Loading...

Question

Counselling Advocacy Discussion

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.‌‌‌‍‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‌‍

Expert Solution

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/

Please enter your email address to h

  • 100% Plagiarism-free
  • 100% Human-written
Blurred answer