Current masters students from the University of Scranton came to Wilkes University to talk with current Wilkes students interested in counseling.

A panel of Scranton graduate students took the time to come to Wilkes to discuss the graduate programs they are involved regarding a career in counseling.

The different careers available in the field include school counseling, clinical mental counseling and rehabilitation counseling.

Each career in counseling is very different.

School counseling deals with students in the school they are working in, helping them with classes, and getting them ready for the future or day to day life issues they might be facing.

Clinical mental health counseling deals with a different client base and with issues that are more severe such as depression or anxiety. Rehabilitation counseling works with disabilities and health services.

“What I like about working in rehabilitation counseling is you can work with people who come back from war who lost limbs; or people with mental disabilities,” Kelly Roughgarden from the University of Scranton graduate program said.

Internships are a key element in getting the experience needed for future careers in counseling.

Scranton requires students in the graduate program do 600 hours of internship work before graduation.

“You’re able to be with real clients with real issues and try to help them,” David Hovey from the University of Scranton graduate program said.

The panel discussed how important it is to have self-care and that counselors need to know how to handle their own problems as well as how to deal with their own day-to-day issues.

If they do not learn this skill then they should not be a counselor, because if a counselor does not know how to handle their own issues how do they expect to handle someone else’s?