In addition to taking classes on your way to a degree in counseling, it’s wise to supplement your learning with real world counseling advice and stories you can read on counseling blogs. Here is a short list of counseling blogs that cover a range of topics, perspectives and issues.
American Counseling Association (ACA) Blog
The American Counseling Association is a non-profit group aiming to advance the growth and enhancement of the counseling profession. Founded in 1952, the ACA’s mission is to “enhance the quality of life in society by promoting the development of professional counselors, advancing the counseling profession, and using the profession and practice of counseling to promote respect for human dignity and diversity.”
One great aspect of the ACA blog is that it’s written by counselors, for counselors. This means you get firsthand information from counselors of their experiences in the practice. With a wide variety of topics from different counseling fields, there is a great deal of information that can help you find the area of counseling you’d like to enter as a professional.
Recent blog post topics include helping clients manage stress, understanding the role of counselor as leader in group settings, and getting a grasp on the “regret cycle.”
This blog is written by a professional therapist who has been working in the fields of mental health, counseling and psychotherapy for 19 years. She touches on a wide range of counseling topics and her blogs are easy to read and very informative at the same time.
The author of the blog is Isabella Mori, a Vancouver, Canada resident who has very insightful words of wisdom on eating disorders, chronic pain, depression and spirituality. Judging by the many of the comments on her blog, people struggling with a variety of mental health issues find her voice engaging and insightful in ways typical counselors lack.
Though she goes through periods where her posts are few and far between, the large archive of posts is well worth reading. Counseling students will gain perspective and learn from her approach to therapy.
This blog looks at a wide variety of counseling topics as they relate to psychology, philosophy and the real world. It is written by an international team of contributors, so there is much to be gained from seeing counseling approaches and methods from therapists from around the world. It also stays up to date with current events as they relate to counseling and psychology.
In addition to blog posts, there is an “In Practice” section that provides tools and tips for people starting a private practice or looking to increase web traffic to an existing site. The articles in this section discuss marketing, building a website and general tips for successfully running a private practice.
The “Therapy” section discusses the basics of self-help, types of counseling and psychotherapy, gives a list of web resources for all things counseling and has a link to mental health news.
This blog is great for counseling students who are looking for ways to enhance their educational foundation.