Essay on Assignment 1

Submitted By mysticmistyblue
Words: 1217
Pages: 5

Effective Counseling
Gardiner_Misty_1.1_12/13/14
I believe to be an effective counselor you need to have an education, compassion, and boundaries. Compassion is a deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it. I believe that is one of the most important qualities a counselor should have. Without compassion I think it would be very hard to be in this profession, you would not be doing anybody any justice. In this field we deal with all kinds of people and problems. They come to us broken, hurting, angry, confused and so much more. Being able to have compassion for that person no matter what their situation may be, and to do your best to meet them where they are at, where ever that may be. So that we can help them help themselves to a better life and understanding of themselves. When a counselor has compassion it is something that is so true and vibrant. It is not something that can be taught or faked. It is something that is truly amazing, that comes from within. Compassion does not judge people for who they are, what they have done and what they have gone through. It simply just cares for that person it sits down with them and meets them where they are and says I'm here and I want to help you work through this as long as you are willing to help yourself. I believe education is the second most important, if not equal to compassion. I only say that because I believe that compassion will drive you through education if you want to be of real service to others. Which leads me to why I think to be an affective counselor you must have an education. An education is important so that you do not go beyond your scope of practice. You cannot help others without having the skills and the tools to help them. Experience and recovery does not qualify you to be a counselor. When a counselor has an education it shows in the way they perform, they must know skills like models, ethics, how to do referrals how to break down behaviors and so much more. And the last thing you want to do is to stear someone in the wrong direction. What you want is for them to get the full potential out of treatment. I declare that this assessment is my own work, based on my own personal research/study . I also declare that this assessment, nor parts of it, has not been previously submitted for any other unit/module or course, and that I have not copied in part or whole or otherwise plagiarised the work of another student and/or persons. I have read the ACAP Student Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct Policy and understand its implications.

People attend counselling for many different reasons. Windy Dryden (2006) says it is basically a person’s desire to rid themself of some kind of personal pain due to life’s adversities, or character traits which may be hindering a fulfilling life (p.5). She also notes that attending counselling as a course requirement should be considered a legitimate reason. (p.5) As a course requirement I attended a counselling session with Annie Rabin, a professional counsellor. McLeod (2003) says clients want to resolve something, learn something or achieve social inclusion.(p.16) My primary aim was to learn but I also achieved a measure of resolve with my problem.

My feelings before, during and after the session are analysed and discussed, the session is summarised, the key skills used by Annie and their impact on me are identified and challenges for the counsellor and the client are identified with suggestions for strategies to best manage these challenges. Verbatim dialogue from the session is provided throughout the essay as examples and, finally, the overall experience is considered. The psychodynamic approach to counselling, originally emerged from the work of Sigmund Freud, one of the founders of modern psychology. This approach to counselling is used to treat depression and anxiety disorders, and it aims to help the client to release repressed unconscious emotions and