CS Features – Expert Interviews, Guides, Professional Advocacy & Research in Counseling

Joining a counseling profession is about more than understanding licensing requirements and reading step-by-step guides. This is a profession committed to continued education, listening, and learning. To be a successful counselor or therapist, you have to be engaged with and aware of the larger conversations in the community.

Whether you are just starting your counseling career or already working in the field, CS features cover topics relevant to you. It holds scholarship and resource guides, expert interviews, tips for avoiding burnout and compassion fatigue, discussions of the latest academic research, and detailed analyses of the most pressing advocacy issues within counseling professions. Overall, we bring you into the conversation around the biggest issues in counseling and professions today.

Reexamining the Monoamine Hypothesis of Depression – What “Chemical Imbalance” Theories Miss

Calendar Icon 02/09/23 Laura Freberg, PhD

It is time to reject the monoamine hypothesis of depression once and for all. Alternate hypotheses focusing on stress, the gut-brain axis, inflammation, and cortisol activity might bring us closer to the truth and set the stage for more effective treatments for depression.

Guide to Life Transitions Counseling Careers & Schooling

Calendar Icon 02/08/23 Matt Zbrog

Whether it’s studied as part of a broader foundational degree, or through a specialized certificate program, life transitions counseling is an important skill for anyone working in mental health, but some careers focus on it more specifically.

Preventing Gun Violence & Reducing Trauma in the United States

Calendar Icon 01/31/23 Matt Zbrog

Gun violence is a public health crisis in the United States. Every day, over 100 Americans die from gun violence, and more than 200 survive a gunshot wound. More young people die from guns than from car crashes. The ripple effects of gun violence profoundly impact families, institutions, and communities.

National School Counseling Week Resource Guide (2023)

Calendar Icon 01/30/23 Matt Zbrog

This year’s National School Counseling Week will be celebrated from February 6-10, 2023. Sponsored by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), National School Counseling Week aims to bring public attention to the unique contribution of school counselors within US school systems, and how students are impacted by what school counselors do.

International Boost Self-Esteem Month Resource Guide (2023)

Calendar Icon 01/27/23 Matt Zbrog

February is International Boost Self-Esteem Month, an annual event dedicated to improving self-esteem among people across the globe. And it’s especially important this coming year after a series of lockdowns have forced everyone to spend more time alone with themselves than usual.

The Importance of Silence in Therapy

Calendar Icon 01/24/23 Lisa Hutchison, LMHC

An important part of the empathic process is holding the space or creating quiet moments for your client. It is in these times, when less is said, clients and counselors can have the most profound insights.

The Gut-Brain Connection: What Counselors Should Know

Calendar Icon 01/18/23 Laura Freberg, PhD

The gut is home to as many as 100 trillion microorganisms, weighing about two pounds in the adult, that make up the gut microbiome. The vagus nerve can sense metabolites produced during microbiome activity.

Dismantling Gender Dysphoria: A History in Waves

Calendar Icon 01/10/23 Alex Stitt, LMHC

Gender dysphoria is a complex diagnosis with a controversial and sociopolitical history that cannot be ignored. It’s also a very recent concept that should not overshadow the full scope of gender diversity throughout the ages.

Sleep Deprivation in College Students

Calendar Icon 01/06/23 Laura Freberg, PhD

College student culture makes bad sleep habits, such as staying up late, pounding energy drinks, having strange napping schedules, and pulling all-nighters, seem normative. Peers might single out students who actually pursue good sleep hygiene as being odd.

Codependency Awareness Month 2023 Advocacy Guide

Calendar Icon 01/03/23 Matt Zbrog

Codependency can be a tricky topic in the world of mental health. Broadly speaking, codependency means relying upon someone else to a detrimental extent, where the desire to help causes further harm.