Correctional counselors serve an integral role in the corrections

Correctional counselors serve an integral role in the corrections process. Responsibilities are vast and affect numerous stakeholders. While there are many opportunities to make a considerable impact on various levels, there are also many hurdles. Correctional counselors face challenges that counselors in other fields may not have to manage, such as dealing with security in addition to treatment. Offender counseling requires a wide range of professional knowledge, solid communication skills, sensitivity to ethnic and cultural diversity, empathy, and a desire to help clients discover how their actions affect their abilities to live fulfilling lives.

Understanding the complexities of correctional counseling is vital to becoming a productive member of the counseling and correctional treatment team.

INSTRUCTIONS

For your initial discussion post, respond to the following:

• Compare and contrast the two types of counselors in correctional settings.
• Describe the essential abilities that a correctional counselor or therapist needs to possess.
• Identify the six basic elements of communication. How do they relate to the essential abilities you just described?