Counseling Specializations And Multidisciplinary Teams

• Overview

  Counseling professionals from different specializations frequently need to work together to provide effective services to students, families, and individual clients. This assignment asks you to address this need in two parts, using what you have learned in this course so far. In Part 1, focus on theory and concepts, creating your own description and evaluation of your specialization, based on the historical and philosophical development of the counseling profession. In Part 2, apply these ideas to a particular case situation, focusing on how a professional in your specialization might collaborate with professionals in other specializations to help meet the needs of the client.

  Directions

  Part 1

  Evaluate the role of your specialization within the field of counseling, beginning with your own description of the field itself, including both the history and the philosophies involved, explaining where your specialization fits, and describing how your specialization might collaborate with one other specialization that you describe. Cite the articles or other sources you use for the basis of your ideas.

  In this part, specifically address the following questions:

  ·         How would you describe the key philosophies of the counseling profession: wellness, resilience, and prevention? Choose a wellness model, and explain how that model impacts the way in which counselors view clients and the concerns brought to counseling, including the kinds of information counselors need to have about their clients.

  ·         How have those key philosophies developed? Provide a brief historical perspective of the counseling profession focused on the key philosophies of wellness, resilience, and prevention. Include the beliefs and assumptions that support those philosophies.

  ·         How did your specialization develop? Identify your preferred counseling specialization and describe how the specialization emerged or the profession developed, including the key ideas on which it is based.

  ·         What other counseling specialization works well in collaboration with your specialization? Briefly explain the history of how this other specialization developed, highlighting the ways in which it complements yours.

   

   

   

  Part 2

  Now, select one of the following two cases, either Ashley or Paul, as a foundation for illustrating how professionals in different specializations might work together to meet the needs of the client you choose:

   

  Ashley

  Ashley, a 12-year-old girl, admits to one of her teachers that she feels very depressed. Her mother has recently remarried, and Ashley is having difficulty adjusting to life with her stepfather and his two children. She is not able to concentrate in class or do her homework.