Self-reflection 1 One of my personal strength to be a mental health counselor is that I am patient and willing to be a listener. When interacting with others, I am not very talkative; instead, I prefer to listen to what others say. In a lot of situations, what the client needs is to be heard and understood. When I was in Hong Kong, I once worked with a girl who just moved to Hong Kong and was accustomed to the new environment. She felt lonely and depressed but she could not find someone to talk to. When she was sharing her feelings with me, I paid fully attention to what she said and responded both with speaking and bodily language. After speaking out the suppressed feelings, she felt less tensed and more comfortable. Personally, active listening is one of the basic but important skill of counselor. On one hand, being heard to some degree provides comfort for …show more content…
As a counselor, you may work with clients with different backgrounds and different values. Therefore, the counselor should be open-minded and handle the differences. I grew up in China where I learned about the Eastern culture. Later, I went to Hong Kong for my undergraduate study. Hong Kong is a unique part of China. It was colonized by the Great Britain for a long time before returning to China. Therefore, it developed a unique culture which possesses both features of Eastern values and Western values. I met people from all over the world, such as China, India, Britain and United States. My four-year study in Hong Kong not only broadened my horizons but also improved my ability of handling cultural differences. As a newcomer to Philadelphia, I know that the cultural difference would be potential obstacle for me, yet I am confident that I can overcome this challenge. I will keep educating myself about the local culture. Moreover, even though the opinions of the clients may be distinct from mine, I will still hold an empathic and non-judgmental attitude towards my
With the potential language barrier, a counselor could also ask an interpreter to mediate with the client during sessions to make sure there is an understanding between the client and the counselor. Multicultural knowledge includes counselors’ understanding of their own worldview, knowledge of cultural groups with whom the counselor works, and recognition of sociopolitical factors that impact diverse clients’ lives. Beliefs and attitudes encompass counselors’ values associated with different cultural groups, their ability to recognize and hold in check stereotypes of different cultural groups, a celebration of diversity, and an awareness of how their biases and negative attitudes can adversely influence counseling relationships (Ivers, 2012). One of the hardest parts about being a counselor is admitting your own biases and stereotyping before counseling others of different cultural ethnicities. Once a counselor understands their own biases and stereotyping towards others, they are better able to catch themselves from letting their biases affect their counseling.
One theme of the book that stands out is the counselor as a person and a professional. It is impossible to completely separate one’s personal and professional lives. Each person brings to the table certain characteristics of themselves and this could include such things as values, personality traits and experiences. A great point that Corey, Corey, and Callahan (2010) make is to seek personal therapy. Talking with colleagues or a therapist will keep counselors on their toes and allow them to work out any issues that may arise. This could also prevent counselors from getting into a bad situation. Another good point made in this book was counter transference. Therapists are going to have an opinion and some reactions are going to show through. It is not easy to hide one’s emotions, but a good therapist will keep the objective in sight and keep moving forward. After all, the help counselors are providing is for the client.
It is a privilege to interview veteran therapists who are exiting the counseling arena after a long career in the profession. I was honored to shadow Lea Keylon, a seasoned counselor, who on the eve of retirement set aside time for a student interview. The enlightening interview opened my understanding to the importance of proper diagnostic coding for insurance reimbursements, the financial struggles of private practice, and the poignant effect of forensic counseling on therapist (L. Keylon, personal communication, March 26, 2010). Lea was eager to share her counseling accounts; however, the excitement of retirement planning could be seen in her demeanor. Private practice requires self-discipline, constant research for legislative changes, peer support and consultation, time management, tenacity, and patience. The encounter with Lea impressed the importance to surround myself with colleagues that are enthusiastic about learning and continuing education opportunities, to hire assistance for time-consuming administrative task, and adequately assess a proper caseload that will sustain my counseling practice and without avoid counselor burn out (L. Keylon, personal communication, March 26, 2010).
Those characteristics include, a desire to help others, attention to detail, and emotional and mental strengths. A desire to help others is one of the most important characteristics. If a person does not have the desire or want to help others, they would not succeed in this field. Additionally, if the desire to help others is not present, not only with the counselor suffer, but so would the people seeking and needing assistance. It is imperative to possess this quality so that the people in need receive the quality care that they need and deserve. If the counselor does not have this characteristic, then they will be lacking in all other areas. Since counselors and all mental health professionals interact will all types of people, it is necessary that he or she be alert and pay close attention to detail that the client may not divulge. For example, it is hard for an abused child or an abused woman to share all of the details about their abuser. In many cases it is because of fear. Whatever the case may be, it is important that all counselors pay close attention to detail in any situation. It is also very important for the counselors to take care of themselves. Dedicated counselors can get so involved in their work that they can become burnt out. If the mental health professional becomes worn out, it could affect the way in which they interact
Hong Kong has always remained a very unique city, one which is said to have ‘a Western past, an Eastern future’. Since its colonisation by the British in the 1860s, it has maintained to a very large extent its Chinese identity and its connection to its Motherland, while at the same time, has frequent contact with the Western world, politically, economically, and culturally. Hong Kong’s unique position has made the city a vibrant international metropolis that acts as a bridge between East and West. Yet after it was returned to China in 1997, this former British colony has been constantly reassessing its British past, struggling to find its new position and redefining its identity.
Remember, self-reflection is vital to becoming a culturally-competent counselor. The counselor should consistently re-examine their worldview and personal beliefs about diverse individuals and other cultures. The idea is for the counselor to explore their own prejudices, emotions, and preconceived notions of those that differ from themselves. Remaining curious and willing to learn about culturally distinct groups is a practical way of working effectively with varied clients in counseling and understanding what barriers and prejudices are typical in their
A counselor should always keep their thoughts to themselves and remain open-minded about the situation. The only time a counselor should share their thoughts is if it helps the client with their situation that they are dealing with. “Counselors must practice only within the boundaries of their competence (Standard C.2.a.), and, if they “determine an inability to be of professional assistance to clients” (Standard A.11.b.), they should facilitate a referral to another provider. (Kocet, M. M., & Herlihy, B. J. (2014). Addressing Value-Based Conflicts Within the Counseling Relationship: A Decision-Making Model. Journal Of Counseling & Development, 92(2), 180-186 7p. doi: 10.1002/j.1556-6676.2014.00146.x).” Keeping your thoughts to yourself is
Being a therapist is not only sitting in a chair listening to your clients’ problems all day. It is also not “reading-minds” as many people think and it is not giving advice or solving each clients’ issue. Therapists have many qualities that define the effectiveness of their treatment and their competence in the field. The important qualities that a therapist should have are empathic and great listening skills. In addition to, the therapist must be knowledge in their skills and in the different mental disorders in order to prevent a misdiagnosis. Furthermore, the therapist should have other qualities such as interpersonal skills and the ability to build rapport with the clients so they can feel secure and continue to come to therapy.
The counselor accomplishes the above by expressing empathy, developing discrepancies, going along with resistance and supporting self-efficacy. Moreover, the counselor guides the client toward a solution that will lead to permanent posi...
My experience in mental health clinical was very different from any other clinical I had before. In a mental health clinical setting, I am not only treating client’s mental illnesses, I am also treating their medical problems such as COPD, diabetes, chronic renal failure, etc. Therefore, it is important to prepare for the unexpected events. In this mental health clinical, I learned that the importance of checking on my clients and making sure that they are doing fine by performing a quick head-to toes assessment at the beginning of my shift. I had also learned that client’s mental health illness had a huge impact on their current medical illness.
...ing silence, paraphrasing and reflection of feelings, as well as non-verbal skills such as body-language and active listening are all used in order to allow the client to introspect and work with their problems in a safe environment, the role of the counselor within the relationship being to support the client and help them to reach their true potential by expressing emotions and thoughts that they can’t express outside of the helping relationship, whether it be for fear of rejection or some other reason.
broad range of clients. Awareness and respect for diversity and multicultural values facilitates good communication and therapeutic relationship.
I start the session with warmth greeting. After that, I provide a clear structuring to client such as confidentiality, limitation, the length of session, and so on. That actually help client understand more about counselling process and get verbal inform consent.
Psychology deals with the study of mental processes and a variety of behaviors. In order to fully comprehend ourselves, we need to understand the causes of our behaviors and our outlook on life. Habits and behaviors have positive and negative effects in our life. When we know ourselves and learn about our unique personality, we can develop and pursue goals. Psychology also helps us to understand other people and the differences of people. Gaining this knowledge can improve the relationships and enhance our communication skills. Throughout the psychology course I gained knowledge in various areas, and the topics that impacted me the most included: the introvert, anxiety disorders, stress management, self discipline and how to develop strong relationships.
The field of social work is one that requires much self-reflection on the part of the worker. In doing so, it helps the worker better understand his or her own emotions and the thought processes that these emotions come from. The goal of this paper is to provide my own self-reflection, relating it to my own emotional intelligence in the domains of relationships, tolerance, flexibility, self-management, and emotional awareness, and my future plans and goals in Widener University’s MSW program.