upon graduation. Likely, the next 10 years for the profession will surprise us. The reason could be as simple as the fact that they know little about them. We as a profession will be propelled in new directions by genomic discoveries and the neurosciences. It will be a sad day when robots do everything, including try and help us with our feelings. Finally, because of the economy, career development and theory — one of the pillars on which counseling is based — will become stronger. As I look into my clouded crystal ball to predict the direction of the counseling profession over the next decade, I realize that even though the profession of counseling is more than 100 years old and ACA is celebrating its 60th birthday, counseling as a profession is just coming into its own in terms of parity and respect among peer professions, legislators and the public. Telemedicine and the Future of Counseling. There is a growing isolation that I believe is fueled by the explosion of technology and the overreliance on electronic gadgetry to socially connect. I am not here to endorse them, but I chose LU because there is no set log on times, they were competitively priced, and I wanted to integrate my faith into my learning. We definitely need to be prepared! Clients will be assured that they get what they pay for, unnecessary long-term therapy will be eliminated and professional counselors will be paid for services rendered. As to where the profession heads in the coming decade, the brain will be an emerging area of interest. Counselors should be prepared to work with older adults’ issues such as grief and loss, disability related to physiological functioning, career needs and lack of access to services. We all share the goal of helping counselors in other countries build a strong, vibrant profession — and hopefully avoid some of the mistakes we have made in the United States. Heck, FaceTime me … I will pull out my iPhone and chat with you for a minute. It is good for the … Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. He is also a past president of ACA. Mental Health Counselors made a median salary of $46,650 in … I also doubt that many grandparents are offering up a text service to their college-age grandchildren. All counselors will need to develop a tool kit loaded with strategies and skills to be employed depending on the client’s needs. Close. But neuroscience adds to and clarifies what works and makes a difference for our clients. Examine historical contributions to the identity of the mental health counseling profession. Right now i’m only a in 9th grade. Individuals may then make life-altering decisions based on their “knowledge” of a predestined life experience. The author argues that clinicians should recognize the value of, understand, and begin using outcome measures in their work. Counseling researchers and journal editorial boards need to substantially increase efforts to validate counseling practices and assess counseling outcomes. (Although, yes, they do get calls from people of all ages.). Like existential and Gestalt theories, the narrative approach deals with meaning, mattering and the integration of persons. We absolutely love your article and find most of your post’s to be exactly I’m looking for. ental health counseling brings a unique approach to the mental health care professions in that it offers a broader response to the definition of care than the traditional fields of psychiatry and clinical psychology. In addition, counselor training must stress the notion that what happens in one community in any part of the United States must be understood within this larger global context. About your privacy In order to give you the very best experience, we use cookies to help understand how our our articles and content is used. I have since been accepted into a two year MSW program through another online school. The good news is this: It will get better (again), but more slowly because of the depth of the recession. Their role is part of a network of care. Neuroscience leads us more to a positive, preventive approach. As someone outside the profession, Snyder has an interesting perspective on the future of counseling. On the surface, that prediction sounds disturbing, as if advancing technology might threaten to make the counseling profession obsolete. I think we need to advance the area of testing ; there is no reason we ought not be paid by insurance companies or third parties for this type of work because, at least in Texas, the licensure board states we are allowed to do this yet, the above happens. The experiences of hurt and humiliation are very real societal concerns regardless of age. In the creativity realm, I continue to be impressed by the Association for Creativity in Counseling and the Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, edited by Thelma Duffey. I am sure there are additional virtual applications being proposed for a variety of situations. One good route is a BSW to an MSW, which could save you a year of school. I have also been contacted by an ACA member who wants to form an interest group concerning the prospect of using virtual reality in therapeutic situations, especially as it pertains to the treatment of PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder) and phobia. This post is … Counselor education programs need to be able to ensure that their curriculums follow a pedagogy that embraces online counseling and supervision. To respond effectively, we will need to continue to cultivate a collective professional identity regarding who we are, what we do and where, when, why and how we serve. In the United States, baby boomers represent a growing percentage of the overall population. It has always made more sense (no pun intended) to prevent illness, accidents and lifestyle disasters. Using the language of connection, disconnection, development and context, I believe RCT has much to offer the counseling professional in the next decade. Unfortunately, we sometimes remain silent as others define evidence-based services for professional counselors or limit us to externally defined types of services or numbers of sessions. There are 598 CACREP-accredited counseling programs and over 48,000 counselors certified by the National Board for Certified Counselors. Over the next two years, increasing numbers of people will qualify for government-funded health care, said Jane Cline, West Virginia’s insurance commissioner. The mental health needs of older adults are often overlooked and can only be expected to grow in the immediate future. :). Professional counseling has become respected as a viable mental health provider. Social Workers are able to compete for these positions, but we can’t. At the moment, our field still operates from a “theory of choice” framework, which tends to focus on remediation and a problem-focused approach. Wellness and positive psychology will become more central. Turf, semantic impasses and separatist ideologies of our adolescence wane. Please help me where i can start i do not have any qualifications but i know i can grow to be a counsellor help right people around me and get the right material to stir this gift inside me. S. Kent Butler is an associate professor at the University of Central Florida and president of the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development. As far as emerging counseling theories, I see relational-cultural theory (RCT) as particularly relevant because it supports the counseling profession’s focus on wellness and mental health, particularly when conceptualizing people’s life experiences and their responses to these experiences. Still, this work is relatively new and ripe for investigation. The future might be anyone’s guess, but David Pearce Snyder has spent his career making calculated predictions about what looms ahead. I was almost 50 when I received my Bachelors and I am now in my 60’s and working on my MS/PhD. Working with infants, toddlers and preschool children is an emerging area for counselors that allows them to traverse down the developmental pipeline to apply the core principles of counseling to young children. As more countries explore the value and benefit of having counseling professionals in their society, counseling will become increasingly visible outside the United States. Demetria, Where does the divide begin? Deborah Stokes is the director and owner of the Better Brain Center in Alexandria, Va. She is a licensed professional counselor and board certified in neurofeedback. She also chairs the ACA Professional Standards Committee. There is a general lack of evidence-based practices for older adults. The field has been influenced by multiple historical events, societal needs, and social contexts. Please help a sister out. Recently, our attention has shifted to disaster mental health and to working with the returning veterans. We know we have an ethical responsibility to provide our publics with the most effective and efficient services possible. I was a non-traditional first generation college graduate. Identity: Demands for greater accountability and enhanced understanding will provide an opportunity for professional counselors to realize our potential as agents of optimal growth and wellness. Snyder, who is also a contributing editor to The Futurist, the bimonthly magazine of the World Future Society, predicts that by 2020, everyone will be chatting with — not just through — their computers. I can see counseling in the next decade increasing its focus on relational development: supporting realistic self-examination/care and finding innovative ways to promote genuine concern for one’s impact on others. On the surface, it seems as if we have continued to evolve with the changing needs of society. Summer M. Reiner is an assistant professor of counselor education and the school counseling coordinator at the College at Brockport. We need multiculturalism and social justice to become integral to everything that we do as helping professionals. Global politics and economies; technological advances and their consequences; the jeopardy of nationalism and other rampant isms; worry about the Earth’s finite resources and adapting to a warmer planet; the coming of age of generations with beautifully different goals and priorities than [were held by] their parents and grandparents — all will inevitably influence what we do this decade. For investigation longer world leaders in education an interesting perspective on well-being the mental issues! Issues for people dealing with similar issues in their work of sessions threat to counselors! Problems, and more than ever, it ’ s never too late to follow your heart believe economy!, semantic impasses and separatist ideologies of our adolescence wane one person, while visiting with another and! Compete for these young people governmental and human service institutions have entered the of. These individuals place their political and personal agendas above the common interest the! 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