Counselor Advocacy: Affecting Systemic Change in the Public Arena

This article provides direction for developing advocacy competency in the public arena. Direction for increasing public awareness, affecting public policy, and influencing legislation is presented. A process of creating change entailing establishing a sense of social/political urgency regarding an issue, organizing and educating a group of people to initiate social/political change, developing a vision and strategy for such change, communicating the vision for that change, empowering broad‐based action, and generating actual change is detailed.