The counseling process is often dominated by ambiguity and uncertainty, which can result in vulnerability and apprehension for counselors. Since counselors act as a basic tool to facilitate the healing and development process of clients, developing introspection and self-exploration is important (Pieterse et al., 2013). Introspection and self-exploration help counselors develop an awareness about their weaknesses and blind spots, which could negatively influence counseling outcomes. Developing an understanding of oneself involves a special process for emotional learning and self-awareness. This paper elaborates on the theoretical reasoning for introspection and self-exploration in the counselor's values and beliefs, to provide top quality therapeutic treatment to the clients.
Literature Review
Over the years, scientists have explored the field of psychology to understand all its dimensions. Psychologists recently developed an interest in the significance of introspection and self-exploration on counseling outcomes, which has prompted numerous research. The research “Impacts of the Therapist’s ‘Use of Self’” by Sleater and Scheiner both psychology practitioners in Ireland and England respectively tried to identify the relationship between introspection and counseling outcome (Sleater & Scheiner, 2020) . A literature review yielded themes, such as self-disclosure, that are related to introspection and self-exploration. This study comprised semi-structured interviews where the participants were 6 experienced and accredited clinicians. The participants' feedback was analyzed using the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, as it helped capture the clinicians' live experience, record the participants' insights, and identify common subjects. The research identified three themes: wellness, awareness, and connection related to the "use of self." This study shows that introspection and self-awareness are related to better counseling outcomes. However, the significance of wellness in counseling was not mentioned.
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Another research, "White Counselor Self-Awareness" by Richardson and Molinaro, investigated the importance of self-awareness in counselors. The study was designed as a literature review and examined the self-awareness of a white counselor on counseling outcomes, particularly in developing multicultural competence. The topics examined in this study include cultural values and racial identity. From the research, it was identified that self-awareness in counselors promotes multicultural competence (Richardson & Molinaro, 1996) . A deeper understanding of values and racial identity often improves the quality of counseling services offered to diverse populations. The researchers suggested that furth er research is required to evaluate in-depth the relationship between counselor self-awareness and multicultural competence. In another study, "Beyond Micro skills," Ridley et al. (2011) conceptualized various counseling competencies, such as self-evaluation, by examining therapeutic outcomes. In this research, the authors found that continuous self-awareness and self-reflection are critical and increase therapeutic competencies. From these studies, most researchers agree that introspection and self-exploration are important increasing therapeutic outcomes.
My Values
Being brought up religiously and being a Christian myself, I have developed strong moral values that I find essential for a positive life. The moral values I hold quite closely are:
Trust. Trust involves believing in my decisions and those of others. Trust is essential and acts as a foundation for strong and lasting relationships. In the absence of trust, the relationship between individuals is often shaky. As a student and a Christian, I have learned that trust is important if I am to maintain strong and lasting relationships with people. Trust is also an important skill considering the career path I have decided to follow (counseling). As I develop trust in myself, I learn to incorporate intuitions with the best skills that form the basis of developing stronger relationships; this prepares me for my future career, where I will have to develop trust with my clients.
Self-reflection. This value involves taking time to evaluate me. This value has helped develop my emotional intelligence through self-awareness and self-regulation. As a student, self-reflection allows me to understand my motivation, emotions, strengths, and weaknesses and understand how they affect my life. This has helped me cultivate myself into a better person, by mostly concentrating on my strengths and improving on my weaknesses. Self-regulation has helped me manage to control disruptive emotions and quickly cope with different, emotionally demanding situations. Besides, reflecting on my strengths has increased my confidence and increased my ability to tackle real-life issues.
Potential Blindspots
Counseling is a wide field that allows counselors to interact with a large number of people from diverse cultures. Encountering from diverse backgrounds may result in potential blindspots if I hold tightly to my values. People from different backgrounds tend to have views that may differ from those of other people. Being a counselor does not mean that all my clients will appreciate my opinion and values; some will have different opinions, which may, in some way, affect the therapy sessions. I am very trusting, which could become a problem in the case of manipulation. As a counselor, the foundation for improving the patient's condition is to develop trust.
Having too much trust could result in manipulation. In some cases, the client may pretend to trust me but is indeed manipulating me to achieve some other motives. For example, when dealing with an ex-con who needs to complete therapy sessions to get the release from jail, he or she may use my trust for them to manipulate me into believing that they have reformed, although they have not. Failure to establish trust with the client could result in poor outcome from the therapeutic treatment, as it depends on the trust established between the counselor and the client. For instance, a client suffering from stress may fail to mention the counselor's problem as they do not trust them. This could leave the problem unresolved.
Client Encounters
Counseling allows counselors to meet people from diverse backgrounds: some with different views and others with a similar mentality. Meeting a like-minded client would be very satisfying for me. I like exploring ideas and talking about life with people with similar believes. Meeting such as client would result in a connection conducive for discussing his/her issues in depth without fear, which would be essential in resolving their problem. Also, being like-minded could aid in forging a counselor-client relationship, which would help me follow up on how the client is doing after the sessions are over; this would help ensure that the client is doing okay.
Meeting a client with significant different beliefs would be challenging, particularly in making them understand my point of view. When people have different views, coming to a consensus is often challenging. In my case, I would handle the client professionally, like other clients. This would involve routine therapeutic session procedures, such as understanding how the client is doing. Having different views does not mean that I cannot help the client; I believe that every individual deserves equal treatment regardless of race, opinion, age, or even sexual orientation. Counseling ethics demand that every individual should receive quality services without discrimination of any kind.
Faith Perspective
The Bible stresses that people with different opinions should come together rather than fight over their views. The book of Rom 14:1, "As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not quarrel over opinions." Also, Hebrews 12:14, "strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the lord." The scriptures guide us that we should always strive to reconcile our differences with other people and avoid disputes related to our opinions. We should always seek peace to have a better life here on earth, and to have a chance to meet our savior. Individuals should always consider the opinions of other people and learn to accommodate them for a better life.
References
Pieterse, A. L., Lee, M., Ritmeester, A., & Collins, N. M. (2013). Towards a model of self-awareness development for counseling and psychotherapy training. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 26 (2), 190-207. doi:10.1080/09515070.2013.793451
Richardson, T. Q., & Molinaro, K. L. (1996). White Counselor Self-Awareness: A Prerequisite for Developing Multicultural Competence. Journal of Counseling and Development, 74 , 238-242.
Ridley, C. R., Mollen, D., & Kelly, S. M. (2011). Beyond Micro skills: Toward a Model of Counseling Competence. The Counseling Psychologist , 1-40. doi:10.1177/0011000010378440
Sleater, A. M., & Scheiner, J. (2020). Impact of the Therapist's "Use of Self." The European Journal of Counselling Psychology, 8 (1), 118-143. doi:10.5964/ejcop.v8i1.160
