“Frankly, I’d rather see graduate programs drop a personality theory class or something else and add a second or third required course on diversity. In one semester, I can only introduce the topic. Competence is still far from the reach of these young clinicians.”
Tag: Voice of Experience
“I completely understand why we feel guilty about charging as professional counselors. After all, we are helpers, not mercenaries. But few things in life are free.”
“Assume someone else — a judge, a jury, a licensure board member, an attorney — might someday see what you have written. Don’t write anything that you would be ashamed or embarrassed for someone else to see.”
“What I am suggesting is that, at a minimum, we take the time to think about the potential ramifications of [client] diagnoses 10 or 20 years into the future. We can’t know every possible outcome, of course, but some things are predictable.”
A trusting supervision relationship means the counselor-in-training is comfortable admitting “I messed up,” even knowing that it may slow the licensing process down.
“I would suggest that confidentiality comes in at a close second place for the core of our ethical conduct.”
“He had no reason to trust me. If I had been in his shoes, I wouldn’t have trusted me either.”
Our clients who are homeless need transportation, food, clothing and jobs. I know that we aren’t social workers, but those who work with the homeless have to think pragmatically.
“They are numbers in a system, not names. And they are identified by their crimes by probation officers, future potential employers and others. I would hate to be identified by my mistakes rather than by my character.”
We pride ourselves on cultural diversity as counselors, but I’m not confident that the blinders we wear allow us to really see how much we don’t see.