Chapter 2
Professional Identity of Counselors
Focus Questions
1. How do you respond when your friends and relatives ask you what you are studying
in graduate school?
Points instructors may want to make:
• Defining counseling as a profession that is similar to another profession, such as
2. How do you think the wellness model of mental health espoused by counselors is
different from the illness model or medical model of mental health?
Points instructors may want to make:
• In the illness or medical model of mental health, the first thing a mental health
professional does is diagnose a client’s mental or emotional disorder. Once the
3. What are some of the major challenges facing the counseling profession today?
Points instructors may want to make:
• Fragmenting into separate groups along the lines of specialties, instead of working
In-Class Activity
Title: Counselor Professional Identity in the 21st Century
Learning
Goal: To understand contemporary issues facing the profession.
Procedures: Convene a class forum concerning the current state of the profession of
counseling and challenges to the profession in the 21st century. Have students discuss
Discussion
Questions: What role can students play in the professionalization of counseling?
What do you believe to be the major obstacles facing the counseling profession in the 21st
Point/Counterpoint (Debate) Topics
Title: Is counseling a profession?
Learning
Goal: To consider the criteria for being considered a profession and to compare the
status of counseling to those criteria.
Procedures: Assign (or all Question for Self-Reflection/Journaling
Allow students to volunteer) 2 groups of students (preferably 3-5 students in each) to
each take one of the positions described below and prepare a 5-minute argument in
Title: Is counseling truly a unique mental health profession that should have its own
licensure?
Learning
Goal: To consider the differences and similarities between counseling and other,
related mental health professions.
Point: The counseling profession is unique and distinctly different from other mental
vs.
Counterpoint: There are more similarities than differences between counseling and
other mental health professions and it would be more efficient and less
confusing for consumers if there were just one state license as a “mental
health professional.”
Outside Class Activity
Title: Becoming a licensed professional counselor, becoming a national certified counselor, obtaining
liability insurance, and joining ACA.
Learning
Goal: To begin taking the steps necessary to develop the identity of counselor.
Procedures: Ask students to visit the web site of their state licensure board to determine the procedures necessary to
become licensed or certified as a counselor in the state. Have students present a plan to acquire the
Question for Self-Reflection/Journaling
Question: What is my responsibility to advocate for my profession, and what are some actions I
will take, both
now and when I am a counseling practitioner, to fulfill that responsibility?
Case Study
Mike is a newly hired counselor at your agency. He comes highly recommended and is an
Case Study Discussion
i. What issues are present that might possibly affect Mike’s identity and role as a counselor?
ii. How might Mike’s supervisor and co-workers help Mike develop a strong identity as a
counselor?
1. Present on the American Counseling Association and the specialty areas within the
association (e.g., ACES, ASCA, AMHCA). Have students discuss the advantages of being
a member of ACA and one or more specialty divisions. Why is becoming a member of
professional counseling associations important for one’s identity as a counselor?
2. Have students interview counselors and other mental health professionals in the community
or at their practicum site or a school or agency concerning their knowledge about the