TPC Journal-Vol 10- Issue 2-FULL ISSUE

The Professional Counselor | Volume 10, Issue 2 229 further supports the argument that self-stigma of mental illness and self-stigma of help seeking are two theoretically and empirically distinct constructs (Tucker et al., 2013). Moreover, the significantly direct effect of an individual’s self-stigma of help seeking on attitudes toward seeking psychological help confirms the need that treatments must address more than one component of self-stigma and that addressing self-stigma of mental illness alone may not improve attitudes toward help seeking (Tucker et al., 2013; Wade et al., 2011). The findings may also suggest the benefit of increased advocacy and health promotion as it relates to help-seeking and combatting stigma. Implications for Counselor Education and Counselors Given that we found an individual’s attitudes toward seeking psychological help negatively relate to AOD use, it behooves counselors to address factors that impede help seeking. Equally important, the present findings and prior evidence reporting public stigma as a predictor of the development of self-stigma over time (Vogel et al., 2013) have important implications for the advocacy work needed by counselors and counselor educators on both an individual level and a systemic level to fully address the development of self-stigma of help seeking that subsequently affects an individual’s attitudes toward seeking psychological help. On an individual level, counselors can implement and advocate for interventions that increase an individual’s positive attitudes toward seeking help that may lower the individual’s substance use through mental health literacy (Cheng et al., 2018). Moreover, they can challenge thoughts of seeking help as weakness (Wade et al., 2011), normalize seeking psychological help, and discuss the benefits of therapy to address the development and effects of self-stigma of help seeking for individuals with substance use issues. Counselors can also empower clients by cultivating awareness and reflection of internalized negative beliefs developed from experiences of discrimination and prejudice that contribute to the self-stigma of help seeking. Moreover, efforts to deliver healthier messages about help seeking for mental health concerns from the media or faith-based organizations can assist with decreasing self-stigma that still exists. In adherence to advocacy competency standards set forth by the American Counseling Association (Lewis et al., 2003), counselors should also consider using their position of power to address, on a systemic level, the enacted and perceived stigma experienced by individuals with substance use issues as well as the detrimental impact on attitudes toward seeking psychological help. For example, counselors can disseminate information that dispels myths surrounding help seeking and substance use to the public or create multimedia materials such as public service announcements that explain the impact of stigma on those with SUDs in the United States, making sure to include affirmative language about seeking psychological help and individuals reporting AOD use (Corrigan, 2011). Counselors also can lobby to make changes to workplace policies and practices to increase mental health support for those with AOD concerns, as supportive policies and practices can also decrease the stigmas associated with AOD concerns. Additionally, counselors and counselor educators can improve attitudes toward help seeking as well as decrease the stigma of individuals with substance use issues by intentionally using person- first language on administered surveys, academic scholarship, and provided resources to clients and the community (Tucker et al., 2013). For example, Granello and Gibbs (2016) found that participants reported higher tolerance and less stigmatized attitudes when the language on surveys was changed from “mentally ill” to “people with mental illness.” In the current study, we used person-first language in order to model correct terminology and would suggest that future researchers do the same. By disseminating knowledge and material to the public in less stigmatizing language, counselors and counselor educators can counter negative group stereotypes that lead to self-stigma of individuals with substance use issues (Al-Khouja & Corrigan, 2017; Rao et al., 2009).