Counseling Reflection Paper

According to the American Counseling Association (ACA) website the organization’s mission is to help society by offering well trained professional counselors. In the process, assisting counselors develop into the contingent professional’s in which society can depend upon, at the same time stimulating human self-worth and diversity. When counselors are trained in graduate school the aspects that goes into becoming a professional counselor, is they equipped with a vast amount of knowledge. Some of the basics include how to work with diverse populations, acknowledging their own biases, how to advocate for the client who is among an oppressed population, congruency with their clients, empathic listening and communication skills, knowing when to refer a client to the appropriately trained counselor and many more. All of these elements and more are just some of the tools, professional counselors are required in order maintain the standards the American Counseling Association’s mission statement entails.

Cognitive-behavioural therapy is widely short-term and concentrates on enabling clients to deal with very particular problems. Often six weeks to six months sessions of course depending upon the problem it is pacifically goal directed and places great weight upon self-help as a long term coping tool that the client can take away with them and successfully use. Cognitive-behavioural therapy believes that clients can learn the wrong ways of developing and making sense of information during their cognitive development. This can often lead to distortions in the way they identify reality, it’s the job of the therapist to enable them to work this out.

There are many theoretical models of counseling. Often, a diverse approach or the use of several approaches is best for the resolution of problems. I utilize several different theories and strategies in my role as a counselor. However, it is the Individual personal theory and the Family theory model that anchors my orientation to counseling as a Christian counselor.

Values, Morals, and Beliefs are components that play a role in an individual’s self-identity. The establishment of these components shape human nature, behavior, and the development of an individual’s purpose. The basis of these fundamentals has contributed to my desire to become a counselor. This paper will discuss my views of human nature, factors of behavior changes, goals of therapy, the roles of a therapist, and the counseling approaches that I chose to incorporate in a practice.

The American Counseling Association (ACA) is the most sizeable worldwide association for counseling professionals ("American Counseling Association.", n.d.). The American Counseling Association (ACA) is a nonprofit organization ("American Counseling Association.", n.d.). The American Counseling Association (ACA) is based out of Alexandria, VA ("American Counseling Association.", n.d.). It was founded in 1952, by the convergence of four different associations in Los Angeles, Ca ("American Counseling Association.", n.d.).

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.

It takes a special person to become a school counselor and in doing so it is important to take those life skills, knowledge, dispositions, and background experiences to help along the way. In the counseling field there are some guidelines and theories that will help, but nothing that prepares you for what may happen at any moment or any time during the day. It is clear that life definitely throws some unexpected curve balls and that is the same for situations in the field of school counseling. You never know what situation you will run into and in order to dodge those curve balls it is those life experiences that often time influence the direction in which we take both personally and professionally. It is important to compile all the knowledge and experiences that we have gained throughout life and apply them in a way that will help others to be successful. It is key to reflect on the past and those skills that I have that will lead me to become an effective professional school counselors.

On a bright and crisp morning of March 25, 2015, I interviewed Joni Roche and learned what a typical day was like for this Professional Counselor. Mrs. Roche has owned her own practice for nearly eighteen years and has truly loved every single part of it. Mrs. Roche has received a Master of the Arts degree and is a Licensed Profession Counselor and a Nationally Credited Counselor. During my interview with Mrs. Roche, I truly learned so many things from different counseling techniques, what it is like to have a private practice and the good and bad things counseling comes with that people do not necessarily speak about.

This paper explores my counseling theory. It looks at the way I view human nature and the development of personality through the lens of an elementary school counselor. This paper looks at the development of psychopathology and the goals of therapy using fundamental cognitive behavioral theory (CBT) and techniques used in CBT and person centered therapy (PCT). Researched is used to advocate for my use of child center play therapy (CCPT) along with taking a look at reality therapy (RT) for use with the older elementary students . I conclude with a look at spiritual influences on my future counseling career. Throughout the paper I reference the American School Counselors Association (ASCA) and its national model to help tie in the theories and practices with the guidelines of being a school counselor.

The American Counseling Association (ACA) developed the code of ethics with six principles in mind that they thought were the foundation for ethical behavior and decision making: autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice, fidelity and veracity (American Counseling Association, 2014). This lead to the six different purposes for the code of ethics. First, it sets ethical obligations and ethical guidance for professional counselors (American Counseling Association, 2014). Second, it recognizes ethical dilemmas that are relevant (American Counseling Association, 2014). Third, it clarifies what is ethically expected and accepted of its members (American Counseling Association, 2014). Fourth, it is an ethical guide for members deciding the best course of action and expectations for conduct, when it comes to those using their counseling services (American Counseling Association, 2014). Fifth, it supports the mission of the American Counseling Association (American Counseling Association, 2014). Finally, it has standards that serve as a baseline for questions and complaints for ACA members (American Counseling Association, 2014). To fulfill the purposes of the code of ethics, the ACA categorizes the ethics into nine different areas (American Counseling Association, 2014).

The purpose of this paper is to introduce to the reader the theoretical orientation of Taneka Gibson. The theoretical orientation adopted by the student should represent by beliefs and values as a professional counselor. Theoretical orientation reflects the theory or theories at which a counselor base their practice. The theories identified in this paper are Person-Centered and Reality Theory.

ALTER THIS PAPER....IT HAS BEEN SUBMITTED TO TURN IT IN....USING IT VERBATIN WILL RESULT IN A 100 MARK AND IDENTIFICATION WITH ANOTHER STUDENT PAPER...IN OTHER WORDS, YOU WILL BE FOUND TO BE COMPLETELY CHEATING AND MAY BE EXPELLED FROM YOUR UNIVERSITY...I WOULD USE IT AS A GUIDE, A LAUNCHING POINT....SOMETHING YOU COULD PARAPHRASE OR BORROW SOME IDEAS...

The amount of time I spend per week doing lay/pastoral (Associate Minister) counseling in my current ministry averages from eight – ten hours. Basically, one would counsel according to the needs of the people in the congregation and the community. It is one’s effort to reach and receive as many of God’s hurting people as possible, therefore, one’s hours are flexible. Consequently, on the one hand, there has been days when I have arrived at the office 9:00 a.m. and have left at 9:00 p.m. Of course, sometimes there has been at least an hour or two in between each session. On the other hand, one must admit, there may only be three clients the entire week. Unfortunately, because one is attending Luther Rice College, at this time, and the school

Ego: In this second developmental stage, compromises in instinctive responses to environmental circumstances begin to develop. The ego mediates with the id by considering the rules of the real world and the consequences of actions taken in that world.

Counseling is a relatively new profession which has transformed over time from treating mental illnesses to providing educational guidance to counseling with a variety of specializations. Pistole summarizes by stating that counselors, now, aim to, “contribute to the vitality and vigor and to the soundness in body, mind, spirit, and social connection that sustains well-being, and so is considered, by our society, to be health” (2001). However, this was not always the case. National events such as the industrial revolution, World War