Reflective Essay On Self Awareness

Hays (2008) discussed privilege and biases based on culture and how these privileges and biases can affect a therapist’s work. Having a healthy understanding of self-identity can help understand the role of privilege and biases. In order to help self-reflect, Hays (2008) presented the ADDRESSING model which includes age, disability (born with), disability (acquired), religion, ethnicity/race, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, indigenous status, nationality, and gender. This ADDRESSING model will be applied in this paper.

Others, have their own reality and truth. If I wish to be an effective culturally competent counselor I need to be able to understand how important it is for myself not to mentally and emotionally disconnect from others just because on the surface our beliefs, values, and assumptions seem conflicting. As a helping professional I desire to serve a multitude of people, many by which belong to cultural groups that I, internally and externally. have felt rejected, discredited, and belittled by. In reaching out and helping these folks I need to be able to acknowledge my negative experiences, the assumptions I make about them based on who I perceive them to be, and monitor my behaviors towards them. I tend to find that I am less accepting and compassionate towards who I believe to belong to the dominate groups of our society; even the ones

The areas of productiveness in this session for me included the paraphrasing and minimal encouragers. Throughout this session I felt that my paraphrasing was clear and concise. It allowed the client to think about what he had said, while being able to provide me with feedback and allowed for the conversation to flow naturally.

As a therapist, each patient you see holds different beliefs and values that relate to the issues they deal with on a daily basis. The therapeutic relationship comes across an obstacle when the therapist encounters those of other race, culture, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. In order to properly treat the patient, the therapist must be able to see the patient from an unbiased view. This can be done by clarifying his/her personal beliefs and values. After understanding his/her own values, the therapist is now aware of what they know or don’t know in the world and can draw a line between their own beliefs and values from those of the patients. In therapy, the patient will speak about various things going on in their life. Some of these topics may be looked down upon in society. The

“Understanding the cultural identity of a particular client (individual, group, organization, system) must take into account the broader factors that impact upon the worldview” (Collins & Arthur, 2010, p. 204). Having a diverse counseling workforce that is equipped with appropriate cultural competence training and assessment can ensure an optimal service delivery environment and assist clients in accomplishing positive therapeutic outcomes (Ridley & Shaw-Ridley, 2011). Additionally, if therapists become more personally involved with diverse populations, they will feel more culturally aware and may increase their feeling of having a better relationship with clients of ethnic minority (Berger, Zane & Hwang,

150). Avoiding stereotyping a client due to their diverse background is important in the counseling profession. If bias is not avoided when dealing with culturally diverse clients is can lead to unethical actions on behalf of the counselor, this could lead to misdiagnosis confusion and pain (Sue & Sue, 2016). Unfortunately, some cultures and races have been affected more than others.

As I begin my journey as a novice clinician I will need to continuously look at myself as a therapist to avoid harming my client by being unaccepting to their needs. Being able to identify my biases will help me be less susceptible to cultural errors in therapy. To practice as a culturally competent therapist means to not ignore the evident differences between the therapist and the client and to not be afraid to ask questions. Similarly, acknowledging we are all different in some aspect and learning more about their culture and roles, thus, avoiding making bias diagnosis and treatment

In America, our self-image undoubtedly plays a significant role in our daily lives. In an ever-changing world, we are constantly working in the lens of which we believe the world sees us. But is this true of all people? “Disparities in self-perception between different groups of people can easily be detected through cultural psychology (Heine, Takemoto, Moskalenko, Lasaleta & Henrich, 2008).” Perception, especially self-perception, can vary vastly from one culture to another. One perspective that drove home this idea was the thinking that “East Asian’s attempt to place their concern with self-concept in the hands of the people around them, as opposed to some other cultures that can be found to focus more prominently on individualism

Counselors who are unaware of diverse cultural viewpoints are more than likely to do intentional or unintentional damage when working within communities opposite of their own and with those whose cultures and worldviews differ from theirs. If a counselor is unaware of their own cultural identity, biases, and stereotypes, how then will they know if they are unintentionally causing harm to their clients or build rapport? Cultural self-awareness is relevant because counselors need to know their cultural identity and what they must offer their clients in a therapeutic relationship and to help clients become aware their cultural identities.

One important lesson that I learned after getting certified as a sniper is the importance of selecting and adjusting a quality trigger. When shooting it’s important to have an adjustable trigger that will allow the shooter to have a light and crisp shot. In the military a heavier two stage trigger is used, and this aids a soldier with better accuracy under pressure and when using winter gloves. It allows the soldier to feel a little extra creep or bump before the shot breaks. If these rifles are used in the civilian market, the trigger may need replacement to accommodate the bench rest or sports shooter.

Thank you so much for keeping the doors of Union open. Your donation of (total amount of money they gave) aided in continuing the ministries of Union throughout the summer months. We want to reach out as the summer months wrap up and we continue to seek support.

Before taking this course my writing styles and habits were very different. I was the typical procrastinator because I would wait until the night before a paper was due to start it. This did not allow me enough time to properly proofread everything, which resulted in getting points deducted for simple grammatical errors that could have been avoided if I would have had the time to proofread. My writing styles have many strengths and weaknesses and I have been able to improve my writing because of them. I have learned from my strengths and weaknesses how to become a better writer.

I have always enjoyed writing, and I believed writing was a subject I was naturally good at. I turned in papers that were still rough drafts, I did not evaluate my sources, nor did I ever take the time to fully understand the prompt. It was not until my first semester of college, in my writing composition course, I realized that I had a lot of work ahead of me to be as good a writer as I thought I was. In the writing course, the students were required to compose several essays using different methods to help progress on the course objectives. The work in this portfolio demonstrates that I have used the methods of synthesis and evaluation of sources to advance my critical thinking skills and develop personal responsibility. Though I have

During the course of the quarter, I feel that I have progressed somewhat. I've gained a lot of knowledge on rhetorical strategies and how to present arguments effectively. In the writings I have written, I feel that each writing works towards meeting the course goals. Logos, ethos, and pathos were strategies and ideas we were introduced to (if not already in the past) and were built upon throughout the quarter. The knowledge gained over the course of the quarter weren't only those three types of appeals. Rhetorical strategies like proposals helped reinforce the course and using rhetorical analysis in different situations have become easier throughout the quarter. I believe that I have made sufficient progress towards becoming a better

The focus and objective of this paper I believe can be summed up in one quote “you learn from the past, live in the present, and prepare for the future” – Thomas S. Monson. While writing this reflection, we are judging our pasts, thus hopefully learning from them, and applying their lessons to our lives today. Therefore, while applying its lessons into our lives we are preparing for the future and how these lessons will affect us down the road. While brainstorming and reflecting about this assignment I was able to pinpoint specific moments in my working life that have lead me to where I am today. During the remainder of this personal reflection I will be sharing some of the watershed moments that have led me on my current working journey.