C Customers bring an infinite range of presenting topics, personalities, life stories and challenges to the consultation. Fortunately, counselors also have an infinite number of tools to create therapeutic bonds, meet clients' needs, and help clients tell their stories.
Consultants only need to flex their creative muscles to find approaches that can increase client confidence and speak to each person's unique life experiences and worldview. Exploring a client's interest in skydiving as a metaphor for self-confidence and confidence? Are you discussing a favorite dish or recipe to get a customer to discuss issues with their family of origin? Hire a client to play video games online with their peers as a first step in fighting social anxiety? The sky is the limit.
Counseling Today contacted several counselors who are using interesting, fresh, or different approaches to help their clients and students. We hope that you will be inspired by their ideas and possibly use them as a starting point to think outside the box in your own work.
Spark connection with photos
As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.
American Counseling Association members Brandee Appling and Malti Tuttle believe the truth of this adage holds true in counseling environments, especially in the age of smartphones where photography is ubiquitous. Why not take advantage of this by asking clients to bring photos and images into meetings? Prompts like "bring in a picture that makes you happy" or "bring in a picture of your family" can be eye-opening to clients and doctors alike, say Appling and Tuttle.
The duo, former school counselors who met as co-coordinators of the school counseling program at Auburn University, discovered that “phototherapy” can promote dialogue and encourage empathy and connection in counseling. This can especially be the case in group environments, with clients of children and young people, and with people who struggle with the language or whose primary language is not identical to that of the counselor.
Photos and pictures introduce "a different way of communication" to counseling, says Tuttle, a licensed professional counselor (LPC) who is assistant professor and coordinator of the Auburn school counseling program.
"Photographs can provide glimpses into a person's life that we may miss when we speak – things that the client cannot express or think about," adds Appling, an LPC and recognized clinical supervisor who now assistant professor is in the Department of Counseling and Human Development at the University of Georgia. "It helps to tear down walls [in session] and makes it easier for the customer to talk about something concrete instead of, so to speak, about [topics] that is in the air."
When Tuttle and Appling used this approach in school, students were often able to view photos on their cell phones. If students don't have access to a cell phone, they may be able to check out digital cameras from the school or the exercise can be enhanced with printed images like postcards or newspaper clippings, the counselors say.
The role of the counselor is to stimulate a conversation by asking questions about the client's image and then allowing the client to think and speak. The consultant should never try to interpret the picture or impose his feelings on it, emphasizes Appling.
“This must not be used for diagnosis [clients]. This is not a stand-alone tool, but part of a range of advisory tools, ”explains Appling. "It's one thing we would use, but it's not the only thing we would use. It should be part of the therapeutic process, a tool that can be used in a cohesive system."
In group settings, a task of bringing in an image that "represents you" can help participants get to know each other, connect, and create a sense of belonging, says Tuttle. Asking group members to explain why they chose their image can lead to meaningfulness, empathy, and recognition of others' points of view and perspectives. It can also give the group leader some insight into the personality and emotions of each group member.
The exercise "builds a sense of universality and connection, [prompting] conversations that may not be organic," Tuttle adds.
She suggests promoting dialogue in meetings (whether individual or group) by asking open questions like:
Why did you bring this photo with you?
What does it mean to you?
What would you name this photo and why?
Appling applied this approach to a group she led for students who were going through family transitions (e.g., divorce, death in the family, living in foster care). When a student was asked to share a picture depicting the changes they were going through, they brought a photo they had taken of a unique seashell.
For them, the shell “was a representation of where they had been,” recalls Appling. "It looked very different from any other mussel I had ever seen, and at first I didn't recognize the picture as a mussel. We talked about how water had changed and eroded it. The mussel represented [the student] but also growth and the change they experienced. "
This intervention can also be turned around, with the advisor bringing in a photo for clients and students to discuss. In presenting this intervention at conferences and training courses, Appling and Tuttle use the image of an aging series of concrete steps with vegetation growing through the cracks. You ask the participants:
What do you think this image means?
What emotions does it trigger?
What does this photo remind you of in your own life?
Although the same picture is shown, participants typically share a variety of thoughts, reactions, and associations about the picture, say Tuttle and Appling. Some people see resilience and growth in vegetation while others see decay and despair in the cracked steps.
"It's really interesting to see each participant's perspective," says Appling. "It is a lesson that we all see things very, very differently and that it depends on the things that we have been through, our different lenses. It is a lesson that we all have different experiences and points of view."
Walking (and running) the walk
Consultants can use a seemingly unlimited number of running metaphors to encourage clients: It's a marathon, not a sprint. Put one foot in front of the other. Focus on the mile, not the marathon. You have to learn to walk before you can run.
For Natae Feenstra, an LPC with private practice in Smyrna, Tennessee, this approach goes beyond the metaphorical. As a seasoned runner who has completed multiple marathons, she sometimes conducts outdoor counseling sessions with clients running and talking side by side. As a consultant specializing in “running therapy”, Feenstra offers running sessions for clients who are familiar with their sneakers and are interested in putting them on and getting on the trail with them.
"For the client, it's primarily a counseling session," says Feenstra, who is working on a dissertation on running as a therapeutic treatment for trauma for a doctorate in counselor training and supervision from the University of the Cumberlands, Kentucky. “The goal of traveling a certain number of kilometers is never part of a client's treatment plan. The goal is to improve mental health, and running is a tool for that. "
Counselors have long known the mental health benefits exercise and exercise can have, including stimulating the release of endorphins, dopamine, and other brain chemicals. Movement and movement also offer the opportunity to process thoughts and mindfully focus on the breath and step.
"Natural bilateral stimulation – that's all running is. Rhythmic movements of large muscle groups, and we know this can bring amazing benefits to our brain," explains Feenstra, a former school counselor who recently moved into private practice. Running therapy also offers the built-in ecotherapy component to enjoy sunlight, fresh air, and nature views while you and the client run and talk, she adds.
Feenstra's approach is individualized. If a prospect requests ongoing sessions, Feenstra will only agree to at least one consultation to learn about the client and their concerns and to determine if the approach is a good fit. She also offers walking and walk / run sessions as well as traditional inpatient counseling sessions.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Feenstra is holding all of their traditional telehealth health counseling sessions. She continues to offer personal running therapies for clients who enjoy doing so, while following health guidelines regarding physical distancing as much as possible.
Above all, she suggests only running if the customer is familiar with it. She points out that customers don't have to be seasoned runners to embrace this approach. She tailors each session based on the client's skills and comfort. "It's never about the pace or the distance of the run. It's about the movement that goes along with the therapeutic conversation," says Feenstra, member of the ACA.
Feenstra found a significant improvement in patients with anxiety and depression who are occupied with running. Her clients have also reported increasing their self-esteem, self-efficacy, and general well-being.
In addition to the mental health benefits that running on its own, these mobile sessions can help strengthen the bond between counselor and client and support clients who may otherwise find it difficult to find themselves in a more traditional therapy setting could open, says Feenstra also a certified running coach with the Road Runners Club of America. “Some people are intimidated by eye contact or other aspects of face-to-face meetings, or find themselves in an office with a power gap. For some people, [running during counseling] can help them speak more freely, ”says Feenstra.
This was recently the case of an adult male client in Feenstra who presented with severe depression and anxiety. During the COVID-19 pandemic, his condition had deteriorated to the point that he no longer left home.
When Feenstra and the client met, counseling sessions were the only time that the man set off. They eventually switched to mobile sessions and started with a walk / run mix that suited the man's level of comfort. Within a few sessions, his anxiety and depression had subsided, so he was leaving his home more often and returning to hobbies and activities that he had previously enjoyed.
“The platform of running therapy caused him to leave the comfort zone of his home. A telehealth platform would not have made him leave his home and he was not interested in [therapy in] creating an office environment, ”says Feenstra. “In this case, running therapy helped him get counseling services. I think it was the running piece that fascinated [to him] and it was so helpful to take him outside to overcome his fear. "
Ongoing therapy "is obviously not a miracle treatment, but there are cases where, as with any therapy, it can make a difference," she adds. Running therapy, developed by American psychiatrist Thaddeus Kostrubala, has been around since the 1970s.
For running sessions, Feenstra meets the client in a park, on a path or in another public place that she knows or that she has previously checked out. She starts by warming up and chatting with the client as they stretch. After completing a run or walk, they cool down and reflect on the session together.
Feenstra recognizes the possible lack of confidentiality when counseling sessions are held in a public place. She addresses this with her clients in advance, both verbally and in detail, in their consent forms, and explains that they can interrupt their conversation if another person is within earshot.
"I let the client dictate," she says. "I let them know that [they] can choose whether they want to lower their voice, stop talking, or keep talking when they are comfortable."
While many consultants may not be runners themselves, they may have clients who enjoy running. Practitioners don't need to offer running therapy to reap the benefits of running for their clients, Feenstra emphasizes. Sometimes she integrates running by assigning clients to run outside of the session (again, only if they are interested and able) and then uses that to initiate the counseling work in their next session together. Running offers the opportunity to reduce stress, tap into the subconscious and process thoughts away from the distractions of life, explains Feenstra.
Customers may find it helpful to keep a journal to record their thoughts, questions, and discoveries made while running. This can be used as a self-development tool or as something the client brings to meetings, notes Feenstra.
"Since the running time is often the best time to think, customers and consultants [in sessions afterward] can discuss how the run went and how their thought process was on the run," says Feenstra. “Since running has an innate mindfulness component, this [aspect] can also be used as a counseling tool. The counselor could give the client a thought to think about or a mindfulness activity to meditate on during their term. "
Films and moral development
One of Justina Wong's customers had a long military career as a sniper with a special unit. His experience on duty, including several overseas missions, had left him with post-traumatic stress disorder and a relative inability to show or express his feelings. When he did, it often manifested itself as anger. His relationship with his wife and family became increasingly strained, and one of his children began to fear him.
In the deliberation, Wong's suggestion to watch two films that, on the surface, were aimed at children, clicked: Charlotte's Web and Inside Out. Wong's client could see himself – and many of the emotions he had difficulty identifying and expressing – in the moral arc these movie characters experienced.
"The response he got has been very strong," says Wong, who interned with a nonprofit that serves military veterans and their families as part of their master's counseling program at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. As they processed the films together in the session, “We talked about healthy coping skills and unhealthy coping skills. He began to learn more about what he saw and experienced in the military. It was very difficult for him to distinguish [between] from feeling angry and feeling sad, which is common in this population. Feeling angry is accepted, but feeling sad is considered weak or unreliable. "
Cinematherapy, or the use of film stories, characters, and themes as therapeutic tools, can be particularly helpful for clients of children or adolescents and those struggling with depression, trauma, loss, or social anxiety, says Wong. It's also useful for people who may not respond well to more traditional counseling interventions, and for people who have difficulty opening up to a counselor, she adds.
Customers can observe and learn from the struggles, growth, and endurance of movie characters in the face of the challenges in their storylines, said Wong, a member of ACA. Customers can't feel "alone because someone else [a movie character] is going through a similar thing. They can see a character's unhealthy behavior, their coping skills, and what they have or haven't done to deal with it. It can help customers to communicate and express their emotions and to understand their values. "
A counselor can either instruct a client to watch a particular movie (which the practitioner has reviewed) outside of the session, or the counselor and client can watch movie clips together in the session. In any case, the important part of the intervention involves the therapeutic discussion that follows, says Wong.
Wong, a Chicago School graduate, encourages dialogue with open questions. For Inside Out these include:
Which emotions do you consider positive and which are negative?
Tell me about a time when you suppressed a certain emotion and how your “island” began to fall apart in the film.
What islands do you have in your life?
What role do joy, sadness, anger, fear and disgust play in your life?
Describe a time when you felt embarrassed, embarrassed, or guilty about something from your childhood.
Wong emphasizes that the cinematotherapy must be individualized during the consultation. Practitioners should carefully consider whether the approach is well suited for each individual client and appropriate for their presentation concerns and therapeutic goals. She only uses films that she is very familiar with and that she has pre-screened. Her list includes About Time (2013), Mulan (1998 animated version), Yes Man (2008), The Lion King (1994 animated version), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Toy Story 3 (2010), and others.
"You really want to exercise your due care and make sure you use this intervention for the benefit of the client," says Wong, a certified trauma professional. "If you don't do this, it [watching movies] becomes just a hobby."
One of the therapeutic goals of Wong's experienced client was to improve his relationship with his family and to be able to have conversations without getting excited and angry. As a grown man and die-hard military veteran, he was initially reluctant to watch children's films. But when he began to understand how they could help strengthen his family relationships, he agreed. He watched Inside Out with his entire family and then discussed Wong's therapeutic issues with his wife.
When Wong suggested watching Charlotte's web, she warned him about the sad ending of the film because he had never seen it before. Even so, Wong recalls, he was very upset in the counseling session that followed. When they started discussing the film, the client found that he identified with Wilbur & # 39; s feeling of isolation and loneliness. The pig's friendship with the spider Charlotte reflected the camaraderie he felt and the connections he had established with the soldiers in his unit, some of whom had never made it home alive.
"He put two and two together and understood that when Charlotte died she could not return home with Wilbur, and he [the pig] was angry, sad and desperate. [The client] had served in special forces and lost a lot of friends and tried to bury his problems and push them away.… After processing it [in therapy] he understood why I chose this film for him, "says Wong." The lightbulb went on for him when Charlotte and Wilbur is talking in the film and she tells the pig that she cannot return home with him. "
Wong discussed these problems with the customer and helped them deal with them. During this time, he began to show emotion and crying – a major breakthrough for someone who, according to Wong, had appeared emotionless and "very literal" at the time of the recording
The film discussion spurred the customer to open up to Wong. He announced that during one of his missions several soldiers for whom he was responsible had died while they were working to secure and occupy an area. The area was eventually recaptured by insurgents, and the client grappled with the feeling that his comrades “died for no reason,” says Wong. He struggled with moral conflicts and felt frustrated and betrayed by his commanders and the government. “It was a big step forward. He could talk about what he had never had before [done]”she says.
When used deliberately, kinatherapy can be a powerful tool, notes Wong. She was inspired to explore the approach after speaking to Samuel T. Gladding, a former ACA president and professor of counseling at Wake Forest University, at the International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors' conference on a range of creative interventions, including cinematotherapy , informed in January 2020. "It's up to the consultant to be as creative – or not – as he wants," says Wong. "I've never seen myself as a creative consultant, but when I heard Dr. Gladding's presentation … I guess I'm more creative than I thought."
Once upon a time
As a graduate student at North Dakota State University, Robert O. Lester recently taught a class on group counseling for first year counseling students. Most students, Lester says, came into class with an innate understanding of empathy, but as the class neared its end he tried to go deeper and teach empathy in applied ways.
He turned to fairy tales. Lester asked students to write a story that illustrated some of the challenges they had faced and the personal growth they had experienced as the class progressed. The assignment had only two requirements: Start the story with "Once upon a time …" and don't make fun of a story that is shared in class.
With this exercise the students were able to open their eyes to a better understanding of empathy and at the same time fuel the growth of their professional identities. It also provided them with a creative intervention that can be used with clients in counseling sessions. The "imaginative work" of observing oneself in unknown places or in unknown scenes expands our concept of the possible, explains Lester.
"Many students started out with, 'I have no story to tell,'" says Lester, a school-based advisor and ACA member. "You don't have to have gone through great suffering; you just have to be very close to your own desire and belief. It is the distance of suffering that empathy cannot go. It was a task to bridge the distance between us and others by we keep the desire and abolish unbelief. It is about the willingness to make other worlds possible. This is the first step of empathy. "
Weaving one's own experiences into a fairy tale can be a helpful exercise in advising students and clients alike, as the stories are compact and give the writer the satisfaction of identifying a coherent story arc and conclusion, even if there is none is happier, Lester says.
Writing fairy tales “is expressive, playful and can surprise you. It can loosen the tongue for serious conversation. Letting people be enchanted and surprised a little would have many possibilities [in counseling]. Then it would be up to the counselor to have a good discussion afterwards, ”says Lester, who now lives in California and works as a counselor at an alternative education high school while he is completing his doctoral thesis. “One of my favorite things about this [intervention] is when we surprise ourselves. … It can certainly break some of the narrative furrows we can get into. "
In consultations, it could be a good idea to get customers to express themselves through fairy tales, "in every situation in which someone is supposed to start trying out differences," says Lester. “Organize our experiences into an imaginative story – one where there is room for enchantment and the connection of emotions and imagination – [can be beneficial] for clients who have many limitations in their lives, either self-imposed or by culture or imposed external forces, especially when they have difficulty imagining otherwise. "
Fairy tales give students and clients the opportunity to put themselves into new roles, organize their experiences into a sequence, and reflect on the challenges they have overcome and how they have grown from start to finish, explains Lester . In return, they receive an appreciation for their belief in what to expect and for their desire for how to proceed.
This advantage was reinforced when Lester invited his counseling students to share and discuss their fairy tales in class. This enabled them to see how different each of their trips was.
“At the deepest level, I had hoped that the fairy tale project would be a hermeneutic project [and] that is part of your professional identity development – combining your own worldview with your job [and] and adding serious and compassionate feelings to others especially those who don't experience the world the way we do, ”says Lester. “You're just starting out with counseling and need to learn to respect other people's worldviews. This fairy tale [assignment] was a compact method to help them make their own experiences unusual and accurately legible. "
One of Lester's students wrote an impressive fairy tale about a protagonist named Mia. She lived in an idyllic village where everyone knew each other and worked according to their talents – with the exception of Mia, who spent much of her time reading alone. Although she liked her fellow citizens, Mia felt that something was missing in her own life, says Lester. She had an intense curiosity and imagination that many of her neighbors did not share.
Your story took a turn when some creatures from the remote forest visited you and asked for your help. An old well they lived in deep in the forest had dried up. The fountain was the source of the creatures' magical powers.
The good-hearted Mia knew that she had to help and traveled into the forest, where she found the well in ruins. Her heart broke for the forest dwellers and Mia started crying, not knowing what to do. When their tears flowed, they filled the well and restored it. Mia's compassion had saved the day. Not only had she revived the magical source of the creatures in their quest, but she had discovered her own purpose.
In anschließenden Unterrichtsdiskussionen sprach die Studentin, die Mias Geschichte schrieb, davon, sich in der kleinen Stadt, in der sie aufgewachsen war, entfremdet zu fühlen. Jeder in der Stadt schien zu wissen, wie sie in die Struktur der Gemeinde passen, aber diese Studentin konnte ihre Nische nie finden, sagt Lester.
Ihr Märchen war eine schöne Beschreibung dieses Konzepts. "Sie [Mia] sucht nach einer Welt, in der ihre Tränen einen Platz haben und etwas für andere tun können", erklärt Lester. Dies entsprach dem eigenen Kampf der Schülerin, ihren Weg zu finden und ihre berufliche Identität zu pflegen.
„Wir alle wachsen auf und bilden Identität, aber ihr Märchen hat die Erfahrung erhöht“, sagt Lester. "Plötzlich konnten Mias Tränen wirken und waren lebenserhaltend. Ich finde das unglaublich bewegend – diese Sprache der Erlaubnis zu weinen, weil du nicht weißt, welche Brunnen deine Tränen wieder auffüllen könnten. Für mich ist das eine ganz andere Reihenfolge, um Empathie anzuwenden. [Learning empathy] beginnt bei uns selbst und wird einfühlsam gegenüber dem Schmerz und der Schönheit des Erwachsenwerdens. … In diesem Alltag steckt etwas Poetisches. “
Kulinarische Therapie
Jedes der Elemente im Kochbuch 2017 von Küchenchef Samin Nosrat, Salz, Fett, Säure, Hitze, kann als therapeutische Metapher bei der Beratung von Kunden verwendet werden, schlägt Michael Kocet vor, Professor und Vorsitzender der Abteilung für Beraterausbildung an der Chicago School of Professional Psychology.
Wenn ein Gericht nicht genug Salz enthält, kann es langweilig sein, aber wenn der Koch das Gericht übersalzt, wird es ungenießbar. "Eine kleine Prise Salz kann ein Gericht ruinieren", sagt Kocet. "Sprechen Sie das mit dem Kunden durch: Was haben Sie im Leben, das nicht genug oder zu viel ist? Was in Ihrem Leben ist diese zusätzliche Prise Salz? Entfesselt es eine Meinung über ein Familienmitglied? Wie können wir das kontrollieren? “
Ebenso ist Säure sehr stark und muss korrekt gehandhabt werden, wie bei Ceviche, bei dem Zitrussaft verwendet wird, um das Gericht ohne Hitze zu kochen. In Fortsetzung der Metapher kann ein Berater einen Klienten nach der „Säure“ fragen, die er in seinem Leben hat. „Vielleicht beißt ihr sarkastischer Humor. Sprechen Sie darüber, wann dies nützlich und wann es verletzend sein kann “, rät Kocet, ein zugelassener psychosozialer Berater und anerkannter klinischer Supervisor, der im Center on Halsted, einem LGBTQ-Gemeindezentrum in Chicago, kostenlose Beratung bietet.
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Essen, Essen und Kochen sind in den Lebensgeschichten, Perspektiven und Vorlieben der meisten Menschen so eng miteinander verbunden, dass sie zu nützlichen Instrumenten werden können, wenn sie in der Beratung eingesetzt werden, sagt Kocet, der als Kind einen Kurs über „kulinarische Therapie“ unterrichtete Professor an der Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts. Obwohl er diese Klasse nicht mehr unterrichtet, verwebt er weiterhin kulinarische Elemente in seine Arbeit mit Kunden und Studenten in Chicago und hat Workshops und Schulungen zu diesem Thema angeboten.
In addition to tapping into a bountiful supply of culinary-related therapeutic metaphors and conversation starters, counselors can consider giving clients the assignment (when appropriate) of cooking a dish at home and debriefing in session afterward. The dish doesn’t need to be anything complicated, Kocet emphasizes. It could be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a simple salad, he adds. Cooking or preparing food mindfully, no matter the recipe, can prompt reflection. Tracking experiences in a cooking journal may also benefit clients who respond well to this approach.
“Food is often a binding element,” Kocet explains. “If I have a client who is struggling in a relationship, I might have them cook a recipe that represents their relationship and talk about that [in session afterward]. Or if a client and their partner are from two different cultures, I might have them cook a meal that incorporates elements from their two cultures. … One aspect to [help] forge cultural connection with clients is to discuss food: what they grew up eating and what was ‘celebration’ food. That’s one way to get to know the client a little more. Clients are often really proud of food and cultural traditions, and it’s one way to connect and break down barriers in a counseling setting.”
Assignments for a client to cook with a partner or family member can prompt bonding and offer a fun and creative way to work on healthy behaviors introduced in counseling, Kocet adds. Also, cooking “failures” don’t have to be failures when talked about and learned from in counseling. Perhaps a client forgot an ingredient or strayed from the recipe. How does that parallel the choices made and lessons learned in their life outside of the kitchen?
Even time spent cleaning up and washing dishes after cooking can serve as a mindfulness exercise, Kocet points out. Practitioners could suggest that clients take time to reflect on how they felt stepping outside of their comfort zone to try a new recipe as they clean up the kitchen and feel the dishwater on their hands.
Kocet has developed a culinary version of the genogram mapping tool that he uses with clients to delve into family issues. He keeps a small collection of cooking spices and a sleeve of mini paper cups in his counseling bag. As he begins the exercise, he lines all of the spice containers up on the table and asks the client to select a spice that represents them and other members of their family circle. The client pours a little bit of each person’s spice into a separate cup. Eventually, a constellation of spice-filled cups is displayed in front of them.
Kocet prompts the client to talk through why they chose that particular spice for each person. Cinnamon or red pepper flakes might signify either a warm personality or a hot temper, Kocet points out. The exercise encourages clients to talk through issues related to their own identity and helps the counselor better understand how the person views their family network, Kocet explains. Similarly, questions that invite discussion of traditions and memories surrounding food can encourage clients to reflect and open up, while giving practitioners additional context on clients’ families of origin and related emotions.
Kocet, an ACA member and a past president of the Society for Sexual, Affectional, Intersex and Gender Expansive Identities (SAIGE), a division of ACA, specializes in grief counseling. “If a client is missing someone they lost, such as a grandmother, it can bring comfort to cook a dish that she used to make,” he says. “Cooking uses all the senses — we can connect with loved ones through the tastes and smells [involved] in the act of cooking.”
As with any counseling intervention, practitioners must be mindful of the ethical ramifications of incorporating cooking and culinary elements into therapy and consider whether it is appropriate for each individual client, Kocet stresses. Clinicians should practice caution in using the approach with clients who struggle with disordered eating, and cooking assignments should not be given to clients who have a history of suicidal ideation or self-harm because knives and other equipment could be involved, he says.
Kocet plans to continue exploring the use of culinary elements in counseling and is in the early stages of a research study on therapeutic cooking as a coping tool for the isolation, anxiety and depression people have experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Staying within scope of practice
Practitioners considering the use of nontraditional approaches in client sessions must always keep the profession’s ethical guidelines in mind. Professional counselors’ licensure guidelines and scope of practice vary from state to state. Practitioners must ensure that any approach, whether a widely used talk intervention or one of many complementary methods such as aromatherapy, reiki, yoga, acupuncture and others, fall within their state’s scope of practice regulations before using them with clients or students.
In addition, counselors must consider the potential risks to client welfare, whether the approach is evidence-based (which is called for by the 2014 ACA Code of Ethics), and their own level of competency in using the method.
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Contact the counselors interviewed for this article:
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Bethany Bray is a senior writer and social media coordinator for Counseling Today. Contact her at [email protected].
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Opinions expressed and statements made in articles appearing on CT Online should not be assumed to represent the opinions of the editors or policies of the American Counseling Association.
