Not Sure Where To Begin? Counseling 101 for Homeschooling Families
Not a fan of alphabet soup? No need to worry. The Homeschool Counseling Network is here to help you make sense of it all when it comes to finding the right provider to meet your family’s needs.
For many families, receiving counseling or mental health services is an entirely new experience.
Finding clinicians with the knowledge and understanding necessary to support homeschooling families through their professional practices can present a challenge. Here at The Homeschool Counseling Network, we are working hard to help bridge this gap.
By creating a resource list of homeschool family-friendly providers, we aim to help ease the burden of seeking support services.
It is our sincerest wish to offer comfort, encouragement, and support by connecting homeschooling families with providers who are equipped to help meet their counseling needs.
What Is A Professional Counselor?
Counseling is a professional relationship that empowers diverse individuals, families, and groups to accomplish mental health, wellness, education, and career goals.
American Counseling Association, www.counseling.org
Professional counselors help people gain personal insights, develop strategies and come up with real solutions to the problems and challenges we all face in every area of life. As trained and credentialed professionals, they accomplish this by getting to know clients, by building safe, positive relationships and suggesting tools and techniques they believe will benefit clients.
American Counseling Association, www.counseling.org
Types of Counseling Services
Within the realm of mental health, multiple specialties and subspecialties exist depending on your professional discipline (i.e., psychology versus counseling versus social work). As my background is in professional counseling, I have chosen to list examples from my counseling background. Additional examples can be found from other professional organizations in the corresponding links below.
By population served:
- Individuals (adults, adolescents, and children)
- Couples
- Families
- Groups
Areas of specialty:
- Multicultural Counseling & Development
- Group Work
- Rehabilitation
- College Counseling
- Pediatric (Child and Adolescent)
- Geriatric and Aging
- Military Personnel/Veterans/Government
- Assessment & Research
- Creativity (Art and Music Therapies)
- Humanistic Counseling
- Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious
- Social Justice
- Resilience and Trauma Counseling
- Addictions and Offender Counseling
- Counselor Education & Supervision
- Marriage and Family Counselors
- Career Development
- Employment Counseling
- Gender Identity
**This descriptive list is not exhaustive. It is based on the American Counseling Association’s 19 Divisions. Information is for organizations and professionals licensed in the United States ONLY. For more in-depth information, please click on the links provided.
How Do I Find A Counselor?
There are numerous ways! Here are a few suggestions:
- Contact your insurance. If you need to use your insurance benefits this is the fastest way to find an in-network provider. Simply flip your insurance card over on the back and call the member line number. You may need to provide your insurance representative with a little information about the topic for which you are seeking services. This way they can give you a list of providers in your area.
- Check out the HCN Resource List. That’s what we’re here for! We’re on a mission to help bridge the gap between homeschooling families needing services and the professionals looking to serve them. Our website is just like us, always learning and always growing. We have new professionals reach out to join our network daily. Check out the Parents Tab and scroll down until you see Find A Professional. Simply choose from one of the subheadings (Academic Advising, Assessment/Testing, Counseling/Mental Health, or Tutoring) to help you locate a professional in your area.
- Internet search. Google has been my trusty go-to for a while now. It can certainly work in a pinch.
What About Professionals Other Than Counselors?
Upcoming blog posts will be filled with all sorts of information from the various types of providers in the world of counseling and mental health to providers in our sister fields (art therapists, music therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech therapists) and other professionals, such as life coaches and educators, who all endeavor to help support you along your homeschooling journey.
Let’s Keep In Touch
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Blessings,
Kimberly
IOH Mom
Founder/CEO, It’s Only Homeschooling
Founder/CEO, The Homeschool Counseling Network
This website is not a professional counseling website and nothing here should be construed as professional counseling advice. Although Kimberly Bennett, LPC is a Licensed Professional Counselor, she is not your counselor, and no counselor-client relationship is established unless she has signed an agreement with you. All information provided through this website is for informational and educational purposes only.
