In Jacquelyn Small’s book “Becoming Naturally Therapeutic: A Return to the True Essence of Helping,” I explored what it takes to be a genuinely helpful counselor. Although I do not intend to pursue a career in counseling, her book touches on various topics that may be used by all individuals. Small provides her readers with a check-list of characteristic ranging from empathy to respect to self-actualization that are virtually essential to becoming therapeutic.
The book begins by stating that “ordinary people” offer better therapeutic help than professionals. In a sense, this fact was surprising because you would think that trained professional would be better equipped to counsel people. However, there are a various reasons why the previous statement should not be shocking. For example, I can understand why an individual seeking help would be more reluctant to visit a licensed counselor. For starters, the general public has a preconception that going to therapy is like admitting that you’re “insane.” They also fear being analyzed. Therefore, people are more inclined to request the aid of a close friend because it is less intimidating. In addition, when your share with your peers they respond in a "normal" manner rather than in a theoretical fashion. By this I refer to the use of all those theories and disorders that one learns in psychology courses.
Next, Small discusses how we can fall into the habit of letting our own feelings interfere with the patients’ proble...
I often ask myself, “Can I handle it?” I learned from other doctors that in order to provide the best care, a physician must be able to detach himself or herself from the patient; they say it would be better for both the doctor and the patient. But, with that kind of thinking, the doctor is not fully giving himself to the patient. So, is it right to not fully give oneself to care for the patient? Learning from Patrick Dismuke and those who loved him, it seemed that the hospital was able to care for him best by loving him. Nurse Kay, Patrick’s favorite nurse, not only answered his late night calls, but enjoyed talking with him. This always calmed Patrick down before and/or after surgery. Dr. Aceves was always optimistic and hopeful for the future of Patrick’s health, never giving up on him by pushing for surgery. He did this because he knew Patrick all 16 years and was emotionally attached to the boy, even though Patrick did not feel the same way. Thus, though I can understand that a physician must put a wall between himself or herself and the patient, there should still be a strong connection in which they would do anything for the patient’s comfort and
Working in an interdisciplinary team, gives the team an ability to address the patients’ needs from different perspectives and different strategies. The interdisciplinary team works together to provide the individual with the most beneficial possible outcome. Interdisciplinary teams can include physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, social workers, and other health care providers (Mellor, Cottrell, & Moran, 2013). The challenge for being a recreational therapist among a health care field is that many health care providers do not see recreational therapy as a serious, legitimate, and beneficial program for their health service patients as well as for their other health care providers. This idea creates a challenge for not
Learning about Client Centered Therapy has opened my eyes to counseling. Roger’s theory of actualizing tendency and theory of self expanded my knowledge of my own self-concept as well as counseling. Rogers explained that every person has an innate drive to self-actualize. In many instances, loved ones put conditions for worth on him/her, which causes incongruence for the person. He/she begins to loose trust in his/her organismic valuing process. By understanding this concept, I am more inclined to stay true to my organismic valuing process. I have trust in my innate ability to lead myself in direction to self-actualizing. It may be challenging when others put conditions of worth on me, but understanding the concept may help me stay true to
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.
I cannot infuse any tools or assist the client in becoming aware of self and needs without humbly accepting that my thoughts and actions are fallible because I am merely human. Although I have yet to practice counseling, I know one of the biggest changes I need to make in my life is to understand and know a person’s situation before assessing and attempting to offer Godly counsel. Effective intra-disciplinary integration is destined to my humility as a professional. I cannot counsel any client without truly knowing who he or she is and allowing God to show me the most operative technique for creating change in that person’s life.
To demonstrate how our feelings are tied with our behavior and response, I will share a clinical case I was working on. Candice (pseudonym) is a single 28 year old African American woman, who has recently moved into her own apartment with her 9 year...
According to Jeremy Safran and Christopher Muran (2000), psychiatric research shows that the quality of the therapeutic alliance is the most important factor in determining the therapist's success. “Some therapists are consistently more helpful than others; differences in therapist ability seem to be more important than therapeutic modality, and the more helpful therapists appear better able to facilitate the development of a therapeutic alliance” (Safran & Muran, 2000). However, the main problem is that it is difficult to teach the skills necessary for the creation of a therapeutic alliance. In fact, psychotherapy research stresses the importance of the development of human qualities in the therapist. According to Safran and Muran (2000), the therapist need to constantly develop themselves and become involved in personal growth through inner work. Without this feature, the therapists will not be able to devel...
Furthermore, my goal is to let client fix their problems on their own through insight and guidance from the therapist. I envision a successful therapeutic process being when a client follows their goals and achieves positive outcomes in their lives. I seek to gain a therapeutic process with my clients by building rapport, trust, and helping them gain insight. When my clients are stuck and need motivation, I plan to remind them about their goals and the positive things that will come with change. If family is important to a client, informing the client about their family and their happiness may help motivate them to continue to
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...
Counseling skills has provided me with a valuable insight into the helping relationship and how it is both created and maintained in order to encourage growth and development in the client. The factors involved within the helping relationship include considering Roger’s core conditions, congruence, unconditional positive regard and empathy as the three main characteristics necessary in a helping relationship. In order to fully incorporate all three of Roger’s core conditions, I as the counselor must be self-aware, as a lack of self-awareness may inhibit truly listening and understanding the client; self-awareness can be enhanced through exercises such as Johari’s window. Counseling skills such as body language and active listening also plays a role within encouraging the client to open up and can help me as the counselor convey empathy.
person reach the inner side of themselves to help solve any problems that might be arising. Furthermore, when it comes to being a counselor,
Values, Morals, and Beliefs are components that play a role in an individual’s self-identity. The establishment of these components shape human nature, behavior, and the development of an individual’s purpose. The basis of these fundamentals has contributed to my desire to become a counselor. This paper will discuss my views of human nature, factors of behavior changes, goals of therapy, the roles of a therapist, and the counseling approaches that I chose to incorporate in a practice.
In the counseling world, in order to be successful and effective there are certain skills, training and most importantly education that the individual must attain in order to make a difference and properly render help to those in need. I personally believe that in this field as professionals we have to always strive to provide top-notch services to the people that seek our help and services. How can an individual accomplish such traits? There are certain things that should always be taken into account and ethical codes that should always be respected and followed.
During my initial self-evaluation and assessment of me as a perspective counselor, self- awareness was an essential aspect of becoming an effective counselor. I am aware of certain things that can prevent me from becoming a competent counselor such as being unaware of my strengths and weaknesses. As a current community support worker, I have already had the opportunity to work with individuals who require different levels of support. Providing assistance to the specific population has given me the chance to utilize my communication skills. My work experience has also allowed me to be more self-aware, and open minded. After taking the techniques of counseling class I am more than confident that I have grown professionally since the beginning