Among all the things standing in the way of our well-being one particularly issues stands out as paramount: the stigma of counseling.
According the American Counseling Association (2014), and authors like Bradley Erford (2018), counseling is focused on a wellness model that promotes well-being in all the domains of life. Not only those with severe or persistent mental illness seek out counseling, but also those who simply want to continue to grow and change, reach their potential, or simply need help working through some of life’s difficulties.
While mental illness in general is largely stigmatized and quite misunderstood, this often leads to people in the general public fearing a mental health issue and may avoid talking about these kinds of struggles or seek professional help (Kalkbrenner & Neukrug, 2018; Lannin et al., 2016; Wu et al., 2017). Self-stigma refers to the negative self-perceptions that correspond with fearing a mental health diagnosis (Lannin et al., 2016). Even something quite normal such as going through the difficulties of heartbreak are often ignored due to a fear of seeking counseling and being stigmatized by self and other (Kalkbrenner & Neukrug, 2018; Lannin et al., 2016). In one study, research shows that as many as 20% of adults in the U.S. may need counseling with about 11% having a specific and chronic diagnosis; however, only 3% of adults may actually seek counseling largely due to stigma first, and second a general misunderstanding of the role of counselors in promoting growth and change (Kalkbrenner & Neukrug, 2018).
The role of a counselor is to help with whatever problem the client is currently facing. This problem could be indecision about their career, sadness over the death of a loved one, anxiety from a recent car accident, or a struggle with drugs, alcohol or other behaviors such as compulsive eating (ACA, 2014; Erford, 2018, Wu et al., 2017). In fact, not all mental health counselors are trained to deal with persistent and chronic mental illness and instead will refer to a psychiatrist or someone with the appropriate training.
Seeking out counseling should not be a scary endeavor. Counselors are trained with YOU in mind, to always be attentive to your goals and needs (Erford, 2018). This means that they have no agenda outside of YOUR goals for counseling. This important in understanding that the hour that you pay for is YOUR hour will be spent working on the problems and goals that you decide are worthy of your time and attention.
The only way to help reduce the stigma of counseling is to normalize counseling as a regular activity for wellness; no different from seeing your doctor, physical therapist or chiropractor when needing services to help increase your health and well-being.
Erford, B. T. (2018). Orientation to the counseling profession: Advocacy, ethics, and essential professional foundations (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River , NJ: Pearson Education .
Kalkbrenner, M. T., & Neukrug, E. S. (2018). Identifying Barriers to Attendance in Counseling among Adults in the United States: Confirming the Factor Structure of the Revised Fit, Stigma, & Value Scale. Professional Counselor, 8(4), 299–313.
Lannin, D. G., Vogel, D. L., Brenner, R. E., Abraham, W. T., & Heath, P. J. (2016). Does self-stigma reduce the probability of seeking mental health information? Journal of Counseling Psychology, 63(3), 351–358. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1037/cou0000108
Wu, I. H. C., Bathje, G. J., Kalibatseva, Z., Sung, D., Leong, F. T. L., & Collins-Eaglin, J. (2017). Stigma, mental health, and counseling service use: A person-centered approach to mental health stigma profiles. Psychological Services, 14(4), 490–501. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1037/ser0000165