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People often seek the assistance of a counselor to guide and help them with their psychological or behavioral issues in life. Despite counselors’ composure, knowledge, and confidence, they also have their own personal challenges when it comes to their work. As a counselor, I also face challenges in my field. I am aware of my strengths and weaknesses, which I plan to improve in the days to come.
Being a counselor, I believe that the biggest help that I can offer to others is my time and ability to listen. Helping people with their problems starts by listening to them. Without listening, understanding other’s situation is impossible. A counselor, like me, cannot be effective in our profession without the ability to listen attentively. Indeed, providing my time to listen and hear the feeling and thoughts of the people who seek my professional help is one of the best things that I can offer.
Despite what I can offer, I am not a perfect counselor. This became clear to me when I watched a video of my counseling session. I realized that one of the challenges that I usually face is when I have to speak and provide counseling using the English language. Even before I saw the video, this idea actually stresses me out. It makes me nervous all the time. As I watched the video play, I noticed that the beginning of the session was quite fine. As we continue, however, my nervous feeling became more apparent. I was not relaxed because I was paying too much attention to the client’s English words, and I was expressing it through my gestures that were overly done. Hearing her speak in English made me more nervous, and this created misunderstanding. I thought that she was struggling with her research because she didn’t know how to do it, but I realized that her issue was something else. In fact, what she was saying was that she didn’t have free time to do the research. Her issue, after all, was time management. Because I was too focused on my personal struggle regarding language barrier, I became more nervous which led me to misunderstand my client. It was a good thing that the session ended fine as I was able to understand her thoughts later on. However, I know that I need to improve and make sure that I don’t get overpower with my own weaknesses as a counselor.
Of course, I also have my own strength as a counselor, and I saw these from the video as well. As I was talking with the client, I noticed how my facial expression helped the both of us to be in a more comfortable environment. I was able to maintain my smile, as necessary. In addition, I was also consistent with my eye contact. This allowed my client to know that I am actively listening and that she can trust me with whatever information she intended to share.
Overall, I am happy that I was able to use my strengths during the counseling session that we recorded. I believe that I can be a better counselor by improving myself. I can practice my English skills so I wouldn’t get caught up with my own fear and nervousness. At the same time, I can practice my use of nonverbal cues when using the English language to ensure that I am using it properly and adequately to enhance my professional counseling experience.
