Advocacy and developmental frameworks in the counseling profession

Advocacy

Proposal How Advocacy Affects the Counseling Profession: Innovations

More and more researchers are studying the ways advocacy can benefit not only clients but also the counseling profession. Advocacy is one method counselors can use to increase their influence in the community and change the environment their clients work in. Advocacy may also help strengthen the profession and aid counselors whose goal is to not only treat patients but also help them develop and grow.

A new model of advocacy proposes that counselors become community advocates, taking collective action to change the environment as well as their reputation in the community. Professional counselors can also work to raise awareness in the community of their programs and abilities. This will help strengthen the profession and improve counselor's abilities to help develop patients in the long-term.

New Framework For Advocacy

For one to promote a framework of advocacy in the counseling profession it is first important to understand what advocacy is. Home & Martin (1998) define advocacy as a method "based on the belief that individual or collective action must be taken to right injustices or improve conditions for the benefit of individuals or groups" (284). Lee (1998) also defines advocacy as "the process or act or arguing or pleading for a cause or proposal" (8).

It requires that counselors take action. In recent years the issue of advocacy in counseling has drawn much attention. Much of this attention is meant to change the role of a counselor from a static to a functional agent responsible for changing any practices that might limit their client's opportunities for success (Lee, 2001). Many believe the idea of advocacy and the counseling profession is not compatible (Myers, Sweeney & White, 2002).

Some have even suggested the counseling profession has moved away from functionality and more toward a less socially engaged process many view undesirably (Myers, Sweeney & White, 2002). While most advocacy efforts historically have focused on the needs of school counselors, today advocacy is something that can relate to all aspects of counseling (McWhirter, 1997).

A new framework proven successful for promoting clients success is developmental advocacy which strengthen counseling programs by focusing on developing clients instead of preventing or remediating bad circumstances (Akos & Galassi, 2004). A new model for patients to adopt would be one that includes skills, knowledge and attitude promotion to help clients develop and thrive, and in certain circumstances gain competence.

One new way the counseling profession can change is to adopt advocacy efforts that encourage counselors to change the environment their clients engage in every day to help promote and develop clients. This will compel counselors becoming more involved in their communities and in outreach programs, and will increase the effort necessary to work with clients successfully. Counselors may enlist the assistance of professional associations to help spread information about their practices and programs to interested community members (Akos & Galassi, 2004).

Conclusions

Advocacy is an important component of the counseling profession. In times of old advocacy issues were primarily reserved for the educational or school counseling field. Today however, new approaches to advocacy can benefit counselors and clients in any type of counseling arrangements.

A new model of advocacy must include community involvement and developmental advocacy to help strengthen counselor's ability to improve patient's outcome for the future. Counselors should work toward not simply treating patients, but also work toward developing them and helping amend the communities in which they live so that the community in turn also supports itself and the counselor's potential clients.

For counselors to effectively adopt an advocacy framework they must first assert their mission as promotion of optimal development and improvement for all patients (Lewis, Cheek & Hendricks, 2001; Kiselica & Robinson, 2001). Akos & Galassi support a developmental advocacy framework instead of a client advocacy framework, which is the traditional method adopted by most counselors. Developmental advocacy enables counselors to work more toward "changing an environment so it meets the needs of clients" (Bradley & Lewis, 3).