Chapter Thirteen: The Future of Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Chapter Overview
This final chapter looks at the current status of clinical mental health counseling and then
considers what the future might hold. The text reflects on the strengths and weaknesses of the
profession, and how capitalizing on these strengths can result in enhanced services to clients.
person. The interrelationship between personal and spiritual formation, with practices of positive
mental health, has been demonstrated empirically. An appreciation of spirituality increases
counselor sensitivity to religious and spiritual practices of their clients, and the inclusion of
spiritual and religious concepts and techniques can contribute to the effectiveness of traditional
counseling interventions. The biologicalization of psychopathology and wellness is another
opportunities will continue to present themselves. The overall demand for mental health
counselors is expected to grow faster than average for other professions in the coming years.
Even with this bright outlook, mental health counselors much overcome obstacles and
become more assertive. With fifty different licensure laws, professionals must identify strategies
that preserve strengths of the specialization while presenting a unified front to obtain parity with
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this chapter, students should be able to:
• Describe the current trends including spirituality, biologicalization of psychopathology
and wellness, and economic context.
Key Words/Terms
reinforce alternative brain states that lead to changes in behavior
Lecture Outline for Chapter Twelve
The Future of Clinical Mental Health Counseling
I. Introduction
A. Discussed the present but now the future
B. Bright future but obstacles to overcome
II. Current Factors Influencing the Profession
A. Professional Credentialing
1. Helps establish professional recognition and identity
3. Licensure laws do not fully reflect the knowledge and skills specified in
the CACREP training model
B. Consolidation of Professional Identity
1. 20/20 definition of counseling
2. Professional title will bring counselor identity into focus
C. Political and Economic Climate
1. Medicare and the ability to practice independently under TRICARE are
the two most important legislative issues for professional advocacy
3. Section 2703 of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010)
4. Faith-based ministries attempting to help fill the gap
5. Graduate program-operated counseling clinics also helping carry the load
D. New Models and Delivery Systems
1. Increase in brief, solution-focused, and evidence-based approaches
2. Integrated behavioral health care-an emerging trend in which mental
health counselors work in the same offices with primary health providers
3. Current trend is a move toward full integration of mental and medical
health care services
a. Majority of health care occurs in medical settings
III. Contemporary Trends in Application of Counseling Theory
A. Spirituality
2.Link may be detected between the qualities and practices of spirituality
and mental health
4.Counselors needs to be sensitive to the diversity within specific religious
groups
5.Counselors integrating spiritual and religious concepts into counseling
interventions
B. Biologicalization of Psychopathology and Wellness
1.Biologicalization defined: all aspects of human behavior including
3.Profession being revolutionized by biologicalization of mental health
a. Counselors consult with psychiatrists and non-psychiatric family
medicine practitioners
4. Neurocounseling and neurofeedback: neuroscience-informed counseling
approaches
a. Neurocounseling defined- empirically supported factors are
retained in counseling while theory-based explanations of change
are shed. Includes concepts of epigenetics, neuroplasticity,
C. Economic Context and Application of Theory
IV. Strengths of the Contemporary Mental Health Counseling Profession
A. Underlying philosophy, theoretical base, and training model equips the profession
to meet the needs and demands of contemporary society
B. Legislators, policymakers, and third-party reimbursers increasingly see the mental
health counseling profession as an important contributor of services
C. Mental health counselors are finding numerous job opportunities in mental health-
related professions
1. Overall demand expected to grow faster than average
3. Why?
a. Managed care willing to reimburse because less costly
b. More people seeking treatment
c. Less stigma attached
V. The Struggles of the Contemporary Mental Health Counseling Profession
A. The 50 licensure laws makes it difficult to speak of the profession as a unified
entity
B. Tension between the ACA and AMHCA throughout recent decades
C. Difficulties in becoming a major player in the shaping of specific issues and
trends affecting contemporary public mental health and the delivery of services
VI. How to Live Out Who We Are: Enacting the Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Paradigm
A. Should be at the forefront of conducting basic research and program evaluation of
B. A unique vision of mental health counseling must emerge—primarily of our own
making
C. Must expend more efforts in applied research
D. Developing a more broad, ecologically-based diagnostic scheme that takes into
account the client’s health-related activities within their social context
E. International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) describes
behavior by:
1. Physiologic, physical, and psychological functions
3. Their actual participation in life activities
F. Keep improving advanced training programs
References/Resources for Chapter Thirteen
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Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. (2015). 2015 CACREP Standards.
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