ABSTRACT
As mentioned in Chapter 1 of this text, wellness counseling is closely allied with humanism and humanistic counseling. Wellness-in addition to being a holistic approach to counseling that represents a shi from reductionistic approaches-consistent with the humanistic perspectives of Maslow and Rogers emphasizes the actualization of human potential. In this chapter, the history of wellness counseling is discussed, including denitions and a description of counseling-based models. An overview of research arising from these models is described. To facilitate evidence-based application of wellness concepts, two client populations are described, wellness risk factors are discussed, and intervention strategies are explored. College students were selected because of the size and diversity of this population: Nearly 50% of 18-24-year-old persons are enrolled in college, and more than one in three college students are of nontraditional age (i.e., over 24; National Center for Education Statistics, 2009). Substance abuse has been dened as “the nation’s number one health problem” (Schneider Institute for Health Policy, 2001); hence, we chose substance abusers as a signicant clinical population through which to describe the benets of a wellness approach. Finally, we describe a case in which the wellness model is applied successfully to help a client choose to change in positive ways. Implications for practitioners are explored in the conclusion to the chapter.
