Self Assessment and Self Awareness

After your M1 readings, viewing the video and podcast, and participating in the discussion, use this assignment to conduct a self assessment and enhance your self-awareness, which are essential skills to be in a counseling role.  This assignment requires some self-reflection about your abilities, beliefs, values, attitudes and how these can affect the effectiveness of a counselor.  Be sure to address all parts of the assignment in your essay. 

1. What do you know about yourself in terms of your beliefs, attitudes, values, and biases (include any feedback you have consistently been given by others)?  To help you answer this question think about how you view and describe yourself?  How do others describe you – are these two views mostly similar or mostly different?
2. How do you usually react (emotionally, psychologically and behaviorally) within social/interpersonal situations, when you feel:
   • anxious
   • under strict time pressure
   • angry
   • frustrated
   • bored
3. How could your usual reactions in Question 2, hinder (be barriers) to your being effective when counseling others?  How could these usual reactions be useful when counseling others?
4. How have you usually reacted (emotionally, in thought/attitude, and behaviorally) to people who have major differences from your own values, beliefs, behaviors, and practices?  Consider several past but recent examples.
5. Consider a time you felt ethically challenged, wanting to do the right action but feeling pressure to act against your values. How did you manage this and what would you have done differently?
6. How might this challenging experience connect to ethical challenges you may encounter in a counseling relationship? What are some examples of ethical challenges might you likely expect when counseling others?
7. What are your specific skills, knowledge and attitudes that would help you be effective to counsel others?  Be specific – so if you say “I am a good listener”, or “I tell people how it is” explain what the statement means in behavioral terms, by describing an example of what do you actually do and say.
8. When you have tried to help others with a problem, what do you usually do and what has been the usual result?  For example, do you usually: Give advice as to what they should do? Just listen? Agree with their feelings and thoughts?  Tend to try to persuade him/her to act differently?  Try to get the person to change their ideas or behavior? Ask questions (if so what types of questions)? Argue what they are doing is not right/not effective? or other actions?
9. In writing and reflecting on yourself while completing this essay- what have you discovered about yourself?  What did you realize will be important to change or strengthen should you go onto assume a counseling role or position?

Instructions

The intent of the written assignment is to provide an opportunity to more fully describe, explain, and analyze the books and other sources. Be sure to cite any and all sources correctly so that your academic integrity is not called into question. The Library Resources and Academic Integrity resources will assist you in successfully completing written assignments.

Your assignment is expected to be 750-1000 words, no more than 1500.  It should be well written and organized, in APA format, using proper sentence structure and spellchecked. For further explanation please see the Writing Rubric page of the course information documents.