Within Chapter 9 of On Being a Therapist, Kottler (2010) discusses several taboo aspects of this profession. After reading this chapter, I felt a bit of relief knowing that another counseling professional exposed the unsaid experiences therapists experience in this profession.
From the outside looking in, it often seems as though therapists are portrayed as perfect individuals, providing imperfect individuals guidance on how to improve. This chapter completely rejects this assumption, and instead points out that therapists are human beings that make mistakes, are judgmental, and experience similar problems that their clients also experience. Unfortunately, I think the majority of therapists try and shield their problems from
others,
…show more content…
When working with clients, I think the majority of clients assume their counselor’s always have the best treatment recommendations in mind when working with them. However, I agree with Kottler (2010) that the majority of therapists are often guessing when trying to conceptualize their clients. I think it is important for clients to be aware of the fact that therapist’s training does not mean they have the resolution to every client’s presenting problems.
Instead, I believe therapists are never certain about the cause of client’s problems, and simply do their best to try and help their clients improve. When helping clients improve, I think it is important for counselors to keep in mind that not all client’s get better. More specifically, some clients emotionality, mental state, and functionality will stay the same or get worse. On the other hand, there are clients that get better and improve. However, I believe it can be difficult for therapists to determine whether or not their efforts actually helped their clients, as it is extremely difficult to pin point the exact cause of a client’s improvements. In addition to the many other topics therapists do not discuss and keep to themselves,
…show more content…
Therefore, I think therapists and clients need to keep in mind that therapists are human beings, and have some of the same natural reactions to bizarre behaviors, statements, or incidents as any other human being would. In addition, I believe therapists need to be honest with themselves about how client’s behaviors, presenting problems, and/or statements affect them. I think doing so will help therapists become more aware of their limitations when working with clients. The majority of therapists that enter the counseling profession, usually do so because they have an interest in helping others. However, I think it is important to remember the possibility that some therapists go into this profession to help themselves and not others. More specifically, some therapists go into this profession to inadvertently work on their problems through their clients. I think this can be extremely detrimental to clients, specifically because the therapist has their own agenda in mind. I do not think there is any way to prevent therapists from taking advantage of this profession. However, I believe peers should confront their colleagues
“WHAT WILL A THERAPIST NEED TO CONSIDER WHEN PLANNING THE TREATMENT OF A DEPRESSED CLIENT?”
One of the more puzzling aspects of therapy and one that escalates to crisis proportions is
This is why it is important for both the client and the therapist to be open and honest with each other from the very start when discussing the initial problems/issues.
Whether intentional or unintentional, the misdiagnosis of client concerns is a problem that can have implications for counselors and clients. Mead (1997) reported the
It is also true that an individual cannot identify the needs of psychotherapeutic counseling unless a
What goes wrong, thus bringing a client into therapy? Rogers considers the problem to be lack of
therapist 's role is to listen, teach, and encourage, while the client 's roles is to express concerns,
Yalom, Y.D. (2009). The Gift of Therapy: An Open Letter to a New Generation of Therapists and Their Patients: Harper Perennial
I believe counseling is a collaborative partnership between client and counselor. Furthermore, this collaborative partnership is built from trust and acceptance of both client and counselor. I hope in conjunction with clients to understand the issues and concerns so to help them tap into their wisdom, creativity, and strengths to meet their current challenges. I believe in a comprehensive perspective through which clients can better comprehend themselves in the framework that our thinking about events can lead to emotional and behavioral upset. Moreover, counselors are to provide a safe environment for clients to explore their challenges and identify ways to move differently in overcoming these challenges.
It is useful for the therapist to be able to bring to the clients attention whatever it is that they may have done that has resulted in the problem not being present or is less severe at that particular time, thus in turn assists the client to repeat these
Yet, if managed care begins to dictate what treatments have to be used, then empirically validated treatments will be used against psychologists as a form of restriction that may inhibit the success of the therapeutic process (Scaturo, 2001).However, certain artful tactics involved in psychotherapy will never be completely removed, such as the development of a therapeutic relationship (Allen, 2008). With the rise of EVTs there is a possibility that insurance or managed care may dictate the exact treatment techniques that need to be used for a particular disorder, the art of psychotherapy will not be able to thrive in the future has it once did in the past (Hopko & Hopko, 1999). One way to prevent the complete loss of the art of psychotherapy is to use both the art and science together.
wrong approaches to get the best results from their counselling session. Only the best counsellors
The role of the therapist – regardless of their theoretical orientation - is to convey to their clients that they are there to
In the therapy interaction, these misconceptions must be heard by the therapist and given ample time in counseling to talk about and “unpacked,” for further qualification. This may take time and patients to hear these feelings and to process with the client.
* Perception of problems. Clients start off believing it is other people that have the problem but gradually come to terms with their own issues and no longer fear them.