Discipline And Ideas In
Applied Social Sciences
(DIASS)
Module 2: Counseling
Lesson 2: Professionals and Practitioners in
Counseling
Objective: Discuss the roles and functions of
counselors. HUMSS_DIASS12-Ic-6
Roles of Counselors
Counselors offer guidance to individuals, couples, families
and groups who are dealing with issues that affect their
mental health and well-being.
On the job counselors:
1. Work with individuals, groups and communities to improve mental
health.
2. Encourage clients to discuss emotions and experiences.
3. Examine issues including substance abuse, aging, bullying, anger
management, careers, depression, relationships, LGBTQ issues, self-
image, stress and suicide.
4. Work with families.
5. Help client’s define goals, plan action and gain insight.
6. Develop therapeutical processes.
7. Refer clients to psychologists and other services.
8. Take a holistic approach to mental health care.
Functions of counseling:
Counselors work in diverse community settings designed to provide a
variety of counseling, rehabilitation and support services. Their duties
vary greatly depending on their specialty which is determined by the
setting in which they work and the population they serve.
Counselors are challenged:
1. with children, adolescents and adults that have multiple issues such
as mental health disorders
2. to provide appropriate counseling and support
3. to assist students of all levels
Functions of counseling:
Counselors are challenged:
4. to promote the academic, career, personal and social development of
children and youth
5. to help students evaluate their abilities, interests, talents and
personalities to develop realistic academic and career goals
6. to operate career information centers and career education programs
7. to help students understand and deal with social, behavioral and
personal development
Specific work areas of counselors:
The following places of employment offer work opportunities for
someone with a counseling degree:
1. Hospitals
Counselors provide mental health evaluations, some counselors are
hired to assist patients overcome various psychological and behavioral
issues.
2. Impatient or Outpatient Detoxification Centers
Counselors may also serve as detox specialists or crisis workers
within detoxification center.
Specific work areas of counselors:
3. Mental Health Facilities & Agencies
Community counselors are hired at localized mental health agencies
to assist a local population, interact with community leaders, and
bridge the gap between support services found in surrounding areas.
4. Residential Care Facilities
A residential care facility provides counseling services to people
living in a temporary environment that requires continuous
supervision. This may include facilities that house troubled or at-risk
youths, autistic children, or people with mental or physical disabilities.
Specific work areas of counselors:
5. Halfway Houses
Halfway houses, also known as transitional housing facilities and
recovery houses, hire rehabilitation and substance abuse counselors to
guide patients or residents in need of help transitioning back to a
societal environment, their family, their community, and/or entering
the workforce.
6. Geriatric-Related Facilities
Counselors, especially geriatric counselors, are often employed by
facilities, agencies and organizations that serve the elderly population.
Specific work areas of counselors:
7. Medical Hospitals and Outpatient Clinics
Counselors are hired to work with veterans, their spouses, and
family to address issues, such as PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)
and anger management.
8. Correctional Facilities and/or Prisons
From mental health counseling to substance abuse counseling, the
prison system employs counselors to provide individual and group
therapy for individuals who are jailed, or living in a correctional facility.
Specific work areas of counselors:
9. Retail Businesses
Assuming positions in the human resources or public relations
departments of large retail organizations, job duties typically include
improving company-customer relationships, as well as designing and
conducting training programs.
10. The Educational System
Primarily helping students to better navigate the stresses of growing
up and successfully completing their studies, counselors play an
important role at all levels of the school system.
Code of Ethics
Guidance counselors work with clients, as individuals and in
groups, to whom they supply professional services concerning
educational, vocational, personal and social development.
Code of Ethics
Ethical Behaviors:
1. They protect members from practices that may result in public
condemnation.
2. They provide a measure of self-regulation, thus giving members a
certain freedom and autonomy.
3. They provide clients a degree of protection from cheats and the
incompetent.
4. They help to protect counselors from the public if they pursued for
malpractice.
Code of Ethics
Unethical Behaviors:
1. Incompetence
2. Lack of integrity
3. Violating confidences
4. Exceeding the level of professional competence
5. Imposing values on clients
6. Creating dependence on the part of the clients to meet the counselor’s own
needs
7. Improper advertising
8. Charging fees for private counseling to those who are entitled to free
services
through the counselor’s employing institutions and or using one’s job to
recruit
clients for a private practice.
ACTIVITY
Will I Report My Client or Not?
Directions: Carefully read the situation below and answer it properly.
1. In the area of confidentiality of the Code of Ethics, there is a portion
on client’s right to privacy. What if the counselor, in his/her
conversation with the client, found out that the client accidentally
killed a person, will you report the client to police or not? Write your
answer in the table below.
Name: