What is a Counselor?
The term counselor has numerous meanings. Most often it is used to describe someone who is a therapist, which could mean a licensed clinical social worker, a marriage and family counselor (MFC or MFCC), a psychologist or even a psychiatrist who conducts regular therapy sessions. Counselor is also a term used to describe lawyers, who advocate for others in court or give legal advice, a person working as a consul or representative of a state, a person working at a children’s camp, at a school to give academic advice, or for a church. Counsel as a verb can mean, “to give guidance to,” and as a noun, it may specifically refer to a lawyer. There are other definitions of counsel, which may include anything from “to convince” to “to advise.” These definitions alone explain in part the multiple things “counselors” do. In the most standard definition of counselor as therapist, the therapist helps to address the issues of those with emotional difficulties or mental health issues. Such a person i
By Phyllis M. Ford, 1970 Somewhere between adolescence and adulthood there occurs in human development an age which is physically and psychologically impossible. It is that unfathomable stage known as the camp counselor, a creature undefined by psychologists, misunderstood by camp directors, worshiped by campers, either admired or doubted by parents, and unheard of by the rest of society. A camp counselor is a rare combination of doctor, lawyer, indian and chief. She is a competent child psychologist with her sophomore textbook as proof. She is an underpaid babysitter with neither television nor refrigerator. She is a strict disciplinarian with a twinkle in her eye. She is referee, coach, teacher, and advisor. She is an example of humanity in worn out tennis shoes, a sweatshirt two sizes too large, and a hat two sizes too small. She is a humorist in a crisis, a doctor in an emergency, and a song leader, entertainer, and play director. She is an idol with her head in a cloud of woodsmok
