Critically evaluate the development of your own communication skills and your understanding of therapeutic counselling. Journal must demonstrate active research and engagement with therapeutic literature.
Your reflection should focus on the development of your skills and your understanding of therapeutic counselling across the semester. We would expect your reflection to consider the following topics, although it is not expected that you would explore them all in depth:
• Your definition or understanding of the meaning of therapeutic counselling and how you have developed this understanding (e.g., personal experiences, prior training, or what you have learnt on this module).
• The key features of Person-Centred, Psychoanalytic, Behaviour, and Cognitive therapeutic methods, and how these can be integrated to support clients.
• The nature of the therapeutic relationship and the role of the counsellor and client.
• The role and value of the therapeutic contract, supervision, and risk assessments in therapeutic counselling.
• The challenges and importance of the therapeutic framework and an understanding of the impact of boundaries and ethics.
• Your communication skills and ability to develop effective helping relationships.
• Your own self-awareness of potential biases and blindspots when working with others.
for example you could focus your reflection on the concept of self-disclosure and this reflection could include:
1. Explaining that self-disclosure was a key challenge that you faced in developing your skills and highlighting the steps that you took to overcome this challenge,
2. Defining self-disclosure in the context of the therapeutic relationship with consideration of the role of counsellor and client in making disclosures,
3. Consideration of self-disclosure as an example of advanced empathy, referring to person-centred core conditions,
4. Evaluation of the potential risks of damaging the boundaries of a relationship, referring to psychoanalytic transference,
5. Assessment of how avoiding self-disclosure might challenge the schemas held by individuals about the ‘correct’ way to converse, referring to cognitive schemas,
6. Exploration of how self-disclosure can reinforce the speaker, referring to behavioural reinforcement.
7. Critically evaluating the risks and possible boundary breaches resulting from inappropriate use of self-disclosure.
