Consultation, Supervision, and Advocacy Plan

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The model of consultation I would use is the mental health approach, which is a process of interaction between two professional persons. This includes the consultant, who is a specialist, and the consultee, who invokes the consultant’s help in regard to a current work problem with which he/she is having difficulty and which he/she has decided is within the other’s area of specialized competence. The mental health process includes four ways of approaching, client-centered case, consultee-centered, program-centered administrative, and consultee-centered administrative consultation (Mental Health America, 2012).

Supervision Plan

Clinical supervision for mental health professionals started out much like

Apprenticeships in other fields. That is, a student/apprentice with minimal skill/knowledge would learn the work by observing, assisting, and receiving feedback from an accomplished member of the same field. In clinical supervision, counselors acquire knowledge and skills for the treatment of the client, providing a bridge between the classroom and the clinic. Supervision is necessary in the counseling field to improve client care, develop the professionalism of clinical personnel, and impart and maintain ethical standards in the field (Gladding, 2013). In recent years, especially in the substance abuse field, clinical supervision has become the cornerstone of quality improvement and assurance.

Quality clinical supervision is founded on a positive supervisor–supervisee relationship that promotes client welfare and the professional development of the supervisee (Gladding, 2013). You are a teacher, coach, consultant, mentor, evaluator, and administrator; you provide support, encouragement, and education to staff while addressing an array of psychological, interpersonal, physical, and spiritual issues of clients. Ultimately, effective clinical supervision ensures that clients are competently served. Supervision ensures that counselors continue to increase their skills, which in turn increases treatment effectiveness, client retention, and staff satisfaction. The clinical supervisor also serves as liaison between administrative and clinical staff.

Advocacy Steps to Reduce Barriers for Clients

The advocacy strategy I would employ at the individual, community, and public policy level would be verbal and non-verbal communication (Erford, 2014). At a national level, working with different organizations and staying involved and promoting change is ideal for counselors and clients. Communication is a part of advocacy. In order to get your voice heard, you must possess great communication. Respectful communication creates two necessary by-products: a sense of empowerment and a sense of responsibility for action (Lopez-Baez & Paylo, 2009).

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References

Erford, B. T. (2014). Orientation to the counseling profession: Advocacy, ethics, and essential professional foundations . (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Inc.

Fig Tree Counseling. (2010, June 2). Defining our profession. Retrieved

from http://figtreecounseling.com/2010/06/02/defniningour- profession/

Gladding, S. T. (2013). Counseling: A comprehensive profession (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Lopez-Baez, S. I., & Paylo, M. J. (2009). Social Justice Advocacy: Community Collaboration and Systems Advocacy. Journal of Counseling & Development, 87(3), 276-283. doi:10.1002/j.1556-6678.2009.tb00107.x

Mental Health America. (2012, June). Position statement 33: Substance use, abuse, or dependence and co-occuring interactive disorders. Retrieved from http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/positions/co-occurring

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