Psychiatric Disabilities: The Role of the Rehabilitation Counselor A rehabilitation counselor is the central coordinator of setting up services and the client’s goals. They help develop and enhance the client’s skills to secure independence, employment and function in the community (Garske, 2003). In order to be able to rehabilitate the client and set up obtainable goals and a treatment plan, the rehabilitation counselor must first understand ADA, the client’s functional limitations, challenges and obstacles they are facing, along with barriers that may pose a threat to the success of the client. Rehabilitation counselors also set up a support network the client can reach out to and utilize, as well as resources and accommodations that may help the client transition into the workforce, school or home. Challenges/Functional Limitations Success Rate There are many challenges and obstacles that individuals with a psychiatric disability face and as a rehabilitation counselor one must find ways to overcome those obstacles and help guide the client. According to Gregory Garske (2003), “those with severe mental illness or a psychiatric disability have an extremely low success rate and are the most challenging group to rehabilitate” (p. 95). One of the largest subpopulations of disabilities with the lowest success rate did not go unnoticed and changes were made in 1992 when the amendments of the Rehabilitation Act were passed. The 1992 amendments paved the way for future growth and ensured that those with the most severe disability that limited one or more life functions received more assistance (Garske, 2003). What is disturbing is that even though those with a psychiatric disability are seeking services the success ... ... middle of paper ... ...on job acquisition and retention among people with psychiatric disabilities. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 33(3), 203-207. doi:10.3233/JVR-2010-0528. Schutt, R., & Hursh, N. (2009). Influences on Job Retention Among Homeless Persons with Substance Abuse or Psychiatric Disabilities. Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, 36(4), 53-73. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database. Sullivan, A., Nicolellis, D., & et al., (1993). Choose-get-keep: A psychiatric rehabilitation approach to supported education. Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal, 17(1), 55. Retrieved from MasterFILE Premier database. Walsh, J., & Walsh, M. (2003). The role of mental health professionals in responding to employment needs. Sourcebook of rehabilitation and mental health practice (pp. 105-115). New York, NY US: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. Retrieved from PsycINFO database.
The stigma and negative associations that go with mental illness have been around as long as mental illness itself has been recognized. As society has advanced, little changes have been made to the deep-rooted ideas that go along with psychological disorders. It is clearly seen throughout history that people with mental illness are discriminated against, cast out of society, and deemed “damaged”. They are unable to escape the stigma that goes along with their illness, and are often left to defend themselves in a world that is not accepting of differences in people. Society needs to realize what it is doing, and how it is affecting these people who are affected with mental illness.
Chemical dependency counseling involves direct interactions with the clients and as such standards need to be set which will promote safe and accountable counseling. Chemical dependency counseling has a set code of ethics, guidelines and regulations that seek to safeguard the interests of everybody involved. Laws and ethics ensure that everyone acts in a way that does not cause harm to others. Laws and ethics also help to give the profession its credibility. The Licensed Professional Counselors Association of Georgia (2014) gives provisions on the conduct of counselors as stipulated by the law. Chapter 135-7-01 provides the various responsibilities of counselors to their clients. Every counselor has a responsibility to their clients. It is their primary duty to promote the welfare of their clients and meet the client’s best interests.
Until the middle of the last century, public mental health in the United States had been the responsibility, for the most part, of individual states, who chose to deal with their most profoundly mentally-ill by housing them safely and with almost total asylum in large state mental hospitals. Free of the stresses we all face in our lives, the mentally-ill faced much better prospects for peaceful lives and even recovery than they would in their conditions in ordinary society. In the hospitals, doctors were always accessible for help, patients were assured food and care, and they could be monitored to insure they never became a danger to themselves or others. Our nation’s state hospital system was a stable, efficient way to help improve the lives of our mentally disabled.
The paper will summarize the roles and responsibilities of a behavioral health counselor and provide current models of wellness and resiliency. Behavioral health counselors must be able to function in a face-paced primary care environment.
A. Thomas McLellan, et al, "Individual characteristics of the literally homeless, marginally housed, and impoverished in a US substance abuse treatment-seeking sample." Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology 43, no. 10 (October 2008): 839-840, EBSCO Academic Search Premier (accessed April 4, 2012).
middle of paper ... ... However, there is a large portion of mental health ill people that are able to find stability and maintain stability in their illness. Many of these people overcome their illness to some extent and manage to play an important role in society. Work Cited: Claire Henderson, Sara Evans-Lacko, Clare Flach, Graham, Thornicrofi.
Shera, W. & Ramon, s. (2013). Challenges in the implementation of recovery-oriented mental health policies and services. International Journal of Mental Health, 42(2/3), 17-42.
Gulcur, Leyla, Padgett, Deborah K., and Tsemberis, Sam. (2006). “Housing First Services for People Who Are Homeless with Co-Occurring Serious Mental Illness and Substance Abuse.” Research on Social Work Practice, Vol 16 No. 1.
Those with mental illness would live in the community with an array of services and be able to be free from the constraints of confinement. In the early 1960’s the United States began an initiative to reduce and close publicly-operated mental hospitals. This became known as deinstitutionalization. The goal of deinstitutionalization was to allow people suffering from mental illness to live more independently in the community with treatments provided through community health programs. Unfortunately, the federal government did not provide sufficient ongoing funding for the programs to meet the growing demand. States reduced their budgets for mental hospitals but failed to increase funding for on-going community-based mental health programs. As a result of deinstitutionalization hundreds of thousands of mentally ill people were released into the community without the proper resources they needed for their treatment. (Harcourt,
NASMHPD. (2014, Accessed April 27). Retrieved from NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM DIRECTORS: http://www.nasmhpd.org/About/AOMultiStateDisaster.aspx
States obtain many services that fall under mental health care, and that treat the mentally ill population. These range from acute and long-term hospital treatment, to supportive housing. Other effective services utilized include crisis intervention teams, case management, Assertive Community Treatment programs, clinic services, and access to psychiatric medications (Honberg at al. 6). These services support the growing population of people living in the...
The homeless stand down was an eye-opener experience for me. I had the opportunity to interact with several individuals, and one family. Initially I conducted some interviews with them to help complete the questionnaire; and the remainder of the time, I escorted the individuals and helped them choose items that were necessary for them. As I talked to each of them, I realized that the present state of these individuals were a product of the current economic situations. According to the National Homeless Coalition (2009), work factors are one of the many reasons why individuals are homeless. One of the individuals that I spoke to informed me that he was working a regular nine to five job at a construction site, but now due to the economy he is only working a couple of shifts and even those shifts are inconsistent.
Pratt, C. W., Gill, K. J., Barret, N. M., & Roberts, M. M. (2013). Psychiatric rehabilitation(3rd ed., pp. 169-171). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Your Future in a Mental Health career? New York: Richard Rosen Press, Inc., 1976. Print: Halter, Margaret J. Foundations of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier/Saunders, c2014 Rhodes, Lisa. Telephone.
There is many reason why it is difficult to find a job or keep the job for person with mental illness, According to The National Alliance on Mental Illness those are the some reason: “Frequent medical appointments, absences from work, medication side-effects, and difficulty communicating or interacting with others, trouble concentrating, problems following a particular schedule, stigma, prejudice and discrimination”