Mentors Are An Important Part Of A Career In Therapy
Andrew Assini is a masters-level clinician. His M.A. is in clinical mental health counseling from Rowan University. Andrew is a licensed clinical alcohol and drug counselor (LCADC), and has just opened Samma Vayama Well-Being, an outpatient treatment facility in Glassboro, NJ, where he provides substance abuse counseling services. He is also a licensed associate counselor (LAC). He teaches three classes a semester at his alma mater, Rowan University, where he advises and mentors students in addition to his regular teaching duties.
What continuing education is required for your role?
"You need 40 continuing education units every two years to be a licensed clinical alcohol and drug counselor. It will also be 40 CEU's every two years for the licensed professional counselor (no specific requirements at this time for the LAC)."
Can you describe your duties as a counselor?
"As a counselor, I provide group, individual and family counseling. I see clients and work with them to help them develop insight into their issues and create game plans to address their challenges. As an instructor, I teach undergraduate students in courses required and related to the bachelor's degree of psychology at Rowan University. More than this though, I feel privileged to help and encourage young men and women to find their own path and purpose."
How has education prepared you for your career in counseling?
"My education at Rowan University has prepared me well, providing instructors with various clinical approaches who all encouraged me to find an evidence-based approach, which worked for me. I was also indoctrinated into psychological research, providing an excellent base from which to move clinically. Between the great instruction, research grounding, and internship experiences, I feel I was excellently prepared for my career in psychology and counseling."
What advice would you give someone who is pursuing a career in psychology?
"Start to think about what settings and/or populations you would like to work with. Also, consider your interest in psychological research. There are many ways someone can go within the field of psychology and there are many paths to achieving career goals. A person can have a perfectly legitimate career in psychology with a bachelor's degree. If you want to do counseling, then a master's degree will most likely be required. If you would like a career in academia, teaching, and researching, then a Ph.D. will most likely be required. Also, I'd recommend field experience. Find out if what you think you want to do is something that you would actually enjoy doing. It would be a terrible waste to spend years in school to do something that ultimately you have no desire to actually do. Finally, get some firsthand experience with psychology; your own personal psychology. If you want to counsel people, find out what it's like to be counseled first. Gain an understanding of yourself. You don't have to know everything, because none of us do, but an understanding of our own personal psychology is a completely different thing from class concepts and textbook knowledge."
Christina Thompson is a freelance writer living in Philadelphia. She reports on various topics such as: Social Media, Local Events, Entertainment, Food and Drink and more. Her work can be found at http://firstsendmedia.com/