Picture from: http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/training/studentassociates/drawingsfromlife/selfreflection.aspxAfter reading the syllabuses for each of my courses and reading various information posted along with it I have come to the conclusion that my first three counseling courses and most likely the rest of this program are going to provide ample time and opportunity to address self issues. In fact I think it is required. Many of the assignments given ask us to reflect and provide examples and answers based upon our lives, experiences, personal beliefs etc. Honestly I can say that I am excited about this. I believe that to be an effective counselor you must first accomplish a couple of things.
First you must be open to having counseling and dealing with your own issues. After all if you can't attend counseling how are you going to expect others to? Personally I have seen a counselor many times and have recently begin going again. I have an appointment next Wednesday :)
Secondly I think as a counselor in training it is important to know yourself and your reasoning behind your beliefs, values, opinions, and world view. As a counselor you will be creating a helping relationship with many people from all walks of life and the majority will NOT hold the same beliefs, values, and opinions as you do. You have to prepare for this and see if you can honestly set aside your own "stuff" in order to help someone else.
Lastly self reflection is probably one of the most important tools that a counseling program could provide its students! It allows us to spend time really getting to know ourselves with the hopes that it will make us better, effective counselors. So I plan to spend the next two years self reflecting and discovering things about myself that I might not have known otherwise.
"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself" Leo Tolstoy.
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