Reflection

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The journey of becoming a counselor is a process that begins by rediscovering yourself to allow growth and development to occur within yourself, so that you may guide others who may be experiencing hardship in their own life. Young explained a counselor must be a reflective practitioner. He states “being a reflective practitioner means that you make a commitment to personal awareness" (Young, 2017, pg. 2). This means a counselor must be aware of their own thoughts, feelings, and motives. To be honest, I never realized the preparation a counselor had to endure to become successful in the counseling profession. I recently realized counseling is a journey that requires continuous development of the self as well as stretching far beyond the limit for their own personal growth. However, with development and growth, a counselor must be aware of their own mental processes in order to provide the services to their clients that create an opportunity for the clients’ growth and a better mental well-being.

The first few chapters do an excellent job of allowing you to step back and reflect on the material in the chapters while encouraging further understanding and growth in your own abilities. Gordon believed that “formal opportunities for counselor reflection may be beneficial in a number of ways, for the counselor and perhaps also for the client (2004).The further I read the textbook I gain more confident in my abilities as a counselor-in training. I learned the basic skills of counseling are not the easiest skills to master, such as being silent, avoiding questions, or even showing empathy towards a client. However, I discovered it is important to be patient with myself and enjoy the process of becoming a professional counselor.

References

Gordon, C. (2004). Counsellors' use of reflective space. Counselling & Psychotherapy Research, 4(2), 40-44.

Young, M. (2017). Learning the art of helping, 6^th edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.     ISBN: 0-13-416578-0