Chapter 4-Who Are the Learners? Phases of Counselor Development Flashcards
RE: Rønnestad and Skovholt, what 4 themes are especially relevant in counselor education?
- Move from greater externality to greater internality
- Be reflective and committed to learning.
- Understand presence and role of affect
- Counselors’ personal lives are a major source of learning and support for professional work.
Define constructive knowing
Thinkers see approximation as the goal, not the precision of an absolute truth
What guidelines (Ch. 3) are useful for increasing internality?
Guidelines 2 (varying structure) and 5 (valuing approximation)
What types of affect might beginning counselor students experience?
- Anxiety
2. Counselors’ strong emotional responses to professional elders.
In counseling, what are fruitful outcomes of intense personal experiences?
- Increased ability to understand and relate to clients
- Increased tolerance and patience
- Heightened credibility as models
- Greater awareness of what is effective helping
What is the PTCD model?
Qualitative empirical study of 100 counselors at different levels of experience.
By Rønnestad and Skovholt (2003)
What did Rønnestad and Skovholt (2003) concluded about positive development?
It is not automatic.
“Continuous reflection is a prerequisite for optimal learning and professional development at all levels of experience”
This distinguishes high-functioning students and counselors from stagnant counselors.
What are the four early phases of counselor development?
- Lay Helper
- Beginning Student
- Advanced Student
- Novice Professional.
Define Lay Helper.
- No professional training
- May have helped friend/family in the past
- Rely on whatever commonsense understandings they have about helping others.
Lay Helpers usually have four ways of helping:
- Define the problem quickly,
- Provide strong emotional support
- Provide sympathy, in contrast to empathy
- Give advice based on own experience
What are concerns about Lay Helpers in counseling?
- May blur boundaries
- Overly identify with clients
- Overly involved in fixing clients.
Beginning Students demonstrate two seemingly contradictory impulses:
- Enthusiasm for the new venture
2. Intimidation about the complex tasks of professional counseling
What is a characteristic in the Beginning Student phase?
Self-focus
Can hardly pay attention to clients, because they are so focused on their own concerns about responding “correctly”
What is another characteristic in the Beginning Student phase?
Pleasing the client
Want to please their clients with their work. They want clients to like them.
What can counselor educators do to support and challenge learners in the Beginning Student phase?
Keep in mind themes of structure, modeling, and feedback.
In the Beginning Student phase, what dimension do students emulate towards their instructors?
“True believer” phase
Eager to emulate and imitate models in the field
May adopt a temporary counseling persona of counselor idol
What other tasks must be developed in the Beginning Student phase?
Take an open, self-reflective stance.
Avoid defensiveness
How can instructors counter the Beginning Student’s inclinations to look good?
- Provide a nonhostile learning environment
- Give students multiple chances to succeed
- Offer feedback between attempts