History of the Professional Identity Project

Hello. My name is Megan Mac Levy and today I'll

be presenting on the history of professional identity.

First off I would like to start by discussing the

history and the development of clinical mental health counseling.

It was described as a profession that arose in response

to societal changes of the late 19th century.

The movement came from a primarily farm based society to

a society dependent on manufacturing and transportation.

And it was created for vocational guidance and industrial and

educational settings.

It was used to focus on fighting skill sets for

employers and it has now shifted to more of a

needs and well being perspective and the shift occurred partly

due to the person centered approach.

So it started out as helping individuals find what they

enjoyed, what they were good at just trying to help

them find jobs.

And of course we know that that shift has happened

and now we focus more on the well being of

our clients.

Clinical mental health counseling developed a mental health counselors were

not organized.

They had no professional identity distinct from guidance counselors.

So those that worked in agencies hospitals private practices, they

found that they didn't have a professional home.

Out of this came the formation of the A.

M. H.

C. A.

And the counselor finally had a professional voice but still

didn't have professional identity.

Some of the distinctions of clinical mental health counseling.

Clinical mental health counseling is the only helping professional qualified

and licensed at a master's level.

The primarily primary role was to distinguish counselors and psychiatrist

or social workers was to counsel.

So mental health counselors are also skilled to employ diagnostics

assessments in case management practices, um but we know that

psychologist psychiatrist, they practice at a doctoral level.

Um Out of this came the wellness model versus the

medical model.

The medical medical model is a way for those in

the helping profession help a client from a pathology perspective.

So it looks at mental health like any other illness

and treatment practice, and it was borrowed from medicine and

it would be effective in handling mental health in more

of a pathology perspective.

The wellness models of strength based approach to mental health

concerns and this is the model that counselors use and

it's unique to the mental health field and its development.

And just to explain that a little bit more so

that other mental health professions such as psychologist psychiatrist, they

view mental and emotional concerns as illnesses from a diagnostic

perspective. And mental health counselors focus on it from more

of an emotional perspective and um concerns as part of

a normal development clinical mental health counselor, they operate from

the wellness perspective and they receive additional training in the

medical model and in pathology Under the presidency of John

F. Kennedy, the Community Mental Health Act of 1963 was

established. So prior to the 1960s, virtually all mental health

treatment was provided on an inpatient basis in hospitals and

institutions. It was found that patients who improved while institutionalized,

could remain stable longer if they received ongoing care in

their communities.

So the creation of community based facilities um really just

helped communities and those struggling with mental health.

It also increased jobs for counselors and the professional clinical

mental health counseling grew out of this.

So the next thing that I would like to talk

about is professional identity.

So what is professional identity?

It's it's more than attending and presenting at conferences but

it is also about building and identifying strong relationships because

that is a very important part.

It is It's built in the 2-4 years devoted to

acquiring a master's degree.

But you're going to continue to build on your professional

identity throughout your career membership in professional organizations such as

the A.

C. A attending attendance at professional conferences, pursuing leadership organizations

such as the chi sigma iota on our society will

help build upon professional development for my personal professional identity.

I started here at U.

N. K.

I am in my second semester of the clinical mental

health counseling program and I believe that you know working

with seasoned professionals, going to trainings and conferences is going

to really build on my professional identity.

Um But I really do see myself working with a

population after graduation of marriage and family based counseling which

would require me to get additional powers of supervision with

a licensed M.

F. T.

In the state of Nebraska.

Additional court coursework in training um would also be included

on top of the 3000 hours that I also need

to complete.

My L.

M. H.

P. I would also be very interested in becoming a

certified play therapist which would require me again to get

a supervisor who is licensed as a registered play therapist,

take a number of courses and within the discipline of

play therapy um gained those minimum number of hours with

my supervisor and just continue building on.

Uh huh My professional identity.

I would really describe myself as a solution focus and

strength based counselor.

So I try to look beyond the next few years

of 5, 10 years down the road where am I

going to be in and continue to build on who

I am as a counselor and build upon that identity.

Next I want to talk about some counseling organizations.

The first one I would like to talk about is

the american counseling association.

The A.

C. A.

Probably the most common counseling organization that I have heard

of. The benefits include free continuing education, credits updates on

legislation affecting counseling, access to current research.

As well as training programs, scholarly and practice publications, as

well as an annual national conference A.

C. A membership do support ongoing legislation, lobbying efforts.

Only half the professional counselors.

Members of the A.

C. A.

May choose to affiliate with one or more of 18

divisions within the A.

C. A.

That provide a home for counselors with interest in special

counseling specializations.

The next organization I want to talk about I chose

because I do have a strong interest in marriage and

family therapy.

So it's the International Family Therapy Association or the F.

T. A.

With this, the benefits you receive.

A subscription to the Journal of Family psychotherapy and International

Connection newsletter, providing updates about the organization and additional articles

written by members worldwide highlighting research in marriage and family

therapy. The EFTA promotes continuing education and the development of

quality standards for marriage and family therapy in order that

family therapists may better assist families in communities that they

serve. Right.

The last point I would like to talk about today

is advocacy.

So why is advocacy important in counseling first?

I just want to talk a little bit about social

advocacy. So, clinical mental health counselors, they lead the charge

and advocating for systematic changes by directly and indirectly advocating

for their clients.

Counseling is a professional relationship that empowers diverse individuals, families

and groups to accomplish mental health wellness education and career

goals. So clinical mental health counselors must reject any notion

of neutrality and we have to be able to help

our clients meet them.

Whether at we have to be able to recognize multicultural

aspects. We have to be able to recognize privilege.

We have to be able to recognise oppression and we

have to be able to give our clients the resources

that they need just a little bit more about advocacy.

So why advocate advocacy for our clients means that counselors

not will not only be there to help him to

talk to clients, but also give them the resources that

they may need.

Um, so whether that be a client that comes in

and says that they feel like they've been discriminated in

the workplace or we need to be able to advocate

for those struggling um in domestic violence situations.

And that's just a couple examples of of why we

need to be able to advocate for our clients and

give them the resources that they need.

Clients need to be able to come into a space

and feel like they're safe, know that their voice will

be heard.

And counselors have two play a big part in being

change agents and for social policy and lessening discrimination and

increasing the well being of the disadvantage.

So we have to be able to advocate for our

clients. Um, given the relationship between social injustice and mental

health issues and the connections between privilege and oppression, mental

health counselors must be able to identify and understand complexities

of clients and how many of our clients have multiple

identities. Um, and it's imperative that clinical mental health counselors

have the knowledge and skills to be able to give

clients the resources that they need.

So thank you for listening to my presentation today

History of the Professional Identity Project

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