Issues Faced by Beginning Therapists

Dealing With Anxiety

Most beginning counselors have ambivalent feelings when meeting their first clients. A certain level of anxiety demonstrates that you are aware of the uncertainties of the future with your clients and of your abilities to really be there for them.

we have self-doubts is normal; it is how we deal with them that matters. One way is to openly discuss our self-doubts with a supervisor and peers. The possibilities are rich for meaningful exchanges and for gaining support from fellow interns who probably have many of the same concerns and anxieties.

Being Yourself and Self-Disclosure

If you feel self-conscious and anxious when you begin counseling, you may have a tendency to be overly concerned with what the books say and with the mechanics of how to proceed.

often fail to appreciate the values inherent in simply being themselves.

Avoiding Perfectionism

you will make mistakes, whether you are a beginning or a seasoned therapist. If our energies are tied up presenting an image of perfection, this will affect our ability to be present for our clients.

Being Honest About Your Limitations

You cannot realistically expect to succeed with every client. It takes honesty to admit that you cannot work successfully with every client. It is important to learn when and how to make a referral for clients when your limitations prevent you from helping them.

Understanding Silence

Silent moments during a therapeutic session may seem like silent hours to a beginning therapist, yet this silence can have many meanings. The client may be quietly thinking about some things that were discussed earlier or evaluating some insight just acquired.

The client may be waiting for the therapist to take the lead and decide what to say next, or the therapist may be waiting for the client to do this

Either the client or the therapist may be distracted or preoccupied, or neither may have any thing to say for the moment.

client and the therapist may be communicating without words.

Dealing With Demands From Clients

how to deal with clients who seem to make constant demands. Because therapists feel they should extend themselves in being helpful, they often burden themselves with the unrealistic idea that they should give unselfishly, regardless of how great clients’ demands may be.

Dealing With Clients Who Lack Commitment

Involuntary clients may be required by a court order to obtain therapy, and you may be challenged in your attempt to establish a working relationship with them. It is possible to do effective work with mandated clients, but practitioners must begin by openly discussing the nature of the relationship.

Counselors who omit preparation and do not address clients’ thoughts and feelings about coming to counseling are likely to encounter resistance.

Tolerating Ambiguity

They ask themselves: “Am I really doing my client any good? Is the client perhaps getting worse?”

Realize that oftentimes clients may seemingly “get worse” before they show therapeutic gains.

realize that the fruitful effects of the joint efforts of the therapist and the client may manifest themselves after the conclusion of therapy.

Becoming Aware of Your Countertransference

If you are unaware of your personal dynamics, you are in danger of being overwhelmed by a client’s emotional experiences. Beginning counselors need to learn how to “let clients go” and not carry around their problems until the next session.

Countertransference

includes any of our projections that influence the way we perceive and react to a client

occurs when we are triggered into emotional reactivity, when we respond defensively, or when we lose our ability to be present in a relationship because our own issues become involved.

Developing a Sense of Humor

It is important to recognize that laughter or humor does not mean that clients are not respected or work is not being accomplished. There are times, of course, when laughter is used to cover up anxiety or to escape from the experience of facing threatening material. The therapist needs to distinguish between humor that distracts and humor that enhances the situation.

Sharing Responsibility With the Client

One mistake is to assume full responsibility for the direction and outcomes of therapy. This will lead to taking from your clients their rightful responsibility of making their own decisions. It could also increase the likelihood of your early burnout.

to refuse to accept the responsibility for making

Declining to Give Advice

counseling should not be confused with dispensing information. Therapists help clients discover their own solutions and recognize their own freedom to act.

Our task is to help clients make independent choices and accept the consequences of their choices. The habitual practice of giving advice does not work toward this end

Defining Your Role as a Counselor

the central function of counseling is to help clients recognize their own strengths, discover what is preventing them from using their resources, and clarify what kind of life they want to live.

You will need to consider that the professional roles you assume are likely to be dependent on factors such as the client populations with whom you are working, the specific therapeutic services you are providing, the particular stage of counseling, and the setting in which you work.

will not be defined once and for all. You will have to reassess the nature of your professional commitments and redefine your role at various times.

Learning to Use Techniques Appropriately

therapeutic techniques should evolve from the therapeutic relationship and the material presented, and they should enhance the client’s awareness or suggest possibilities for experimenting with new behavior.

it is important to avoid using techniques in a hit-or-miss fashion, to fill time, to meet your own needs, or to get things moving. Your methods need to be thoughtfully chosen as a way to help clients make therapeutic progress

Developing Your Own Counseling Style

You will inhibit your potential effectiveness in reaching others if you attempt to imitate another therapist’s style or if you fit most of your behavior during the session into the Procrustean bed of some expert’s theory.

will be influenced by your teachers, therapists, and supervisors, but don’t blur your potential uniqueness by trying to imitate them.

Maintaining Your Vitality as a Person and as a Professional

ability to model aliveness and realness. It is of para mount importance that we take care of ourselves

. You cannot always control stressful events, but you do have a great deal of control over how you interpret and react to these events. It is important to realize that you cannot continue to give and give while getting little in return.