Counseling is a field that presents many challenges. From the readings I have garnered that some issues that are presented may be more challenging than others. “A Vision for the Future of Counseling: The 20/20 Principles for Unifying and Strengthening the Profession” suggests that the primary issues that are facing the counseling profession today are: lack of unity; a need for stronger skills in counseling the aging population; the need to incorporate family counseling into counselors’ skill sets; a need for students to enter the profession from diverse backgrounds; a need for a multicultural focus; keeping up with the latest advances; and more (Kaplan &Gladding, 2011, p. 367, 368).
Of these issue, I believe that the most challenging issues to me as a counselor-in-training are counseling the aging population and having a multicultural focus. These will be my toughest issues because populations that present significant differences from the traditional population to which I am exposed will require me to try to understand the issues and concerns that affect other cultures, ethnic groups, age brackets, and socioeconomic brackets of which I am not a part. Online resources may play a significant role in helping me to address these challenges because there is a wealth of information that is available online; utilizing this information can help me to learn about and better understand people of different backgrounds.
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"Addressing Issues and Challenges in Counseling".
There are a number of different counseling specializations from which I could have chosen which include: Marriage and Family Therapy, Mental Health Counseling, Forensic Counseling, Addiction Counseling, and more. I decided on the counseling specialization that I choose do to a strong interest in that area of counseling as well as a belief that I will be able to contribute more to this segment of the counseling field than other segments.
There are a variety of differences between counseling and social work and psychology. One of the primary differences between the field of psychology and the field of counseling and social work is that psychology has a concentration on the science aspect which limits the amount of direct counseling that is done with patients in this field. A difference between the fields of counseling and social work is that counseling tries to help people cope with and adapt to their environment whereas social work has a focus on changing the environment of which the person is a part.
In addition, counselors tend to perform more direct services for the client such as helping the client work through a crisis whereas a social worker may help the subject locate other resources that can help. Furthermore, Counselors are trained to identify disorders and, when necessary, administer psychotherapy; social workers, on the other hand, concentrate on case management and making assessments of the state and surroundings of the client/subject. I believe that it is important for me to understand the differences between these fields so that I can select the one that is right for me and undergo the appropriate course of study toward my goal.
