Counseling in Mexico: History, Current Identity, and Future Trends

• Published in: Journal of counseling and development Vol. 88; no. 1; pp. 33 - 37
• Main Authors: Portal, Eloisa Lara, Suck, Antonio Tena, Hinkle, J. Scott
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2010; American Counseling Association; John Wiley & Sons, Inc
• Subjects: Consultants; Counseling; Counseling psychology; Counselling; Counselor Training; Counselors; Course Descriptions; Cultural Differences; Cultural Pluralism; Disability; Doctoral Degrees; Drug use; Educational History; Family Relationship; Forecasts and trends; Foreign Countries; Health Activities; Health Needs; History; Market trend/market analysis; Mental health; Mental health care; Mexico; Modeling (Psychology); Older people; Practice; Professional Identity; Professionals; Professions; Psychiatric-mental health nursing; Psychiatry; Psychologists; Psychology; Psychotherapy; Resistance (Psychology); Sexually Transmitted Diseases; Society; Teenage pregnancy; Trends; Mexico
• ISSN: 0748-9633; 1556-6676
• DOI: 10.1002/j.1556-6678.2010.tb00147.x

A brief history of the development of counseling in Mexico is presented. Counselor preparation, identity, and future trends in the profession are discussed.
The origins of counseling in Mexico are associated with the development of similar disciplines concerned with the general improvement of mental health and the treatment of its disorders, namely, disciplines such as medicine and psychology. Historically, the classical cultures of Mesoamerica had specific methods for understanding the human psyche, as did the Indians, Chinese, Babylonians, Egyptians, and Greeks of other cultures. Mexico, like many societies, has historically attempted to explain and understand the essential components of the human condition.