Mental Health and Community Counseling

Running Head: MENTAL HEALTH AND COMMUNITY COUNSELING

Mental Health and Community Counseling

Liberty University

COUN 501

May 13, 2011

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to research the contributions and the role of counseling in dealing with society needs. In the paper, the meaning of different concepts related to counseling and the effect they have is explored. Further, the paper looks at mental health as a unique field that requires adequate attention from professional community counselors. The roles, functions, standards and importance of counselors are emphasized. The paper begins by defining key concepts that are relevant to the study. It then goes ahead to show how these concepts are interrelated and the implications of each. Emphasis is placed on mental health counseling and how counseling plays a role in dealing with this problem that affects the whole society. The role of the counselor takes the center stage as it is the one that determines how the society copes with mental health.

Introduction

Mental health definition, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is a condition of wellbeing in a person through which he or she discerns his or her own skills and abilities and is capable of dealing with the everyday stresses of life, work effectively and be competent in making contributions to the community (European Ministerial Conference on Mental Health, 2005). In psychology, mental health ensures that an individual is able to enjoy life in order to find a balance between life activities and efforts to achieve resilience psychologically. It may also be defined by the ability to express emotions, hence signifying a successful adaptation to various needs and demands (Gould, 2009).

The absence of mental health implies that an individual has a mental disorder. Mental disorder, also called mental illness, is the behavior that is associated...