Your journey:understanding it is key

Since current events means that the demand for therapists in particular black therapists continues to rise, equally we see a parallel rise in prospective interest. Besides the influence of the status quo, it has to also be said that training to become a counsellor requires a substantial investment and a great deal of emotional and mental energy, external factors cannot be the sole motivator. So at the start of my training programmes I will always ask my students to reflect on this question “why counselling, what’s your motive”?
If you’ve already started your journey, I would ask you  to take a moment to step back and think about how you arrived at the conclusion to become a therapist. Perhaps it was influenced by a sense of injustice or other reasons. Maybe it was neither of these and you were simply intrigued by a psychology course or you have had a positive experience of personal therapy so you want to extend the same experience to others.  For the majority of students this seems to be the case, in interviews they will say, ” I just want to help others”, and whilst this is a feasible rationale, other career paths are dedicated to helping others.  You can see that this question requires a deeper level of introspective enquiry.
This question will always inform the process of self reflection and when I ask this question, I am always intrigued as I watch a students’ experience unfold: it is always full of unexpected surprises.  You see, I have come to the conclusion that this level of self enquiry cannot be answered truthfully from a students’ present level of awareness. Even if attempted with good intentions and a willingness to pull from a place of honesty, students often misconstrue their own motives.  A sobering reality exists, I have interviewed students who are quite clear of their intentions, ,many students are aware there are not enough black counsellors and so they are motivated by  a need to support ‘their own’.  Many lack clarity around the personal meaning and so their decision is informed by  external factors. When it comes  introspective enquiry many students lacked clarity around  their own story, confusion seems arise.

“Owning your story is one of the most courageous things to do. It empowers you to write your own ending”

Owning your story takes courage

Good intentions are not enough

You might at this point be saying, “well that’s the whole point of training right?  It is by training, I hope to understand how to overcome this and gain a deeper understanding of self”. etc. Well, I would ask you to consider this first. How many of you have experienced moments where you understand your emotions but deep down you are confused with the gravity of your response(s)?  That’s because emotions require perspective so they might be easier to ‘see’. So when your experiences occur in the context of your current concerns (perspective), it doesn’t mean they are always rational, but rather  you might find it easier to see why they occurred. This experience is usually a straight forward scenario where  students are able to take ownership to open the way for reflection and feedback.
Your responses however, are  more of an enigma. They are shaped by past emotional memories of previous experiences.  The moments when you find yourself feeling confused or taken back by your response, there’s a high chance  you are experiencing a trigger.  With this being the case,  you can see how responses are trickier to understand, they demand more enquiry.  The reality is, these triggers inform decisions and after a period of time it becomes evident when a student’s decision to train as a counsellor has been a reactive one. They soon realise that to qualifying as a counsellor more is needed and intentions (even if its for a good cause) or reactive decisions are not enough.  The dilemma is; they realise this is not what they signed up for, but the financial investment is great.  Unfortunately, some students deny their better conscience and rather than lay it bare their journey becomes one of avoidance and incongruence.

Then what is the answer?

 My 20 year journey from student to counsellor to teacher has informed me that students who  realise that ‘more is needed’  usually fall into two categories, they will start working unethically or they will navigate the curriculum with an ethical approach. The latter group is where I wanted to conclude the remainder of this post and develop further  in other categories. By now you will see that the journey to qualify as a professional counsellor is no easy journey.
The other .grating against the walls of ethnocentric ideals.  The main counselling concepts reflect the pioneers and so students of the minority culture are inevitably navigating a path that represents a divide.  For many years I struggled to make sense of my experiences, years later when I encounter students who have similar struggles. I realise that very little has changed. Trying to straddle between  ‘mainstream’ viewpoints  (one that derives from European values and beliefs), and their own experiences (one that derives from multi-cultural and multi-ethical  values and beliefs) will only perpetuate a state of incongruence. If congruence is about closing the divide, then it would make perfect sense to evaluate how we might close the divide in our cultural  therapy models.

 

 

 

“Without context words and actions have no meaning at all”

The power of context

 

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