This digest describes the uniqueness of one of the youngest service provider professions in existence, mental health counseling (MHC). A history is given of how the founders of this profession were able to establish a professional organization and identity. The identity of the mental health counselor is described as an aggregate of educational, scientific, and professional contributions from the disciplines of education, psychology, and counseling. Mental health counselors use scientific processes to strengthen or restore clients' mental health. Their framework for conceptualization integrates the person as a gestalt of various domains along with the person's position in the family and socio-cultural matrix. Mental health counselors are concerned with health and with the variety of circumstances, socially and individually, that can impair or inhibit the functioning of a person's life. (JDM)