The Counseling Profession
There are over 165,000 counselors in the United States. Counselors work in a variety of settings such as schools, university counseling and student life programs, mental health centers, corrections, churches, hospitals, companies and in private practice. Counselors assist people with personal, family, mental health, social, educational, and career decisions, problems and concerns.
The counseling profession has a foundation of humanistic and holistic values and beliefs. Basic philosophical underpinnings of the counseling profession include the holistic nature of people, the uniqueness of each individual, the strength of multicultural pluralism, mental health and personal growth, self-responsibility, and social and vocational involvement for individuals with mental and physical disorders.