As with trying anything new, as a new counselor you are going to make mistakes. Learning what could go wrong ahead of time will help prepare you and may even save you from doing harm…
Here are three common blunders every new counselor makes:
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- Thinking that clients tell the truth all of the time.
Rationalization: All people wanting help are going to be honest. After all, why would they come to me if they were just going to lie?
Reality: Clients will occasionally lie. Sometimes it’s an outright fabrication, other times it’s a misrepresentation or omission of fact.
Ramifications: Inappropriate interventions, missed diagnoses, and, possibly, damage to the therapeutic relationship.
Remedy: I will use the same logic, reason and skepticism with clients as I do in the real world. I will not be afraid to confront clients. I understand that clients have their own reasons for lying, and that it usually has nothing to do with me.
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- Imposing own values or goals upon the client.
Rationalization: After having spent several years studying mental health, I know what is best for people. I know what “healthy” means and it’s my job to help people become “healthy.”
Reality: Clients are the only experts on their own lives. Interventions and goals must be centered on the client’s worldview, capacities and environment.
Ramifications: Clients will feel misunderstood and the therapeutic relationship will be damaged. Clients will have less personal investment in their goals, because they really aren’t the client’s goals. They are the counselor’s goals.
Remedy: I must strive to learn the client’s world so I can try to inhabit it with them. Only from there should I attempt to counsel them.
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- Not setting appropriate boundaries.
Rationalization: I need to do everything I can to help this client. My needs are not important, only the client’s needs are. After all, isn’t that what they teach in graduate school?
Reality: My needs are just as important as the client’s, and perhaps more important, since I am the tool to be used in the counseling process.
Ramifications: I will become burned out by not taking care of my own needs. My client’s poor behavior may become reinforced by my implicit acceptance.
Remedy: I will not be afraid to say “no” to clients. I will value my own time and work, and expect clients to do so as well.
Yours in the Joy of Knowledge,
Barbara LoFrisco
Also check:
• https://mastersincounseling.org/counseling/counselor-typical-day/
• https://mastersincounseling.org/counseling/internships-and-salaries-what-you-need-to-know/
• https://mastersincounseling.org/education/unhappy-with-your-current-job-heres-what-your-employer-doesn%E2%80%99t-want-you-to-know-about-online-classes-part-ii/
