Counseling Specializations and Multidisciplinary Teams

 Unit 6: Counseling Specializations and Multidisciplinary Teams

Debbie Myers

COUN 5004  – SURVEY OF RESEARCH IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT FOR PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS

Dr. Brenda Harms

August 20, 2017

The goal of counseling is to enhance wellness and advocate for greater wellness by building on the foundation of holism, which was expanded based on Adler’s belief in the unity of the indivisible self, that we are more than the sum of all parts and cannot be divided (Myers & Sweeney, 2008).  Our total being, which is made up of our emotions, our thinking, our identity, our behavior, and other elements cannot be explained in isolation because they all work together to bring about a sense of balance in our lives.  Likewise, there is not a mental health profession that can effectively address and resolve any imbalances of all the components, that make up the whole person (Mellin, Hunt, Nichols, 2011).  For this reason, it is necessary for counseling professionals to take a collaborative approach with other mental health professionals to provide maximum service to our clients.

This paper will briefly discuss the evolution of counseling and its history, as well as the development of two specializations, marriage and family therapy and school counseling and how they can work collaboratively to meet the various need need in a client.

Historical Perspective of Key Philosophies

Wellness has become a counseling paradigm that offer strategies in evaluating clients, theorizing issues progressively, and planning mediations to end dysfuction and promote growth.

The first writing about wellness was by Artistotle in 5th Century B.C., to explain the scientific reason for health and illness and distinguish a good health model. The development of counseling as a profession was initially engrained in a developmental guidance approach, based on the idea that humans need help to make wise decisions. Present day this method is mirrored in a ideology variously defined in terms of prevention, development and wellness. Fundamentally, this new model blended body, mind, and spirit with the purpose of understanding health and wellness (Myers & Sweeney, 2015).

Wellness is not just the absence of illness but a multidimensional paradigm, (Roscoe, 2009) that describes the “total person” in cultivating their quality of life, physically, mentally, socially and spiritually in practical and positive behaviors (Witmer & Sweeney, 1992).  It is not an end state but a continuum that helps an individual function in an environment by maintaining balance and intentional directions (Roscoe, 2009). According to Myers and Sweeney (2008), professional counselors seek to encourage wellness, through developmental and preventive interventions. These intervention strategies that counselors use help clients become more resilient, to achieve a positive outcome in what could be a negative outcome. The evaluation of these resiliency factors can help counselors come up with an intervention plan to help the "at risk client" respond to their stress or crisis (Rak and Patterson, 1996).

Impact of a Wellness Model

In order to explain the higher order of wellness, the first wellness model known as the  Wheel of Wellness, which is the foundation of counseling,  was developed to explain the correlation between health, quality of life and longevity. Consequently, the components of the Wheel of Wellness did not prove the idea of wellness interaction. So, Myers & Sweeney et al. (2008), established the Indivisible Self-Wel Model, an evidence based model, based on the theory that “change in one area will contribute to or cause change in other areas” (p. 485), for good or bad.  The Indivisible Self Model takes an inventory of an individual using the five factors of wellness, creative, coping, social, physical, and essential (Myers & Sweeney, 2008). Counselors use these components as a tool to measure the wellness of a client based on their behavior and demonstrate to the individual how the interacting of all the elements can lead to a positive change.

Key Concepts of Preferred Specialization

 Even though the first Marriage and Family Counseling Center was established in New York by Abraham and Hannah Stone (Noah, 2005), the practice of marriage and family counseling did not begin to develop until the 1950’s (Kuehl, 2008). Although there were several psychiatrists that contributed to this evolution, it was Murray Bowen who recognized that if the family dynamics did not change, rarely would there be any long-lasting change in an individual (Metcalf, 2011). Thus, certain psychiatrists challenged the norm and began to meet with whole families. Later Marriage and Family Therapy began to shift to a post-modern approach, where counselors became “consultants” versus experts and allowed free flowing conversation for clients to share in uninhibited discussions (Kuehl, 2008). Today, the marriage and family therapy and counseling movement is leaving the traditional psychotherapeutic importance of an individual family member and focusing on the family as an integrated system (Smith, Carlson, Stevens-Smith, Dennison, 1995).

Key Concepts of another Specialization

School counselors nowadays have moved to a systematic approach (McMahon, Mason, Daluga-Guenther, & Ruiz, 2014), somewhat like marriage and family therapy.  They use their skills to reduce the outcome of environmental and institutional obstacles that might otherwise hinder student success by standing in as a mediator between students and their school environment.  School counselors support parents and students within the educational system (Laundy & Abucewics, 2011), by successfully collaborating with the community of the school in an attempt to increase student performance (McMahon, Mason, Daluga-Guenther, & Ruiz, 2014).  In addition, they are the medium between the community and the school to connect families with resources they would not be able to access on their own (Serres & Nelson, 2011). School counseling is progressing more towards an ecological perspective that seeks to understand how the interactions within schools and between schools and their communities affect student achievement and just how these relations help them to develop effective interventions that can accurately target causative dynamics across various levels (McMahon, Mason, Daluga-Guenther, & Ruiz, 2014).

School counselors and teachers are usually the first to know when a child is having issues at home because children will divulge information to them before anyone else (Rotter & Boveja, 1999).  The school can represent an outside form of referral for the child. Unfortunately, school counselors are unable to do long-term therapy on a consistent basis because of their heavy workload.  It is not always easy to find a family therapist who is capable of working with families and schools.  It is imperative that family therapist remain in constant contact with the school counselor so that productive exchange can take place. The counselor could give the marriage and family counselor an update on the child’s progress in school and if the therapy is having a positive or negative affect on them. The therapist can inform the counselor of any beneficial interventions that could end in a change or disruption in their academic performance.  The collaboration between the therapist and counselor ensure that the therapy is working in its fullest potential (Rotter & Bovejo, 1999).