Furry Counselors

[snow_kitty]

I've noticed that a few of us furry counselors contact each other when we need some feedback, so I figured we may as well have a community where we can bounce ideas off each other and generally talk about the woes and rewards of our occupation.

furrycounselors

We shrinks need our own support groups too...so talk amongst yourselves!

Comments

[canid_anubis]

Oficcially becoming a counselor is something I've considered for ages, and still may do someday. But whereas I have furs (And others) coming to discuss their issues with me all the time, I've never taken the time to take some courses and officially get that shingle to hang on the door.
If you ever find that you'll welcome non-professionalls into the mix, let us know and I'd be happy to jump in there.

[snow_kitty]

This is probably going to sound "elitist", but I don't mean any offense. Becoming a counselor is a lot more work than just a few courses and it takes even more training outside the classroom. I also learned a long time ago that counseling isn't about giving folks advice.

Friends listen to each other and give advice all the time, which is a great way to get support. I commend you on giving folks a place to talk about things. But when it comes to counseling, there are a lot of pieces to the puzzle that most don't know about or understand.

Countertransference and ethics are probably the biggest issues we face and it can be difficult (and potentially cross ethical/legal boundaries) to discuss such things with folks who aren't professionally trained.

[canid_anubis]

*chuckles* No no, you're fine. Don't worry about seeming 'elitist.' I didn't mean to come across as panning it as a 1 year set of courses or something. Mind you, in Maryland, I alwasy got the impression that just about anyone could use that title, and that has been worrisome over the years. But to me, one wouldn't want to go into such a job unless they were going to do it right, at least if they actually cared about the patients, eh? Best of luck with the community.

[snow_kitty]

PS - Stop considering and get your ass to grad school already! ;)

[siriuswolfstar]

You can count me in. Fixing fandom one fur at a time?

[nexrad]

Counselors/clinical psychologists only or those of us who sold out to the research dark side welcome, too? ;-)

[tigerfoxx]

I work with geriatric dementia patients and grieving families, does that count?