TPC-Digests-V1-Issues-123

illustrates growth and diversification of professional counseling. Though school counselors represent the largest counseling specialty, mental health counseling, rehabilitation counseling, and addictions counseling are the fastest growing professional areas. This expansion and growth outside the traditional school counseling/guidance profession has altered the face of the profession. Mental health counselors, for example, are involved in using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition-Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) published by the American Psychiatric Association, representing a significant departure from the profession’s traditional wellness oriented philosophy. This departure from traditional philosophical origins may have continued to the splintering within the counseling profession and may be part of the reason only a fraction of the 635,000 counselors in the U.S. hold membership in ACA or one of the divisional affiliate organizations. The manuscript also discusses initiatives aimed at healing professional rifts (e.g. 20/20 initiative). Expansion of the counseling profession across international borders is also examined. Globalism offers both opportunity and crisis for the profession. Though international expansion represents a positive trajectory, the counseling profession also must address widely varying cultural norms. Restrictive cultures rigidly legislate religion, gender roles, and sexual orientation. Meanwhile, the counseling profession has strongly advocated for women’s rights and religious and sexual plurality, in direct conflict with many cultures. Is the resolution to this cultural conflict a “when in Rome” type of cultural relativism, or do we expect non-western cultures to adhere more closely to the professions more egalitarian ethics and values? Finally, the manuscript suggests curricular changes in counselor education programs be examined. For example, should the counseling profession promote a baccalaureate degree? Would a professional doctorate in counseling modeled along the lines of the Psy.D. be viable in the marketplace? Pros and cons to these and other considerations are also examined. Meanwhile, the counseling profession has strongly advocated for women’s rights and religious and sexual plurality, in direct conflict with many cultures. TPC Digest