serving as academic advisors, play an important role in advocating with university international affairs offices, who serve as liaisons with the U.S. government, and with international consulates and other organizations that often require letters of support and status updates. Domestic students experiencing financial hardships, social oppression, and personal setbacks also may benefit from having faculty allies. It is important for programs to hire diverse faculty to broaden the perspectives of counseling programs and build bridges of cultural understanding (Baggerly et al., 2017). Once hired, those from historically marginalized groups may benefit from peer advocacy, particularly as they face institutional barriers and are unjustly challenged by students, colleagues, and administrators (Cartwright et al., 2018).
Moving outside of the ecosystem, counselor educators can also advocate at the macro level, engaging in legislative action (Chan et al., 2019). Farrell and Barrio Minton (2019) found that counseling leaders can engage in legislative professional advocacy (LPA) through a process of being catalyzed by internal personal and professional motivators, resourced by local communities and professional networks, and enacted through prioritizing various forms of engagement with legislators. Indirect engagement, or practical advocacy, may come in the form of writing letters, calling a legislator, signing petitions, or building LPA into a course syllabus.
Direct advocacy occurs when counselor educators meet with legislators in person. Some state counseling associations host legislative advocacy days, or “Days on the Hill” (Farrell & Barrio Minton, 2019, p. 153), and counselor educators may include such activities in their courses as one form of service learning. Organizers of legislative advocacy days may lead participants through at least four steps of Trusty and Brown’s (2005) model: developing relationships and knowledge about key issues, defining the professional advocacy problem(s), preparing talking points and handwritten notes to address congressional representatives, and meeting with elected leaders. Chapters of Chi Sigma Iota, Counselors for Social Justice, and other groups may provide advocacy leadership by organizing transportation to these events or even coordinating them with their own legislative initiatives. Similarly, counselor educators may invite legislators to their classrooms to host constructive dialogue around local counseling concerns and legislative needs to support the mental health and overall wellness of their constituents.
Like counselor educators, supervisors in the field can support the leadership and advocacy development of student interns as well as early career professionals. Storlie, Baltrinic, et al. (2019) interviewed seven current or former site supervisors and discovered that they fostered leadership and advocacy through a process of modeling a strong professional counselor identity, appropriate clinical practices, and health self-care. These supervisors also served as leaders and advocates by involving their supervisees in learning experiences, advocating for them to have time and resources, and empowering them to think on their own and be self-advocates. In summary, supervisors and counselor educators alike have important roles to play in guiding the next generation of professional counselors to be effective advocates for the profession, for their clients, and for themselves.
How Can Students and Counselors Become Servant Leaders?
Greenleaf (1970), in his early essay on servant leadership, claimed the powerful truth that it takes courage to change the paradigms of leadership. There is a tendency for individuals to perpetuate the status quo to maintain their positions of power, often at the expense of others. Referring to the early works of Albert Camus, Greenleaf called on us to “create dangerously,” to be willing to get out of our comfort zones and fulfill our potential to solve the problems counselors encounter in new and powerful ways. Furthermore, he evoked courage not only for natural servants to become leaders but also for followers to identify servant leaders and join their efforts. This may be the first step for any of us on our journey to become advocacy leaders.
Samuel Templeman Gladding (2017), counseling author, leader, and advocate, described early career decisions that were most influential to his development. The most fundamental step was simply to identify himself as a counselor, which then inspired him to get involved in professional associations. Remley and Herlihy (2020) affirm that “having a sense of pride in one’s chosen profession” is an essential step toward becoming a professional (p. 55). As you begin your journey, counseling associations may be a place not only to learn from servant leaders but also a place where students and new professionals shape those divisions and priorities (Brubaker, 2020). It is also where critical networking may occur to share common concerns (Remley & Herlihy, 2020) and to organize advocacy efforts (Brubaker, 2020).
All great leaders in the counseling profession had the same beginnings; that is, they were once master’s students considering how they could help others. But they also learned the importance of connecting with others in the profession to gain knowledge, secure resources, and mobilize advocacy efforts. As you reflect on the needs and opportunities that lie before you, we encourage you to create dangerously as you listen to your communities, collaborate with other professionals, and leverage your training as a counselor, leader, and advocate to make a difference.
PART I: 2016 CACREP Standards Alignment
Chapter 1: Introduction
SECTION 2: PROFESSIONAL COUNSELING IDENTITY: COUNSELING CURRICULUM1. PROFESSIONAL COUNSELING ORIENTATION AND ETHICAL PRACTICEd. the role and process of the professional counselor advocating on behalf of the profession
SECTION 6: DOCTORAL STANDARDS: COUNSELOR EDUCATION AND SUPERVISIONB. DOCTORAL PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY5. LEADERSHIP AND ADVOCACYa. theory and skills of leadershipb. leadership and leadership development in professional organizations
Chapter 2: Culturally Responsive Counseling Leadership
SECTION 2: PROFESSIONAL COUNSELING IDENTITY: COUNSELING CURRICULUM1. PROFESSIONAL COUNSELING ORIENTATION AND ETHICAL PRACTICEa. history and philosophy of the counseling profession and its specialty areasd. the role and process of the professional counselor advocating on behalf of the professione. advocacy processes needed to address institutional and social barriers that impede access, equity, and success for clients2. SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DIVERSITYc. multicultural counseling competenciesh. strategies for identifying and eliminating barriers, prejudices, and processes of intentional and unintentional oppression and discrimination
SECTION 6: DOCTORAL STANDARDS: COUNSELOR EDUCATION AND SUPERVISIONB. DOCTORAL PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY5. LEADERSHIP AND ADVOCACYh. current topical and political issues in counseling and how those issues affect the daily work of counselors and the counseling professioni. role of counselors and counselor educators advocating on behalf of the profession and professional identityj. models and competencies for advocating for clients at the individual, system, and policy levelsk. strategies of leadership in relation to current multicultural and social justice issuesl. ethical and culturally relevant leadership and advocacy practices
Chapter 3: Leadership and Advocacy in the Field
SECTION 2: PROFESSIONAL COUNSELING IDENTITY: COUNSELING CURRICULUM1. PROFESSIONAL COUNSELING ORIENTATION AND ETHICAL PRACTICEd. the role and process of the professional counselor advocating on behalf of the professione. advocacy processes needed to address institutional and social barriers that impede access, equity, and success for clients
SECTION 6: DOCTORAL STANDARDS: COUNSELOR EDUCATION AND SUPERVISIONB. DOCTORAL PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY5. LEADERSHIP AND ADVOCACYb. leadership and leadership development in professional organizationsc. leadership in counselor education programsd. knowledge of accreditation standards and processese. leadership, management, and administration in counseling organizations and other institutionsh. current topical and political issues in counseling and how those issues affect the daily work of counselors and the counseling professioni. role of counselors and counselor educators advocating on behalf of the profession and professional identityj. models and competencies for advocating for