Counseling: Interwoven In Society, Behavior And Mental Health

The philosophy that underlies the counseling profession is unique among mental health professionals. According to Remley & Herlihy (2014), the philosophy is made up of four components. First, counselor 's view mental health challenges through a positive, wellness-oriented lens. The primary goal of the wellness model is for the client to achieve the highest degree of mental health possible. Psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers follow the medical model of mental health. The goal of these clinicians is to cure the client’s illness, which differs drastically from counselor’s view of clients.

Cooper, J. B. (2010). Counseling microskills. In B. T. Erford (Ed.), Orientation to the counseling profession: Advocacy, ethics, and essential professional foundations (pp. 148–162). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

I believe counseling is a collaborative partnership between client and counselor. Furthermore, this collaborative partnership is built from trust and acceptance of both client and counselor. I hope in conjunction with clients to understand the issues and concerns so to help them tap into their wisdom, creativity, and strengths to meet their current challenges. I believe in a comprehensive perspective through which clients can better comprehend themselves in the framework that our thinking about events can lead to emotional and behavioral upset. Moreover, counselors are to provide a safe environment for clients to explore their challenges and identify ways to move differently in overcoming these challenges.

As a counseling student, it is very important to formulate a counseling theory tailored to ones’ own personality and beliefs. A counselor may choose a single theory to model when practicing therapy or pick and choose components and techniques from various theories, otherwise known as eclecticism. No theory is considered right or wrong. Understanding the different therapeutic approaches are important to effective counseling, however, counselors must also understand their own personal value, view of human nature, human behavior, counseling techniques and the purpose and goals of counseling. Understanding these components along with the different theoretical approaches will provide the counselor with a 9 knowledge of their own counseling, orientation and is essential to not only the productivity of counseling but the growth of the counselor as well.

As I go down this road which is considered my life. I have realized that I have chosen the path of the person that I am today. My life up to this point was not an easy road and still has bumps in my future. In my past I have faced physical and emotional child abuse from my parents, death of my younger brother at a young age, my house burning down making my family homeless, Department of Family Services placing my brother and sisters into foster homes, and me becoming homeless again while trying finish high school. All of this led to me to joining the Army to realize there were different options in life. Learning from the past hardships is what led me to want to help others figure out to show they also can overcome hardships and that their past does not have to dictate their future. Throughout this paper I am going to take you through my journey by leading you through the concept of counseling as a professional identity, key characteristics of a counselor, duties and functions of the different areas I could pursue as a counselor, then the four career paths I would pursue, followed by the top two career paths I would enjoy, and top two professional settings that I would like to work.

Burnout in the field of Mental Health Counseling is a serious concern for everyone involved, whether the person is just beginning their journey, or if they are a seasoned veteran with years of experience. Unless, the person has a prevention plan in place and adds it into their busy schedule and does not stray from their commitment of their self-care program. It is easy when we get busy to skip a day here and there and the next thing you know we have not taken care of ourselves for a month or longer. Once we permit ourselves to neglect our self-care program the symptoms of burnout and begin to develop very quickly. Personally, I believe with a good self-care program, it is easier to circumvent burnout, then it is to overcome it once you are in its grips. Here are some of the things I implement into my schedule to help myself from becoming burnt out.

My personal philosophy of life and my philosophy of counseling has been deeply affected by my life experiences as a young child and also as an adult. I am fortunate that my life has been a good life and I consider myself to be fortunate to have to have good parents and many loving family members. I do not recall having any events in my childhood that I would consider to be abusive or neglectful on the part of my family, and for that I consider myself to be lucky. I know several people who were abused as a child and it seems to have impacted them in many aspects of their lives even into adulthood.

Counselors need to assimilate cultural ethics or viewpoints into a beneficial agenda when treating American Indian females, and it is essential to intertwine Western therapeutic practices with components of the indigenous customs, theories, and attitude (Chee et al, 2006).

You never really realize you’re a victim until it’s all over and a counselor is repeatedly telling you not to blame yourself.

This quarter’s course of “theories of counseling” felt like a whirlwind of theories, theorist, therapeutic techniques, and proper application of theoretical framework to help counsel students. As the course continued each new theory and therapy style I learned about seemed more appealing and useful than the last. In deciding which therapy styles I would favor using I have to take into account the general demographic of the students and communities I wish to work in. I plan to work with middle school to high school students that are from urban low social economic status and are recent arrivals to the country. Some of the characteristics of obstacles these students and families face daily are, single parent home/income, past/recent trauma, history of low family education level and legal trouble. I am fortunate to live in the community and society I want to help and that I have grown up in. I am equally blessed to be raised and have the opportunity to give back to my community and society the best way I know how by giving back in a positive manner.

This paper will describe my personal approach to counseling. It will discuss my philosophy of human nature. I will describe my beliefs of the counselor’s role and the theoretical approaches I would draw from as a profession school counselor. I would then evaluate my preferred approaches for their strengths and weaknesses. Finally, using my personal approach to counseling, I will present the concerns I have in the Case of Jasmine and apply strategies to the scenario. I will end with evaluating this approach in Jasmine’s case and give an explanation of considerations for working with her in the school setting

As a future counselor, it is important that we realize how much self-awareness plays apart in counselor competence. Although the focus of the course is multicultural counseling, the lack of overall counselor awareness affects and impedes the process of providing appropriate therapeutic care. It is vital that you become aware of the assumptions, stereotypes, and biases you may have about clients who are different from yourself on all the dimensions included in this framework (D 'Andrea, 2001).When I speak of awareness, it’s not just about bias, stereotypes, and difference in worldview, but in order to increase personal and professional development as a counselor, you must be aware of resources and agencies at your disposal that you can use to properly serve clients from all cultures.

His imposing figure towered above us, the weight of his shadow almost felt like it could crush me. Honestly, I’m not surprised considering he took power over the country 20-30 years ago and morphed it into his little sandbox. Life wasn’t bad, it wasn’t great either though. I can’t imagine it would be hundreds of times better if we weren't’ in this situation. I wouldn’t mind a little peace and quiet though, the piercing sounds of police weaponry clashing with the older snapping noises of makeshift guns and weapons that have been long past their due date seemingly wipe hours off of my sleep schedule.

Authors Note: This paper was prepared for the introduction course 4611: Counseling, taught by Instructor Hatcher.

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