Counselor as a Person and a Professional

1. The Counselor:
Person and
Professional
MAP108 – Psychological Counseling and Psychotherapy

2. “One of the important instruments you
have to work with as a counselor is
yourself as a person” (Corey, 2017, p. 18).

3. Counselor as a Therapeutic
Person
• Authenticity is an important characteristic in the therapeutic
relationship.
• Who the psychotherapist is directly relates to his/her ability to
establish and maintain effective therapy relationships with clients.
• Determinants of Therapeutic Outcome
• The alliance
• The relationship
• Personal and interpersonal skills of the therapist
• Client agency
• Extra-therapeutic factors

4. Counselor as a Therapeutic
Person
• Authenticity is an important characteristic in the therapeutic
relationship.
• Who the psychotherapist is directly relates to his/her ability to
establish and maintain effective therapy relationships with clients.
• Determinants of Therapeutic Outcome:
• The alliance
• The relationship
• Personal and interpersonal skills of the therapist
• Client agency
• Extra-therapeutic factors

5. The Counselor
MUST NOT…
• Be emotionally distressed
• Be coping vicariously
• Lonely and isolated
• Controlling
• Grandiose and Narcissistic
• Have unresolved anger
MUST…
• Be curious and inquisitive
• Be able to listen
• Find comfort with conversation
• Have empathy and understanding
• Be emotionally insightful
• Be Introspective
• Have the capacity for self-denial
• Be tolerant of intimacy
• Be comfortable with power
• Have the ability to laugh
• Have an intentional “alonetime”

6. Qualities of Effective
Counselors (Gladding, 2018)
• Intellectual Competence
• Desire and ability to learn as well as think fast and effectively.
• Energy
• Be active in sessions and sustain that activity even if seeing a number of clients in a
row.
• Flexibility
• Be able to adapt what one does to meet client’s needs.
• Support
• Encourage clients in making their own decisions while helping to engender hope.
• Goodwill
• Work on behalf of clients in a constructive way that ethically promotes independence.
• Self-awareness
• Knowledge of self (attitudes, values, and feelings) and the ability to recognize how and
what factors affect oneself

7. Personal Therapy for the
Counselor
• Benefits to Therapist’s Professional Work:
• It offers a model of therapeutic practice in which the trainee experiences
the work of an experienced therapist and learn what is helpful or not.
• Enhance the therapist’s interpersonal skills.
• Contributes to the therapist’s ability to deal with the ongoing stresses
associated with clinical work
• Help prevent potential countertransference in the future.
• Awareness of inner conflicts to acknowledge how it may affect us
in practice.

8. Counselor’s Values and the
Therapeutic Process: Values in
Counseling• Our values are the core beliefs influencing how we act personally and
professionally.
• Guard ourselves against the tendency to use our power to influence
clients in accepting our values.
• The goal of counseling is to assist individuals in finding answers
that are congruent with their own values.
• We must provide a safe and inviting environment with which the
clients can explore congruence between their values and behavior.
• We must have the ability to work with a range of clients with diverse
worldviews and values.

9. Counselor’s Values and the
Therapeutic Process: Values in
Therapeutic Goals• The general goals of counselor must be congruent with the
personal goals of the client.
• The client and counselor need to explore what they hope to
obtain from the working relationship, whether they can work with
one another, and whether the goals are compatible.
• Initial interview can be used most productively to focus on
client’s goals or the lack thereof.
• Bracketing – managing personal values in order to not
contaminate the counseling process

10. Becoming a Multicultural
Counselor
• Culture – the values and behaviors
• It is an ethical obligation to develop sensitivity to cultural
differences.
• Counselors need to become aware of how clients fron diverse
backgrounds may perceive them as well as their perception of
the value of formal helping.

11. Becoming a Multicultural
Counselor
• Everyone has biases. It takes effort and vigilance to monitor
these biases
• A major part of becoming a diversity-competent counselor
involves challenging the idea that the values we hold are
automatically true for others.

12. Becoming a Multicultural
Counselor
• Everyone has biases. It takes effort and vigilance to monitor these
biases
• A major part of becoming a diversity-competent counselor involves
challenging the idea that the values we hold are automatically true for
others.
• It is critical to take into account the worldview and background of
every client.
• Different theories have different features to appeal to distinct cultural
groups.
• Effective practice involves an open stance from the practitioner,
flexibility, and willingness to modify strategies.

13. Dimensions of Competency in
Multicultural Counseling
Beliefs and Attitudes
• Cultural self-awareness and
sensitivity is essential
• Examine and understand the
world from the vantage point of
clients.
• Realize that traditional theories
and techniques may not be
appropriate for all clients or
problems.
• Monitor functioning through
consultation, supervision, and
further training/education.
Knowledge
• Detect own racist attitudes,
beliefs, and feelings.
• Do not impose values and
expectations.
• Understand that external
sociopolitical forces influences
all.
• Awareness of the institutional
barriers preventing minorities in
utilizing mental health services.
• Knowledge about historical
background, traditions, and
values.
• Knowledge of community
characteristics and resources.
Skills and Intervention Strategies
• Use methods and strategies
and define goals consistent with
the life experiences and cultural
values of clients.
• Modify and adapt to
accommodate for cultural
differences
• Recognition that counseling
techniques may be culture-
bound.

14. Issues Faced by Beginning
Therapists
• A certain level of anxiety demonstrates awareness of uncertainties.
• Be open to discuss self-doubts with a supervisor and peer.
Dealing with Anxiety
• Being ourselves in therapy and appropriately disclosing our reactions increases our authenticity.
• Consider what, when, and how much to reveal.
• The most productive form of self-disclosure is going on between the counselor and the client
within the session.
Being Yourself and Self-Disclosure
• You will make mistakes regardless of being a beginner or a seasoned one.
Avoiding Perfectionism

15. Issues Faced by Beginning
Therapists
• It takes honesty to admit that you cannot work successfully with every client.
• Learn when and how to make a referral for clients.
Being Honest About Your Limitations
• Acknowledge and explore with clients the meaning of silence when it occurs
Understanding Silence
• Prepare them for the process.
Dealing with Clients Who Lack Commitment
• Clients may seemingly “get worse: before therapeutic gains.
• Realize that the fruitful effects of the joint efforts may manifest after the conclusion of therapy.
Tolerating Ambiguity

16. Issues Faced by Beginning
Therapists
• Countertransference – any projections that influences the way we perceive and react to a client
• Manifested by being triggered to becoming emotionally reactive, being defensive, or losing the ability to
be present in the relationship.
• It is not appropriate to use our clients in working our reactions to them.
• We do not carry the pain of our clients.
Becoming Aware of Your Countertransference
• Both clients and counselor can enrich a relationship through humor.
• Distinguish between a humor that distracts and a humor that enriches.
Developing a Sense of Humor
• Should be addressed early in the course of counseling.
• Discuss specific matters.
Sharing Responsibility with the Client

17. Issues Faced by Beginning
Therapists
• Therapists help clients discover their own solutions and recognize their own freedom to act.
• Help clients to make independent solutions and recognize their own freedom to act.
Declining to Give Advice
• Diverse range of roles can be expected.
• Our roles may be dependent on several factors.
• Role will not be define once and for all.
Defining Your Role as a Counselor
• Therapeutic techniques should evolve from therapeutic relationship and material presented into
enhancing client’s awareness or suggesting possibilities for experimenting with new behavior.
• Know the theoretical rationale and the appropriate techniques.
• Must be thoughtfully chosen.
Using Techniques Appropriately

18. Issues Faced by Beginning
Therapists
• Wide variations in approach can be very effective.
• Imitations of another’s style can inhibit our potential.
Developing your own counseling style
• Work at dealing with those factors that threaten to drain life from us and render us
helpless.
• May help prevent professional burnout.
• By being in-tune with ourselves, we experience a sense of personal power of
integrating life-experiences with professional experiences.
• If we neglect to take care of ourselves, our clients will not be getting the best of us.
• Our self-care should mirror the care we provide for others.
Maintaining your vitality as a person & professional

19. References
• Corey, G. (2017). Theory and practice of counseling and
psychotherapy (10th ed.). Cengage
• Gladding, S. (2018). Counseling: A comprehensive profession
(8th ed.). Pearson