Bill has been in the counseling profession for close to 40 years. When he began his career, there were just two specialty areas: school counseling and mental health counseling. There was no CACREP accreditation, no certification, and no licensing. Multicultural counseling was barely ever mentioned and advocacy work was not part of the field. Bill is a really nice guy, but a bit of a dinosaur in the profession.
His friend, Esther, has also been in the profession for the same amount of time. However, she has kept up with the changes. She believes that becoming certified, learning the multicultural counseling competencies, knowing how to be an advocate, and generally keeping up with trends is critical to today’s counselors. One day, she decides to go up to Bill and says, “You know Bill, we’ve been friends for many years; however, I’ve got to tell you that I think that you are acting unprofessionally, and maybe even unethically, by not keeping up with the current trends in the field. Particularly, you should be learning about multicultural counseling and advocacy, and I think it would be good if you went and became a nationally certified counselor.”
Bill looks at Esther and says, “Esther, you know that I’ve been doing this for a long time now. My clients seem to like me, I am successful in my work, and I see no reason to change now. Where’s the problem? I think that perhaps you have bought into some new ways of working that may not be as beneficial as you believe. How about just letting me do what has always worked? After all, it took me many years to get as skilled as I am.”
1- What about Esther’s point of view do you think is correct?
2- What about Bill’s point of view do you think might be credible?
3- Would you feel comfortable working with Bill?
4- Do you believe Bill is acting ethically and professionally?
