In this module, you learned about topics and issues in counseling that impact how counselors perform counseling and related services. You were provided with a glimpse into how counselors conceptualize and treat the whole person; incorporate wellness, spirituality, and mindfulness into the counseling approach; and engage in crisis intervention, disaster response, and suicide risk assessment. These professional topics have resulted in extremely popular services provided by clinical mental health counselors.
How counselors define, identify, and combat fatigue, stress, and burnout through self-care and wellness was also emphasized in this module. Finally, the pros and cons of managed care and the relationship between evidence-based practices, managed care, and treatment outcomes were introduced to you. As counselors-in-training, it is important to remain constantly updated about the field. Being familiar with specific topics in counseling will inform your practice and help you identify areas of interest for additional training.
Managed care is a frequently discussed and debated topic among mental health professionals. Managed care organizations encourage short-term, brief therapy and mandate the use of evidence-based practices. Using the Argosy University online library resources, locate one peer-reviewed journal article that describes the use of brief or solution-focused therapy with a client or population of interest to you. Post your article as an attachment in the Discussion Area.
Tasks:
In a minimum of 200 words, post to the Discussion Area your response to the following:
Summarize the article you selected by describing:
The purpose of the article
The client/population mentioned in the article
How brief or solution-focused therapy was used with the client/population.
What other theories could apply with the client/population.
The outcomes/results of the use of brief or solution-focused therapy.
Looking through the lens of managed care, describe how counselors, clients, and managed care organizations benefit from brief or solution-focused therapy.
Looking through the same lens, provide an argument to managed care organizations that describe the disadvantages associated with the use of brief or solution-focused therapy.
Further explain what you perceive to be the main advantages and disadvantages of managed care. Be sure to elaborate rather than regurgitate the material covered in the module and assigned readings.
Explain how the learning from this module will contribute to your professional growth as a new counselor-in-training.
Your discussion should clearly reflect your thoughtful and logical analysis of the information.
Support your rationale and analysis by using at least two resources from professional literature in your response. Professional literature may include peer-reviewed journal articles you can access through the Argosy University online library; relevant textbooks; and websites created by professional organizations, agencies, or institutions (websites ending in .edu or .gov).
Your discussion posts and all written assignments should reflect graduate-level writing skills and appropriate use of APA style, including in-text citations and references.