Survey of Research in Human - Professional Identity

1 Developing Your Professional Identity [BRIEF VERSION OF THE TITLE, ALL CAPS] 2 Developing Your Professional Identity According to “20/20: A Vision for the Future of Counseling: The New Consensus Definition of Counseling” it defined counseling as it “involves professional relationships designed to assist individuals, families and groups toward mental health, wellness, educational and career goals.” (Kaplan, Tarvydas, Gladding, 2013). This concept of counseling allows the public to get a clear understanding of counseling while opening the door to up to a limitless and diverse profession. Counseling is a field with many options to specialize in such as, Mental Health Counseling, School Counseling, and Marriage Counseling. Not only students can stick to a specialization, students can create their own. The counseling profession allows many students to apply innovative ideas to grow and expand such as, myself. I am a current student pursuing Clinical Mental. As a student studying the counseling profession, I am forced to think about important topics that will help develop my professional identity with counseling. The topics I will be considering are my personal interests in the counseling field, conceptualization of a specialization, professional identity, transferable skills, and expected work after the program. As I address these topics, I will begin to think about my role as a professional counselor and what they may look like in the future. Differences in Two Counseling Specializations An example of another specialization that would compare with Mental Health Counseling would be, School Counseling. It is known that school counselors advocate for mental health needs within students. School Counselors are able to provide emotional development and resolve stressor a student may face while in school. In addition, a School Counselor may refer a student [BRIEF VERSION OF THE TITLE, ALL CAPS] 3 to a Mental Health Counselor if the student is showing signs of mental distress. Therefore, this complements nice with Mental Health Counseling. The difference between the two is that a school counselor works within the education system while Mental Health Counselors work in a larger community with a board population. Integration of Counseling Tenets With Specialization IAccording to the text, the concept of a theory is to provide a general study of human development that grows scientific vision and the application of science for public policy and social programs. (Hernandez, 2015) It helps develop new findings, explain how findings may be understood, and identify differences among scholars. Development theories are also to be considered to be scientific theories because both assumptions and hypotheses are made to be tested for confirmation or falsification using the scientific method. This usually started by asking a question, conducting research, creating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, collecting data, analyze the data, and concluding results. A theory that I am leaning more towards for my specialization in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, is the Behaviorism Theory. The Behaviorism theory is a concept based on conditioning, which means learning can result in rewards or consequences. In relation to Clinical Mental Health, I believe understanding a person's behavior is important to realize when diagnosing mental health. This may also get a clear understanding of the person's past or present experience in ways that have affected them. As mentioned in the text, one behavioral approach is the explanation of the influence of the environment on development. (Hernandez, 2015) This approach was developed by Albert Bandura, his model was combined with cognitive elements and emphasized observational learning. For example, a child who was raised in an environment around substance abuse and [BRIEF VERSION OF THE TITLE, ALL CAPS] 4 domestic violence may also experience this as an adult. (Hernandez, 2015) In counseling, it is important to understand the client's background to proceed with treatment. Coursework Aligned With Licensure and Certification In order to success become an legitimate Mental Health Counselor in the state of North Carolina is to first obtain a Master’s degree in specialization. While completing this, you must have completed both residency and internship work for a certain amount of time. After successfully obtaining a Master’s degree you must have completed a state board exam to receive licenses. Once the exam is passed, you will then have successfully became a Mental Health Counselor. Professional Identity Although it is hard to identify a professional identity for the counseling profession, I do believe counselors all serve one purpose and that is to improve a client's mental health. According to “Counselor Professional Identity: Finding and Implications for counseling and Interprofessional Collaboration” counselors all support some of the nation’s most critical social problems, such as education, mental health, and health care. (Mellin, Hunt, Nichols, 2011) Although professional identity differs from specializations, we all have a job to tackle these social problems. As a student studying Clinical Mental Health Counseling, my specialization will be different from a person who is studying School Counseling or Marriage and Family Counseling. My specialization is more focused on evaluating and treating mental health disorders, so clients can live better lives. The counseling profession is incredibly special because it takes special [BRIEF VERSION OF THE TITLE, ALL CAPS] 5 people to be in this field, not just anyone can pursue this field. It takes a person with good interpersonal skills such as, active listening and problem solving to be a successful counselor. Impact of Technology on Clinical Specialization We all know technology has came a long way and has impacted everything in today’s society, including counseling. With technology within the counseling field has opened many opportunities for clients and counselors to connect, clients can now virtually meet with counselors and counselors are allowed to connect faster than ever. Technology is even used when diagnosing clients, this can increases clients chances of improving. The bad news with technology within the counseling field, is it could cause a lack of connectivity between the client and counselor. In addition, you will always have technical difficulties along the way no matter what you’re doing. Reflection on Preliminary Conceptualization of the Counseling Field My thoughts about counseling has not changed since this course. I am still interested pursuing Mental Health Counseling while incorporating my passion for fashion. Conclusion In conclusion, counseling is field meant to assist individuals, families and groups toward mental health, wellness, educational and career goals. Counselors all support serving social problems no matter the specialization. I believe with my specialization and goals I have after Capella; I can be a successful counselor in Clinical Mental Health.