My five goals to be a better counselor are:
1.
To be more empathetic and really always be aware
of my own self Identity and to ALWAYS be aware of how it could make me view my
students with skewed lenses.
2.
To always listen to what is really being said;
reflect more, so I’m certain that what I’m hearing is what the client is
saying.
3.
To do less talking and make certain that the
client feels heard.
4.
To always seek out more information and
literature to continuously learn.
5.
To always collaborate with my peers and those
who have been counseling longer than me, to always strive to better myself as a
counselor.
I think that this practicum is the beginning of
what I would call the road to authenticity for myself as a counselor. By that I
mean that I have had all of these counseling classes and done an amazing amount
of time watching the famous counselors of our era on HULU and YOUTUBE, done internships with peer guidance, in classroom exercises, but now with my degree
coming to an end I’m aware that just because you graduate with a degree in
something doesn’t mean that you are that; the instant you are handed a degree
there is no Glenda the good witch standing over you with a magic wand to say “poof”
you’re a counselor. You must become authenticated through perseverance,
guidance, and by falling on your face quite a few times. I know that for me at
least that’s what it is taking. I tape sessions and listen to them and think “why
in the hell did I say that? I should have said blah blah blah” it’s a process,
I think we help one another by realizing that even as long as we have been a counselor,
or not done it at all, I believe that by doing it and finding that we are doing
good and making a difference and empowering or clients that we actually feel
like counselors.
