Developing a tentative theory of caring professional counseling approaches

Licensed professional counselors are individuals who are certified to provide a high level of quality health as well as substance abuse care to hundreds and possibly millions of Americans (American Counseling Association, 2012; 2006). These individuals possess either a masters or doctorate degree in the field of counseling or any other related field which includes a coursework or internship in human behavior and development. They also have effective counseling strategies and ethical practice I various other knowledge areas. More than 80,000 professional counselors who are licensed in close a total of 48 states together with the District of Columbia State licensure are usually required to have either a master's or doctorate degree, 2-3 years of supervised clinical experience as well as the passage of a counseling examination. In the states where licensure or any other certifications are not required, the professional counselors are required to be certified by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC). Participation in various continuing education programs is usually required for the renewal of either the license or certification (American Counseling Association, 2012). There is a need for counseling professional like myself to adhere to strict code of ethics aimed at the protection of the confidentiality of various elements of counseling relationships, prohibition of discrimination as well as the understanding of and the respect for diverse cultural backgrounds (embrace multiculturalism) (Patterson,1996;Sue, Arredondo, McDavis,1992). In this paper, I present a reflective account of a tentative theory and approaches to guide ones method of becoming a caring, professional counselor. I also integrate multicultural issues and ground all assertions in the professional literature. The paper also discusses how helping professional's theoretical orientation assists them in working with a specific population-adolescents and young adults. I also discuss how I plan to use the eclectic approach. I also address what current trends will impact my work with my population (such as the rise in use of synthetic drugs).

The road to being a caring and professional counselor

The road to becoming a caring and professional counselor requires a lot of determination and patience. In order for one to be deemed a professional in counseling, it is necessary for one to have a personal commitment to towards the realization of this goal. This means that one must be prepared psychologically and otherwise to assume the roles and duties of a counselor. Apart from personal commitment, it is also necessary to acquire the necessary certifications and approvals from the relevant authorities. Issues of ethics and multiculturalism must also be clear to the would-be counselor.

People have various reasons for deciding to become a professional counselor. Some individuals choose this kind of career because at one point in life, they had a good experience with a certain counselor during a very difficult time in their life. Yet again, some people may have done some sort of volunteer work at a given crisis hotline and they realized that there is some satisfaction and enjoyment in working with a client who is facing difficult times. The desire must therefore exist become one decides to become a counselor.

My experience in counseling had taught me that it can offer a rewarding career path in our health care profession. It however requires a very strong desire to effectively interact with individuals as well as the ability to successfully complete a graduate degree. Choosing to become a professional counselor is therefore noted to require commitment at a personal level; this commitment must be extended to others as well as to the general society.

The need for multiculturalism in counseling

Research indicates that clients from ethnic and racial minority groups are the least likely to sort the services of a professional counselor. The explanation of this phenomenon is that counseling is an ethnocentric activity which is based on values of the global white middle classes, a view which can effectively alienate people from other cultures (NGRF,2004).There is therefore a need for a multicultural approach to the concept of counseling in order to challenge the general assumption that a certain interviewing style is transferable to all individuals/clients. In this section, I explore the theory of multicultural counseling as well as models of multiculturalism with an examination of their implication on counseling practice.

The theory of multicultural counseling and theory

From my experience, I would readily acknowledge that all of the clients I have interacted with possess unique qualities. These individual differences must no doubt be respected and accepted. This is in contrast of the assumption that a certain interviewing approach can successfully be transferred and applied across a wide range of counseling clients. The very view that challenges this assumption is multicultural counseling.

The work of Sue et al. (1996) is what proposed and pioneer the theory of multicultural counseling and therapy (MCT). This theory was considered to be necessary due to the inadequacies that rocked the current theories informing the contemporary counseling practice. There are several underlying assumptions in regard to this theory. Some of the most important ones include the following views:

The current theories of psychotherapy and counseling are inadequate in the description, explanation, prediction as well as dealing with the current issues of cultural diversity.

Diversification is currently occurring at a rapid pace that will make mental-health professionals to increasingly interact with clients as well as client groups from different racial, cultural and ethnic groups.

Mental-health professionals ate never adequately prepared to employ multicultural counseling practices.

Multiculturalism presents a fourth dimension to the existing three traditional assistance orientations (cognitive, existential-humanistic and psychodynamic).

Individualism is rampant in the counseling profession and is strongly affecting psychotherapy and counseling.

Multicultural counseling therefore involves a counseling approach that embraces a wide range of social differences and variables. Such variables and differences include gender, disability, age, social class, sexual preference, religion and ethnicity. The work of Pederson (1994) proposed a broader definition of the concept of multicultural counseling that includes ethnographic variables like ethnicity, religion, nationality and language as well as demographic variables like age, place of residence and gender; status variables like social, educational was well as economic; and other affiliations like formal affiliations to a family or organizations and including informal affiliations to certain ideas and a lifestyles (p.229). Every would be counselor must be aware of this broad definition since it captures the ideas that each and every person have several different cultures as well as identities with each of these identities becoming relevant at various times and space. Every practitioner, researcher and theoretician in the field of counseling is therefore challenged to rethink the true meaning of counseling while paying special attention to family as well as cultural concerns. These concepts are indeed helpful in dealing with the problems facing adolescents and young adults like suicides, drug abuse as well as recidivism to committing crime.