Professional identity is important because it contributes to professional perception of how counselors find meaning or belonging in the profession. A counselor must possess an understanding of how their roles differ and which roles are similar in the mental health field. A counselor must be knowledgeable about the foundations and history of mental health. A counselor must be well versed in the American Counseling Association codes of ethics and laws. It is equally important for counselors to involve the integration of spirituality and religion. Licensure is also an important component in the development of a professional identity. Each state, except for a few, has a different set of requirements that must be met if one wants to practice counseling …show more content…
The licensing acts as proof that the counselor adheres to the code of ethics. Those who are able to obtain their license will receive professional recognition and legal authority to provide treatment for serious mental disorders. A professional identity is important because it reflects a form of conceptualization a person has about themselves in their profession of counseling. It allows individuals who are pursuing a career in mental health to find meaning and belonging. It also helps the counselor to integrate personal values with professional standards, behaviors, principles, and ethics. All counselors are privy to the knowledge of their roles and boundaries, and are aware of how pursuing continuous growth and education contributes to the development of their professional identity. As a counselor develops their professional identity, it is a top priority that they provide their clients with the highest quality of …show more content…
It does not matter what the individual situation entails, what matters to me is that they know they are not alone, I am here to listen. I am here to help point them in the right direction. I am here to pray for them. I have been in a situation of reaching out for help and my cry went unheard for a long time. I know what it is like to be in a dark place, wanting to give up on everything. From my personal experience, God provides His light so that I can find my way out of the darkness I want to experience. I do not want others to feel that their life is so far in darkness that the Light can reach them. I know some people need at least one person in their life that they can confide in and know that their secrets are safe, or that there are resources available to provide them with any assistance they feel they
“Counseling has not established a single entity containing its accreditation, credentialing, and membership organizations”. (Mascari & Webber, 2013). In the institutions, “counselor educators with a different education background, other than counseling, contributes confusion” (Mascari & Webber, 2013). CACREP has been striving to establish a unified counseling profession by “creating common standards accepted by the profession and influenced by the degrees and license of the faculty” (Mascari & Webber, 2013). Through CACREP accredited programs, CACREP is assisting in clearing counselor identity through its process of preparation program accreditation. (Mascari & Webber, 2013).
Hanna, F. J., & Bemak, F. (1997). The quest for identity in the counseling profession. Counselor Education and Supervision, 36(3), 194. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.library.capella.edu/docview/201301734?accountid=27965
Professional identity is the result of a developmental process that facilitates individuals to reach an understanding of their profession in conjunction with their own self-concept, enabling them to articulate their role, philosophy, and approach to others within and outside of their chosen. As counselors engage in this individually unique growth process, it is hoped that the counseling profession as a whole will be strengthened as its practitioners and educators reach a heightened sense of purpose and a synergistic collective identity, an identity which is still developing within the profession. The term collective identity refers to having shared goals, resources, and aspirations for the profession. In order for individuals to build a personal relationship with their chosen occupation, it is important for a clear foundation to be established. To build this foundation, a professional philosophy must be constructed which clarifies and distinguishes one’s profession from other similar vocations; in this instance, other mental health fields. In counseling, this foundation is thought to be created by establishing clear professional expectations through licensure, streamlined educational programming, professional organizations, and ethical standards that build on an underlying professional philosophy. This article will review current literature and research on professional identity in the counseling field. This review will then be presented in relation to the external evaluation of success within counseling and counselor education and how this evaluation is influenced and internally understood through one’s gender role beliefs and associated societal expectations.
It is essential to understand that mental health professionals should be able to uphold with the same Code of Ethics and Standards from one professional to other. Professional should have responsibility or liability for the practice that they perform and the services that they carry out to the people. If one professional does not follow the standards and ethics that they practice, other professionals will take advantage of their obligations and the Code of Ethics and Standards will not be of good use to the people that they
Mandatory ethics is the level of functioning where the counselor is abiding by the basic “do’s and don’ts” of professional counseling. These are definitive codes that will protect a counselor from legal action and professional censure. All mental health professionals will be held accountable by the minimum standards set by state licensure boards and courts of law. Issues addressed by the Code of Conduct of the American Psychological Association (APA) include, but are not limited to, competence, human relations, confidentiality and fees. (American Psychological Association, 2002)
Establishing a theoretical counseling orientation is an important step in developing professional identity. Theories provide counselors with explanations of human nature, help with conceptualizing clients’ problems and deliver procedural guidance in predicting clients’ change. Contemporary counselor is expected to be integrative and eclectic, drawing inspiration from many approaches. It is also my hope to synthesize a variety of concepts and a diversity of strategies from different theories and integrate them into a coherent, comprehensive perspective.
Understanding professional identity help a person who works in a profession such as, health, education, or human services to gain an understanding of the workplace and this can result in leading a successful career. The essay is about the professional and quality agencies guide the provision of safe and effective patient or client care in social work. In the essay firstly professional identity and factors that influence it will be discussed, secondly rules and regulation in social work related to professional identity will be explained, lastly the code of conduct, ethics of the profession social work will be described.
Since 1976, The American Mental Health Counselors Association has been committed to establishing and promoting vigorous standards for education and training, professional practice, and professional ethics for Clinical Mental Health Counselors. So far, this association have 7,000 clinical mental health counselors but its organization is continuously growing (AMHCA).” “The American Mental Health Counselors Association have licensures laws in all 50 states, and the association seeks to enhance the practice of clinical mental health counseling and to promote standards for clinical education and clinical practice that anticipate the future roles of Clinical Mental Health Counselors within the broader health care system. This association was ultimately put together to define and promote professional identity of mental health counselors (AMHCA).”
Professionals are people who have equipped themselves with the knowledge and skills in a given field. The interest of improvement of the professional identity is an evidence of how high standards are placed upon the professionals in the community (Johnson et al., 2012). Each profession creates its norms, values and scope of practice that distinguishes it from any other profession. Different legal ethics are upheld and everyone needs to work as per the stipulated ethics in the field to be part of the profession. People in the field are expected to be knowledgeable and independently use decision making in solving various problems that may arise. The decisions made should be within the norms and values stipulated for a profession.
After pondering over the specific meaning behind professional identity and how I should answer this question, I realized that my professional identity is how I perceive myself within my occupational context. I was also going to mention some exact words that described me, however, I believe that a professional identity is not permanent. It is a concept that continues developing throughout our lives. I would like to refer to my professional identity as a process that is constantly influenced by my professors and their teaching style, by my interactions with my peers, and by the way I communicate with others. One of the things that I think is really important to me as a counselor in training, which I learned in my Master’s program, is the ability to empathize with people who come with a problem. I think empathy is a key element in the helping profession, and I enjoy learning how to do it the best possible way. Another factor that is very important to me is providing a sense of autonomy to clients and create an environment for them to feel safe to express what they are going through in life.
“Nugent and Jones (2009) defined professional identity as how training and personal characteristics are applied in the professional setting. It was theorized that there was a need for development of a strong professional identity among counselor trainees, because professional identity confusion resulted in several negative consequences when these counselors entered the community workforce (Pistole & Roberts, 2002)”. Counselors play an important role in today’s society. Counseling has evolved through the years into the specialized workforce it is today.
A common struggle for counselors can sometimes be to find the right balance between “the demands or managed mental health requirements and obligations to clients” (Braun & Cox, 2005, p.426). Often times counselors may be t...
Counseling is considered therapy for individuals or groups of people who are experiencing personal issues or problems that are affecting their well-being. The many roles of counseling include individual counseling, couples counseling, group counseling, and coaching. The settings include private practice counseling, mental health centers, crisis center counseling, and university counseling centers who all offer many counseling services. Counseling is one of the many helping professions similar to psychologist, psychiatrist, social workers, and family therapist which all involving overseeing the well-being of individuals and groups of people. Counselors work closely with schools, health care facilities, and private agencies to provide counseling services to those individuals. Counseling is not only for people who have been diagnosed with mental disabilities and illnesses but for anyone who is currently or has experienced a traumatic experience in their lifetime. It is a therapy that everyone should take advantage of to ensure their mental
Professional competence can mean various things to different people. Competency in any career or profession has many basic requirements that are learned in a classroom environment as well as many essential elements that must be learned through formal, on-the-job training in order to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to function adequately as a professional in a workplace setting. Competency in the counseling field is not a ‘once learned, always known’ type of knowledge; it requires a combination of classroom education, internship training to acquire confidence, knowledge, skills, and experience, and an obligation of continuing education on a life-long basis.
to do… or even worse, what was Granny Elma going to do? She was deaf!