Category: Blog
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Termination in Counseling: How to Model a Healthy Goodbye
In today’s culture of ‘ghosting’ and text-based communications, it is rare to experience a satisfying end to many relationships. People are ‘ghosting’ friendships, romantic relationships, employers, and more. When we end, or terminate, counseling relationships, we have the opportunity to model a healthy goodbye process. Therapeutic relationships are unlike many other relationships. One difference is…
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3 Tips for Choosing your Theoretical Orientation
If you are currently in your counseling graduate program and concerned that you haven’t yet chosen a theoretical orientation, you are not alone. This is a common source of anxiety among counseling students. I love that we, as a profession, are so inclusive of theoretical approaches but I acknowledge that the wide range of choices…
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5 Tips for Choosing a Clinical Internship
The opportunity to finally work in the community as a practicing counselor is an important milestone. Congratulations on getting to this point! I encourage you to celebrate as you begin searching for your ideal internship site. With this exciting milestone, you may also be experiencing some feelings of anxiety about choosing the perfect site for…
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Counselor Educators: Strategies to Improve How You Approach Grading Assignments
Counselor educators: How do you feel about grading assignments? Do you love teaching but feel less fond of your grading responsibilities? Most educators would probably agree that grading assignments isn’t their favorite part of the job. As an educator, I love creating assignments that encourage my students to learn and grow. I even enjoy reading…
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Back to School: Strategies to Stay Organized This Semester
Are you a counseling student about to start a new semester? Maybe it’s your first semester back after time spent away from the classroom setting and you have forgotten how to be a student. Or perhaps you have already taken some counseling courses but are looking for tips for staying more organized this year. There…
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3 Tips for Addressing Clients’ Feelings about the Climate Crisis
Your clients are probably worried about climate change…even if they aren’t talking about it. You may feel unsure of whether to bring up climate change or the climate crisis in the therapy room. Keep in mind that a majority of Americans believe global warming is happening and will cause harm to people in the US…
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3 Tips for Effective Use of Silence in Therapy
Are you comfortable sitting in silence with your clients? New and experienced counselors, alike, may feel awkward or a little anxious when silence falls on the therapy room. You may feel unsure of how to respond if a client isn’t responding or takes a long pause. What do I say next? Do I ask another…
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3 Tips for Addressing Counselor Burnout
Are you feeling emotionally exhausted or pessimistic about the work you do with clients? You may be experiencing burnout. According to the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases, burnout is “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed” (World Health Organization, 2019). Burnout is characterized by emotional exhaustion, cynicism related…
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3 Tips for Taking Time Off this Summer
Are you planning to take a break from seeing clients this summer? Do you want to take a vacation, but struggle to actually set aside the time? If you are a counselor who struggles to take a break, you are not alone. According to a 2023 survey by Pew Research Center, 46% of American workers take…
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How to Ace Your Counseling Job Interview
Do you have a job interview coming up for a counseling position? This blog has your 5 tips for acing your interview.
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5 Questions to Expect in Your Counseling Job Interview
By: Olivia Bentley, PhD, LPCC-S Congratulations, you got a job interview! Now what? Now, you prepare as much possible so that you feel confident going into the interview. If you landed the job interview, it is likely you are qualified on paper. Your interview is still important because it gives a more well-rounded impression of…
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How to Find a Job at a Mental Health Organization
Are you a new counselor or graduate student searching for a job at a mental health organization? Are you an experienced clinician looking for a change? Whether you are looking for your first job or you have been in the workforce for years, searching for a new job can be overwhelming and exhausting. If you…
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Choosing Your First Counseling Job
What do you picture for yourself when you imagine your first job as a counselor? Do you think about the clients you will see? Do you picture how you will decorate your office? Do you simply dream of a weekend off without homework? If you are early on in your program, thinking about your first…
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Welcome to Well Counselor!
Greetings and welcome to Well Counselor. For this first blog post, I thought I’d introduce myself and my vision for the site. Let’s get to know each other a bit! Hi, I’m Olivia. Dr. Bentley or Dr. B to my counseling students; Olivia to my clients; and called countless nicknames by my friends and family. …
Well Counselor 