ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the counseling as a profession is more comprehensive, formalized, and structured than the counseling. Professional counseling today developed as a uniquely American system that drew heavily on the traditions of European and later American psychologists and adapted those traditions to the vocational and educational guidance needs of a fledgling country. Wilhelm Wundt influenced the field of psychology by founding the first experimental laboratory devoted to the human mind in Germany in 1879. As the number of counselors in non-educational settings increased, so did a need for credentialing on parity with psychologists and social workers. American Counseling Association mission has been refined to “promote the professional development of counselors, advocate for the profession, and ensure ethical, culturally-inclusive practices that protect those using counseling services”. Political battles and turf wars previously meant the exclusion of professional counselors as providers of mental health services beyond educational settings.
