181 The Professional Counselor | Volume 13, Issue 3 Client Crisis Plans There are specific steps to ensure appropriate emergency management practices when working with clients via telehealth (Sheperis & Smith, 2021). For example, at intake, these are the steps counselors could take: 1) verify the client’s identity and contact information; 2) verify the current location of the client and their residential address; 3) inquire about other health care providers; 4) navigate conversation regarding contact during emergency and non-emergency situations; and 5) implement a safety plan, if needed (Sheperis & Smith, 2021; Shore et al., 2018). Moreover, counselors need to stay up to date with local state and federal requirements related to duty to warn and protection requirements (Kramer et al., 2015). For clients and counselors operating in separate cities or states, it is necessary for counselors to gather local law enforcement and emergency service contact information and maintain a plan of action if needed (Shore et al., 2007). Counselors are also advised to plan for service interruptions if and when technical issues arise during a crisis situation (Kramer et al., 2015). Aside from emergency management practices, counselors who engage clients during a crisis still need to apply basic counseling techniques such as unconditional positive regard, congruence, and empathy (Litam & Hipolito-Delgado, 2021). Once a counselor establishes a client’s psychological safety, they can begin to work collaboratively with clients to reestablish safety and predictability; defuse emotions; validate experiences; create specific, objective, and measurable goals; and identify any resources and coping mechanisms (Litam & Hipolito-Delgado, 2021). Licensure Portability In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as states of emergency were issued at the state and national levels, licensing requirements were waived for the sake of allowing medical professionals to offer continuity of care via telehealth (Slomski, 2020). These time-bound waivers of practice highlighted the need for licensure portability, especially for counselors, even though in many of these states the waivers were difficult to obtain and could be withdrawn at any point when the state of emergency was rescinded. The widened use of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic amplified the growing calls for long-term licensure portability options for counselors. In the United States, counselors experience challenges in transferring licensure between states, as counseling licensure standards vary from state to state (Mascari & Webber, 2013). The profession of counseling, although a relatively new field as compared to other helping professions such as psychology and social work, has been working toward licensure portability over the past 30 years. Since its inception in 1986, the American Association of State Counseling Boards (AASCB) has been focused on advocacy efforts to establish consistency in counseling licensing standards and avenues for licensing portability across states (AASCB, 2022). To advance toward this goal, AASCB first partnered with organizations such as ACA, the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), and NBCC. Together these groups established the professional identity of counselors through a unified definition of counseling as a profession (Kaplan & Kraus, 2018), as well as consistent training standards for professional counselors across the nation (Bobby, 2013). In an effort to promote a unified counselor identity and facilitate licensure portability, the 20/20 initiative (Kaplan & Gladding, 2011) included an oversight committee comprised of stakeholders from various organizations to develop a consensus definition of the profession, address prominent issues facing the profession at the time, and develop principles to guide advocacy work in strengthening the counseling profession (Kaplan & Gladding, 2011; Kaplan & Kraus, 2018). Licensure portability was identified as one of these key issues critical for the future of the profession. This issue persisted, with various states assigning different licensure titles, guidelines, requirements, and continuing education
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