Emerging Expectations for Mental Health Counselor Preparation – Webinar

The Covid-19 pandemic has qualitatively changed the delivery of counseling services to meet the mental health needs of clients. At the same time, the general public has experienced a heightened awareness of mental health, and the delivery of counseling services in a safe manner through technology-mediated means has accelerated. These new and evolving changes require rethinking how graduate students in counselor education are prepared. Through collaboration, counselor education programs and clinical placement sites can ensure these new professionals are well-prepared.

A panel of expert presenters will share the changing realities of preparing new professionals for entry into the mental health counseling field. An intern, a counselor educator, an agency clinical training coordinator, and an on-site supervisor will share experiences, challenges, and strategies that they have found helpful in navigating the new realities of physical safety, technology-mediated service delivery, and distance supervision brought on by the pandemic.

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify the challenges faced by counselor education programs and interns in completing the clinical field experience component of the program and strategies successfully implemented for addressing these.
2. Identify the challenges faced by clinical placement sites in meeting needs of interns and strategies successfully implemented for addressing these.
3. Examine implications for the future of mental health counselor preparation and practice.

 Target Audience:

 – Clinical mental health counselor educators/programs; Practicum and Internship students.

– Practitioners and site supervisors at residential and out-patient agencies.

Facilitators:

Amy Milsom, LPC-S, NCC, is a professor and department chair at Appalachian State University and the current Chair of the CACREP Board of Directors.  She has experience working in private practice and college counseling settings and providing supervision to graduate students and post-master’s graduates seeking LPC licensure.

Aaron Norton is an AMHCA Board Member and is a counselor educator at the University of South Florida, and a private practitioner at Integrity Counseling, where he provides clinical supervision for registered mental health counselor interns, individual and family therapy, and clinical and forensic mental health and substance abuse evaluations.

Panelists:

Ksenia Kogan holds two Master’s degrees: one in International Marketing and just earned her second Master’s degree in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at Southern New Hampshire University this month. Ksenia is level 2 certified in Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).

Karen Langer, LMHC, is the Counseling Center Director, City University of Seattle, WA who manages all administrative aspects for community counseling center serving low-income clients. Works closely with Core Faculty to supervise all Practicum students in the CACREP approved MA Counseling program. She is also the Western Regional Director on the Board of Directors of AMHCA.

Dr. Heather Paessler-Chesterton is an Associate Professor and the Director of Clinical Experiences for the MA Counseling Programs at the University of the Cumberlands. She is a National Certified Counselor, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (NY), and holds school counseling credentials in three states. She has been a counselor educator for more than a decade.

Dr. Christie Rogers-Larke, NCC, BC-TMH, BCPCC, RPT-S, LPC-S., is a Clinical Training Director and specializes in child, adolescent and family therapy and has training in a variety of modalities. As such, she tailors her approaches to best meetclient needs (CBT therapies, art and play therapies, behavioral approaches, social skills and trauma).  She is also a Professor in the Counseling Department at Liberty University.