Counseling Awareness Month

April 1, 2024

April is Counseling Awareness Month, established as an annual event by the American Counseling Association in 2002. It’s a time to celebrate the counseling profession and recognize the important role that counselors play in promoting mental health and well-being.


BHN is honored to recognize and celebrate our mental health counselors who have dedicated their lives to making a difference. They work diligently with those we serve, facilitating meaningful changes, assisting them in overcoming life challenges, and empowering them to lead more fulfilling and productive lives. 


We asked our counselors what they find most fulfilling in this challenging yet life-changing profession and for their advice for aspiring counselors. Here are their insights.

What is most fulfilling about being a counselor?

I get to help people come back to their baseline. I have so many opportunities to help other clinicians fine tune their skills. 


Advice for those entering the field: This work is hard. There will be many days where you will question why you entered into this field. However, there are so many more rewarding days that remind you why. We get to help people when they are at their lowest moments. You are a change agent and that is an amazing feeling.   

- Michelle Colglazier

I like helping others to learn to utilize coping skills to manage challenges in daily life. It feels good to be someone that others feel they can talk to and trust.Helping people get to know and trust themselves. Helping families build trust and connection.


Advice for those entering the field: Stay curious and be aware of your judgements and values.

- Victoria DeCosmo

I like being able to help people move toward they're best life. It's an honor to have people share their difficult stories and trust me with that.  It is a very meaningful job and it feels like you can make a difference even if it is only in your small corner of the world.


Advice for those entering the field: I'd suggest that they make sure they have done some of their own emotional work and keep working on things that aren't resolved so that they can be as present as possible with their clients.  I'd also say to start with a plan of keeping a balance between work and personal life and constantly checking in on this so that it doesn't get out of balance.  

- Lyla Novak

I like that I get to witness someone's changes and improvements and help guide them to said changes and improvements for themselves. I like that I am making a positive impact on someone and their lives.


Advice for those entering the field: To not put pressure on yourself as the counselor and sometimes the smallest and seemingly insignificant things can be the most helpful such as simply holding space and just listening or playing the same game over and over and over again.

- Sarah Gatsik

I appreciate being able to help children and families navigate their lives in ways that empower them to make different choices, to open their perspectives to new ways of walking in the world that honor their strengths and their voices and help them fulfill their potential. I appreciate offering them opportunities to use creativity to heal and grow and express their emotions and find comfort and peace in a frequently chaotic world. 


Advice for those entering the field: Stay curious and open to new experiences, accept people for who they are and where they are, and allow them to guide you in determining what they need. Hold your own boundaries and preserve some strength and energy for yourself, as this work grabs hold of your heart and soul for good!

- Jean Fater

I like to help clients stabilize.


Advice for those entering the field: Be open minded and treat everyone how you want to be treated 

- Evelyn Osei-Bonsu

I enjoy interacting with people and providing a safe place.


Advice for those entering the field: Be curious.

- Jessica Nesis

I appreciate the opportunity to support the clients in their journey toward mental well-being and witness the positive changes they make in their lives.


Advice for those entering the field: Recognize that each client is unique in their experiences and needs. Prioritize self-care. Continuing education. Remain compassionate and remember the inherent worth and dignity of every client. 

- Brenda Rodriguez

I love being able to help people find solutions that work for them to improve their lives. The counseling field embraces a collaborative approach and is dedicated to supporting individuals across various life stages in discovering purpose, direction, and fulfillment in all facets of their lives. I value the diversity of counselors and the specialized training to provide tailored services.


Advice for yhose entering the field: Most important is for graduate interns and new professionals to find a supervisor with whom they can establish a strong connection. I also recommend individuals who are new to or interested in the counseling field to gain a thorough understanding of the professional development, legal requirements, and credentialing available in their state. Last but not least, maintaining healthy boundaries and attending to personal well-being are essential for long-term success in this field.

- Carrie Barraco

Meaningful work, growth mindset.


Advice for those entering the field: Learn about self care.

- Randal Williams

It's been an absolute privilege to be let into the very close and personal aspects of the people with whom I counsel. In addition, it's been an honor to help people to make decisions that have been troubling them and to face very serious concerns and experiences. The most rewarding part of counseling to me has been to opportunity to help people I counsel with to take a good look at their thinking and feelings, see what they want to change, and help them to empower themselves to do so.


Advice for those entering the filed: Take your time. Be patient. Stay teachable. Consider yourself, and what you might want to change about yourself, as our "clients" are not the only ones who stand something to gain from counseling. Then, learn to enjoy the ride.

- John Manzi

Helping people get to know and trust themselves. Helping families build trust and connection.


Advice for those entering the field: Know your role, stay in your lane, don't work harder than your clients, have good boundaries between work and life, don't be a yes person.

- Rachel Stevens

I enjoy helping others improve their life.


Advice for those entering the field: Learn your own weaknesses and coping skills, practice them even when you feel well or you will burn out. 

- Stascia Bannon

Exploring the mind.


Advice for those entering the field: Be as patient with yourself as you were trained to be with others.

- Frankie Vera

I love being able to help people.


Advice for those entering the field: Be patient with your clients. Learn all you can about different diagnosis

- Keith Dodds

I enjoy helping people.


Advice for those entering the filed: Dedicate time for your own mental health

- Meghan Arnold

I enjoy the change I am able to effect and the positive difference I strive to make in the lives of the persons I encounter; even in the smallest degree.


Advice for those entering the field: I think it would be adhering to the phrase, "Counselor, know thyself." To understand one's identity in their role as a therapist and what core beliefs they hold in the therapeutic relationship.

- Mary Denecke

Helping people and making a difference in their lives.


Advice for those entering the field: To hold on and get used to being uncomfortable as you are still learning.

- Sarah Cuzzone

I enjoy meeting new people, and helping them define the satisfying life they desire, and then co-creating an execution plan where they can see results.


Advice for those entering the field: People think that counseling is "giving advice". It is absolutely NOT that. It's helping clients build a life worth living based on their desired outcomes.

- Ann Marie Murphy

I like to walk with people through a portion of their lives, seeing if, together, we can claim the freedom to create change.


Advice for those entering the filed: Remember how privileged you are to be gifted with someone's story.

- Mark Nickels

I like working with clients to be part of the change process, working together to identify skills and behavioral changes they can make to build the life that they want.


Advice for those entering the field: It's such rewarding work to do what we do as mental health counselors, but it is also very emotionally involved work. Please remember to make time for self-care to ensure balance and prevent burnout.

- Stephanie Darby

As a school based counselor, it's nice to be able to see my clients in their school environment. This allows me to help them navigate challenging social dynamics with peers, teachers and academic pressures. I really enjoy working with kids and helping them process all that's going on in their lives.


Advice for those entering the field: Find a way to maintain boundaries and develop self-care practices outside of work. Also, if possible, the more time you can get your clients out in nature the better (as a school clinician, I often take kids outside to walk and it's an obvious shift in mood and dynamic!)

- Jacqueline Goddard

Helping others, meeting new people.


Advice for those entering the field: Be kind to yourself, pace yourself, expect to feel like you don't know what you are doing for a while, and to some degree, always.

- Michael Palmer

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