Discussion:
Counseling the Counselor: Personal Therapy
Counselor educators and supervisors are seen as gatekeepers for the profession, ensuring that learners who graduate from their programs are competent to provide counseling services to the public. In many graduate counseling programs, attending personal counseling sessions is a requirement. Counseling is also frequently required in situations where learners are demonstrating problem behaviors and have been placed on a remediation program.
1. What criteria should counselor educators and supervisors use when determining whether a learner or trainee needs remediation? List three specific behaviors that might indicate a learner may not be competent to work with others in a helping relationship.
2. What types of remediation activities or programs should be required for learners who are demonstrating problem behaviors in their programs or at their fieldwork sites? For each of the three problem behaviors you identified, discuss a method by which the learner could address these issues and describe how the learner would demonstrate improvement.
3. Do you believe personal therapy should be a requirement for learners who are preparing to become professional counselors? Why or why not?
Support your ideas with references to specific ethical standards and to a minimum of two peer-reviewed articles.