Clinical Psychologists, Social Workers, And Counselors

The primary issue is that Mike is a psychologist, but not a counselor. However, he has attained a license to work as a counselor and found a current firm job. A clinical psychologist focuses on psychosis or other serious mental health diseases (Young & Saville Young, 2019). They are involved in works such as psychopathology assessment, treatment of psychiatric diseases, and manualized therapy. They are therefore more likely to work with inpatients such in healthcare facilities. In contrast, counseling psychologists focus on clinically healthy clients who suffer from mild mental health issues. Their assessment approach is more humanistic, focusing on life span, developmental issues, and maladaptation (Young & Saville Young, 2019). They are more likely to work in counseling centers. As such, Mike may seem unfit for the position since a counseling center will receive more clients without clinical psychological needs.

Mike’s supervisor and co-workers may help him align with counseling service norms since both clinical and counseling psychology are slightly different. For instance, they may remind him to always abide by his ethical and legal obligations as they are similar in both disciplines. His supervisor will help to focus on humanist aspects of counseling, besides the clinical approach. Both his supervisor and co-workers should foster collaboration to ensure quality counseling services from Mike. It will reveal the viable approaches in his position and improve his professional identity(Morley & Cashell, 2017). The main issue is enabling Mike to understand the importance of his clients’ humanistic understanding before assessing them clinically.

Mike’s supervisor and co-workers need to respect the three disciplines since they are critical in ensuring a mentally healthy society. Both clinical psychologists, social workers, and counselors ensure better health outcomes by working through different approaches. Councilors advise clients to solve personal issues, social workers ensure people access their basic and complex social needs, while clinical psychologists treat mental illnesses.

References

Morley, L., & Cashell, A. (2017). Collaboration in Health Care. Journal Of Medical Imaging And Radiation Sciences, 48(2), 207-216. doi: 10.1016/j.jmir.2017.02.071

Young, C., & Saville Young, L. (2019). Comparing clinical and counselling psychologists’ practitioner demographics, key activities, theoretical orientations, values, and career satisfaction: a contribution to the Scopes of Practice debate. South African Journal Of Psychology, 49(4), 505-517. doi: 10.1177/0081246318823188