Mental Health Counselor Essay

The Roles and Missions of Mental Health Counselors
A clinical mental health counselor provide services for those who are addicted to substances such as drugs and alcohol, those who have depression, anxiety, etc., those who need or ask for family parenting skills, couples therapy for marital problems, those who no longer want to be in this world, those who have self-esteem issues, and for those who are aging and the issues that come along with the aging process (Gladding & Newsome, 2010). With the use of principles derived from human development, learning theories and the examination of dysfunctional behaviors, Clinical Mental Health Counselors are able to provide effective treatment to clients of diverse ages and backgrounds. Primary objectives include diagnosing and treating mental and emotional disorders through the use of efficient techniques aimed at prevention.
The perspective of Counseling
A counseling professional must take the time to asses a situation and fully listen to the client to understand their situation as a whole. According to Dillon (2014), counselors should always be a good listener and spend a significant amount of time listening to their clients. Counseling professionals should also exhibit compassion when dealing with clients. It is very important that the clients feels compassion for their problems and that they sense their counselor cares about them. Dillon (2014) notes, Counselors may not be able to relate to every issue that is shared with them, but they need to be able to have compassion for how it feels to be in their shoes. Counselors hear all kinds of secretive information and meet all types of people. Counselors may hear dark secrets from someone’s past involving such things as sexual or criminal behavior (Dillon,