Academic Research—

Current Barriers to Providing Services

Medicare Advocacy for the Counselor Advocate

Medicare reimbursement for counselors would expand older adults' access to mental health services and increase counselors' professional opportunities. To enhance advocacy efforts, the author reviews Medicare's current role in meeting older adults' mental health needs, examines the program's unique political development, and identifies contemporary values that may influence Medicare's future. Implications for counselor advocacy efforts are discussed.

Ageism and the Counseling Profession: Causes, Consequences, and Methods for Counteraction

Ageism—defined as social stigma associated with old age or older people—has deleterious effects on older adults’ physical health, psychological well-being, and self-perception. In spite of research indicating that the pervasiveness of ageism is growing, there are few studies, whether conceptual or empirical, related to the impact of ageism within the practice of counseling.  This article includes discussion of how members of the counseling profession can resist ageism within the contexts of counselor education, gerontological counseling, advocacy, and future research.