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The Counselor as a Person and as a Professional
Chapter 2 The Counselor as a Person and as a Professional © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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The Counselor as a Person and Professional
Counselors must be aware of the influence of their own personality and needs. Examples of personal needs of counselors based on unresolved personal conflicts: Need to tell people what to do Strong desire to relieve all pain from clients Need to have all answers and be perfect Intense need to be recognized and appreciated © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Personal Therapy for Counselors
Beneficial to both trainees and experienced practitioners It is a necessary form of ongoing self-care © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Personal Therapy for Counselors
Reasons for participating: To explore your values and motivations for becoming a helper, how your needs influence your actions, and how you use power in your life To identify and explore your blind spots and potential areas of countertransference For remediation purposes © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Transference The process whereby clients project onto their therapists past feelings or attitudes they had toward significant people in their lives © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Transference The “unreal” relationship in therapy
Counselors need to be aware of their personal reactions to a client’s transference. All reactions of clients to a therapist are not to be considered as transference. Dealing appropriately with transference is an ethical issue. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Countertransference The therapist’s total emotional response to a client including feelings, associations, fantasies, and fleeting images Occurs when clinicians: Demonstrate inappropriate affect Respond in highly defensive ways Lose their objectivity because their own conflicts are triggered © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Countertransference Can be either a constructive or a destructive element in the therapeutic relationship © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Examples of Countertransference
Being overprotective with a client Treating clients in benign ways Rejecting a client Needing constant reinforcement and approval © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Examples of Countertransference
Seeing yourself in your clients Developing sexual or romantic feelings for a client Giving advice compulsively Desiring a social relationship with clients © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Client Dependence A temporary dependence is not necessarily problematic. An ethical issue occurs when counselors encourage and promote dependence. Can manifest in subtle ways Counselors may collude with their clients in keeping them dependent. Termination can be delayed even though a client no longer needs services. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Stress in the Counseling Profession
Counseling can be a hazardous profession and lead to empathy fatigue. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Stress in the Counseling Profession
Some sources of stress for counselors: Feeling they are not helping their clients Tendency to accept full responsibility for clients’ progress Feeling pressure to quickly solve clients’ problems Having extremely high personal goals and perfectionistic strivings © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Counselor Burnout and Impairment
A state of physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual depletion characterized by feelings of helplessness and hopelessness © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Counselor Burnout and Impairment
The presence of a chronic illness or severe psychological depletion that is likely to prevent a professional from delivering effective services Results in consistently functioning below acceptable practice standards © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Signs of “Therapist Decay” Which Lead to Burnout
An absence of boundaries with clients Excessive preoccupation with money and being successful Taking on clients that exceed one’s level of professional competence Poor health habits in the areas of nutrition and exercise © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Signs of “Therapist Decay” Which Lead to Burnout
Living in isolated ways, both personally and professionally Failing to recognize the personal impact of clients’ struggles Resisting personal therapy when experiencing personal distress © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Maintaining Vitality as a Counselor
Counselors are often not prepared to maintain their vitality, yet sustaining the personal self is an ethical obligation. Personal vitality is a prerequisite to functioning in a professional role. Ongoing self-care is an essential part of a therapist’s professional competence and personal wellness program. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Maintaining Vitality as a Counselor
Clients can benefit from a counselor’s mindfulness practices even if clients are not practicing mindfulness themselves. Self-compassion can enhance counselor well-being, counselor effectiveness in the workplace, and therapeutic relationships with clients. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Values and the Helping Relationship
Chapter 3 © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Managing Personal Values
Counselors must have the ability to work with a range of clients with diverse worldviews and values. Managing personal values so that they do not contaminate the counseling process is referred to as “bracketing.” © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Managing Personal Values
Clients should not be exposed to discrimination by counselors who refuse to render services to them because of differing values. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Value Exploration Value exploration is at the heart of why many counselor education programs encourage or require personal therapy for trainees. Personal therapy provides an opportunity to examine your beliefs and values and to explore your motivations for wanting to share or impose your belief system. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Value Exploration The imposition of values by the counselor is an ethical issue in counseling individuals, couples, families, and groups. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Value Conflicts If you experience difficulties over conflicting personal values, seek supervision and learn ways to effectively manage these differences. Consider a referral only when you clearly lack the necessary skills to deal with the issues presented by the client. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Value Conflicts Do not try to convince yourself that you are working in a client’s best interest by referring a person because of value conflicts. This may constitute an act of discrimination. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Legal Framework Regarding Values Discrimination
In two court cases, Christian students filed suit against their public universities over the requirement that students avoid imposing their moral values on clients. Julea Ward v. Board of Regents of Eastern Michigan University Jennifer Keeton v. Board of Regents of Augusta State University © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Legal Framework Regarding Values Discrimination
In some states, “freedom of conscience” clauses are being inserted into legislation to protect religious freedom However, conscientious objection acts violate the letter and spirit of the ethics codes. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Spirituality and Religion
Spirituality refers to: General sensitivity to moral, ethical, humanitarian, and existential issues without reference to any particular religious doctrine Religion refers to: The way people express their devotion to a deity or an ultimate reality © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Spirituality and Religion
Key issues: Can the counselor understand the religious beliefs of the client? Can the counselor work within the framework of the client? © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Role of Spiritual and Religious Values in Counseling
Religion and spirituality are oftentimes part of the client’s problem and can be part of the client’s solution. Spirituality and religion are critical sources of strength for many clients. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Role of Spiritual and Religious Values in Counseling
Spirituality and religion should be incorporated in the assessment and treatment process. Counselors need training in using a variety of intervention strategies in working with clients on their spiritual concerns. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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End-of-Life Decisions
End-of-life decisions pertain to a wide range of options that individuals may want professional assistance in exploring. Preserving and promoting a client’s self-determination is a fundamental aspect of ethical care at the end of life. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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End-of-Life Decisions
End-of-life decisions that involve physician-assisted suicide have become an increasingly controversial issue since the Death With Dignity Act became law in Oregon in 1997. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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End-of-Life Decisions: Key Terms
Rational suicide: When a person has decided — after going through a decision- making process and without coercion from others — to end his or her life because of extreme suffering involved with a terminal illness © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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End-of-Life Decisions: Key Terms
Aid-in-dying: Providing a person with the means to die The person self-administers the death-causing agent, which is a lethal dose of a legal medication. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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End-of-Life Decisions: Key Terms
Hastened death: Ending one’s life earlier than would have happened without intervention Involves speeding up the dying process, which can entail withholding or withdrawing treatment or life support © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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End-of-Life Decisions: Key Terms
Advance directives: Written documents that specify the conditions under which people wish to receive certain treatment or to refuse or discontinue life-sustaining treatment Living Will and Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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