Becoming A Helper

Reflection Paper #1

In this reflection paper I will be addressing the textbooks “Becoming a Helper” by Marianne Schneider Corey and Gerald Corey, “The Elements of Counseling” by Scott T. Meier and Susan R. Davis and, “Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling” by Mark McMinn. In “Becoming a Helper”, the authors start off the chapter with a few points on why someone would choose to be in the field of helping people. I have seen myself as someone who would always extend a helping hand to anyone in need, whether they took my help or not. As a teenager, I attended therapy for cutting myself. I don’t really know what I wanted from the counselor besides just someone to vent to about my personal life which actually helped. I

It also touches down on the personal gains, and potential risks that are associated with the helping career by explaining methods for controlling those risks by seeking counseling or talking to a supervisor. The explanations of whether or not a person is getting into the helping career for themselves or to help others is put together in a way that the reader can easily understand and reflect on. Personal accounts from Marianne Corey and Jerry Corey were helpful to the reader to be able to see some conflicts that others who were once in their shoes faced and how they persevered. From reading their accounts, I was able to come to the realization that in my future career, I need to explore the options that are available in the different fields of counseling. When I am in classes that I enjoy I need to make notes of what I enjoy about the subject and try to see what that field of work has to offer. The chapter is an excellent reference to what a good helper is, and how they take care of themselves as well as the people they are assisting. Overall, the first chapter was very helpful with the descriptions, examples and also job listings that are available to people pursuing a

But there are a lot more references in the chapter to back up the claims about counseling and examples for readers to see how to handle and not handle certain situations. Supervision is a great way for new members of the field to get feedback on if they are doing things right, and how they should improve on what they are doing. This chapter gives real examples of what a counselor should and should not do. One example is relying on test results to figure out their patients. While testing may be a good way to find out certain things about patents, it is not one hundred percent accurate and does not define the client