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Hello, I am currently in the MA in Mental Health and Wellness program. This is my last semester before graduation. I currently work as a law enforcement officer, and reservist in the United States Navy.

My goal for this course is to broaden my knowledge on ways to apply empathic values in mental health, and how to be more empathic towards future clients needing mental health services. Often with law enforcement, the empathy is not there due to care giver fatigue. This often leads to poor ethical values.  (clinician, "uhhhh here we go again with you")

Professional identify to me is what makes you, (you) in the work field. For example, how you conduct yourself serving, and helping patients in the clinical setting. Are you going to compassionate with them, annoyed, not following any mental health guidelines etc.

I am doing better in professional counseling identify development. I have always had the drive to help others in the mental health sector. My strengths are being very patient with people, and carry life experiences to relate to patient problems in the real world.

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After 18 years as a professional secondary school counselor and a graduate of the UNT Counseling program, I am excited to take courses in the LPC Bridge program for school counselors.  I have 2-3 courses to take before I begin my next adventure as an LPC Intern.

I am ready to refresh my knowledge to better support the students I serve and prepare broaden my scope to include serving my community as an LPC.  I hope to update my professional knowledge as my experience has solely been in a school setting.  I am especially interested in developing skills and understanding ethical implications related to telehealth with adolescents and young adults.

My professional identity is the culmination of my trained areas of expertise, my title/role, my ethical standards, and my personal expectations of myself.

My current professional identity:

I am Tara Teague, a Professional School Counselor in Northwest Independent School District.  With close to 20 years of counseling experience in a public school setting and a Master of Education in Counseling for the University of North Texas, my role encompasses being a mental health professional in a school setting and supporting the educational environment.  This unique and valuable position allows for supporting the whole child through short-term individual counseling, alignment to prevention/intervention resources, academic support/intervention access, parent support, and parent/community education.  As a professional school counselor, I participate in continuing education through participation in the Texas Counseling Association, Lone Star Counseling Association, and the Texas School Counselor Association.

I am confident regarding my professional counselor identity as a professional school counselor. My area I am excited to spend time and attention improving is how to apply and grow skills regarding community counseling. With education our "clients" (students) are required to attend school and we have access to meet with them as needed. Developing a practice, creating a brand for the practice, meeting with clients, and learning about telehealth are areas I am excited to grow.

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Greeting all! My name is Ruby Duarte.  I am working on earning my masters in Mental Health and Wellness Counseling. This is my first semester in the program, so I am excited and ready to get to work. I am currently in my tenth year of teaching, fifth grade reading and language arts in San Angelo, Texas. I obtained my bachelor’s in Interdisplinary Studies from Angelo State University in the Spring of 2013. I was born and raised here, so it seemed fitting for my children to do the same. I have 2 children. My daughter is twelve, and my son is nine years old. They keep me busy with their sports and afterschool clubs. Upon completing the program, my plan is to teach one more year, and look for an opportunity to use my degree within my school district.

My goal for this course is to gain a deeper understanding of professional identity and the professional responsibilities of a counselor. Professional identity to me describes the mental role an individual would take on when entering a profession. I will not be able to apply for licensure or certifications when I graduate, but I would love the opportunity to work within my current school district. My goal is to work with both, students, and teachers, to assist them with beginning or improving their state of mental health.

My professional identity as a counselor is very minimal. I have helped many students work through their emotions throughout my years in the classroom, but never thought of myself solely as a counselor. My favorite part of teaching has been helping my students with their mental health. After lockdown, the need for social and emotional learning took a front seat in the classroom, but this is still not enough. Our students are suffering and need more than what we are currently giving them. I do not have enough experience in the counseling field to have established a professional identity; but I am eager to see the growth and identity I create for myself within this course.

My strengths in locating resources to help students and families in emergency situations is concrete. I would love to expand on my knowledge of mental illnesses and the skills necessary to help others find the necessary resources to meet their specific needs.

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Hello, I am starting my MA in the Mental Health and Wellness program. I graduated last year with my BA for social work and psychology. I am currently working as a Early Head start teacher with toddlers. I had my daughter in novemeber. After I graduate a plan to continue into the bridge program to become a professional licensed counselor, my overall goal is to be a counselor in my community.
A goal I have for this course is to understand how to create my own professional identity. My understanding of professional identity is that it is how you present yourself to your clients and colleges. My desired role is a professional licensed counselor.
In terms of my own professional identity as a professional counselor I am unsure of that in the area I need to learn more about my future role in order to create my identity. I think some of the skills and roles that I use as a teacher my transfer over,  in the classroom working with toddlers a lot of the skills we teach or on social and emotional, and how to handle emotions.

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My name is Guadalupe Briones, but please call me Lupita. I am currently working towards my Masters in Mental Health and Wellness Counseling. This is my first semester in the program, and my career plans include promoting students mental health with education. I have been at the San Diego Independent School District for 21 years and I am currently a high school teacher. I am also a mother of 3 adult children (21, 28, and 25) and I have 2 grand children.
My goal for this course is to acquire and broaden my skills of understanding and evaluating mental health issues for my students.
I believe that professional identity is being confident in promoting and educating clients where they can live in a postive and healthy way. My desired professional role after graduation is acquiring a job as a social emotional counselor at our school district.
In terms of my professional counseling identity development, it is limited. I am in the process of continuing to build relationships with my counselors within the school district. It is a process in which I am hopeful to become more educated in. The reason there is limitations to my identity is that I need more experience and skill. My strengths include interacting and communicating with students. I desire the opportunity to grow in understanding the patterns that affect people's emotions and to develop the necessary skills to assist my clients in improving their emotional health.

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Hello everyone!  My name is Jami Maxey and I am in my 26th year of education; fifteen years as a special education teacher and eleven as a school counselor.  I have been fortunate enough to experience school counseling in the elementary, middle, and high school levels.  I have discovered that middle school is jam and where I am meant to be.  I absolutely love working with this particular age group.  I get to be there for my students in what is often the beginning stages of them becoming aware of their mental health and I get to witness and be a part of their progress throughout middle school

I have been married to my husband, Eric for 25 years and we have two children Seth (18) and Rose (16).  We live in Wylie, TX.  I am excited to be apart of the LPC bridge program.  It is something I have always wanted to pursue, but something I struggled with after my breast cancer diagnoses, too many surgeries to count.  BUT…I am here and ready to hit the floor running! I plan to retire from education and hopefully, use my LPC as added income seeing clients after retirement.

My professional identity would be an accumulation of my personal experiences; as a wife, mom, sister, daughter, special education teacher, church leader, school counselor and student mentor.  I am all of these, not just one and I believe that being aware of my own personal experiences and knowing who I am is the only way to be authentic when working in the mental health field.  I graduated from Amberton University in 2011 with my Master of Arts and School Counseling.  Since graduating I have worked as a school and continued to grow and develop my skills and knowledge in the field of mental health.  My goal is to create a comprehensive counseling program that meets the needs of all students/clients through individual counseling, group counseling, family support while cultivating a positive climate that fosters acceptance, empathy, and self-awareness for all.

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Hello everyone! My Name is Victoria, I am currently starting my first semester in the Mental Health and Wellness program after completing this program I will be completing the LPC bridge to obtain my license to practice. I plan to specialize in counseling children and families. I recently graduated from Angelo State with my B.S. in Psychology. Currently I work as a Mental Heath Technician at a behavioral hospital.

My goal for this course is to learn the professional identity of a counselor so that I am able to convey myself in that manner once I start my career. One of my worries once I complete school and start my career is that I am young and may not be able to relate to potential clients. I think this course will help with learning how to correctly display myself in a professional manner in many aspects. My understanding of professional identity is how someones educations, morals, and values is displayed in their career role. Upon the completion of my degree my professional identity as an LPC will be using my education as well as life experiences to help improve the mental health of others as well as using those aspects of myself to help guide others through obstacles they are facing.

I feel that I am pretty confident of my  professional counseling identity development currently. I am very self aware of how I am and who I am as an individual which I think is really important. Currently I feel that I lack the required education to fully help counsel someone because I am just starting my masters program. I am not fully equipped to help others but as a Mental Heath Technician I have gained many tools and techniques to help those in situations of crisis.

I feel my strength in terms of my professional counselor identity is that I am very diverse in many aspects. I grew up in a blended family household. I grew up a military child so I can lived in many places across the United States and experienced many different cultures. I am a minority. And as everyone has I have overcome many life challenges. I am a very patient person and naturally empathetic. I feel these things would only help me in my career. Something that I feel will need improvement would be my ability to not let my morals and values influence my work abilities as counselor.

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Hello Everyone. My name is Molly Early and I am actively working toward my MA in Mental Health and Wellness Counseling. Currently I am in my first semester and looking forward to expanding my professional knowledge and understanding and apply it within the context of my current role. Currently I work as an Athletic Trainer in the Iraan-Sheffield Independent School District.

As an athletic trainer, I strive to ensure that my athletes receive the highest level of care in their time of need. Through my training to become an athletic trainer, I received some level of mental health training, but I am interested in expanding my knowledge and skills to best serve my athletes.

My goal for this course is to expand my knowledge to best treat and support my athletes. I am looking forward to developing a professional understanding of how counseling plays a role in my current professional identity.

Professional identity, to me, is more than just “what you do.” As a professional, you are much more than just your job title. Someone’s professional identity is an amalgamation of who they are and how they do it. At times, it’s how they communicate with a colleague, or discuss things with a patient. It is also how they hold themselves in both the day to day as well as times of heightened stress. It’s the relationship that is cultivated between patient and clinician and the ability to build trust.

My hope, upon graduation, is that I can be more confident and sure of my skills in regard to counseling. My education up to this point has been incredibly minimal in the realm of mental health. As of now, it is difficult to view myself as a counselor due to my minimal training. Though I try my best to use what skills I have to best serve my athletes I believe my patients and athletes deserve the best care I can give them. As of now, I am confident and sure of my role when it comes building relationships and trust with my patients, and I believe one of my strengths is my ability to lend an empathetic ear and communicate concerns with families but I am looking forward to developing the skills and knowledge to improve my ability to respond to a mental health crisis for my athletes.

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Hello everyone! I am Megan Butler (Brent). I currently hold a M. Ed. in Guidance and Counseling from Angelo State University and am in the LPC bridge program. This is my first class since returning and I couldn't be more excited! This is my 10th year working in education. I taught science grades 5-7 for 6 years and am in my 4th year as a school counselor at a middle school. I’m married with two children. My daughter is 7 and my son is 4. I decided to continue my education to become an LPC because when I started counseling in schools I began to see how there is such a high need for counseling services for students and adults.  I am not sure how I will use my additional certification outside my current career but I am thinking of working with an agency to provide counseling in the community.

I am hoping through this course to have a clear view of the role of a counselor outside of a school since my current experience is school related only. To me professional identity is the blend of title, areas of specialty, and population served.

I feel that I have a definitive professional identity as a school counselor because it is defined by the district. Professional school counselors offer a variety of services to students including but not limited to social emotional learning, short term counseling, student advocacy, scheduling, connections to outside services, academic planning, crisis intervention, and other duties as assigned. We also work very closely with other counselors in the district, take professional development classes together and collaborate with other professionals in the mental health field such as social workers. Our roles do overlap at times, especially in high need situations but I feel that it is all in support of each other and the students.

Currently I feel very comfortable in my role working with students and their families. I would like to expand on my current skill set so I can transition to working with clients for a longer period of time. As a school counselor we focus on more short term and do not spend large amounts of time with students in the day because we really try to get them back into the classroom setting.

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Hello! My name is Lisa, and I live in Houston, TX. This is my first semester at Angelo State University, and I am excited to be here. I am in the Master of Arts in Mental Health and Wellness Counseling program. Presently, I am learning to navigate the online platform as there is so much information to be found within each module.

I have been an educator for over 17 years, and, in my time as a middle school and high school teacher, I have worn many hats with my students. I have been their teacher, mentor, coach, and someone who listens. I am also a mom to two teenagers of my own – one who graduates in a few months. It is because of my experience working with teens that I sought to earn a Master of Arts in Human Services Counseling: Life Coaching a couple of years ago. After graduation, I plan to alter my career path and serve others through counseling. I came to ASU to continue my journey toward becoming an LPC-Associate.

Since this is one of my first courses at ASU, one goal I have is that I hope it will help give me more clarity on my starting point as a counselor outside of education. To me, professional identity is telling people who I am within the context of my job. Siobhan Neary notes that it “is not static but fluid; it is strongly influenced by how we see ourselves, how we perceive others perceive us” (2014). In my role as a teacher, I have tweaked my professional identity many times over the years from a middle school teacher to a high school educator to a secondary team leader. In the past, if I knew I was speaking to someone who might react negatively to “7th grade English teacher”, it was easy to declare that I am a “secondary English teacher” and place the focus on what I teach, not who I teach. The choice of words quickly changed the direction of a conversation.

I am still identifying who I am as a counselor outside of the classroom. I know my strengths are in working with teenagers and parents because of my years in education. Upon the completion of my degree, I am confident I want to work with pre-teens and teens ages 12 and up, as well as single parent families. I truly enjoy working with students, and my experience in understanding how to listen and communicate with teenagers will be helpful in a counseling role. I am also very passionate about the dynamics within single parent families as I have been a single parent for many years and have worked with other single parent families of students. As such, I understand my values and goals, but I look forward to increasing my understanding of the responsibilities associated in a counseling role and learning to separate from who I have been and what I have known as a teacher to who I want to be as a counselor.

Siobhan, N. (2014, June). Professional identity: What I call myself defines who I am. Career Matters, 2(3), 4-5.

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Hello! I am Veronica Lopez.  I am currently in my first semester of my MA in Mental Health and Wellness Counseling.  I'm currently not working as to focus on getting  my Masters completed.  I have 6 children and that in itself is like a full time job.  I graduated from Angelo State University in 2003 with my Bachelor's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies.  Since then I have worked in the social work field. I have over 10yrs experience of adult and child advocacy. I live in Fort Stockton, TX born and raised.  It is a very rural area and we are not fortunate enough to have very many resources for our community.  In jobs I've held, referrals to other areas at least an hour away in any direction were made.  This was not always easy for the children and families I worked with.  After acquiring my degree and LPC I plan to open up my own practice in my community to serve my community.  I plan on working with adults and children focusing on trauma.

Professional Identity to me is a combination of a person's skills and knowledge, ethics and values, training and experiences. I feel my professional identity has been established in the jobs I've held, the community relationships built, and personal life experiences. I've always had a passion for helping others and being involved in the community. My strengths are that I'm a great listener and able to build rapport with people very quickly. I believe there is always room to grow and gain knowledge from anyone.

My goal for this class is to broaden my skills and knowledge to better serve clients in my community with mental health and wellness issues.

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Hello, classmates! My name is Renee Michale (Michelle) Reyes. Everyone I know calls me Michale. I am in the middle of my 15th year in education. I have taught middle school and high school for 7 years. I worked on the operation side of administration for 4 years before earning my M. Ed. in School Counseling from Angelo State University in May of 2020. Yes, it was right at the beginning of the pandemic so there was no graduation ceremony for me. I started my school counseling career at the elementary level and I loved those two years. I am currently working as a High School Counselor at Edgewood ISD in San Antonio. I have just re-enrolled at Angelo State to be a part of the LPC- Bridge program. I will complete my requirements during the Spring Semester. I plan to eventually work with adolescents outside of a school setting as an LPC.  I am married and have a 26 year old son who has just begun his graduate program at UTSA.

My goal for this class is to learn all of the information necessary to supplement what I have learned in my previous counseling courses. I expect the course will help me with tools that I need while working on my second practicum. I hope to gain tools that will help me continue to grow as a counselor.

I see professional identity as understanding the role that you want to have in your career as well as the limits of your role. I view my professional identity as an advocate for children and adolescents. I will advocate as a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate. I hope to eventually work toward an LPC. This role will take place in a clinical setting that allows for clients to feel they are in a safe space. I will also continue working in a school setting until I can retire.

I currently advocate for my students in academics and social emotional wellness. I show empathy toward my students and help them set goals. Since this is my third year in counseling, I believe I am still developing toward my goal of becoming a better advocate for my students and clients. I still have so much to learn from my experiences and the expertise of my mentors.

As a developing counselor, I believe I have many strengths. I am a person who is self-aware, empathetic, and patient. It is important to know your strengths and biases, show understanding about what your students or clients are feeling, and give students the time they need to be successful. I believe that I still need to learn and practice different counseling skills and activities that are of interest to adolescents and children.

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Hello everyone! My name is Andrea Stanley and I live in Kansas City with my husband and three cats. I love art and crafts, reading, oracle cards, and playing DnD.

I just started the MA in Mental Health and Wellness program this semester. Last year I began searching for graduate programs and feel lucky to have found this program offered online. I was nervous to begin graduate school because of the financial costs, but I decided that it was time to follow my dreams.

I have been working in higher education for 15 years, usually doing data entry work in admissions. One of my favorite parts of my job is working with our work-study students. It is a great feeling to be able to get to know the students and encourage them. I would really love to have a position where I could work more closely with students and be able to help them in a greater capacity. I have dreamed about working as a student success coach, where I can meet with students one-on-one and get to know them and discuss their dreams and goals, then offer coaching and resources to help them overcome any obstacles to achieving them. I have also considered college counseling, career counseling, and academic coaching. That is why I feel the Mental Health and Wellness program would be a perfect fit for me.

To the best of my understanding so far, professional identity is about how I represent myself and describe myself and what I do. I think this will be very important for me to develop because I have worked so long in a certain role, that I will need to learn how to change how I think about myself and what I offer. During this course I hope to understand what it means to develop my professional identity, and begin to work on that. I want to learn more about what it means to be in the counseling profession, and how I can better describe what I do and who I am in the counseling/coaching field.

I am just at the beginning of developing my professional counseling identity, but I have taught some art and spiritual classes and workshops so I have worked on developing my identity in that way which I used in creating marketing materials for classes. I hope that I can use some of my experience with that as well as my current work experience to contribute to developing my new professional identity in counseling.

For strengths, I feel that I am very caring and empathetic person that truly wants to help others. I try to be approachable and people feel comfortable talking with me. I am good at communicating and enjoy helping others to think of solutions and find ways for them to overcome obstacles on their path. For improvements, I would like to be able to solidify my professional identity and talk about it in a way that is more professional, and develop something that I can put on resumes or websites.

Thanks so much, and best wishes with the class.

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Hello!  My name is Camille Pfluger.  I am excited to be part of this Angelo State LPC Bridge program!  My background is education and school counseling.  I earned a BS in Interdisciplinary Studies from Texas A&M University and M.Ed in School and Guidance Counseling from Bowie State University.  I have worked both in the classroom and as a school counselor.  I am also a military spouse that had the adventure of moving 11 times across the US and twice over seas before we settled in San Angelo.  This gives me a unique understanding of the military lifestyle and the opportunities/challenges it brings for the service members families.  I have a heart for military children.  We have three daughters of our own that have moved, said good bye to friends, lived through deployments and started over multiple times in new communities.  Upon completion of this program I would like to work with military families.

Professional identity helps define you as a counselor to your clients.  The combination of your values and beliefs along with the code of ethics and laws help guide/shape all counselors.  The CACREP standards and the ACA Code of Ethics provide counselors with guidelines that help develop their identity.

One of my goals during this class is to learn more about professional identity from my classmates.  Each person brings various life experiences that can add to developing a more complete counselor.  As a teacher and school counselor my identity has always been defined by the school district requirements.  My counseling identity was defined by school assessments, short classroom lessons on mental health, and interacting with teachers, parents and students.

In this class I would like to develop my own identity outside of the classroom.  As an empathic person I enjoy listening to others and see this as a strength in the counseling profession.  Throughout this class I would like to improve critical thinking skills and computer/online skills (I have already asked my teen daughters for help on making a slide).

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Hello, my name is Lynsey McLaughlin. This is my first semester of the Masters in Mental Health Counseling Program.  I currently hold my school counseling certification and this is my second year as a school for a small rural community. Before I became a school counselor, I was a high school mathematics teacher for ten years. At the school I currently work at, we have had several traumatic and tragic events occur this year. I do not feel I was adequately prepared to help myself or my students mentally and emotionally through these events. I am not seeking to earn a certification or licensorship after completion of this program.Through this program I am wanting to earn a greater understanding  about mental health so I can better assist the students I serve.

Professional identity is how a person defines themselves and their career.  My professional counseling identity seems to change drastically from month to month. Sometimes I am a guidance counselor while other times I seem to be a data entry specialist. I have been struggling this year with my role as a school counselor. My goal for this course is to refocus and rediscover what my counseling identity is. I know the who, where, and what in my counseling identity. I want to continue to be a school counselor in a high school setting helping students with their academic, emotional, and social needs.  The how is where I struggle in my counseling identity. I am hoping that continuing my education in this field will also help with determining the how.

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Hi! My program of study is Mental Health and Wellness.
This is my first semester, so my journey is just beginning. As far as what I am going to do when I graduate, I am not sure.

I received my bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Angelo State University in 2003. I worked in Human Resources for nine years and then started a new path of entrepreneurship for the last six years. My professional identity right now is a business owner.

My goal for this course is to gain a better understanding of my professional identity. I hope to find guidance and gain more knowledge about what that means to me going forward.

What professional identity means to me is trying to develop a clear view of who you are in your career. As you can tell, I am just starting to build my professional identity, and I hope through this class and others, I start developing a better understanding of what I want that to be.

I am at the beginning of my professional counseling identity development. After completing my undergraduate degree, I took a different career path but always knew I wanted to return to this field. I am just unsure what that looks like for me currently, and I look forward to finding out.

My strengths are my empathy, good listening skills, and being proactive. My area of improvement is finding my professional counseling identity.

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I am Marile Combs, and I go by Becky. I am an LPC Bridge student finishing up the last two courses required for that program. I have been in education for the past 32 years. I taught Family and Consumer Sciences for the first twelve years, and I  have been a school counselor for the remainder of that time. My plans for the future after completing my coursework will be to continue in my current job to amass the necessary hours required to become an LPC. I plan to have my own practice after completing the requirements and the testing required. My husband is a Behavior Specialist, and our practice will focus on adolescents, which I have worked with my entire career. Together, we will offer a myriad of services aimed primarily at adolescent behavior.

I would like to learn more about presenting my professional self formally. I often tend to be too affable with my colleagues, and that lends itself to blurring the lines between my professional identity and how I present myself. I have blurred the line between being approachable and being professional.

Professional identity, to me, is ever-evolving. As the years have passed, my professional identity has changed and grown to encompass many aspects that did not exist in the past. When first starting my counselor education, it was a mandate by my administration so that I could continue to be employed full-time. However, once in the program and immersed in the classes, a passion for mental health and helping others began to flourish. The first 16 years of being a school counselor were spent with no mentors and not even any real friendships with other counselors. I was the only counselor in a district of 800 Pre-K thru 12th graders. I was not an active member of ACA or even my state counseling association. I felt like an island unto myself. I also fulfilled the registrar's duties and the truancy officer's duties; when the principal was gone, I was the designated fill-in. I did not know that that wasn't okay because that was just what was expected of me. Once retiring from that small school in Oklahoma and going to work at a large district in coastal Texas, I realized how much I was out of touch with other counselors. By the way, they hired four people to replace me at my former district. My professional identity has blossomed over the last, soon to be four years. Being in a district that values its professional school counselors and provides opportunities to collaborate has strengthened my professional identity. Being surrounded by others who mentor and include me has dramatically helped me beyond measure. I am continuing to grow and develop my professional counseling identity.

My strengths are that I am a solution-focused, strengths-based counselor. I help my students find their way forward by offering them opportunities to focus on where they want to be and how to get there. I also help them to see their strengths that are often overlooked when we get mired down in our day-to-day lives. My weaknesses are organization. I need help with a timely way of keeping my materials organized and easy to put my hands on.

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Hello everyone, my name is Marla Fuentes. I am currently in my second semester of the LPC Bridge program. I currently work as a school counselor in the Rio Grande Valley and I am on my ninth year as a school counselor. I really enjoy it, but I am wanting to pursue my LPC. I hope to be able to become an LPC and be able to reach more individuals that need help.

With the constant fast pace during the working day, I hope that this class is going to help me to slow down and focus on the new skills I hope to gain throughout this course.

Professional Identity to me means exactly that. Who I am as a professional, and how others see me as a professional. I would hope that others see me as a professional that is wholeheartedly invested in this profession and that I do my job with passion. My identity would demonstrate to others that I am a person that cares for her clients’ well-being and that my ultimate goal is to empower them to find solutions and peace in their problems and concerns that originally brought them to see me.

I feel that I embody most of this identity. Although I am not an LPC yet, I believe my students see these things in me because they share their feelings about me when they see me and remind me how comfortable they feel with me, especially after being able to help them put their worries behind them.

I feel that one of the biggest strengths in my counselor identity is the empathy I display toward others. Empathy towards others is almost an automatic feeling for me and sometimes, it may be a bit much. While I put myself in others’ shoes, I feel that at times I may feel uneasy about my response or guidance to my student/client if I haven’t experienced what they are telling me. This is something I would like to work on since I don’t want them to think that I wouldn’t understand, when in fact, even if I haven’t experienced what they are going through, I can professionally guide them to a solution that they are comfortable with.

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Hello, my name is Rebekah Wiebersch. I am in the last 9 hours of the Professional School Counseling Masters Program. I plan to work as a middle school counselor and within the next five years return to ASU to complete the bridge program to obtain my LPC. I have taught for eight years and am a mother of three.

My goal for this course is to create a clear vision of a counselor versus a teacher for myself. I haven't experienced anything other than being a teacher that students could talk to about "stuff". As a school counselor I will need to obtain and maintain a separate professional identity.

Professional identity is a way we may carry ourselves and contribute to conversations. It is how we feel about the work we are doing and the level of respect we expect from others. I don't feel that I have gotten to the point in which I have developed a professional identity outside of teaching. Through my practicum and this course this semester I hope to solidify the knowledge that I have and start to feel confident in saying "I am a Middle School Counselor".

I feel my strengths so far lie in the students who are encouraging and have expressed their gratitude for my help and support over the years. I know I have made a difference in several lives and I wish to do more in the capacity that would reach more students and eventually adolescents outside of school.

The work I need to do is learning the ins and outs of school counseling. Learning when to seek outside help and how to talk with parents about their student.

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Hello everyone, my name is Rachel Colman. My program of study is Mental Health and Wellness Counseling, and I just recently began the program at ASU! With the knowledge I gain from this graduate program, I hope to then take the LPC Bridge offered by ASU in hopes to practice as an LPC.

I currently work full-time as a Communications Specialist for an electricity and internet cooperative. I hope to continue this work as long as I can until I can finish the Mental Health and Wellness Counseling program.

The main goal I have for this course is to learn more about the ethics that coincide with professional counseling. Not only is it extremely important, but I don’t have much prior knowledge of this topic.

From what I learned from the material provided in Module 1, a Professional Identity is a cumulation of ethics, legal guidelines, and personal values--given that it is an identity, this cumulation should be unique to the individual. Upon finishing my degree, I want my professional identity to have a foundation of acceptance. I believe that by basing my future LPC practice on acceptance, the patients I support will be inspired to be their most authentic selves, thus gaining clarity and peace.

In regards to my personal professional identity development, I don’t feel much progress--mainly because I started this program during the Spring 2023 semester, so I believe this is normal. I hope that as I gain more knowledge in the program, my confidence and individuality will grow as well.

Although I don’t feel established in my professional identity, I feel my greatest strength is my motivation to help others. I want to build my career as an LPC based on my selfless nature as well as knowing that my profession would positively impact my community. On the other hand, the aspects I could improve on feel never-ending. For example, I seek to learn more about ethics, legal stipulations, how to teach healthy coping skills, how to identify one’s mental challenges, etc… Ultimately, I want to gain knowledge on everything in hopes of becoming more equipped for my field.

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Hello everyone! I am Leticia and pictured with me are my precious loved ones. This is my first course of the LPC Bridge Plan with Angelo State University. I earned my Masters degree in 2011 and have all the feelings regarding this next step in my journey. Upon competition of my LPC licensure, I plan to continue serving our youth in low income areas.

A goal I have in mind for this course is to learn from others and build my knowledge and skills. For me, professional identity means what others think of you before you walk into the room. This includes my values, skills and even personality.

Currently, I feel I am building own my professional counseling identity development. Often I self-reflect and seek guidance when I am uncertain. I believe our professional identity is ongoing since we are constantly learning and growing. I believe my strengths include being resourceful, empathetic listener, being the calm in the storm, and making connections. Overall, I would like to continue working on improving all aspects of my professional counselor identity.

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Hello, my name is Gina; I’m a wife and a mother of three teens, two cats, and three dogs. I was born and raised in Mexico City and moved to Texas when I was 16. I enjoy spending time with my loved ones, traveling, doing art, and working with children.

I’m a school counselor in a PK3-5th charter school; before becoming a school counselor, I taught art for 12 years to elementary students, which was fun! In 2005, I graduated from UTRGV with a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts education with a minor in Spanish. In 2015, I graduated from LAMAR University with a Master’s degree in school counseling. I’m enrolled in the LPC bridge program, and my long-term goal is to become an art therapist. This is my second semester at Angelo State University, and I enjoy every class. It is challenging to continue with higher education when working full-time and raising a family simultaneously, but I'm up to the challenge. Being a lifelong learner is the best!

This course aims to prepare me for my future LPC roles, combine my counseling experience, understand the concept of professional identity, and follow the profession's requirements and ethical standards.

My professional identity as a school counselor is to understand, help and guide students and provide support when needed. Also, my vision is to help students grow emotionally, find their calling and empower them through self-acceptance.
I also find it important to support teachers and help them be successful in the classroom.
My professional identity as an LPC might change, but I would like to keep one simple motto throughout my career.
"Live the present, love yourself, smile, and celebrate that you are alive!"

My strengths in my professional identity currently are character education lessons. Providing helpful information for daily practices, planning, and helping students with goals. Managing programs that help remove barriers for students that require help from special programs.
I concentrate a lot on group work and classes, but I'm ready to start working more on a one-to-one.

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Hello. I'm currently in the MA program through Mental Health and Wellness Counseling. I am in my final semester and hope to graduate in May this year. I currently work at a youth center on an Air Force base for the last five years. I love working with children and have three teenagers of my own. I work full-time, have three teenagers, and go to school full-time. I am working on getting licensed this summer and interning as a Military Family and Life Counselor (MFLC).

I look forward to what I can take away from this class. A goal would be to have a better understanding of my professional identity and how to apply this in the future.

Professional identity to me is who you are and what makes you different from others in the same career field. Your personality, learning styles, social skills, and how you apply all of this to your career field.

Honestly, I still feel like I have a lot to learn about my professional identity regarding my career path. With school and training through work, I have developed my knowledge of my career path in counseling but still have quite of bit of development regarding the MFLC career.

I feel my strengths are in my experiences both from my childhood, being a mother, and working with children for so long. My experiences have developed a compacity for compassion and understanding of what children have to deal with. I feel with the developments that are constantly changing in today's society, there is always room for learning and training. This is where I feel I could use the most improvement.

I am excited about this class and look forward to learning with all of you.

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Hello, my name is Shauna Glenn. I am in the last 9 hours of the Professional School Counseling Program. My goal is to work as a middle school counselor and within the next two. I am currently a teacher and have been teaching for five years and I am a mother of two.

My goal for this course is to gain a better understanding of the practice of counseling and how to better serve the clients.

Professional identity is a person’s viewpoint of who they are as a professional serving in a field of proficiency involving high probabilities in the application of special knowledge and skills. Becoming a school counselor is my professional desire upon completion of graduation.  Entering the field of counseling hopefully will increase my professional identity through growth and skillful practices involving cognitive and moral reasoning.   Entering the field of counseling hopefully will increase my professional identity through growth and skillful practices involving cognitive and moral reasoning.

My professional counseling identity is minimal. Having experience as a teacher I have been able to identify and solve certain issues among my students. I feel that I am still learning and going through the process of learning the important roles counselors have. The role of school counselor may take time for professional identity to develop, and it may require strong mentors who are willing to invest their time and energy not only in teaching but also in leadership and advocacy to solidify my professional identity.

One of my strengths would be advocating for my students. Being able to provide guidance for my students while being a listening ear with my struggling students. Areas I want to learn and grow in will be understanding more about mental health.