The Counseling Faculty are committed to preparing multiculturally competent counseling professionals for school, community, and higher education settings who can facilitate positive change in the development and interactions of diverse individuals throughout their lifespans. The Faculty are also committed to the generation and application of knowledge about counseling and related issues and techniques.
Many attempts have been over the years to define counseling. In 1997 the Governing Council of the American Counseling Association (ACA) adopted a definition of professional counseling as, “... the application of mental health, psychological or human development principles, through cognitive, affective, behavioral or systemic interventions, strategies that address wellness, personal growth, or career development, as well as pathology.” Another helpful website is the Illinois Counseling Association website. Check out the various counseling divisions on both the national and state levels.
In the fourth edition to his text, Counseling: A comprehensive profession, Professor Samuel T. Gladding, a counselor educator at Wake Forest University, has expounded on the implicit and explicit points contained in the above definition:
Counseling is a profession. This denotes that (1) counselors complete a prescribed courses of study leading to a graduate degree, (2) counselors belong to organizations that have professional and ethical standards, (3) counselors are certified or licensed by state and national associations, (4) counselors must meet minimal educational and professional standards, and (5) counselors are proactive in dealing with different life and societal problems.
Counseling deals with wellness, personal growth, career, and pathological concerns. This part of the definition suggests that counselors work with both intra- and interpersonal concerns in areas that include schools, families, and careers.
Counseling is conducted with persons who are considered to be functioning well and those who have more serious problems. What this suggests is that counseling meets the needs of a wide variety of people. Many clients of counselors are experiencing developmental or situational concerns that require attention. Often these problems can be treated with short-term interventions. If necessary many counselors may provide treatment of psychological disorders as described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (1994) of the American Psychiatric Association.
Counseling is theory based. Counseling practice draws on a wide variety of theoretical approaches that encompass the cognitive, behavioral, and affective dimensions as well as interpersonal and systemic. Theories may be applied to individuals, groups, families, and organizations.
Counseling includes various specialties. Many counselors focus their practice in a specialty that requires advanced knowledge. This specialty deals with a particular group of clients and often takes place in a particular setting. Common specialties within counseling include school counseling, rehabilitation counseling, addiction and offender counseling, mental health counseling, marriage and family counseling, career counseling and gerontological counseling.
You may also want to review information about courses on the Courses & Schedules Page, and other resources on the Resources & Forms Page.