More on Accountability

Accountability is essential as well as challenging.  I am pleased, however, that mental health has become a more scientific discipline.  I consider myself a stakeholder in the outcomes of counseling - from a personal standpoint and from a broader perspective of the growth and development of psychology, and more specifically mental health counseling. Responsibility creates stakeholders, and I'm pretty sure, the bigger my personal stake is in the process, the more consciously I will conduct myself.  To me, this is a simple way of understanding Astramovich and Coker's (2007) context evaluation cycle.  We seek feedback from external sources as well as personal reflection, we plan and revise according to the feedback, assess and reassess needs, and create and revise goals.  For anyone with a stake in their actions, this seems like a fairly normal process. 

There have been so many jokes made about talk therapy and its pointlessness.  This seems like a good a time as any to cast a more scientific light on healing mental health and create a more definitive understanding of counseling and its actual effect on real issues.  I'd like to be able to begin each counseling session knowing that my interaction is backed by science and that most likely, I can help this person help themselves.   

 

Astramovich, R. L., & Coker, K. J. (2007). Program Evaluation: The Accountability Bridge          Model for Counselors. Journal of Counseling & Development, 85(2), 162-172.