Counseling as a Profession

This book was written to provide a professional resource which describes comprehensively what a professional counselor is, what a professional counselor does, and where and when a professional counselor works. The first chapter presents a perspective on professional counseling and differentiates between professional counselors and other mental health specialists. Assumptions about professional counselors are discussed and the professional counselor is seen as a practitioner-scientist. The evolution of the counseling profession is reviewed in chapter 2 and the present-day counseling profession is described. The third chapter focuses on the professional preparation of counselors, defining issues in counselor preparation, and examining standards of preparation and accreditation. Chapter 4 reviews various theoretical models of counseling (psychoanalytic, client/person-centered, behavioral, cognitive, and affective models) and looks at counseling theory and practice. Chapters 5, 6, and 7 examine assessment and measurement, career development and counseling, and consultation, respectively. Chapter 8 focuses on research in professional counseling, providing suggestions for research designs, selection of variables and subjects, and statistical analyses. Chapter 9 examines trends in professional counseling, describing trends in both settings where professional counselors work and clientele with whom counselors work. Professionalism in counseling is the focus of chapter 10, which is followed by the Code of Ethics adapted from the Ethical Standards of the American Personnel and Guidance Association. (NB)