Question
At the first session, a new client asks the CRC point-blank, "Are you my doctor, my therapist, or just someone helping me find a job?" How should the counselor use this moment to establish the counseling relationship?
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The counselor should explicitly name the rehabilitation counseling relationship: a collaborative, goal-directed partnership focused on the client's disability-related barriers to employment and independent living, distinct from a medical or purely clinical-therapy role. Clarifying this at intake — including confidentiality limits, the counselor's scope, and the client's role in setting goals — prevents the client from later assuming services (like ongoing psychotherapy) that fall outside the counselor's actual role, which the CRCC Code requires counselors to conceptualize and articulate clearly from the start.
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