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CHARLOTTE -- The economic recession is leading to mental depression as a recent Gallup/USA Today survey showed 44 percent of Americans were concerned about making enough money to pay monthly bills.

The economy was the main topic at the 2009 American Counseling Association’s conference in Charlotte. ACA officials say counselors are often the first point of contact for a laid off worker.

"If you talk to a professional counselor, that counselor can help you find out what that next step is,” said Dr. Michael Lazarchick, an employment counselor. Lazarchick says the current economy is presenting a challenge for career counselors who must steer job seekers in the right direction.

"If people are going to go to work they have to know who they are, they have to know where the jobs are,” said Lazarchick.

Those same professionals, Lazarchick says, must also counsel clients who lost faith in their qualifications. Counseling professionals focused on that new, economic approach during Monday’s convention.

To help them better understand those challenges, the group asked their 4,000 members to complete a survey. The research and feedback are something the counseling professionals say they’ll use to better serve the public.