Description of Counselling
I define counselling as a special relationship between a person in need on psychological services and a trained professional. The relationship is special because the counsellor tries to create an atmosphere in which the distresses individual feels comfortable expressing important and often confident information. In counselling clients are viewed as normally, functioning individuals who need help developing their potential. The experience of counselling is different for each individual and brings about changes in their behaviour, feeling, and thinking. Counselling is likely more successful when the individual identifies their own problem and develops solutions of how to overcome it.
Counselling is the facilitation of that conversation whereby the counsellor guides the individual toward self-discovery of problems and solutions. The development of a strong collaborative therapeutic relationship is important to the application of therapeutic techniques (Lejuez, Hopko, Levine, Gholkar, & Collins, 2006) as it is important when identifying goals (Mash, 2006). Hence, I am sensitive to relationship issues as I am working towards building a trusting relationship with my clients early in the therapy and I then pay particular attention that there is agreement on goals and tasks for better outcomes.
Metaphorical Reflections on Personal and Professional Growth
Reflecting on the manner in which my journey in this program has unfolded, make me think at one metaphor that I used in my weekly postings. I decided to choose the metaphor of a pathway going through a thick forest to describe my experience in the Post-Graduate Diploma and Master of Counselling programs because I was following a safe path through a thick and yet, calming to my senses forest. The snaking pathway signifies not only the length of my studies, but also the combination of the two sides of the spectrum experiences that I had in these programs. I also chose this metaphor because every ending has a new beginning meaning new experiences and learnings, personal growth and self-actualizating.
Source: https://www.google.ca/search?q=pathway+through+the+forest
Maslow (1968), believed that man has an internal, natural, drive to become the best possible person he can be and that:
..he has within him a pressure toward unity of personality, toward spontaneous expressiveness, toward full individuality and identity, toward seeing the truth rather than being blind, toward being creative, toward being good, and a lot else. That is, the human being is so constructed that he presses toward what most people would call good values, toward serenity, kindness, courage, honesty, love, unselfishness, and goodness." (Maslow, 1968, p. 155.)
In sum, the pathway metaphor is interwoven throughout my e-portfolio and represents this incredible journey of learning, development, reflection and self-discovery that I have been privileged to be part of over the past two years and half of my journey through this program.