The Journey of an Emerging Counselor
Photo by me on Coffee Rd. in Lynchburg, VA.
As an emerging counselor, I often feel inadequate, a lack of confidence, and at times quite fearful of the tasks before me. It is not uncommon for me to place expectations upon myself that are not quite practical. Chapter six in our reading reassured me in that confidence and counseling competency is gained in time. The car metaphor used to describe the journey of a counselor was comforting to me. Thomas & Sosin (2011) encourage emerging counselors by advising, "mastering the skills of counseling takes practice, perseverance, and time... Developing the confidence of an experienced counselor is not learned in a classroom; it is honed in the counselor's chair (p. 125). This statement was helpful in knowing that I am not expected to be an expert counselor by gradation. Rather, it is expected that I am moldable and humble. The last few weeks, The Lord has been teaching me a lesson on humility. It seems that the ultimate root lesson He desires for me to understand is this journey is good. Humility is a continual reminder of my need for Him. He is my self sufficiency and thee only good thing in me is Christ. I find in times when I coast or try to do things on my own, I sink. It is easy to try to fall into the mindset that I need to do things for God, rather than with God.
Candice, I live on Coffee Road! I think we all fall into the mindset of trying to do things for God. I, too, experience times when i feel like I am already supposed to know all the things we are learning. Yet, I am learning all the time. I know from past experience that it takes time to learn and develop skills, change habits, etc. And it is very easy to see when friends and acquaintances are being too hard on themselves, but it doesn't stop me from falling into being too hard on myself. Staying humble and receiving correction are areas I have to constantly be aware of. I am learning to trust the process and believe that Liberty knows how to produce Godly counselors and we will eventually get there. Thanks for your post! The picture didn't show, but that might be my computer.
ReplyDeleteThanks Marcella,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your feedback. I will see if I can get the picture to post. I think it is because I tried loading it with my ipad. Somewhere along the lines there was a disconnect. Either way, I think you are right. We are often able to point out when an individual is too hard or critical of themselves, and often blind to our own personal criticism. Coffee Road is my get away in Lynchburg. The farther you travel down the road, the more windy, mountainous, and scenic it gets. When talking about coffee road, I can't help but coincide it with the journey towards counseling: windy, mountainous, and scenic. Windy and mountainous are great words to describe the challenges we face. Scenic can represent how surreal the times may feel when we have our God moments. The times when it is undeniable that God is the one who facilitated that moment in time. In those moments we are reminded that it is God doing the work in and through us, rather than having to trust ourselves for judgement. All we need to be is available and willing to do what He calls us to do. As we are told in this class, "lean into the discomfort."
Thank you for your feedback and encouragement.
ReplyDeleteMuch like you stated I also find myself feeling self-conscious and incompetent at times thus far. It eases my mind knowing that not only am I not alone in the way I feel but I find the most comfort knowing that the feelings are normal. Even with the small amount of practice counseling time I’ve had this far it is clear that “mastering the skills of counseling takes practice, perseverance, and time. Developing the confidence of an experienced counselor is not learned in a classroom; it is honed in the counselor's chair Thomas & Sosin, 2011,p. 125).I can see personal growth with each week that passes and through self and peer evaluations during practice sessions. I’m confident that in time I will reach my goal of being an extraordinary counselor.
Candace,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the honesty in your post. I resonate with so much of it and have also been learning the lesson of humbling ourselves on this journey. It is so easy to focus on all of my inadequacies as I'm reading texts written by knowledgeable professionals and surrounding by intelligent peers but I think embracing the process of learning and recognizing that we are in this position of learning for the purpose of growth is a comfort. Nobody is expecting us to know everything and there is some comfort in that. Also, all of the unknowns are "looming" over us at this point pre-practicum and pre-internship, once we have some experience with actual clients in sessions, all of the practical meets the experiential and makes a complete package. Thanks again for sharing!
Candace,
ReplyDeleteYour post reminds me of some of the things that I have been feeling. I feel like that in all of my classes that I need to be perfect from the start and that I should have it all together, but we are still in training and that is what these assignments are here to do, to make us better. The quote from Thomas & Sosin (2011) about how after a long period of practice, the results will come. We just have to be humble and teachable like you said and everything else will fall into place. Relying on the Lord and His strength is the only way that we will become great counselors and we ultimately have the Wonderful Counselor always by our side. I really enjoyed your post.
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!
ReplyDeleteCandace, 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