Announcements/Reminders Project for Unit 2 was due this past

Tuesday by midnight I will be working on grading the projects

over the next couple days Read the comments I provide with your

grade to help you learn and grow Next project is due in Unit 4 – take a

look and start thinking about it Questions? Concerns? Comments

Holiday Schedule You get a week off! Unit 3 will begin on 12-22, but won’t end until 1-4-11. (There

will be no seminars held and no due dates between 12-24 and 1-02-11.)

Unit 4 begins on January 5, and the rest of the term will run as usual.

This means that Unit 3 runs 2 weeks, and you can complete Unit 3 work at any point up until 1-4-11.

Seminars- Unit 3 seminar is on 12-23 and Unit 4 seminar is on 1-6. Please plan to attend both seminars, as it will help with the DB topics and projects, including the final project.

Settings and Counseling Career Choices

Counseling Career Choices

The experiences that a professional counselor will have on the job are shaped by the setting in which the counseling takes place. It is essential to carefully explore the special features of

these settings, including the diverse counseling career choices within each setting

Well-informed graduates become productive counselors who have an excellent chance of experiencing real job satisfaction in their professional roles.

Counseling in the Schools In the early 1900’s, the counselor’s role in the

schools was to help students find employment. By the end of the twentieth century, the role of the

professional school counselor was propelled into a new era by two major contributions to the field: the comprehensive developmental counseling curriculum and the creation of national standards for school counseling programs. These standards defined three categories in which

counselors need to focus (i.e., academic development, career development, personal/social development), regardless of whether the professional school counselor worked at the elementary, middle or high school level

Counseling in the Schools Elementary school counselors work with

students from kindergarten through 5th grade, ordinarily with a primary emphasis on developmental issues and prevention strategies. Counselors assist children in making the adjustment to

the school setting by helping them understand basic social and academic skills

Puppets, role-plays, drawing and bibliotherapy are expressive arts methods that counselors can use with younger students, especially those who are less verbal

Counseling in the Schools Middle school counselors work with children in

grades six through eight, helping them make the transition from elementary school to middle school, and then later from middle school to high school.Middle school counselors focus on topics such as

decision-making, conflict resolution, peers, sexuality, career development, and substance abuse

Counseling in the Schools High school counselors emphasize academic

advising, educational planning and career development as they help adolescents graduate to the world of work, higher education, or the armed services. High school counselors need to be sensitive and

responsive to adolescents as they create a sense of identity, which may involve students trying to understand their place in the social context and experimenting with new behaviors

Current Issues: School Counseling

The ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs was created to respond to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 (Public Law 107-110), a federal law that specifies the creation of a national program to raise academic achievement for all students, by closing the achievement gap that exists between socially or economically disadvantaged students and students with more advantages.

Current Issues: School Counseling

Counselors using the ASCA National Model will be able to demonstrate to the school community how school counseling programs are a vital component in students’ personal, academic, and career success. Career counseling and educational planning continue to be major

components of the ASCA model across all grade levels The model also calls for counselors to be accountable and to use

data to demonstrate how their programs make a difference in students’ lives

A challenge for professional school counselors is how to serve all students, as the average counselor has a caseload of about 500 students.

School Counseling In addition to working directly with students,

professional school counselors work with all of the people who impact children’s lives, including parents, teachers, staff, administrators, and the community.

School counselors need to view students using a holistic approach, including how all of the environmental characteristics of a child’s world and the child’s own freedom of choice interact to affect the child.

A professional school counselor’s visible presence in the school is enhanced by being seen in hallways, classrooms, meetings, the cafeteria, and the playground.

College Counseling A college counselor’s role is multifaceted because

college counseling centers typically offer a wide range of services.

The typical day-to-day roles are highly dependent upon the type of institution and the size of the counseling staff. They provide academic counseling to students who struggle

with time management, motivation, test anxiety, test taking, and public speaking

They also see students individually or as couples for personal counseling about difficulties with relationships, family problems, grief, abuse, eating disorders, self-esteem, anxiety, and depression, among others

College Counseling College counselors are a leading force in the

crisis intervention services that are available for such emergencies as suicidal thoughts or attempts, threats, sexual assault, and severe depression.

Student-life Services The field of student-life services is actually a

cluster of diverse specialties which may include admissions, learning services, health and wellness services, food services, financial aid, women’s center, residence life, academic advising, international students, global education, registration, and career services.Because student-life professionals play key roles in

important everyday concerns for students, this career choice offers a rich opportunity to develop meaningful relationships with students and to contribute to their academic, personal, and professional development

Multicultural Issues College counselors and student-life

professionals must be attuned to the special needs of specific student populations, such as first-generation students, student athletes, and students with disabilities, among others.

Two growing populations of students, which will continue to influence how counselors and student-life professionals deliver their services, are international students and reentry women.

Counseling in Mental Health Settings

The field of mental health counseling is actually a broad spectrum of settings, serving diverse audiences.Community/agency, hospital, corrections, and private

practice are four distinct areas where mental health counselors are employed

Mental health counselors serve a cross-section of the population whose clinical problems are considered a normal part of life.

The Community/Agency Setting

Community/agency settings provide professional counselors, trained as generalists, a viable starting point for their career.

As beginning counselors gain work experience and understanding about their preferences, they may develop a specialty area. Examples of specialty areas include the treatment of

juvenile sexual offenders, those with substance abuse issues, and victims of domestic violence

The Community/Agency Setting

Types of community/agency settings include:Government agenciesCounty-funded court diversion programsHalfway housesChildren and youth servicesCommunity career centers

Hospitals Hospitals, once the most dominant setting for dealing

with severe mental illnesses, currently extend their services to address issues that range from dealing with death and dying to maintaining a “wellness life-style.”

Behavioral health care is the umbrella term for mental health and substance abuse issues in the hospital setting.

Professional counselors who are employed by hospitals may provide services that range from educational workshops on stress management techniques in businesses, to counseling hospice patients dealing with impending and certain death at their bedside.

Corrections Corrections is part of the field of Criminal

Justice. Professional counselors who work in corrections may work in the prison setting, the courts, or the community. They counsel during probation, conduct group and

individual counseling to incarcerated inmates, or counsel offenders on parole

Corrections If an evaluation indicates that a substance

abuse treatment program is warranted, the (nonviolent) offender may be sentenced to a diversion program in lieu of incarceration. Diversion programs divert potential inmates from

incarceration in overcrowded prisons to treatment facilities within the community and aim to address the issues that caused the problem

Private Practice Benefits of establishing a private practice

include the ability to: Design a creative work scheduleBecome a specialist in one or more treatment

areas of interestBuild a potentially profitable business

Private Practice Challenges to establishing a private practice

include:Meeting or maintaining professional licensure

requirementsGenerating referralsManaging a businessHandling a large client case loadDeveloping marketing strategiesHandling financesRetaining employeesSupervising the daily functioning of the office

Private Practice The successful mental health counselor working

in the private practice setting must carefully research the considerable demands of this setting before undertaking the role in a full-time capacity.

Many professional counselors find that before attempting an independent private practice full-time, success is more readily realized by sharing some of the financial responsibilities through part-time involvement, developing a practice with colleagues, or joining a preexisting practice.

Rehabilitation Counseling Rehabilitation counselors specialize in working

with clients who are identified as having a recognized disability. Rehabilitation counselors work in mental health agencies,

correctional facilities, university settings, schools, public and private offender and addiction treatment programs for juveniles and adults, hospitals, state rehabilitation agencies, privately supported rehabilitation agencies, and counseling clinics

The intent of rehabilitation counseling is to facilitate the “independence, integration, and inclusion of people with disabilities in employment and the community” (CRCC, 2003).

Rehabilitation Counseling Several types of people with disabilities who may

benefit from the services of a rehabilitation counselor include: Family members of children who have an autism spectrum

disorder (ASD)College and university students who have a disabilityAdolescents and adults who have an addictionPeople who have survived a traumatic eventPeople who have a chronic mental illnessPeople who use a vocational rehabilitation counselor

Summary Professional counselors must carefully

consider what constitutes a good match between their own preferences and competencies when choosing the setting in which they will practice their profession.

Discussion… Which of the settings discussed tonight

do you think you would like to work in the MOST? Why?

Which of the settings discussed tonight do you think you would like to work in the LEAST? Why?

To-Do-List Readings chapter 9, "Settings and Counseling

Career Choices," pp. 213–219, in your text Discussion Board Questions on adoption and

foster care and web site information I post Contact me with questions!!! Have a great holiday!!!