The concept in the first chapter has been important. Counseling is a cooperative process where a professional expert helps a client identify the origin of difficulties and concerns that he/she is undergoing. The chapter helped me understand the concept of professional counseling, a relationship that works to empower diverse individuals, groups, and families to achieve mental well-being, career goals, and education. I plan to use the knowledge to help clients by setting strategies essential in overcoming obstacles and challenges. Besides, I learned about the credentialing of counselors, which is a process of evaluating and assessing qualifications and professional recognitions like training, clinical experience, education, and licensure. The concept has helped me understand the need to get involved in various counseling programs to ensure that I meet the specific requirements of the credentials. Lastly, the chapter has helped me know how to become engaged in counseling professional activities such as heightening therapy awareness and undertaking counseling advocacy. The activities enable a counselor to increase his/her professional effectiveness, understand clients better, and run a successful practice.
The second chapter was substantially important because it helped me understand the legal and ethical aspects of counseling. Counselors should behave ethically, act in the clients' interest, protect their rights, and minimize harm. The information on the codes and standards of ethics enabled me to know ethical guidelines, obligations, and professional responsibility to clients. The knowledge will be significant in my future career. It will allow me to know how to make appropriate decisions, promote social justice, protect the integrity of the client-counselor relationship, and work competently. The chapter also provides guidelines on making ethical decisions such as undertaking consultation with colleagues or supervisors, gathering evidence, defining ethical issues, and identifying affected parties and consequences. The moral choices come from five principles: beneficence, fidelity, non-maleficence, justice, and autonomy. Subsequently, the chapter explained some legal aspects of counseling, such as confidentiality, privacy, and privilege communication. Adhering to the legal aspects will enable me to avoid criminal liability, negligence, and malpractices in the future. The chapter also explained the roles that a counselor may play in court, including witnessing, providing education to the jury, and offering unbiased information.
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The third chapter was also vital as it provided information on multicultural counseling, which entails providing effective interventions to culturally diverse individuals. Diversity may involve race, age, gender, religion, culture, and ethnicity. Diversity has a distinct influence on clients' life circumstances and identity. Multicultural counseling allows therapists to efficiently address patients' unique challenges by always emphasizing empathy and care. This counseling developed due to growing public awareness as the old counseling techniques became detrimental to certain ethnic groups. The information helped me know how to incorporate different ideas, basic tenets, and therapeutic strategies to meet culturally diverse clients' needs. Information on multicultural counseling skills was also fundamental as it outlined essential qualities required in diversity therapy, such as interpersonal abilities, cultural awareness, sensitivity, understanding, and empathy. There are also various challenges like systematic racism, ableism, religious differences, and belief that affect the competency of cultural counseling. However, knowing the cultural sensitivity therapy concept enables a counselor to understand an individual's background.
The fourth chapter was about counseling with a diverse population. The chapter explained the need to observe relevant counseling strategies regarding Erickson's stages of human development. Understanding Erickson's theory enables a counselor to efficiently teach clients parenting, self-awareness, coaching, managing conflict, and ways of understanding others. The chapter also provided guidelines on offering therapeutic services to the aged since they also undergo various mental challenges. The information helped to realize how to identify the psycho-social and problems of older people. I intend to use the information to help the elderly enhance their wellness and create happiness. I also learned about gender counseling which entails focusing on the mental, physical, emotional, and social needs of people who are uncomfortable with their body and gender. The information will help me know how to handle LGBT clients and explore their identity, express their sexual orientation, and manage anxiety and depression.
