You can be a great counselor: have great attending skills, a firm theoretical orientation, and excellent rapport…but if you don’t act professionally you could sabotage yourself! In this post, I will describe five ways to act professionally in the counseling profession. These are techniques you probably didn’t learn in your masters program.
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- Dress the part. Presentation is important! Make sure your clothing is in good shape, fits you well, and is not wrinkled. Clients may judge you on how you are dressed, and your supervisors and co-workers probably will, so don’t dress like you just came in from mowing your lawn! Don’t wear items that are too tight, too low cut or show too much skin (particularly if you are female and you are seeing male clients.) Even things like dresses, which seem so innocent in the store, can hike up when you sit down. Be sure to look at yourself both standing and sitting in a full-length mirror before leaving the house. To read more about this, check out this post. Oh, and one last thing. Keep your shoes in good condition! They are often neglected by even the most well-dressed people. Be sure to check the wear and tear on the heel of your right foot (your driving foot).
- Keep your emotions to yourself. Mainly. If you are talking to your supervisor, and you need to process an emotion about a client, then by all means do so. That is clinically relevant. What I’m referring to here is undisciplined sharing that indicates poor boundaries. And it doesn’t have to be overt, either. Any time you allow your emotions to influence your behavior in such a way that it becomes irrational, then you have crossed the line. And be careful who you start telling all of your personal problems to. As therapists, we are used to establishing intimacy very quickly with people we don’t know very well, but what works well in the therapy room does not necessarily work well with our co-workers. Keep your problems to yourself and talk to your close friends or hire a therapist instead. You will be much happier at work that way.
- Learn how to take criticism. If a supervisor or a co-worker suggests a change, or has a difference of opinion, hear them out. Keep your emotions in check (see #2) and really think objectively about what they are saying. Then respond from that place, not your feelings. Try to remember that their suggestions are not a negative reflection upon your clinical skill, but rather an effort to make things better for everyone. Unless, of course, you have a toxic supervisor or co-worker. Then, you should still stay calm but consider the source when evaluating their comments or suggestions.
- Be punctual. Of course you should show up consistently and on time! (And that includes on time for meetings.) But you should also make an effort to be organized, and not delay your work, particularly clinical notes, until the last minute. Be aware of how your actions affect others, and in particular never delay your portion of work if it affects others’ ability to deliver on time. It also doesn’t hurt to keep a neat desk. Similar to the way you dress, people will judge you by how organized and “on top of things” you appear to be.
- Work with integrity. This may seem obvious, and I know as new graduates you are all very aware of the ethics codes. That is not what I am referring to. I am referring to “doing the right thing” even when it hurts in the short run. For example, if you are working with a client and they bring up an issue that you are not equipped to deal with, the right thing is probably to refer them out, even if you have developed a therapeutic bond. (Of course there are many other considerations which I won’t get into here.) Or, if you start to really like a client then it may be difficult to use your confrontation skills. Therefore, even while technically following the ethics codes, you will sometimes be faced with situations where it just isn’t easy to do the right thing. You must always act in the best interest of the client, even if it is at personal cost to you.
Yours in the Joy of Knowledge,
Dr. Barbara LoFrisco
