Counseling/psychology

Counseling Self-Awareness

Funnily enough , doctors seem to be difficult patients . Some of them know that smoking is dangerous to their health yet they smoke theless . The same is true with counselors . They seem to understand a lot of the problems of their patients and the people who ask advice from them . Yet , when it comes to their own issues and their own problems they do not seem to be effective in following the very same advice that they would give to their clients if asked about the same problem

Counselors also have

their own issues and their own personal problems It may be some baggage from the past or some unresolved personal issues Some of these issues may interfere with the way that counselors do their job . It would be very important therefore for counselors to be aware of themselves and their own issues if they were to become effective in dealing with themselves and their own issues so that they can prevent these issues from affecting their views on the issues being presented by their clients

Personal Assessment : Strengths

I have my own strengths and my weaknesses . I recognize the importance of identifying these so that I can effectively deal with my clients and the advice and resolution that I can provide my clients would be effective Objectivity in any situation is difficult to achieve most of the time Emotions can cloud up the situation as well as the vested interests and even monetary considerations of people . Setting aside some of these considerations is a practice I have achieved over the past few years of training and practicing as a counselor . Even when I was a child , I already displayed a certain level of objectivity in my dealings with my playmates and my family

Objectivity , no matter what postmodernists and other critics may claim is achievable up to a certain degree , although it cannot be done completely . I consider this as one of my strengths as a counselor . In the course of my counseling practice , I would encounter people with different lifestyle choices and different views from those that I espouse . If I allow myself to be affected by such views I would not be an effective counselor . Yet , if I am able to practice objectivity , I can analyze my clients ' situation and predicaments from their own points of view and try to present solutions that are workable and acceptable to my clients

Another strength that I have when it comes to dealing with the counseling profession is my ability to separate my own principles and my own views from that of my clients . I know that I am not able to accomplish this perfectly yet I can set aside my prejudices and my biases . In this regard , I sometimes feel like a priest behind the confessional , unable to see the counselee but can hear him or her perfectly and deal with the issues at hand . Although different schools of thought may differ in their views regarding empathizing and...