So...
"advocacy is a core component of the identity of the professional
counselor", and yet, we usually get paid by our schools, agencies, or
practices to provide specific services and perform specific job duties, which
almost never involve taking time to write an email to a state senator about a
bill funding mental health services in schools, or calling a child's
psychiatrist from the school to discuss problems the child is reporting with
medications, or taking an ACA survey about licensure
portability efforts for LPC's. And yet, we are being told this is a core part
of the profession we are entering. How to we incorporate advocacy into our
routine and job as working people?
Does
it feel more important to advocate for clients' needs than for our profession's
funding, credentialing, and recognition?
How
do you feel about taking action outside of your defined work responsibilities
to be an advocate?
(I am studying to be a mental health
counselor, not a school counselor.
Advocacy is not an
afterthought; it is at the heart of all counselling sessions. It aids
lawmakers' and policymakers' education, guarantees regulatory monitoring, and
protects the scope of practice. As a result, mental health counselling advocacy
is taking actions to enhance one's well-being, focusing on eradicating or
decreasing impediments to counsellors' ability to deliver services. Advocacy
actions can help to increase counsellors' visibility on the local, state, and
national scales. Counsellors should not overlook the value of promoting the
sector's growth via initiatives in their local areas. Therefore, describing
advocacy in any counselling endeavour indicates how it can be incorporated into
one's routine and job, the importance of advocating for client needs and
defining work responsibilities for anyone becoming an advocate.
Incorporating advocacy
into one's daily activities and employment is essential in many respects. The
endeavour should therefore be done through planned initiatives. However, one of
the largest obstacles to getting individuals to participate in an advocacy
program is persuading them that there would be a personal gain, specifically in
advocating for client needs (Advocacy
Task Force, 2020). For instance, a mental health counsellor must respond to the
commonly posed question of what is in it for the people they are counselling
before introducing a formal or casual approach (Advocacy Task Force, 2020). The easiest approach to
achieve this is to show how the substance of the endeavour will improve one's
daily activities and express its advantages. This motivates the parties to take
part in the advocacy set. Therefore, counsellors should not undervalue the
significance of promoting the field through actions conducted in their local
communities since advocacy efforts help to increase counsellors' visibility on
the local, regional, and national scales (Advocacy Task Force, 2020). Additionally, taking action without
the assistance of a mental health counsellor might be useful in outlining job
tasks to advance advocacy (Advocacy
Task Force, 2020). Therefore, advocacy plays a clear role in motivating
endeavours that increase a counsellor's visibility at all levels.
Describing advocacy in
any counselling endeavour indicates how it can be incorporated into one's
routine and job, the importance of advocating for client needs and defining
work responsibilities for anyone becoming an advocate. Before establishing a
formal or informal strategy, a mental health counsellor must address the
frequently asked issue of what is in it for the clients they are treating. As a
result, advocacy is important in inspiring actions that raise a counsellor's
awareness at all levels—in addition to incorporating its relevance into one's
daily activities and employment, as well as outlining work obligations for
everyone who wants to become an advocate. As a result, advocacy influences
actions that raise a counsellor's exposure at all levels.
References
Advocacy Task Force, A. (2020). Professional
advocacy: A call to the profession - Counseling Today. Counseling Today. https://ct.counseling.org/2020/06/professional-advocacy-a-call-to-the-profession/.