He heals the
brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Psalm 147:3
Caption: Why
People Hurt Other
Being a professional
mental health helper has strictly and vital demands. Among these requirements seeking
personal help is obligatory. An individual that has not been able to deal with
their own internal issues is not qualify to assists others in the process of
achieving internal healing. A sick person that cannot find cure to their own
sickness is not able to help someone with the same disease. In counseling the
person of the counselor can influence the outcome results of the client. Thomas
and Sosin stated the following, “A counselor’s perception, beliefs, and
feelings about his professional competence will either support or undermine his
counseling efforts” (2011, p.95). If the counselor’s discernment, perspective,
and emotions are broken due to previous unresolved events in their life they
can manipulate the counselor’s competence to help the client. It is why the
necessity for the counselor to seek self help to resolve personal issues before
going out to the field to assist others. A hurt counselor cannot effectively
help another hurt person.
Thomas and Sosin
present in their book the characteristics of an effective counselor. The
characteristics are the following; love, trustworthiness, authenticity, and
self-awareness (2011, p.99-104). Each of these characteristics equips an
effective counselor in all the necessary areas to efficiently assist each
client. As counselors in training it is of great significance for us to address
any unhealed wounds we have anesthetized inside of us for so long to prepare
and capacitate ourselves for the future. We cannot be hurt people trying to
help other hurt people. We cannot allow our internal injuries prevent us from
being competent to professional enforce our job as professional mental health
counselors.
References:
Thomas,
J. C., & Sosin, L. (2011). Therapeutic
expedition: Equipping the Christian counselor for the journey. B&H
Publishing.
Victor,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post. It made me stop, think, and reflect on areas that I have been hurt and wonder if I could objectively help that person. I think it is key that you pointed out that it is necessary for a counselor to seek help in those areas in order to be able to be an effective helper. I know for me personally, I will do self reflection and think of specific areas that I want to work on in my life and in many cases get accountability partners and such. However, actually seeking out help for those is a different issue. In American culture today I think that we are taught to just suck it up and move on. However, in this profession specifically, it is important that we resolve our own issues first in order to be effective. I forget what class I heard it in, but a professor stated in class "You cannot take your clients where you would not go yourself".
I have read many discussions on the topic of the wounded healer. I really enjoyed reading about that because it showed me how I can use how I have been hurt and healed, to effectively help someone else. Great discussion and thanks for sharing!
Shiloh
Thank you for your post! I agree that hurt people often hurt people, I read earlier in our text that healed people often heal others. I think that is true, too. I have found it relatively easy to help others process hurts that I have overcome. There are things that I am still dealing with, and with counseling and time, I know I will get to the place where I can help others that have gone through these things. At times, I have gone to counseling looking for help and was not able to find it. The counselor was not able to create safety or willing to listen to great pain. Other times, having a counselor that was able to just be there without judgment helped me to make tremendous progress in a short time. I am learning to be aware of what I am going through as I listen to other's and later process what was happening. I look forward to finding a supervisor to process with. We all have unhealed wounds and we will continue to receive wounds as long as we live. We can all learn how to take these hurts to God and with the help of others to allow them to heal into strong places. When one of my son was 2 1/2 years old, his appendix burst and he went into shock. We barely got him to the hospital alive and he had exploratory surgery as soon as we got there. his original incision was 19 inches long. He seemed so little and it was so big, I couldn't imagine how he would heal from it. He is 22 years old now, and his scar has shrunk but is still visible. We have a silly routine when we meet after not seeing each other for awhile. He pulls up his shirt to show me his scar. he always tells me to punch him in the stomach (which I never do) and then we laugh. He exercised so much that the place where his scar is is the strongest part of his body. If I did punch him as hard as I could, it would do more damage to my hand than to his belly. I have seen that in places where God has healed me, I am stronger than I could ever have imagined. I hope to become that way in all the wounded places in my heart. I hope and pray that for all of our classmates.
ReplyDeleteSorry for my typos! His scar was 10 inches long, not 19! He was only about 34 inches tall at the time. I call him my son without a belly button because the scar hides his, and it looks like he didn't have one.
DeleteVictor,
DeleteYour post was very insightful! As counselors, we have to first take care of our wounds if we are to ever help those that need our guidance in living a life that overcomes past hurts. If we as counselors do not take care of our own past, how are we ever going to help clients along the journey to healing? I thought that the characteristics that you mentioned such as love, trustworthiness, authenticity, and self-awareness that were discussed in the book are vital to being a competent counselor, and I love the imagery that they used in describing these characteristics (Thomas & Sosin, 2011, p. 99-104). I really enjoyed your post, and it helped me to realize how I need to take care of some things that can hinder my ability to counsel well.
Thomas, J. C., & Sosin, L. (2011). Therapeutic expedition: Equipping the Christian counselor for the journey. Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group.
Candace, I can whole heartedly relate with your lack of confidence. THank you for sharing. I too was encouraged by the text stating that confidence is something that is gained over time. As i look back on the past seven weeks learning in class through discussion, blogs, and verbatims I have been able to see areas of growth where confidence has been built, and areas that I still need to work on. I think the practice of looking back and seeing all that we have learned is encouraging for further growth. THanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete