Highlighting the importance of mental health awareness
While one in five people will experience mental illness over the course of their lifetimes, everyone will face challenges that can and will affect their mental health. Observed every year on October 10, World Mental Health Day seeks to raise awareness of mental health issues and highlights efforts to support mental health.
Acknowledging the state of one’s mental health issues is important, and so is being able to seek help when you’re struggling. ACA has provided sharable graphics and resources to support counselors around the world who play a crucial role for those struggling with their mental health.
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Counselors are using happiness interventions to help clients redefine happiness and live a more fulfilling life.
Voice of Experience: The danger of misinterpreting risk
Fear and stigma can often cause people to incorrectly perceive individuals with a mental health disorder as a threat, which can have serious consequences.
To decrease the stigma around mental health in society, we must confront stigmatizing and biased thinking in the clinical world.
Voice of Experience: Disorders with the potential for dangerous outcomes
When working with people with disorders that are associated with more dangerous behaviors, counselors must be prepared to assess the client’s risk of violence to themselves and others.
Behind the Book: Q&A with Danica G. Hays
Danica G. Hays, author of Assessment in Counseling, discusses what’s new in the recently published seventh edition and how proper assessment of clients can help strengthen the therapeutic alliance.
Cultivating patience in counselors
A desire for change can sometimes cause counselors and clients to overlook the importance of building a sense of safety first.
Behind the Book: Counselor Self-Care (2nd edition)
Since the first edition of Counselor Self-Care came out in 2018, we have experienced many new stressors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, social injustice and political polarization.
The mental toll of adult bullying
Adult bullying is a social and mental health issue. Regardless of the reasons why a person is targeted by a bully, research shows that its impact can be disastrous to a person’s health and well-being.
Conceptualizing diagnosis through a social justice lens
Approaching diagnosis through a lens that considers systemic, cultural and ecological factors leads to better treatment outcomes for clients.
Everyone can remember being bullied. Maybe someone teased you relentlessly about your name because it “sounded funny” or they made fun of your physical appearance.
Building rapport with clients experiencing psychosis
Stigma and misunderstanding about clients with severe mental illnesses can prevent some counselors from taking the necessary steps to build a strong therapeutic relationship.
Recognizing burnout and compassion fatigue among counselors
Counselors have a responsibility to take care of their own mental health before they can help others with their well-being.
Is mindfulness a cure-all approach?
Mindfulness is often seen as a cure-all approach, but as with other clinical approaches, counselors should carefully consider when and how they integrate this practice into sessions.
4 steps to refresh, recharge and reconnect
Self-care is always easier said than done, but with these four steps, counselors can ensure they are taking time to care for and invest in themselves.
Find answers to common questions counselors have about the new edition of the DSM.
The lack of evidence-based research supporting somatic therapy raises skepticism among many clinicians, but for those who do use it with clients, the benefits are clear.
Building trust with reluctant clients
Rather than labeling hesitant clients as “resistant,” counselors should check their assumptions, work to better understand the underlying reasons and barriers these clients face, and double down on unconditional positive regard.
Past, present or future: Where do you usually live?
When you are in the present moment, you are not waiting for the next moment to be fulfilling or happy.
General Public Resources from the Counseling Corner
Removing Barriers to Change
The New Year is a time when many of us think about a new start, about changing something in our lives that hasn't been making us happy or hasn't been contributing to good health. It may be a commitment to stop smoking, to lose weight, to exercise more regularly or even to just spend more enjoyable time with those we love.
Changing behavior can be a good thing, but it's important to remember that change doesn't just happen overnight. There are frequently barriers that make changing behavior difficult.
In many cases we may not, at first, even recognize that there is a behavior that needs to be changed. We may even feel a desire to continue that behavior, to deny that we need to change ("Smoking relaxes me.").
When you do identify a less than desirable behavior, consider the pros and cons of making the change. How your life will be better, or worse, if you do or don't make the desired change.
Next identify the barriers that can keep you from taking action. Maybe you aren't motivated enough. Maybe friends and family won't really support your actions and you'll feel isolated or silly. Are there financial limitations that keep you from moving forward? Will a dietary change make your food choices more expensive? Does it seem impossible to find time for that gym or other regular exercise?
Once you identify your barriers to change, then make a plan on how to overcome them. Check if healthier food choices really will raise your food bill. Look at your schedule and see where you could fit in brisk walks or aerobics classes. If it's a difficult change, maybe smoking cessation, check with your physician, a professional counselor, or local hospital program for resources to help you.
You want to develop a real commitment and passion for changing the behavior you've identified. Make a plan, put it into action, and then work to maintain that plan.
Most importantly, if you relapsed to your old behavior, don't give up. Look carefully at why you've stalled or slipped and seek ways to overcome that issue when you try again.
Don't try to change several things all at once. And don't give up if you don't succeed the first time you try! Serious behavioral changes are always difficult, but with good planning they are achievable.
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