Expert Interviews & Perspectives in Counseling

Counselors who are new in the profession may take therapeutic failure personally when it may reflect other relationship dynamics. Therapy does not work for many reasons, including a mismatch in personality, client readiness for treatment, financial issues, or cultural misunderstandings.

Deciding to become a mental health counselor is a huge step, but how do you pay for it? Cost varies depending on the type of school you’re attending, the type of degree you’re going for, and how long it takes to complete your academic journey.

There are many different modalities in psychology, providing counselors with an array of therapeutic approaches to work with everyone under the sun. Yet, with over 50 modalities to choose from, psychology and counseling majors don’t always know where to begin—and clients seeking therapy can feel just as lost. Finding a therapeutic approach that aligns with who you are can help to examine the main schools of thought from which these modalities branch.

Pregnant women often complain about sudden lapses in memory. We all have had the experience of walking into a room and then completely forgetting what we planned to do, but pregnant women seem to report these lapses more frequently than others of the same age. Are these experiences due to tiredness and sleep deprivation? Or are there other explanations?

Not only do counselors support their clients through end-of-life decisions and fears, but they may also assist their families through their own grief journeys. The issues clients present at the end of life can include depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, anticipatory grief, management of pain, and dignity concerns.

Those who suffer from clinical perfectionism fear negative evaluation or failure. Some clients procrastinate, over-prepare for meetings, and seek over-reassurance from others because they fear the task they complete will not be exactly right.

It’s very common for counselors to struggle with a deep sense of “imposter syndrome” when we first begin our careers. Between the heavy nature of mental health counseling, the multifaceted approaches required to be an effective mental health counselor, and the steep learning curve involved, it’s no wonder that we may doubt ourselves or question our abilities.

The root Latin manipulus means handful, as in a skillful handling of objects. A juggler, a card shuffler, and a bored student spinning their pencil in class are all manipulating objects. Applying this skillful handling to people, it’s no wonder we feel played with when we’re socially manipulated or powerful when we can manipulate others. In fact, the American Psychological Association defines manipulation as a “behavior designed to exploit, control, or otherwise influence others to one’s advantage.”

Many clients who struggle with substance misuse have experienced childhood or adult trauma. This is not to say every client who has had one or multiple past traumas will misuse substances. When treating clients with trauma, it is important to remember these experiences create a vulnerability in some individuals.

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.