Mental health counselor
Counseling ( in American English, in British English: Counselling ) is the professional psychosocial counseling of individuals or groups with the aim to initiate problem-solving or change processes to control and evaluate. Counselors work with talk and intervention techniques, however, are comparable only in part with those of psychotherapists. In general, the depth is less intervention and the holistic approach, that is, the entire social environment of the client and its support systems are coming into focus more. A psychological training is not necessarily required; this are, for example, field knowledge and professional experience from neighboring areas of advantage - for example in Career Counseling.
In March 2010, on the initiative of the American Counseling Association (ACA ) of the USA 's leading professional groups have agreed to a one-year process of discussion on a common definition Counseling. The organizations involved in this process undertake to represent this definition active in their activities: " Counseling is a professional relationship did empowers diverse individuals, families and groups to accomplish mental health, wellness, education and career goals. " An analogous German translation by NBCC Germany reads: " Counseling is a professional relationship that individuals, families or groups with a diverse background in a position to achieve self-set goals in relation to their mental health, their welfare, their education and their careers. "
Activity profile
The term was known by the work of Carl Rogers, but is not limited to the Counseling modern methods of Rogers School. Although the theory of psychological counseling (American -engl. Counseling Psychology, British -engl. Counselling Psychology ) provides an important basis of Counseling, but comes the inventory of methods and from the American pragmatic, interactional, systems theory, or even life-world -oriented education and social work, that is, from working with (relatively) healthy individuals, but certain problems can not be solved alone and partially delegate their solution to experts. To the extent in which traditional social models turn out ( for example, the " normal biography " or the " healthy family " ) as too idealistic, created demand for advice and foreign knowledge dependent rises in the search for solutions.
Counselors often work with members of disadvantaged groups in the solution of concrete problems of everyday life. Objectives such as acquiring social skills, increasing self-responsibility or the health prevention. The transition to coaching is fluid because of the significant also in the Counseling emphasis on helping people help themselves. While coaching attaches more to the elimination of deficits, Counseling is often their strengths.
Variants of Counseling
There are several specializations of Counseling (Family Counseling, Family Planning Counseling, Health Counseling, School and Educational Counceling, Career Counseling, Employment Counseling, Adventure -Based Counseling / experiential education, gerontological counseling, Behavioral Health Counseling, Domestic Violence Counseling, Drug Addiction and Chemical Dependency counseling, community counseling, budgeting, credit or borrower counseling / debt Counseling, counseling Retreat, marriage counseling / marriage Counseling / marriage Counseling, Pastoral counseling in the church environment, etc.). But the American Counseling Association has 19 specialized departments ( divisions ). Many American universities offer some cases extremely specialized training and short training for these professions, which the holistic claim and provide the theoretical basis of the profession, however, often into question.
The difference between therapy and counseling can be illustrated by the example of Group Counseling, which is a help for healthy people with " They wish to resolve difficulties did are of a personal, educational, social, or vocational nature". Peer Counseling - that is, the advice from people in similar life situations, eg with other people who also live with a disability - is usually a means of qualified lay help. Co - Counseling is the group psychotherapy detail, but comes without therapists. Other forms of lay help, working with Counseling methods, there is in the health sector, such as the Mental Health Facilitator. The group-based counseling often uses methods from the repertoire of the empowerment movement.
The so-called E- Counseling or Online Counseling for which there are ethical guidelines since 2001 and since 2011 certification is in rapid development, especially in the United States. Meanwhile, the term Distance Counseling has prevailed.
Professional organizations and training
In the U.S., counseling has a long tradition. The Counseling training is there is often a range of educational departments ( Department of Education ). Licensed Professional Counselor is a protected professional title and sets an academic master's degree and clinical experience and supervision experience ahead. The final examination and approval is by federal laws and state laws - for example in Colorado, Iowa and South Carolina - regulated. Usual exams are eg National Counselor Examination for Licensure and Certification (NCE ) or the National Certified Mental Health Counselor Examination ( NCMHCE ). In the U.S., the discipline has its own professional associations ( - ACA National Board for Certified Counselors - NBCC, Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs - CACREP, Chi Sigma Iota - American Counseling Association CSI ) borders significantly from the psychotherapist. The associations shall ensure compliance with its code of ethics.
In Britain, the activity of the Counsellors of the psychotherapist is closer than in the U.S., while in Germany, clinical psychologists are employed in many occupations in which work in the U.S. Counselors with education and scientific background.
The American Counseling models are recently adapted in Europe, Asia and Latin America and in parts of Africa in a different form, which has to do with each different competition from professional associations. NBCC International, based in Greensboro (North Carolina) is represented with branches in many countries around the world. The strong binding to the American Counseling tradition occasionally leads to accusations that the methodology of the compartment subject to a cultural bias and was not transferable to Asian and other countries. The cross-cultural adaptation of the developed methods in the U.S. and Europe thus represents a massive challenge he discipline, what their increasing importance, especially in Asia does not detract.
In Germany the Counseling - term is not protected. The possibility of in-service training as part of a Master's program of employers and employees is still rarely used. Previously offered only the Ohm University in Nuremberg in cooperation with the Grundig -Stiftung, a further study of forming a "Master of Arts in Counseling ", which was reinstated. The Theological College Friedensau offers an MA full-time degree program in Counseling, the BayTech Academy an MA " Counseling - Theory and practice of counseling in business and social work ." An internationally implemented and certified training in the area of Career Counseling is the Global Career Development Facilitator, which is offered in Germany by the IUK Institute. As of 2011, the "Master of Arts in Counselling - Person-centered counseling " was at the Protestant University of Applied Sciences in Bochum offered in cooperation with the company for academic psychotherapy ( AMLA).
In general, a Counselor- Education is not arrested a particular theoretical school. To access methods of client-centered communication skills used as well as supervision techniques, methods of systemic consultation, or reflexive social research.
Labor market
The in Germany only gradually evolving labor market for Counselors overlaps with the labor market for social workers, social workers, educators, case managers, health educators and partly also psychologists. Counselors are as professionals, for example, at a family support, youth services, rehabilitation, addiction counseling, vocational counseling, job placement and unemployment assistance, educational counseling or supervision - as a self-employed - engaged.