Mental Health Counseling Discuss the Role in Essay

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Mental Health Counseling

Discuss the role in relationship to the prescription and monitoring of pharmacological treatments for mental health issues.

Unique advances have been achieved in the treatment offered to clients suffering from mental illness. Mental health care providers must understand the original causes of mental health disorders in order to provide treatment to clients with these disorders. Therefore, mental healthcare providers are able to treat disorders associated with mental health. This is being done with much success as physical disorders (Madden, 2008).

The profession of mental health provision has categorized strategies of treating mental health problems as either psychotherapeutic or somatic. Somatic methods of treating mental disorders include therapies such as electroconvulsive therapy, which have the potential of stimulating the brain. Psychotherapeutic method includes behavioral therapy strategies, hypnotherapy, and psychotherapy. Researchers have established that most mental health disorders require treatment strategies that involve both psychotherapy and drugs. This is because they are more effective than when any of the treatment is applied alone. Mental health counselors are not only psychiatric practitioners trained to prescribe treatment to mental health illness. They include advanced practicing nurses, pastoral counselors, social workers, and clinical psychologists. Nevertheless, mental health counselors are the only providers of mental health care licensed to interview, tests and assessment tactics to determine the particular need of the client in the context of the client's situation (Palmo, Weikel, & Borsos, 2011).

Depending on the needs of a client, the counselor does not prescribe drugs but directs referrals to the physician for medication to be prescribed. They usually engage specialists based on the client's health concerns. Counselors provides overall case assessment, conceptualization and contextual circumstances. In addition, metal health counselors have been allowed to convey all reasonable and ethically allowable information required to create comprehensive perspectives of the needs of clients for pharmacological intervention. These interventions have a primary responsibility of prescribing medication in accordance with the interest of clients. The counselor shares any details pertaining to the medical decision, with the client (World Health Organization, 2009).

Health care counselors must have adequate training to be productive in their work. This has enabled counselors to work towards the development of interdisciplinary relationships. Counselors in the mental health profession are playing a bidirectional role. Their work entails maintaining high professional competence levels in the best interest of the patient, the profession and the public, which comes after communicating information to the client. These roles maximize the outcome of the clients that involve therapy. The healthcare counselor has a continuous contact with clients and together they function as the ears and eyes of the prescribing professionals. Through the intervention of pharmaceutical professionals, mental health counselors are continually re-assessing the success and impacts of the entire treatment. Mental health counselors collaborate with client advocates and other professionals towards achieving the best interest of clients (World Health Organization, 2009).

Communications between the mental health counselor and prescribers of pharmacological treatments for shared clients

For psychiatric medicines to be prescribed, it requires a lot of sense from mental health counselors when they have the proper knowledge from training and have a license permitting them to do so. For counselors to discharge their duties independently, they must have undergone a five-year or more course training for doctoral clinic in diagnosis of mental health and its treatment; resided in hospital for a year, and under supervision practiced for hours not less than 2000 (Madden, 2008). Regularly, mental health counselors deal with psychiatric medicine. This is the case because, many of their patients need such prescriptions and so they must be knowledgeable in the outcome of those medicines. Counselors as compared to psychiatrists in many cases are better positioned to know the proper time for medical adjustments for their clients.

In a month, they get to see their patients more often, but a psychiatrist may get to see their patients six times in a period of a whole year. Another thing that should not miss a part of your knowledge is for counselor's prescription to be made it does not need rocket science knowledge even though one must have undergone a series of course studies, practiced under supervision, posses a license and other educative basics to ensure accountability. Counselors must recognize boundaries and limitations of their practice. While delivering their services, they must abide by the techniques and methods, which they acquired in experience and education. Counselors get the privilege of understanding a wide range of cultural backgrounds of clientele that is in order with their work. They might not get the license to perform complicated medications.

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It is safe to say that prescription and functions of counselors can be made to be one profession in order to save communication and cost. We will be able to save some money because counselors are ready to work for a lesser pay than psychiatrist is (World Health Organization, 2009).

Another motive is somehow related to the guild to which counselors confirm. For some time now, counseling profession has been on the verge of seeking to be identified. This has made it go through a series of crisis. Counseling was never there in the clinical field and psychiatrist offered psychotherapy services in the 1940s. From 50s, up to 70s counseling started to exist on its own away from the field of psychotherapy. Clinical counseling came in to assist psychotherapy and turned it into recommendable set of methods that are useful for treatment of mental illness. When care management and continuation to the introduction of useful and new psychiatric medications gave an outcome of lesser finance and counseling access that was in the 80s up to 90s.

During the same time, some level master profession transformed their work into counseling. Even the social workers are ready to work for a less amount as compared to psychologists. This has made psychiatry visible in two forms: social work and counseling function concurrently. Counselors may have the privileges of recognizing their effectiveness, which depends on their physical and mental health and other purposes (Madden, 2008).

Necessary competencies for the mental health counselor in providing services to clients undergoing pharmacological treatments for diagnosed mental health conditions (From the AMHCA)

Various service providers are treating mental health related problems effectively. A good example is a woman who has been through an experience of domestic violence and is suffering from depression and stress of post-traumatic effects. Such a person may get the health medication from a relevant psychiatrist, getting counseling from a social clinical worker who is licensed, and support coming that comes from a group, which is being lead by someone who holds a psychology bachelors degree. An individual addicted to alcohol suffers from anxiety and depression. Such a person may have issues like unstable relationships with their partner and may get medical services from counselors. They may also be counseled by licensed family and marriage therapists or attend anonymous meetings for alcoholics (Palmo, Weikel, & Borsos, 2011).

No one is allowed to practice law or medicine with the absence of a license and education, but they are allowed to put to practice some mental health types without anyone. With the absence of a license and the relevant training, one is allowed to charge for services such as words of wisdom and give himself or herself the title of a counselor. In other words, the person of the subject matter may be called life coach. Many individuals who have undergone training for licenses but do not have them may give recommendable services on mental health. Many of them hold bachelors degree, training that is accompanied with experience. These subjects are not supposed to be called psychologists, social workers, or counselor simply because they have the relevant license (Madden, 2008). Possessing a license is not a guarantee that one is exceptionally qualified to offer mental health services or perfect compared to those who do not have. When one has a license, it protects the practice of the profession because, in the absence of the relevant credentials, one is not permitted to practice anything pertaining to the profession.

Ethical concerns and issues in the provision of counseling for clients undergoing pharmacological treatments for mental health issues (From the AMHCA)

Researchers have held that therapies are an ethical alternative for clients battling the variations between their mental disorder and their religious convictions. Clients must be given informed consent in an environment that is not coercive because most of the patients are encouraged to attempt change due to the tightly held religious convictions (Madden, 2008). The religious beliefs of the clients are respected when they are motivated to pursue mental therapy. However, others have argued that it results into curing a condition that has been concluded to be an illness. Mental health disorders have been proven not to be an illness by the association of American psychologists. Following this perspective of anti-illness, all mental health providers have been urged to take the lead and eliminate the stigma associated with mental illness. Proponents of mental therapy have insisted that the lack….....

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