PHILOSOPHY of COUNSELING Free Essays

Clinical psychology focus SE on the intellectual, emotional, biological, psychological, social, and behavioral aspect s of human injunction across the life span, in varying cultures, and at all socioeconomic I bevel† (Todd Aboard, 1999, peg. 5). In my philosophy I do believe this to be true among other things. We will write a custom essay sample on PHILOSOPHY of COUNSELING or any similar topic only for you Order Now I believe the Bible to be my main source of truth. View of Human Nature With any philosophy we have to start at the beginning of the nature of people and their disorders. Why are people the way they are? Is it nature or nurture? I believe we do not s tart out as a â€Å"blank slate. † We are all born with specific genes and attributes that are unique to us. We are all individuals unique in our own ways. However our experiences mature and SSH ape us for good or for bad. Think about life as a poker game and in your hand are the cards you have been dealt. You were given the cards and how you play the game or your â€Å"experiences† d determine the outcome. Morality and values are not subjective sets of ideas that vary from p resin to person, or even culture to culture. Rather, they are determined by Someone who is above e the created realm and gives them to all whom are created. This â€Å"Someone† gives you the cards. Without being given these basic values and morals utter chaos would reign in the world. In t he Bible Jesus says â€Å"For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication’s, the bets, false witness, slanders. † (Matthew 1 5:19, NASA) This obviously points to the fact that our he arts are the central problem in addressing the behaviors and actions of our lives. In the Bi blew we also get a clear picture of the condition of the human being. Romans 3:23 says â€Å"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God† (NASA). The logical implication is that one who has s mined (defined as a thought, action upon a thought, or behavior that is against the character ND perfection of God’s character) is called a â€Å"sinner†. Because we have all sinned we can not ex prurience the life God intended us to live. Our sin separates us from God and therefore is the r 80th issue in our lives. Not every struggle is a result of personal sin though. If a client were ABA seed, traumatized, rejected, neglected, etc. The sin is not theirs but the results of someone else’s sin plays out in their life. Many people need counseling because of the sins of others, entrust their own. Our behaviors and actions flow directly from our sinful thoughts, actions, and series. If someone were to live their life on a deserted island and never have any human contact they would still have the propensity and desire to be greedy, l ustful, prideful, and o there things that go directly against the character of God. Society and our environment do not diet ermine our actions as much as our own inward distorted desires. The root issue is a heart problem m, not one of needing just a â€Å"behavioral adjustment† to correct the actions. When clients co me to counseling because they are struggling with something that is a result of someone else’s sin the direction and Ochs is still on their need for a Savior to give them the inner ability to have the e strength, patience, forgiveness, and healing to move forward in their life. Therapist/Client Relationship My role as a therapist, is to lift the fallen, restore the broken, and to heal the h rutting. Am not there to judge or â€Å"pick sides. We were created for relationships. In order for a therapist to have the type of relationship with the client that allows them to challenge the client they need to be perceived as open, attentive, willing to be challenged, a listener, fair, friend lye, firm, and trusting. A great client/ counselor relationship is not totally essential to change occurring in the life of a client, but it is very important . I should be able to empathic with the client, teach them coping mechanisms, and offer a different perspective or insight as to what the e issue might be. The client should not rely on me solely as the fix all to any problem. The there pips assists the client in identifying dysfunctional beliefs. The counselor also discovers alternate dive rules for living for the client. The therapist acts as the teacher and teaches new abilities and skills to the client. The client understands their problem better and practice changing self defeating ways, such as, acting and thinking. In this way, it is important to maintain a truthful, secure, confident relationship between the client and the helper to be effective. The essential o objective is for change to occur; the change could be an environmental change, specific behave viral change, change in thinking identifying and awareness. Strengths and Weaknesses as a Therapist like to think I’m good at seeing the â€Å"big picture. † If you are able to take a step back and look at life this way you don’t worry about trivial things as much because you hen realize that they don’t matter in the big scheme of things. As a therapist could then be a blew to help teach my clients to do the same. Would teach them to focus on the big picture rather t Han trivial details. One thing that I will have to work on is not giving advice. My friends come to me for advice right now and its really hard to break that habit. I’ve started to take myself oh t of the situation and offer guidelines that could help them in the situation because don’t wan t them to depend on me and the same goes for my future clients. I want to be a Marriage and Fame Ii Therapist and I’m not married, nor do I have a family of my own. Some people could see this as a problem because I don’t know specifically know the situation. However do empathic with people and can relate to them in other areas. I would also explain to them then that even if I were married I still wouldn’t know the exact situation because every situation is different and unique to that individual. Conclusion My philosophy of counseling beings with the fact that all of humanity has intro NCSC value. The ideal counseling situation would be one where a client is able to see a love Eng relationship dolled between the counselor and the client in such a way that they being t o desire to know more about God. How to cite PHILOSOPHY of COUNSELING, Papers Philosophy of Counseling Free Essays In general I view myself as behaviorally and cognitively orientated however through the years within my professional experience I found myself being somehow an eclectic counselor. As I grow professionally and expand my knowledge, I find myself incorporating in my counseling style, various other techniques from other models of psychotherapy. I have administered many techniques from varying theories, thus, I believe it would be inaccurate for me at this point, to identify my style of counseling with one particular mode or theory. We will write a custom essay sample on Philosophy of Counseling or any similar topic only for you Order Now Throughout my graduate work I often played in my mind the ways in which I would counsel others. It was of my understanding that I needed to â€Å"stick† with one theory. Luckily that wasn’t the case. I allow various theoretical models to grow on me and as I applied them to clients and tested them out, I was able to make them my own. The way I will approach this paper is to make some bullet points and elaborate was has brought be to choose certain models over others. †¢ What drives my behavior? Well, I always had a genuine interest in helping others. when I look back at my childhood, I can remember being concerned about the elderly, about the homeless, about people that were quiet and shy. I always carried this thought in the back of my head: † they just want (need) someone to talk to† and for some reason I always felt guilty for not approaching these people because I believed that person should have been me. Obviously I wasn’t educated on theories at the time and didn’t know what to say, but I had this interest in wanting to â€Å"be there† for them. 1 I can confidently say that my childhood experience has had a significant impact in the development of my philosophy of â€Å"helping†/counseling people and, on the other hand, education is what helped me be a better counselor. I will introduce the second bullet by stating a quote from Henry David Thoreau â€Å"Simplify the problem of life. When the mathematician solves a difficult problem, he first frees the equation of all encumbrances and reduces it to its simplest terms. † Many times clients come to us because they believe they have no way out, that life is complicated a nd that nothing is â€Å"simple†. I firmly believe that life is what we make of it. It’s about perception, it’s about how much importance we give to the things that happen to us. Their life is too crowded with other things that cloud their view. I read this book once from Benjamin Hoff â€Å"the Tao of Pooh†, it mentions the â€Å"The Uncarved Block† which is the idea that â€Å"things in their original simplicity contain their own natural power†. All we need to do is scrape that block to its origin. I believe people have the answer within themselves, they have the ability to set their goal and meet them; my job is to help them figure out how. †¢ This brings me to the next bullet. My biggest interest is to help people identify what their problem is and help them figure out what they need to do to manage that problem or in other words, what they need to do to be happy and satisfied with their life. I like to help them meet that stage where they can feel comfortable in. †¢As I look back to my recent professional experiences, I have noticed that 2 being comfortable with myself is a big element that I need to keep in mind. I like who I am and what I do and that gives me the confidence to be efficient to my client, I could never be a therapist and listen and be â€Å"helpful† to people if I am miserable, if i don’t like myself or what I do in life. I try to monitor myself on a regular basis, and try to avoid pushing my own dispositions onto others, particularly on those clients who are more susceptible. It amazes me how clients can â€Å"read† us. They can tell if something’s wrong. My belief is that I am there for the client not vice-versa. My vision includes myself making a sincere effort to always remain open, reflective, self-evaluative, caring, and respectful to myself and to all my clients. I believe that good counseling comes when counselors are able to periodically evaluate themselves in relation to the needs of clients. †¢I apply psycho-education to by sessions with clients. I feel blessed everyday for the opportunity I was giving to go to school. I understand not everyone has that chance. My education enriched my life and gave me that extra piece I needed to complete myself and to be who I am today. Because of that I feel the need to â€Å"give back† and educating my clients has become very important to me. I like to introduce psycho educational sessions with my clients from time to time. †¢discipline and structure are another elements that have contributed to my professional development. I believe in structure and I also believe that the 3 majority of the clients that come to us lack structure. I looked up on the dictionary what structure meant and it actually validated my point. Structure is â€Å"The way in which parts are arranged or put together to form a whole. To give form. Something made up of a number of parts that are held or put together in a particular way. † People want to feel â€Å"complete†, their lives are pulled apart by so many factors such as Mental Illnesses, for example, by providing that structure I hope they would feel â€Å"put together†, less lost or pulled apart. I believe structure is a big part of therapy, it holds therapy sessions together, there is a start, middle and an end. Helping clients see this, it helps built structure in their lives. †¢I believe in practicing a collaborative approach to therapy where client and counselor form a relationship based on respect and mutual understanding. This relationship serves as the means through which emotional and cognitive growth can occur in the client and we work together to agree upon and develop goals for therapy which fit their specific and diverse needs. †¢My approach features genuineness, warmth, and a sense of humor which creates a trusting atmosphere for my clients. Within this authentic atmosphere, my clients have the freedom to express themselves openly and honestly while receiving the support necessary to meet their personal goals. †¢ As I was told plenty of time during my tape recordings, i also like to instill hope and convey support to my clients. I believe it is important. 4 †¢ Cognitive behavior therapy is my primary approach to counseling, I believe in relearning new thoughts and behavior patterns, when old/previous learned patterns are infective. Although cognitive behavior therapy is a ain component to my why of counseling, as I mentioned before, throughout the years I have incorporated many other techniques. †¢ Reality Therapy for example. is appealing to me because it emphasizes choices and responsibility, concreteness and directionality. With reality therapy, progress can be measured and clients can move towards a more workable way of dealing with life. there are times when I believe the past needs to be â€Å"revis ited† by both the client and the therapist, to evaluate previous ways of coping, ways of handling situations. Although I believe the past becomes an important part to deal with to be able to move forward, people need (at times) to stop dwelling on the past and move forward: make choice and take responsibilities. †¢ I have applied various other techniques with clients and although all different from one another they all seemed to fit my personality just fine. Making these techniques my own and believing in them, allowed me to apply them easily and comfortably in sessions. Principles of Taoism and eastern philosophy for example. I became aware of this way of viewing life during a very hard time of my life. Although Catholic, I was able to see life with different eyes and cope with things much better. By its own definition, Taoism is near impossible to convey in words. Tao is 5 loosely translated as â€Å"the way† and emphasizes harmony and mindfulness; it can be explained only by experience. I try to live by these principles myself and try to teach them also to my clients my modeling. I believe that people need awareness and harmony in their lives, they need that perfect balance between mind and body. Once they have control over that, they can control things like depression, anxiety, or stress. I also bring to my sessions a multi-cultural perspective. My personal experience with my culture (Italian) played an important and critical role in my understanding of people and personalities, the way people interact and behave. I learned very quickly that culture has its own rituals and customs that guide and shape the way people behave. †¢ one thing I do believe in with or without the help of a theory, I believe that everyone has some kind of potential within themselves. I like to help people grow and reach that potential. I wouldn’t be able to do what I do, if I did not believe that people can change. 6 How to cite Philosophy of Counseling, Essay examples