chapter describes what counselors may hear as clients describe their “people” supports. The goal of the strategies helps to identify what one may hear from clients about strategies they currently use.

An experienced, progressive superintendent is new to a large school district, and at her first meeting with all teachers, she describes ambitious goals, one of which is to reconceptualize and reorganize the program for gifted students. She wisely does not speak negatively of the present program; instead, she explains that an administrative transition is simply an opportunity to look at existing programs. Regarding gifted education, she wants to examine current thought in the field about giftedness, what residents in the district think about those perspectives, whether criteria used for identification of eligible students in the district match the programming offered, which programming models are available, which kinds of goals might be appropriate for local programming, which community resources might supplement and enhance programming, and whether the “whole” gifted child is adequately attended to.

The district she left had experienced individual and family tragedies and disturbing student behavior in recent years involving gifted scholars, gifted athletes, gifted musicians, gifted visual artists, gifted leaders, and gifted underachievers. She says she has already begun her own personal exploration of pertinent literature, and she wants the district to be proactive and strategic regarding preventing poor outcomes for gifted and talented students—at all school levels, beginning at the elementary level. She promises to organize a task force of representative classroom teachers, school counselors, gifted-education personnel, parents, and possibly students to study pertinent literature, explore various models, and make recommendations. She encourages individuals interested in being on the task force to contact her.

Ben, a middle school counselor, immediately expresses interest. He has been frustrated with not being able to connect adequately with some gifted students who have concerns—both high and low achievers. He was always a high achiever himself, but he has realized that gifted students are highly idiosyncratic, with many not fitting common stereotypes. He wants to understand them better and help them understand themselves better as well. He is glad the superintendent seems interested in their well-being, not just their academic performance.

Ben suspects there are many counseling needs in this population, but he has never heard a local or state counseling peer refer to these needs at professional meetings. He also has wondered about the identification process and the fit of his most complicated gifted counselees with the current programming. In fact, he has met with brilliant thinkers who have not been deemed eligible and assumes that learning disabilities affect the test scores used for screening. Last, since he has worked with a number of referred gifted underachievers, he has wondered which kind of program would engage them in school and academics—and even whether academic achievement should be the sole goal.

Ben believes that being on the task force, if he is selected, will be informative and helpful as he considers how to be more effective with this special population. In fact, he is selected. The superintendent is wise to include a counselor on the task force.

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.

Michael is a 12-year-old Black male in the seventh grade in a remote rural farm community. He recently relocated to this community from a large metropolitan area, where he was a sixth-grader in a culturally diverse elementary school. He is the oldest of three children with parents who have become pillars in the community despite being new there. Identified as gifted in his previous elementary school, Michael took science and math classes in higher grade levels by single-subject acceleration. He had to work much harder in his language arts classes, but he loved his school and was liked by his peers and teachers.

While Michael’s new school is culturally diverse, the school and community norms for students are different. The emphasis is on community fellowship, service, and helping one’s family. Little is said about college; instead, jobs in agriculture and manufacturing are emphasized. Michael has been invited several times to participate in the 4H club. Upon arriving at his new school, despite providing his previous years’ school records, he is placed in the traditional seventh-grade classes. He complains to his parents that his math and sciences courses are a repeat of information from his previous school. Michael is also encountering difficulties in his language arts classes, which require more traditional essay-writing than his last school did.

In a six-week progress report, Michael’s teachers noted that he seems unengaged and withdrawn in class. His parents believe he has become apathetic about school, and they are worried he might lose his love of math and science. In addition, Michael’s language arts homework frequently leads to anger and frustration at home.

Michael’s parents have requested meetings with his teachers, with the school counselor, Brenda, also attending. Prior to the meeting, she evaluates Michael’s cumulative file. Based on his grades, standardized test scores, and teacher comments, she determines that he is extremely bright and very talented in math and science, but has challenges in language arts and social sciences. His teachers’ comments include “Handwriting continues to be a challenge, but he is working very hard,” “Michael is a very hard worker, but writing paragraphs or persuasive essays requires much more effort,” “He is quick at multiple-choice questions and short-answer questions are okay,” “His reading comprehension is fantastic, but writing brings out frustrations,” and “I realized Michael was much more at ease with oral book reports than written. His love of learning really shines through when he gets to talk about what he knows, in all subjects. He even manages to get his peers interested.”

Brenda makes a phone call to the school counselor at Michael’s former middle school and the elementary school he attended. She hears wonderful things about Michael, as well as about his challenges with written work. Many of his former language-arts teachers allowed Michael to demonstrate his mastery of content and skills orally or via multiple choice or computerized testing. The middle school counselor reported that he and Michael’s parents had discussed talking to their school psychologist about more testing for Michael because they were concerned about the increased requirements for writing in middle school. But that conversation did not lead to changes before the end of the school year, when Michael’s family moved.

Work environments are cultures that create particular ethical climates that influence the quality of service provided to clients. This chapter addresses how organizations influence ethical practice. It defines “Organizational culture”, “organizational climate”, and “ethical climate”; each term represents factors unique to the work environment that affect ethical behavior. The chapter also addresses several work-place issues, such as dealing with impaired colleagues, mobbing, “burn-out”, whistle blowing, boundary issues at the work-place (e.g., sexual harassment) and substance abuse affecting worker performance. It defines “impaired professional” and describes the effects of impairment on professional practice. Counselors are profoundly influenced by the environments and work cultures in which they practice. Work environments are cultures that create a particular ethical climate that influences the quality of services provided to clients. Ethical and unethical colleagues influence their coworkers to behave ethically and unethically.

Stewart and Tray are the seventh- and eighth-grade school counselors in a new middle school in a large urban district with a diverse student population. Wintercrest Middle School has been a magnet school for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) for only 3 years. Currently students can take Algebra I, Geometry, Honors Biology, and semester classes in Advanced Computing, Introduction to Physics, Robotics, and Trigonometry. Logistically, the magnet school functions as a school within a school, with students attending classes in one wing of the school building. Teachers and students who are not involved in the magnet school are located in two other wings on the opposite side of the school. During the past school year, Tray and Stewart have sensed tensions in the school in various relationships, including within, between, and among teams of teachers, between parents and teachers, among students, and between administrators and teachers. Mr. Wallace, their building principal, has seen the explosive outcomes of some of these tensions and has encouraged the counselors to investigate the current school climate.

A speech/theater teacher at a large urban high school refers Andrew (pseudonym for a composite profile), 16, to the school counselor because “he’s out of control and living dangerously.” The counselor, who routinely examines the student’s school file before such a meeting, finds standardized test percentiles in the high 90s, a good attendance record, and regular participation in the arts, but also a high incidence of lateness to class and an academic record that has deteriorated in high school. Family information shows an older brother attending a distant university, parental divorce when Andrew was 5, and, at age 12, Andrew relocating with his brother and mother when she remarried.

Andrew presents as personable, verbal, socially smooth—and somewhat arrogant. He claims he can raise his current low grades before the semester ends. Missed assignments are the key. He says he adds provocative comments to class discussion, and teachers like him.

His best friend lives 2000 miles away, where Andrew lived prior to his move at age 12. Andrew has gravitated toward dramatic females locally, and his current girlfriend is in high conflict at home. His grades deteriorated after becoming involved with her. He has run away several times and now has thoughts of running away with her. He mentions a special relationship with a male friend. When he drinks, he drinks too much, and his friends worry about him.

Andrew believes the psychologists he saw in the past did not understand him. He was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depression, but was noncompliant with medication. He recognizes that he makes poor choices. He claims not to be suicidal currently, but has been in the past. He has self-harmed. He says his father has almost no contact with him, but his father does have a close relationship with his brother. Andrew says his own problems resemble his highly intelligent father’s. Andrew has been exploring anarchic and white supremacist groups online.

The counselor plans to meet with him in a week, but will informally check on him daily and then meet with him and his mother together, a meeting Andrew quickly agrees to. Regardless of whether a referral will be made eventually, the counselor hopes to build a therapeutic relationship with Andrew to be able to provide ongoing support at school as needed.

A few days after the school counselor’s meeting with Andrew, his mother contacts the counselor because of the girlfriend. She says Andrew struggles with impulse control, is easily distracted and affected emotionally, has difficulty managing emotions, and escalates conflict quickly when sad or angry. He resists authority at home, and his arguments with her leave her worn out and sad. She says her husband, Andrew’s stepfather, ignores Andrew and does not understand giftedness.

This concluding chapter presents brief summaries of the chapters of the book. The chapters in the book have covered a wide range of theories, concerns, and perspectives. Chapter content has implications for policy and practice. School professionals can incorporate the information and recommendations in them into their current services to ensure that gifted students receive needed support. School counselors respond every day to students who feel different, perhaps painfully different, from those around them—at home, at school, or in the community. Those counselors are distinguished in the school context by rare skills and perspectives that can be used to help gifted students make sense of themselves, value their differentness, and embrace their complex feelings and sometimes perplexing behaviors. Change can happen in either direction because of life events or circumstances. Moving out of impasse and accomplishing developmental tasks can contribute to increased motivation for underachievers.

Counselors must consider how to approach the struggles, fears, and vulnerabilities young clients face in schools and communities, and how to help them make sense of their world. Counselors must understand their own level of self-awareness, cultural knowledge, theory of orientation, and commitment to counseling this population. Children and adolescents must gain a sense of control through counseling and feel respected and valued. Counselors identify the use of counseling theories listed in this chapter along with creative strategies and expressive approaches (e.g., drawings, music, toys, and books) as best practices for working with young clients. This chapter describes the different theoretical frameworks commonly used in child and adolescent counseling. It helps the reader to identify specific reasons why these theories effectively work with children and adolescents. The chapter applies interventions appropriate to the guiding theoretical framework.

Ethical termination of the counseling relationship should be planned, thoughtful, and prevent harm. Up until recently, the process of termination in counseling has largely been avoided in the literature. First, termination is associated with loss, which is often an avoided topic in our society. Second, termination, unlike establishing the counseling relationship, is not directly related to the skills that promote counseling. This chapter focuses on methods of termination and also illustrates some issues that impede termination both for the counselor and the client. Terminating with clients can be difficult for both the counselor and the client. It is natural for clients to want to “hang onto” a relationship that has been positive and growth-oriented for them. Whatever the counselor does, acknowledging completion by honoring the client’s accomplishment is a good practice regarding completion. Celebrating achievements, and this certainly includes “graduating” from counseling, can be a healthy habit.

The counseling session remains the focus of what most counselors-in-training (CIT) think of when they reflect on the type of work that they will be undertaking. It appears, perhaps, to be the culmination of all the training and education that CITs go through. Questions asked to new counselors, such as “What happens in the counseling session?” usually evoke a likely response, “Well, we talk. We establish rapport and discuss the client’s issue”. However, when pressed for additional details about what occurs in the counseling session, new counselors may struggle to describe more specific responses. Consequently, this type of ambivalence inspires the focus of this chapter, the stages of a counseling session. Counselors work in a variety of settings. This chapter describes the purpose of the counseling session and identifies necessary skills used to conduct a counseling session. It provides a basic outline for a counseling session.

The purpose of this chapter is to explicate the impact that war has on members of the military. In describing the effects of war on combat veterans and the challenges posed for those who return from war, potential needs for relevant mental health services are made explicit. The chapter identifies practice implications and offers an online list of resources for professionals working with military veterans.

This chapter focuses on a major occupational hazard associated with working in the human service field. The work exposure to traumatic material through compassionate listening, case reviews, working during a pandemic, responding to a fatality, delivering a death notification, and attending to acts of hate and terrorism and so much more requires an understanding of how each event has the potential to affect mental health workers in profound ways. There is a cost of caring, and human service professionals owe it to themselves—as well as to those for whom they work, to colleagues, and to loved ones—to learn about vicarious trauma and to understand how to intervene as needed, while creating healthy strategies for self-care.

Perhaps more than any other commonly assessed attribute, personality comes closest to being understood as the essence of who we are as human beings. This chapter provides an overview of the major theoretical framework for understanding personality development and expression and provides research findings that highlight the significance of personality development across life domains, including work. It identifies the interconnectedness of personality, work, and health. One of the most challenging areas facing rehabilitation counselors today is helping individuals connect with participation outcomes related to productive functioning at home and in the community, meaningful social interactions and relationships, and healthy work. Recent research has provided strong support for not only examining and leveraging traditional areas of personality but also using emerging personality-related factors such as developmental work personality and core self-evaluation to increase rehabilitation outcomes, including career development and work.

Rehabilitation counselors are involved in providing career assessment, counseling, and planning services to people with disabilities. Career counseling can help people with disabilities crystallize their vocational goals and obtain career-based occupations consistent with their interests and abilities. This chapter provides an overview of career development theories and their applications in rehabilitation counseling, including the commonly used assessment instruments related to each specific theory. It reviews key components of job placement strategies and tools and other employment related services. The chapter also explains the concept and key elements of supported employment and its related strategies and services.