my descriptive experience in the counseling course

my descriptive experience in the counseling course

I have always had a longing to do what I love and what makes me happy in life. Having an opportunity to come and study Counselling Psychology in London has been one of my most significant breakthroughs in my entire life. This has been a dream come through, given my enthusiasm in a community of people living a healthy mental life. London, as a whole, has shown me great opportunities, but most important is the opportunity to study in London. The experience in my academics, workshops, and experiences have served to build my capacity in counseling people as well as my character and mental state as a whole. The consecutive paragraphs in the essay offer my descriptive experience in the counseling course.

At the beginning of the course, I had not come in terms with many practices that are offered in the counseling class, until I progressed in learning about counseling. Learning the importance of personal therapy in the mental state of any individual has been one of my highlights during the class sessions and workshops. Freud, who is responsible for the development of personal therapy, explains that particular therapy plays a vital role in clinical education. The workshops played a critical role in helping me to understand counseling so well. Having developed self-awareness skills has played a significant role in improved my state of mental health, including self-awareness.  Sessions where personal development was being taught relating to the concepts of self-actualization -that were first put forward by Carl Rodgers- helped me realize my self-actualization tendency. Therefore, it has played a significant role in motivating me to tune towards my goals, to make the best out of myself (Malikiosi-Loizos, 2013).

Learning counseling to me is of great help to the community around me. Having learned the essential counseling skills, which are empathy, reflecting and listening skills, affirmations, and problem-solving, I am at a better position in counseling people, as well as induce personal growth as I practice these skills towards other people who may require my help. At first, mastering and practicing the skills seemed challenging. Still, as I continue to learn more about counseling, I find it bearable and find myself in a position to exercise them, like myself; I am also receptive to learning new things (Lifeline/Child Line Namibia, 2006).

To me, learning will place me in a better position of understanding my state of mind and improving it towards realizing a healthy mental lifestyle. Besides, learning to me means that I will be able to develop new skills such as empathetic hearing that will help me learn to listen to others and develop a healthy relationship between my client and I (Lifeline/Child Line Namibia, 2006), build my self-awareness and develop the ability to connect between interpersonal and intrapersonal dynamics in the context of therapy. Learning has as well been an opportunity for me to engage in individual psychology workshops and sessions that will aid in the development of my career. Such skills are essential for any student undertaking psychological classes (Malikiosi-Loizos, 2013).

Regarding how studying the module has contributed to my personal development, I will concentrate more on how mindfulness has been of help to my mental state of mind. Ineffectiveness in managing my time, as well as cognitive and physical fatigue, were some of the most common challenges I encountered the first time I joined campus. However, when the concept of mindfulness was introduced in class, I thought it better to put it in practice. The results have been astonishing because, as days go by, I can stay in a calm state of mind, which helps me undertake most of my activities exemplary. Staying present has been one of the aspects of mindfulness that I practice o date and will continue practicing as I can put my focus on the now moment. That way, I can concentrate fully on what I am doing. Awareness of bodily states is something else I am practicing, which helps me understand and realize how my body reacts to stress and how I can manage that (Felton et al., 2013).

Being present is a skill of mindfulness that will enable me to practice the power of being present while dealing with a customer. This will make you be more observant with your customer and realize anything else that is happening in the room. Mindfulness will also help me to make clients learn to slow down and explore what they are experiencing at the moment. Hopefulness is something else in mindfulness that will be very vital for my future. Hopefulness will help me in managing my stress and burnout. Hopefulness will also be essential in helping me to learn when to be myself, and by so doing, it will prevent me from having a negative attitude towards my customers (Felton et al., 2013).

I have a strategic plan towards improving my self-knowledge and personal wellbeing throughout my session in degree. When I joined campus, there is a self-questionnaire and counselor questionnaire that I filled in. I have been going back to it to see what needs to be changed by applying what I have been taught in class. To date, I refer back to my questionnaire and with the counseling skills I have learned and use them to better myself. There are still a couple of things I have not been able to grow out of, but hopefully, I will be able to do so before the course comes to an end. Through the workshop sessions, I have learned new things that have forced me to go back and do more research, and by that way, I have acquired vast self-knowledge. How mindfulness is associated with success among counseling students has been one of the research evidence that I have been trying to write down as well as accumulate evidence from my peers. At the end of it, the discovery will be of great help to counseling tutors as well as students.