I Want to be a Counselor Essay Example

behavior.

I feel the need to help people neglected by their parents, couples whose marriages are not working, depressed ones, pedophiles who need to change their habits, drug addicts, rebellious teenagers, etc. Although some of these people who have become aware of their problem may already be seeking help, there are also those who are in poverty and cannot afford to consult with professionals. I want to be an advocate for these people too. According to a study conducted by Garrett McAuliffe and Christopher Lovell, the “effectiveness of counseling lies largely in the person of the counselor rather than in the techniques use. (Fiedler, 1950; Rogers, 1951; Wampold, 2001 cited in 2006, 309)

Other attributes of counselors that can positively influence their effectiveness in dealing with their clients are their self-awareness, insight and self-reflection. These are brought about by a counselor’s own personality development as he was growing up. I believe that my own awareness of how privileged I am to have been brought up in a good family environment is a great factor that could influence by practice someday. I am a person who tries to put personal judgment aside to truly understand people.

I try my best not to stereotype people because I believe that each individual is a product of his environment and that most of our ill behavior can be managed once a better perspective of our surroundings can be found. I am a hardworking person. I do my best to seek out possible solutions that will help me in finding ways to alleviate a problem. Perseverance and the insistence to find ways to help people understand themselves better are traits that can make

a person in need of counseling feel my sincerity.

Once people feel my sincerity, I am positive that they would feel more comfortable in telling me what they feel and think which can greatly assist in a collaborative search for the person’s behavioral improvement. I am also a very optimistic person. When people are depressed or confused, they need a counselor who will be able to coach them. These kinds of people need someone to tell them that there is hope no matter how hard their struggles have to be. Knowing that someone is consistently there to show that the world can be a bright and safe place to live in can boost someone’s self-confidence to change an ill behavior.

I am a person who believes that children and teens have to be treated well for them to grow up into good citizens. My moral principles are quite high and I believe that through counseling, I can help those who have fallen into immorality try to improve their behavior by making them understand how morals can actually help them live better lives. I am also a very creative person. I believe that this trait can be very helpful when one is trying to find ways to assist another in dealing with life. In 2004, David Carson and Kent Baker made a study on how creativity is very important in being a counselor.

They believe that creativity is a very crucial trait in counseling because there are many times when counselors and their clients get stuck in trying to find the solutions to a behavioral problem. Frustrations are a permanent fixture in counseling but these "are often the thunderstorms

guiding the lightning bolts of creativity" which can aid in seeking solutions. (Kottler & Hecker, 2002, p. 8 cited in Carson & Becker, 2004, 111) Creativity is also a skill that I am looking forward to enhance when I am already a counselor.

Although I can work independently quite well, I am also a good team player. In counseling, both the client and counselor need to work together. Being authoritative and too dominant in counseling will only produce negative results because patients need to work out their problems on their own for them to increase their self-esteem. The role of a counselor is just to guide a person towards finding his own deliverance from a problem that he may or may not be aware of. Knowing how to work with a person without forcefully dominating his will can make me a very effective counselor.

I am also a very emphatic person. I always try to see things from behind the facade of a person so that I can be able to understand his actions. As I have said, I do not like making instant judgments on people’s behavior. This sincerity causes me to understand and try to help out others. Mental disorders and behavior are usually born out of emotional problems that people are unable to handle properly. Most of these emotional problems stem from the feeling that one is not important to another or others.

Individuals who are ignored and perceive that they do not matter may "act out" in socially undesirable ways to gain others' attention--whether the attention is positive or negative is of no concern. (Elliott et. al. ,cited in Rayle, 2006, 483) One of

the things I need to show my client would be that he or she matters. This is not going to be difficult for me because I believe that each individual matters in this world and has the ability to contribute to its general good. Above all else is that I am a sincere and good listener.

Many people feel that they are neglected especially when they have had a problem with parents during childhood. I know that by listening to a client, I will be more able to find hints on what happened to him in the past that could make him behave in what society may deem abnormal. When one is a good listener, a client not only feels comfortable because one will surely feel important which is one of the keys to unlocking behavioral problems. Having a good listener also makes a person feel that there is hope because someone is there who is willing to support or at least understand his ideas of the world.

Many people feel that they are alone in this world and that no one cares enough to be beside them through all their trials. This leads to despair which causes a lot of misunderstood behavior such as obsessive compulsion, schizophrenia and depression. These can also result to very immoral acts like rape, drug addiction, murders and even suicide. One of the best movies I have ever watched that can best describe why I want to be a counselor is the film, “A Beautiful Mind. In the film, Russel Crowe, played the role of a schizophrenic person who had trouble in dealing with the imaginary people he was seeing.

This made

him very uncomfortable but the strong will of his wife and friends to help him and listen to him despite this abnormal problem helped him achieve a Nobel Prize. I want to be a counselor because I know I too can make a difference in another’s life. If I am able to help even just one person in finding his own place on earth, then I know that I have greatly contributed to the betterment of mankind.