Perceived Impact of Professional Counselor Identity: An Exploratory Study

The likelihood of the counseling profession achieving equal recognition as a mental health discipline is dependent on its ability to clearly articulate the professional identity (e.g., service focused on wellness, human development, and prevention of harm) of its members (Calley & Hawley, 2008). The need for the counseling profession to achieve professional goals (e.g., gain the confidence of third-party payers and the legislators responsible for management of the Medicare program) requires that the third-party payers and legislators recognize the counseling profession as a single unified field (Hawley & Calley, 2009). Thus, professional counselors have been called upon to proactively, consistently, and comprehensively educate consumers and policy makers about the benefits and uniqueness of counseling as a profession (Hawley & Calley, 2009; Mellin, Hunt, & Nichols, 2011; Myers, Sweeney, & White, 2002). Credentialing and advocacy organizations, such as the American Counseling Association (ACA), the American Association of State Counseling Boards (AASCB), the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), and the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), must also be strong advocates of the counseling profession (CACREP, 2009; Chi Sigma Iota [CSI], 1998; Kaplan & Gladding, 2011; 20/20: A Vision for the Future of Counseling, 2010). The formation of a counselor identity among new members of the profession begins with counselor educators (Calley & Hawley, 2008). The challenge to communicate a clear sense of professional purpose requires counselor educators to be aware of what is at stake, to understand the issues at hand, and to recognize their role in the field's establishment of a clear professional identity (Auxier, Hughes, & Kline, 2003; Bobby & Urofsky, 2011; Cashwell, Kleist, & Scofield, 2009; CSI, 1998; Daniels, 2001). * Establishing Widespread Legitimacy Given that other helping professions also provide mental health counseling, it is challenging for professional counselors to achieve recognition specifically as counselors (Hanna & Bemak, 1997). Counselors (Mellin et al., 2011), students (Auxier et al., 2003; Gibson, Dollarhide, & Moss, 2010), counselor educators (Calley & Hawley, 2008; Myers et al., 2002), and counselor organizations (Bobby & Urofsky, 2011; CSI, 1998; Kaplan & Gladding, 2011) have expressed the need for a clear counselor identity to achieve recognition among mental health service providers. Lack of recognition has contributed to professional challenges, such as exclusion from third-party insurance panels and from Medicare reimbursement (Calley & Hawley, 2008; CSI, 1998), which obstruct clients from receiving counseling-specific services and professional counselors from achieving viable incomes (Cashwell et al., 2009; Swanson, 2010). Lack of portability of professional counseling licenses from state to state creates formidable barriers to prepared and, in many cases, experienced counselors looking to relocate to other areas of the country (Kaplan & Gladding, 2011; Myers et al., 2002). * Opportunities and Challenges In 2009, California was the 50th state to pass a professional counselor license law. Despite the counseling profession's success in achieving licensure in every state, the divergent titles (e.g., Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor) and regulations (e.g., required course work, degrees, supervised practice hours, examinations) legislated across the 50 states for counseling professionals have created serious obstacles for licensed counselors to be able to relocate in many states where reciprocity of counselor licensure does not exist (Cashwell et al., 2009; Kaplan & Gladding, 2011; Myers et al., 2002; Rollins, 2006). Acknowledging the political and historical influences at play in the licensure process, Cashwell et al. …