Caption: Ecclesiastes 3:11
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"He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end." (Ecclesiastes 3:11, New King James Version)
Thomas and Sosin (2011) truly did take us
on an academic, heartfelt expedition. Chapters thirteen through fifteen
punctuated what we have learned in this course by speaking on the topics of techniques
and our own preparation as counselors.
One of the most intriguing points in the
text was that our personality is welcomed in counseling as a way to help clients.
Not in a sense of being friends; rather, through the use of humor we as
counselors can bring appropriate light to a stigmatized process (Thomas and
Sosin, 2011). By expressing humor in an intentional way we can subtly inspire
hope. This was a most refreshing point to read as I was wondering myself how
our own personalities play into counseling.
Just as our personality is developed and
somewhat engrained, so too is our spirituality and relationship style. In human
development we learn that both environment and nurturing take place to mold us
into our current beings. Those same experiences impact our faith and
relationship to God. I am happy to think my personality can be helpful to
clients. But their own developmental journey, God image, and God concept will
be so much more helpful (Thomas and Sosin, 2011).
Lastly, the authors made a poignant quote
about our development as counselors and the ability of the counselees. They said,
“Be assured that your counselees will survive your limitations and inadequacies”
(Thomas and Sosin, 2011, p. 475). Client healing is not hinged on our ability
to perform techniques with perfect precision. The power for healing is in God
and He in them. God truly makes beautiful things, we will fail and we will
learn and therein lies the beauty of the expedition.
Reference
Thomas,
J.C. & Sosin, L. (2011). Therapeutic
expedition: Equipping the Christian counselor for the journey. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group.
I enjoyed reading your post. The last few sentences provide so much meaning. We as human beings are not perfect and that the only true healing comes from God. It reminds me that as humans we are dependent on God for without him there is no life and we are helpless. One can not rely on man no matter how great their knowledge or power may be. One has to remain focused on the light the Lord Shines so that he can torch the dark places. God surely makes all things beautiful.
ReplyDeleteRachel,
ReplyDeleteHumor was a very surprising topic to find in our text, but being one that enjoys humor personally, I too was encouraged to know that there is a time and place for humor in the counseling setting (Thomas & Sosin, 2011, p. 423-425). The guidelines that they laid out were very helpful to know when to use this technique. When we are dealing with tough situations in a client’s life, I guess it naturally makes sense to use humor as a tool, but until reading this section, I did not know how it could play a part. Also, your insight into our development as counselors was extremely comforting with the quote from Thomas and Sosin (2011, p. 475). It is reassuring to know that with the help of the Lord, our clients will be helped through us even though we do have weaknesses. Thomas and Sosin (2011) also point out that as long as we are truly engaged in our profession and are doing what it takes to become better counselors, in time we will become better at what we do (p. 475). We do not have to be perfect counselors from the outset, but as long as we are working to help others more effectively, that is all that we can do. This post was really interesting. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Thomas, J. C., & Sosin, L. (2011). Therapeutic expedition: Equipping the Christian counselor for the journey. Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group.
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI loved you post.I loved how you stated humor is not used as a way of declaring a friendship but rather as a means to make a heavy and dense topic more light. As counselors we will discuss many heart-wrenching topics with our client and it is up to us to use humor properly and at the right time. Our identity and professional development as counselors will ever be changing. There are so many new techniques, ethical codes, rules etc. being created. As you said our client's healing is not determined by our ability to execute everything or know everything precisely but to give it our all. As long as God is behind us we can conquer anything!
Rachel, I enjoyed reading your post! I was also encouraged as I was reading what the text said about our personalities being a tool within our role as counselors. Throughout this course I have felt, at times, like I have had to hide my personality in session but I think as we become more comfortable as counselors, it will become easier to "be ourselves" while maintaining a professional appearance. The Lord has created us all with a personality and I think that different people will be able to connect and build trust with clients through that which is encouraging. Blessings on your journey!
ReplyDelete