areas of professional development
In this assignment, you will continue to discuss your work with the client you presented in your Unit 5 Case Conceptualization paper.
Complete this assignment by addressing the following topics in a four-part format.
Part 1: Interventions
List the three goals you formulated for this client and presented in your Unit 5 paper. (If your instructor provided feedback or comments about your goals on that assignment, you can include revised goals here.)
For each goal, list one specific counseling intervention you used during your work with this client to help him or her make progress toward that goal. Each intervention must be evidence based; you will need to support your choice of intervention with reference to the current professional literature and research showing its effectiveness.
For each intervention you list, include the following:
- Discuss how you introduced this intervention into the counseling session and how the client responded.
- Describe how the intervention is reflective of your specific theoretical approach, drawing from the key concepts and assumptions of that theory.
- Discuss your rationale for selecting the intervention, in terms of its appropriateness for your specific client and his or her presenting issues. Address all sociocultural issues that you considered when introducing this intervention into your work with the client.
- Include at least one reference to a current article in the professional literature that supports the use of the intervention as being effective with this type of client and/or presenting issues.
Part 2: Ethical and Legal Issues
Discuss any ethical or legal issues that emerged during your work with this client. (If no such issues arose, then discuss the types of ethical or legal issues that might emerge when working with this type of client and/or these presenting issues.)
Discuss the steps you took to address the ethical or legal issues. Refer to the specific standard from the ACA Code of Ethics that relates to any ethical issue that you describe. Include reference to specific laws or regulations that apply to these types of situations.
Part 3: Client Progress and Counseling Outcome
For each of the goals you developed, describe the ways in which the client demonstrated progress during the time you worked with him or her. Include specific changes that the client reported to you, changes that you observed during sessions, and/or information that you gathered from other sources (such as self-report measures or assessments or reports from third parties that you gathered with the client’s written consent).
- If the client showed progress toward a goal, what do you believe led to this change? For example, was a specific intervention particularly effective? Did the relationship you formed with the client, or some interaction between you and the client during a session, have an impact on how the client changed?
- If the client did not show the progress you anticipated for the goal, what is your understanding of this? Would you consider a different theoretical approach, or different types of interventions, based on your review of the work you have done with the client?
What is your overall evaluation of the work you did with this client? If you were going to make recommendations to the next therapist who works with this client (or with a client similar to this one), what would you suggest, in terms of the main approach, goals, and interventions that the therapist might consider?
Support your ideas with reference to the current professional literature.
Part 4: Future Development
Discuss the progress you have made as a counselor during your fieldwork experience.
- What are your main strengths?
- What specific areas of knowledge and self-awareness have you developed?
- What has been particularly challenging for you?
Thinking ahead to the work you will be doing in gaining your post-degree hours towards licensure, what are three specific skills or areas of knowledge that you would like to focus on?
- How will you select an internship or clinical experience that will assist you in meeting these goals?
- How do you plan to maximize your supervision experience in your post-degree internship, based on what you have experienced during supervision so far?
- What specific license, certification, and/or credentials will you be seeking after graduation?
As you move forward in your career, how will you align your continued professional development and your clinical practice with the standards we have for mental health counselors?
- Refer to specific standards from the ACA Code of Ethics, as well as to other national and state standards that guide the work counselors do.
- Include a description of the professional organizations to which you’ll belong and how this membership will be important to your professional and career development.
- List three specific areas of professional development that you will be exploring in the future.
