counselor-identity-paper-500-Essays-22.docx

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Counselor Identity Paper 500

Orientation to Counseling Professional Identity (Liberty

University)

their client (Thompson, 2017) and is also an advocate for their profession. Many believe that the

development of self-identity is a process and growth that will continue throughout the

counselor’s life and career. Professional advocacy is a must in the counseling profession due to

the ambiguity of the role of counselor. There is a lot of confusion by the general public and some

professions as to what a counselor is and what all the acronyms after their name stand for. Here

are some of the acronyms, American Counseling Association (ACA) Licensed Professional

Counselor (LPC), Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC). There are 20 plus different

divisions in the ACA and all of them have an acronym. Do all these unite/divide, help or hinder

the goal of a professional counselor? As one counselor put it, “do our clients really care about

the alphabet soup that is after our name (Sheperis, 2019)? How can the counselor contribute to

positive direction to reach the state legislature and create new laws that make the portability and

congruency of a counselor’s license recognized from one state to the next. It will also give more

recognition in the medical field so that counseling can be recognized as a science and also be a

care provider that insurances will recognize. Spurgeon, in his paper, outlines a plan to have

standardized accreditation for each graduate program through the Council for Accreditation of

Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) (2012). Schools that are seeking or

have this accreditation will benefit the student in the long term even though it is not a mandatory

accreditation to receive licensure. Each of the papers and podcasts referenced will give a look

into what creates a professional counseling identity.

individual as a counselor who is discovering their identity as a counselor which facilitates the

formation of a professional counselor’s identity Auxier, Hughes, and Kline (2003). As stated by

Thompson in the pod cast, A Thoughtful Counselor, she noted that identity is a personal journey

to understand yourself. Thompson said she thought that she was going to learn about others

during her graduate studies, instead she has learned the most about herself. Thompson says you

To achieve this the student must be educated through classes as well as school related activities

(Rose, 2019), and as another student put it, “it’s our responsibility to educate ourselves”

(Thompson, 2019). The counseling profession needs a coherent vocabulary and standardized

education. There is a lot of ambiguity as in what to call ourselves, what defines our profession,

what is standard in terms of language, values, and education in the profession of counseling. As

the stronger the professional identity grew. Furthermore, he also found that students are more

likely to be focused on tasks and skills of professional practice while in training rather than

beliefs and values.

organizational phase. Triphanny says that she believes that the education of the students about

professional identity must start in the classroom and course work. She also says that it’s critical

that we counselors know who we are because the general public and world does not know who

with seven unifying principles. These principles have now been indorsed by the ACA (Granello,

Mark). There is still a struggle with uniting all states to have the same requirements for

licensure. Not having a standard accreditation among universities and states, creates portability

problem.

Graduate Counseling curriculums and requirements are different in each state and even vary

this dilemma in 1981, the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES)

formally established educational standards and accreditation called CACREP (Spurgeon, 2012).

However, this accreditation is not mandatory to receive licensure in most states. As Spurgeon

points out in his paper, the Department of Defense (DOD) did a study to see if counselors were

qualified to counsel without supervision by a physician. The DOD found that there was no

uniform accreditation among universities. After further review it was determined that only

graduates from a CACREP accredited mental health counseling program would be allowed to

CACREP. He suggests that advocacy must be a grassroots movement, “Because licensure is

established at the state level but often reflective of national standards and trends, this kind of

advocacy work is best accomplished through grassroot efforts in each state” (Spurgeon, 2012).

This means that it starts with the individual counselor and this is why professional identity is so

with the individual counselor embracing their identity and advocating for the change. Having

these standards in place will make the curriculum in schools more streamline, unite the

counselors in vocabulary and profession, create easier portability and most important enhance

the counselors work in helping those in need.

Reaction

information was that I was unaware at how ambiguous the counseling profession is. I had

looked into Marriage and Family Counseling right out of college but was encouraged to

pursue an MSW. My advisors and even college professors told me it would make more sense

to get an MSW, they gave me all the pros of an MSW and all the cons of a counseling degree.

I was super confused. I wish I would have had this course in my undergrad because I think I

could have made a more informed decision. I now see how important it is to be aware of the

idea that we are creating a professional identity.

in me. To be a part of something that is forming and knowing that the work I do will leave a

legacy not only in academia but also impact the people we will counsel that will open

opportunities for the betterment of all involved. I really enjoyed the paper by Spurgeon. The

way he outlined the steps to advocacy was easy to understand and I believe easier to

implement.

used this analogy made it easier to see this side of advocacy. I like how all three of the guests

on the show highlighted counseling with a strength-based wellness model (2019).

about Liberty University, and they mentioned that it was not CACREP accredited. But after

further research on their website I found that they are accredited. I’m super happy because it

knowing what all the letters of accreditation stood for. Being educated about the field and all

the divisions has helped my understanding.

should it take a university course to breakdown and explain the role and qualifications of a

counselor? Do we gain more benefits from being divided then united? How are we going to

educate the public? How can I benefit the field with my knowledge? And where and how do I

Lawson, G., Trepal, H.C, Lee, R. W., Kress, V. E. (2017). Advocating for educational standards

Lile, J. J. (2017). Forming a professional counselor identity: The Impact of identity processing

Shook, M. (Producer). (2019, August 6). EP137: What On Earth Shall We Call Ourselves?