Myth #4: People who go for counseling /therapy are psycho!
For our ethics in psychology class, we are encouraged to enroll for therapy, i guess both in the name of debunking the above myth, and recognizing that all individuals have issues. And as the following question contends: "...Can you do in your own life what you might challenge your client to do?" (Corey, Corey, & Callaman, 2007)
Attending therapy, really is the first step, if we expect to understand from our clients' perspective the stigma associated with going for counseling, or rather, the choice of beginning therapy.
Of course personal therapy for counselors/psychologists has more important implications than the above, but its important to note, that the professionals do indeed struggle with their own issues too, they are human after all. Perhaps the primary reason for personal therapy is to ensure that the therapist maintains a sense of objectivity and minimize the possibility of allowing one's personal problems to affect the progress of a clients' therapy. How so?
In a typical counselor-client relationship (when you are a licensed practicing counselor), there is a high possibility of the following taking place:
Transference: the process by which clients project onto their therapists past feelings of attitudes toward significant people in their lives (e.g. if the counselor is female, the client (male) might potentially project feelings of love towards the counselor due to counseling relationship built, hence distorting the way the client reacts to the counselor i.e. might be overly dependent on the counselor, worst still jealous if the counselor spends more time with other clients)
Countertransference: projections by therapist that distort the way they perceive and react to a client (following from the example above, if the counselor previously was involve in a relationship where his gf was overly dependent, his reaction towards the client maybe intensified unconsciously due to his personal experience, conversely, if the reverse were true, he might potentially fall for the client, introducing yet another ethical issue - dual relationships, but we will not go there today)
Both these processes, places both the therapist and client at risk, and also has the potential of resulting in therapy being more debilitating than helpful. Note that we are not saying that counselors must deal with all their issues before becoming a counselor, but its important for frequent self care, high self awareness if one intends to consider counseling as a profession.
As the author of the book might say, despite counselors being a professional, its the personwho plays the role of the professional. And persons/people/individuals are human too!
On a separate note, i'll be starting therapy this week. This wouldn't be the first time, but somehow this time around, it feels different..the last therapy i attended, only amounted to 2 sessions because my therapist insist that i did not bring forth any serious issues, or maybe her orientation was brief therapy!
And back to the myth...if you believe in it, that you must think i am psycho too? (perhaps i am...oh no! how am i suppose to debunk this myth then?)
For our ethics in psychology class, we are encouraged to enroll for therapy, i guess both in the name of debunking the above myth, and recognizing that all individuals have issues. And as the following question contends: "...Can you do in your own life what you might challenge your client to do?" (Corey, Corey, & Callaman, 2007)
Attending therapy, really is the first step, if we expect to understand from our clients' perspective the stigma associated with going for counseling, or rather, the choice of beginning therapy.
Of course personal therapy for counselors/psychologists has more important implications than the above, but its important to note, that the professionals do indeed struggle with their own issues too, they are human after all. Perhaps the primary reason for personal therapy is to ensure that the therapist maintains a sense of objectivity and minimize the possibility of allowing one's personal problems to affect the progress of a clients' therapy. How so?
In a typical counselor-client relationship (when you are a licensed practicing counselor), there is a high possibility of the following taking place:
Transference: the process by which clients project onto their therapists past feelings of attitudes toward significant people in their lives (e.g. if the counselor is female, the client (male) might potentially project feelings of love towards the counselor due to counseling relationship built, hence distorting the way the client reacts to the counselor i.e. might be overly dependent on the counselor, worst still jealous if the counselor spends more time with other clients)
Countertransference: projections by therapist that distort the way they perceive and react to a client (following from the example above, if the counselor previously was involve in a relationship where his gf was overly dependent, his reaction towards the client maybe intensified unconsciously due to his personal experience, conversely, if the reverse were true, he might potentially fall for the client, introducing yet another ethical issue - dual relationships, but we will not go there today)
Both these processes, places both the therapist and client at risk, and also has the potential of resulting in therapy being more debilitating than helpful. Note that we are not saying that counselors must deal with all their issues before becoming a counselor, but its important for frequent self care, high self awareness if one intends to consider counseling as a profession.
As the author of the book might say, despite counselors being a professional, its the personwho plays the role of the professional. And persons/people/individuals are human too!
On a separate note, i'll be starting therapy this week. This wouldn't be the first time, but somehow this time around, it feels different..the last therapy i attended, only amounted to 2 sessions because my therapist insist that i did not bring forth any serious issues, or maybe her orientation was brief therapy!
And back to the myth...if you believe in it, that you must think i am psycho too? (perhaps i am...oh no! how am i suppose to debunk this myth then?)
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