On Becoming a Counselor

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On Becoming a Counselor

• One of the most important instruments you will
  have to work with as a counselor is yourself as a
  person.
• G. Corey, 2005

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To every therapy session we bring our human
qualities and the experiences that have
influenced us.
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The Role of Values in Counseling

• A core issue is the degree to which counselors
  values should enter into a therapeutic
  relationship.
• Counselors should guard against the tendency to
  assume either of two extreme positions
• At one extreme, counselors hold definite absolute
  beliefs, and see it as their job to exert
  influence on clients to adopt their values.
• At the other extreme are counselors who maintain
  that they should keep their values out of their
  work, and that the ideal is to strive for value
  free counseling.

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The Rule of Values in Counseling

• Because counseling is a process that teaches
  clients how to deal with their problems and find
  their own solutions based on their value system,
  it is essential that the counselor not
  short-circuit a clients exploration.

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Who should establish the goals of counseling?
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Where does a counselor begin to develop
therapeutic goal?

• The client and a counselor need to explore what
  they hope to obtain from the counseling
  relationship, whether they can work with each
  other, and whether their goals are compatible.
• What you expect from counseling?
• Why are you here?
• What do you hope to leave with?
• What aspects of yourself or your life situation,
  would you most like to change?

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Incorporating Culture Into Counseling Practice

• Suspends preconceptions about clients race,
  and/or ethnicity and that their family members.
• Engage clients in conversations about race and
  ethnicity to avoid stereotyping and making faulty
  assumptions.
• Address how race and ethnic differences between
  therapist and client might affect the therapy
  process.
• Acknowledge that power, privilege, and racism can
  affect interactions with clients.
• Recognize that the more comfortable therapists
  are with conversations about race and ethnicity,
  the more easily they can respond appropriately to
  clients who may be uncomfortable with such
  discussions.
• Be open to ongoing learning about cultural
  factors, and how they affect therapeutic work.

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It is more often by differences than by
similarities that we are challenged to look at
what we are doing.
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Multicultural Guidelines

• Learn more about how your own cultural background
  has influenced your thinking and behaving.
• Identify your basic assumptions, especially as
  they apply to diversity in culture, ethnicity,
  race, gender, class, religion, and sexual
  orientation.
• Examine where you obtain your knowledge about
  culture.
• Learn to pay attention to common ground that
  exists among people of diverse backgrounds.
• Spend time preparing clients for counseling.
• Be flexible in applying the methods you use with
  clients.
• Remember that practicing from a multicultural
  perspective can make your job easier, and can be
  rewarding for both you and your clients.

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Issues Faced by Beginning Counselor

• Dealing with our anxieties
• Being and disclosing ourselves
• Avoiding perfectionism
• Being honest about our limitations
• Understanding silence
• Dealing with demands from clients
• Dealing with clients who lack commitment
• Tolerating ambiguity
• Avoiding losing ourselves in our clients
• Developing a sense of humor
• Sharing responsibility with the client
• Declining to give advice
• Defining your role as a counselor
• Learning to use techniques appropriately
• Developing your own counseling style, staying
  alive as a person and as a professional

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Basic Parts of a Theory

• View of Human Nature 3 Modalities
• Cognition
• Behavior
• Affect