Develop Essential Professional Skills and Understand Ethical Principles

Counseling Identity Paper
Student’s Name
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Counseling Identity Paper
Counselors work with diverse populations with diverse needs. As a counselor, it is important to develop essential professional skills and understand ethical principles within the profession. Here, I explore my professional goals and ethical implications in counseling.
Professional Strengths
One area of professional strength I would expect to impact my career as a counselor is having a genuine interest in others. American Counseling Association (2021) states that counselors need to support and accept a client regardless of what the person says or does. I knew that I wanted to become a counselor to help people and support them overcome their challenges. When I was younger, we had a young family member who was struggling with issues of drug abuse. The struggles I saw this person go through increased my resolve to work with children and adolescents. Children and adolescents often have emotional and behavioral problems. I have the warmth and unconditional interest in helping young people because I believe that with a bit of guidance and support, they can overcome such challenges (Drab, n.d.). When working with a client, I believe that I should not pass judgement or use coercion, but rather show interest in their needs.
The other professional strength I believe will impact my career as a counselor is self-awareness. It is essential for counselors to be self-aware of one’s strengths and weaknesses (Wilkinson, 2011). Self-awareness helps overcome weaknesses such as biases that can hinder sound therapeutic relationships. For example, despite the fact that I disagree with teenagers using drugs, when I encounter such a client, I do not allow my biases to interfere with the intervention. I learned the importance of understanding my weaknesses to change what may interfere with counseling while building on my skills to be a better counselor. Self-awareness allows me to view issues affecting me and the client in an objective way (Wilkinson, 2011). I ensure that I am not influenced by personal feelings or opinions when interacting with clients.
I also have a strength when it comes to listening. As a professional counselor, active listening is a vital skill to help recognize and understand client needs (Drab, n.d.). Counselors need to concentrate on what the client is saying, ask the right questions, paraphrasing appropriately, and summarizing to engage with the client (Drab, n.d.). For instance, while working with children and adolescents, I have realized that listening should be prioritized. Sometimes children may have a message they want to pass across and may not use the right words. Paraphrasing or summarizing appropriately ensures that their needs can be identified. I always want to ensure that I listen so that I can arm myself with the right knowledge when guiding and supporting clients. The process requires a counselor to pay attention to the client and the surroundings.
The other professional strength I have is critical thinking. Critical thinking is the ability to analyze and address issues that emerge in counseling practice (Drab, n.d.). A counselor...