Counseling the emotionally troubled: a neglected group

The fact that 15 percent of our child and adolescent population suffers from serious mental health problems requires that we reexamine our traditional system for delivering services. Since the majority of troubled young people are not receiving help from specialists, the counselor should be considered as a primary mental health resource. If this role is to be undertaken, however, counselors will require more adequate training than that which is now being provided. The author examines existing patterns of counseling service in the light of those functions mental health workers should be able to perform.