COUNSELOR IMPAIRMENT…
Counselor Impairment And Wellness
School of Behavioral Sciences, Liberty University
COUC500 (B42) Orientation to Counselor Professional Identity and Function
Abstract
This Benchmark addresses the importance of Counselor Wellness for counselors in
training as well as Licensed Professional Counselors. This paper will define Counselor
COUNSELOR IMPAIRMENT… 2
Impairment, the root causes leading to counselor impairment, ethical issues regarding
impairment, in addition to strategies to avoid and overcome counselor impairment. This author
will then personally assess herself and create a personal wellness plan to encourage appropriate
self care and counselor wellness.
Professional Counseling And Impairment
Counseling impairment is defined as “a significantly diminished capacity to perform
professional functions” (ACA 2014). This could be rooted in personal physical, psychological,
COUNSELOR IMPAIRMENT… 3
and or spiritual issues. Anything that could keep a counselor from competently provided services
could result in counselor impairment. The counseling profession has great responsibility and the
counselor has the opportunity to play a vital role in the wellness of their clients. This role can be
difficult at times for the counselor to navigate. Burnout, secondhand depression, and lack of self
care can lead to counselor impairment.
Counselors can become impaired from various situations. Often it is due to some form of
stress or lack of boundary. In one of our class readings Moving Toward The Breaking Point,
author Steve Hunter discusses some of these root causes of counselor impairment. The first is
Burnout. This is a common result to a counselor feeling exhausted in their profession or perhaps
feeling incompetent and unsuccessful. This could be noticed especially when a counselor is
pouring their time and energy into a client's needs yet the desired outcomes have not been met.
Even when clients do reach their goals there is little outside validation for the counselor's job
well done. It is crucial then that the counselor is capable of practicing self awareness and able to
see the warning signs in themselves while also not placing their worth and identity solely into
their profession.
The next root cause of counselor impairment Hunter notes is compassion fatigue. Though
similar to feelings of burnout, compassion fatigue is more client-focused than self-focused. This
results of empathizing so much for the client that the counselor feels second-hand stress or
suffering. It is more common with counselors with a high emotional intelligence and ability to
empathize easier than others. To best avoid this experience counselors should practice good
self-care and be invested and intentional in their professional community as to avoid isolation
and feelings of loneliness.
COUNSELOR IMPAIRMENT… 4
Lastly, Hunter states that second-hand depression is a common root cause for counselor
impairment. This is established when a counselor has failed to regulate and cope with the stresses
of their life and profession. Ultimately they have reached a breaking point of their stress and will
require a longer period of time to heal, become self aware, and learn the best tools and strategies
to move forward. Once a counselor has reached this state they are in need of a longer term care
plan to come back to a healthy place in their life and profession.
Counseling impairment has a tremendous impact on their practice. Like many relational
things in life, you must be able to serve yourself first before you can effectively serve others. A
counselor who does not practice intentional self care will not have the capacity or longevity to
care for others. Likewise the counselor who is able to care for themselves will find themselves
greatly capable within their profession. Counselor wellness can directly correlate to beneficial
therapeutic practice to best support client wellness.
Ethical Implications of Impairment
Counselors are ethically bound to consistently self-evaluate their mindfulness, wellness,
and overall health for any indications for impairment. If there is such indication, they commit to
consulting their supervisor and colleagues to best strategize how to move forward. There is also a
commitment to pause therapeutic services until the counselor is able to provide them from a
place of wellness. Any deferral of these commitments is to be considered ethical misconduct.
In the state of Texas, to access current ethical investigations of counselors, a formal
request must be submitted.The state of Texas receives information through formal complaint
forms and reporting. Based on the information received they classify the case as high or low
priority. Higher priority cases are investigated first. Once under review, the board will determine
if the allegations have probable cause or not. This is determining whether a law was broken. If a
COUNSELOR IMPAIRMENT… 5
law was broken, they fall under the jurisdiction of the council. The counselor does have the right
to appeal if they so choose.
As I was unable to see active cases in my state I did however look at other state board
websites. I spent much time reading through the active cases for the state of louisiana and I was
able to see many different themes of ethical and state violations that could be in regards to
counselor impairment. I found a common cause of disciplinary action was the result of DWI or
DUI arrests. Counselors either reported their arrest to the board and were reprimanded or more
often than not, failed to report to the board and other disciplinary actions took place. While
looking through these cases I was surprised to see so many arrests of this nature. I am curious as
to if alcohol and or other substances are commonly used as a coping mechanism among
counselors who might actually be struggling with counselor impairment.
Impairment Prevention
The first line of defense for any type of prevention is to be aware and educated. In her
article Teaching Mindfulness for the Self-Care and Well-Being of Counselors-In-Training, author
Lacretia Dye speaks on the incentive CACREP education has placed on educating counseling
students of the importance of self-awareness and self care strategies for the success of their
profession and livelihood. Dye explores the issue that CIT’s often face more stress than other
graduate program students because of the high demand of learning practical, emotional, and
relational skills while going on a deep journey of self reflection and discovery. This all the more
reason to include counselor wellness strategies into the curriculum of the counseling program.
She says “Since counselors need to be emotionally attuned and available to clients to be effective
care providers, it is essential that counselor educators teach the importance of maintaining
wellness” (Dye 2020).
COUNSELOR IMPAIRMENT… 6
Besides educating the counselor to be self-aware and practice self care. A positive tool
for counselor wellness is found in their social relationships. Being part of a community does
wonders for wellness. In the article Development of the Counselor Wellness Competencies,
authors Gibson et al. state that “Diverse supportive colleagues and friends can also hold a
counselor accountable for appropriately taking care of themselves, setting important boundaries,
and seeing other perspectives. For counselors from collectivist cultures, relationships can be even
more central to well-being” (Gibson et al. 2021).
Another tool Gibson and his team note to be of importance for counselor wellness are the
ability to set and live by boundaries. It is healthy to have a personal space detached from the
profession. A good boundary to have as a counselor is to leave cases and clients at the front door
of your home so you can be present in your personal life and take time to care for you. The
authors highlight that healthy boundaries increase the counselors resiliency to the stresses of the
counseling profession.
Wellness Assessment
According to the Life Change Index Scale, I am at risk for future illness because my
score was above 300. While I do agree that I have stresses in my life that I need to be aware of, I
think that it is normal for someone of my age and circumstance to score higher on this test. I
noticed that the list starts with the higher stresses then tones down to more minor stresses of life.
It is an accumulation of minor stresses that kept my score high. I am still in college, living with
roommates, just starting out in the world. Inconsistency comes with the turf of being a
20-something in today's day and age. Yes it is stressful and I recognize that. However I know that
this is not permanent and is a season to my maturity into adulthood. I can see though that if I was
COUNSELOR IMPAIRMENT… 7
still living with this level of inconsistency and instability longterm that it could lead to serious
emotional turmoil.
As for the wellness test. I plan to prioritize physical self care through wearing clothes I
would enjoy wearing and seeking out preventative medical care. I do not hate the clothes I wear
each day, however I do not dress up for myself each day which is something I want to change for
my self esteem. I also do not regularly go to a doctor. I can not remember a time I had a regular
check up at the doctors office. I only remember going if it was absolutely necessary. This is
something I would like to change for peace of mind to make sure I am healthy and take
confidence in my physical health.
When it comes to psychological self-care, I plan on learning new things and saying no the
things that are not necessary. I think it would be fun to do something I am not an expert in. I
recently decided to start serving at my church. In the past I usually only serve within worship. I
am educated and passionate about leading worship but I did not feel peace signing up for the
worship team when asked to serve. Instead I chose to sign up to serve on our prayer team. This is
an area I am excited to serve in and learn the ins and outs of. I tend to be a people pleaser at
heart, so saying no to the things that are extra in my life will do amazing things for my mental
capacity and energy for the things that are a huge yes in my life.
For emotional care I plan on allowing myself to cry and staying in touch with important
people in my life. I met incredible people while I attended and graduated from a bible college
and staying in touch with these amazing friendships is important to me. I would like to be more
intentional in setting the time to text or call these long-distant friends. I also have realized
recently that I have been striving more than I have allowed myself to process and grieve the
things that have hurt me. I believe tears can be healing and like many I lost people I cared about
COUNSELOR IMPAIRMENT… 8
during the pandemic. I would like to allow the lord to help me be still and simply cry in place of
striving through the pain.
What I am most expectant for is my spiritual self-care. I feel called by God to strengthen
my prayer closet and increase intimacy with him through private prayer and worship. I have
started fasting on mondays before I attend my young adults service of the week. At first it was a
struggle not to think about how hungry I was but now I feel confident in intentionally going into
the presence of my father and praising him. I thought this was going to be another area of
striving for me, but I actually look forward to this time each week.
Personal Wellness Plan
I plan on prioritizing my emotional and spiritual wellness in this new season of my life.
These areas need more attention in my life. I think that most of the burnout I may currently feel
comes from a place of striving and not being. I would like to intentionally carve out time to be
with my heavenly father as well as be with my thoughts and emotions and allow them to process.
I will do this by utilizing my commute to work to better serve me. I usually listen to random
podcasts or music but I will start playing either worship or soaking songs to be still and receive
from the Lord.
For an area that needs to decrease, I would say screen time needs to be reorganized in my
life. I could benefit from less technology, especially since I have started online school. My eyes
and mind need a pause from it. So with the increase of screen time for school purposes I am
gonna find other ways to decompress after my work besides watching tv. I will do this by reading
a book that I will find entertaining.
These changes will help support overall wellness and I intend to self-assess often and
when necessary to make the appropriate adjustments to ensure I am doing the best I can to look
COUNSELOR IMPAIRMENT… 9
after myself. I am willing to do what is necessary to keep myself in alignment in mind, body, and
spirit, so that I can perform to my best ability in my personal and professional life.
References
COUNSELOR IMPAIRMENT… 10
2014 ACA Code of ethics - american counseling association. (n.d.-a).
https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/ethics/2014-code-of-ethics.pdf?sfvrsn=2
d58522c_4
Disciplinary action. Louisiana Licensed Professional Counselors Board of Examiners . (n.d.).
https://www.lpcboard.org/disciplinary-action
Dye, L., Burke, M. G., & Wolf, C. (2020). Teaching Mindfulness for the Self-Care and
Well-Being of Counselors-in-Training. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health., 15(2),
140–153. https://doi.org/10.1080/15401383.2019.1642171
Gibson, D. M., Pence, C., Kennedy, S. D., Gerlach, J., Degges-White, S., & Watson, J. (2021).
Development of the counselor wellness competencies. Journal of Counselor Leadership
and Advocacy., 8(2), 130–145. https://doi.org/10.1080/2326716X.2021.1925997
Hunter, S. T. (2016). Beyond the breaking point: Examining the pieces of counselor burnout,
compassion fatigue, and secondhand depression. G. R, Walz, & JC Bluer, Eds.) Vistas
Online, 1-16
Life change index scale (the stress test) event impact ... (n.d.-c).
https://www.dartmouth.edu/eap/library/lifechangestresstest.pdf
Self-care assessment worksheet - NCSD. (n.d.-e).
https://www.ncsddc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Self-Care-Assessment.pdf
