Reflection Paper On Effective Counseling

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When I first thought about this competency and all the nuances and complexities involved, I was very excited as I have a profound interest in learning about theories which govern our work as counselors. Moreover, I believe they play an essential role in one developing a greater understanding of how the field works as well as provide us with the knowledge needed to apply ourselves effectively. Integral to meeting criteria for this specific competency I believe were the courses of helping relationships, counseling theory and practice, social and cultural foundations and my internship experience. Upon discovering that the course counseling theory and practice was offered online, I became very scared and nervous as throughout my life I have been very apprehensive about online learning. This course experience however, proved to be a very positive one as the learning style incorporated was very interactive and allowed me the opportunity to look at the counseling process from different viewpoints as a result of reading others thoughts on specific theories and …show more content…

When reflecting on characteristics thought to be displayed by effective counselors, the adjectives of patience, good listener, compassionate, nonjudgmental, empathetic, research oriented, discrete, self-aware, encouraging and authenticity are just some of the many salient words often used to describe an effective counselor. Effective counseling requires a concerted effort by both counselors and clients and takes great commitment to create sometimes difficult changes in clients’ behavior or thinking patterns. Wampold (2010) in his study highlighted fourteen qualities and actions of effective therapists based on theories, policies and research evidence which can result in continual improvements within

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