As I write this I am looking out of my office window at a pile of snow that I am quite sure was once a park bench where a client’s father regularly fed his infant just a few months ago. Today the bench and the garden area that surrounds it are just an endless sea of white with some green poking out from the arborvitaes. Ice is dropping from the office roof, from the trees and I am wearing the knee brace that was a gift from a recent fall. Winter can be harsh in New England to be sure. While I watch the rose bush in the garden sway in the breeze, still encapsulated in ice, I think of what this area will look like just a few months from now when the ice and snow are gone and the energy from the once frozen water has started to reinvigorate that bush and new growth emerges. This leads me to think of ACA and all of our related entities. As the nation changes, as our world becomes more complex and professional confusion persists in the hearts and minds of the masses, I wonder if we will continue to be the rose bush in winter or if we will reflect the buds of spring? For so long I have heard the cries from our brethren in the field. I have heard the frustration over people not knowing the difference between a counselor, a social worker, a psychologist etc. but rarely have I heard people speak of what they are prepared to do to help distinguish their profession from the others. What makes us special? How are we different? What kind of training and background do we have? What are our aims and what is a session like? These are the questions often asked when I have asked people from the general public about LPC’s. I refer these people to my website that offers information about LPC’s, that has links to ACA and other counseling related sites and have found it to be helpful. I even routinely send any potential overflow clients counselor directory websites for referrals. Sadly, when viewing sites of many of my fellow counselors I do not see this. I can’t help feeling that we are letting so much potential growth and awareness slip away. The spring sun will inevitably melt the snow and ice but it does not guarantee growth. People will seek out treatment when they need it but they may not necessarily seek out LPC’s especially if they do not know what we offer. The rose bush uses the energy from the sun for growth but it works hard to produce every new bud, every new leaf of every season. We too must work hard to see our profession grow. This growth however does not have to be painful nor expensive. If everyone of us proudly displays certificates of membership to our organizations in our office, if we wear our professional lapel pins, display our NCC, LPC on our business cards and offer links on any websites that we may have to our organizations we will see an increase in growth and an increase in understanding. I belong to many groups and do what I can to see them prosper; most of you do the same. Some groups I have belonged to have grown stagnant, have all but failed while others have prospered. The ones that prospered did so not just because of good leadership but because of active and energetic members. One group of which I am a proud member never invites a member to join, instead they take a more passive stance and wait for potential members to come to them. This does not mean however that they do nothing to increase awareness, nor do they make their group a secret. In fact, their symbols can be found in most cities and towns, on rings, lapels, cars and buildings. They are the oldest and largest fraternal organization in the world yet they too have seen their numbers rise and fall through the ages. I challenge every ACA member to make it their mission to raise awareness of our profession in the coming season; to become the sun light in the garden and help produce growth for our profession. Every bit of new growth benefits us all. Will you take the challenge?
Warren Corson III (Doc Warren) is a counselor and the clinical & executive director of a community counseling agency in central CT (www.docwarren.org).