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

I subscribe to a number of medical newsfeeds, and the responses from the physicians to the GLP-1 agonists can only be described as “giddy.” Doctors spoke of their joy at “finally” having something that could help their patients lose weight.

Schools can be inclusive of transgender and nonbinary students and support them in initiating that conversation with peers and teachers; however, not all schools do, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2022 school profile data. The data released in March 2024 shows that the state a child lives in can impact whether or not they feel welcome at school—a dynamic with potentially deadly consequences for LGBTQ+ youth.

Somatic therapy focuses on the client’s physical experience by identifying how their body stores and releases stress. For many, this approach is quite intuitive, yet some anxious clients may initially struggle. Stressed out, over-caffeinated, and bouncing between past regrets and existential crises, they may have spent many years bypassing the discomfort in their bodies, doing mental gymnastics to stay cerebral.

Many families grapple with this question when trying to identify underlying mental health issues their child may be facing. Still, it is a complicated question. Throughout the stages of development—from toddlerhood to the preteen years and beyond—different challenges emerge, and each stage is defined by very different behaviors.

Many clients disconnect from their thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations to mentally survive. The practice of mindfulness helps clients heal by teaching them techniques that bring their attention to the present moment.

Over the past few years, teens have experienced an alarming increase in mental illness in the U.S. The 2010s, in particular, marked a decade of declining mental health capped off by the disruptive impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. By 2022, national survey data from the Department of Health and Human Services indicates that around one in every five adolescents suffered from a major depressive episode in the previous year, continuing an upward trend in depression that began around 2013.

Anticipatory grief is a form of grieving before a death or loss. It can present at the end of life, during a terminal diagnosis, the end of a meaningful relationship, or a significant life shift. For some clients who have experienced trauma, anticipatory grief can appear at any time during the life cycle, being triggered by traumatic stimuli.

Society’s focus on destigmatizing substance use and mental health conditions while providing better treatment plans has helped millions of people pursue care. Still, counseling is tough for some because they can’t find anyone who understands or speaks their language.

More than 39 million adults with a substance use disorder did not receive treatment in 2022, according to the latest data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Nearly 95 percent of those not receiving treatment didn’t believe they needed help—but for 1.8 million adults who thought they did, barriers to treatment left them unwilling or unable to get support.

As the need for diversely skilled mental health professionals continues to grow, counselors are increasingly being recognized and celebrated for their role in supporting the mental healthcare needs of the public. New movements and regulatory changes are being introduced to make way for the future of the modern counselor.