Ways That a Counselor Can Improve Mental Health Services for Youth

Mental health and quality of life are vitally related. Without a doubt, for youth, mental health directly relates to the ability to grow and develop in healthy ways that provide inclusion and integration into society. Mental health significantly impacts the future of individuals with regard to independent living, family function, future employment and economic self-sufficiency. Researchers report that counselors provide guidance and recommendations for the appropriate mental health services available so youngsters obtain stabilizing support that positively impacts their present and future life.

Assessment

• Counselor

  Though youth and adolescents face challenges in their home and social life, most experience a normal development; however, there are millions who face mental and emotional disturbances. Research reports that one-fifth of American youth between the ages of 9 and 17 years are afflicted with mental health issues in any given year. Alarmingly, data reports that a mere 20 percent of youth needing mental health services actually received them. Counselors are able to bridge that gap by providing assessment for affected youth. The assessment provided by counselors assists in parents obtaining mental health services for their affected children.

Treatment

• Adolescent

  Left untreated, children and adolescents with mental health problems often exhibit increasingly destructive actions. Behaviors may escalate to skipping and dropping out of school, breaking the law, alcohol and drug use, sexual activity and violence toward themselves or others. With the help of a mental health counselor, youngsters receive support and guidance to help them understand and better handle their emotions. Counseling intervention services provide decompression that often results in attenuation of problematic behaviors. Furthermore, mental health counselors recommend and coordinate mental health services with private and public agencies. Counselors often meet with school personnel or advise parents on accessing mental health services provided through schools.

School Guidance

• School Programs

  Eighty percent of U.S. schools offer guidance counseling to students, and many employ psychologists and social workers who support students experiencing more severe mental health issues. Schools additionally provide, by law, the services of diagnosticians who assess students who have been recommended for special education services. These services cover physical and academic as well as mental health issues. When youth are placed in a special education program, they receive planned services that are designed to meet their individual needs, and their progress in that plan served is monitored extensively. Mental health counselors frequently attend the committee meetings for students receiving special education services and are able to contribute to maximizing the special education program for the student.