By Lynn Linde

Let me ask you a question: When was the last time you reflected on who you are as a person and as a professional counselor? I had an experience recently that took me by surprise and made me contemplate my own answers. The event revolved around a professional development activity. The specifics are not that important. What is germane is that the incident provided an opportunity for reflection and introspection.

I think counselors feel so pressured to do more in less time and with fewer resources that professional development becomes focused solely on increasing knowledge, skill-building and techniques. Such events become a series of sessions that deal with the "how-tos" of counseling, updates and new requirements. Granted, many conferences and professional development activities include sessions on "taking care of the caregiver." But upon closer inspection, the content of these sessions generally covers time and stress management techniques and encourages counselors to give themselves permission to take time for themselves. No doubt, these steps are critically important to the well-being of counselors. If we aren't able to help ourselves, how can we help others? However, there are other, more critical actions that can assist counselors in taking care of themselves.

We sometimes lose sight of what it means to be a counselor and the qualities that make us so unique and important to our clients: for instance, our ability to develop relationships and understand what the other person is experiencing in a nonjudgmental way. We have lost our time to reflect on our practice and ourselves as counselors in a meaningful, structured way. In graduate school, particularly in ethics classes, we learn about the importance of examining our own backgrounds, values and beliefs and to think about how that influences our interactions with others. Students are encouraged to self-reflect and question as they develop their counseling identity. Students are also challenged to move beyond the scope of their world and enter into the world as others see it, which may present a reality very different from the one so familiar to the student. But this should not be the only time in a counselor's life when such reflection occurs.

I have found that the longer I teach an ethics and professional issues class, the more time we dedicate to discussing virtue ethics and how who we are as individuals impacts our practice as counselors. One of the questions I ask students is "How do you choose to live your life when no one is looking?" Many of the students have never thought about this before and have never considered the fact that the right thing to do may not be the expected act or that there may be more than one "right" thing to do. Virtue ethics demands that we ask ourselves who we are as people, how we choose or want to be and how we choose to treat others.

But what happens when counselors become caught up in the press of working? How much reflection and introspection occur then? Introspection and self-reflection are critical to discerning our values, biases, morals and influences. If we do not know who we are, how can we possibly understand our client's world and provide unbiased reflection and feedback? Ongoing self-exploration provides the impetus for helping us move ourselves and our clients further than we thought we could.

I am extremely excited for many reasons that Jerry Corey will be one of the keynote speakers for the ACA Conference in Pittsburgh. Dr. Corey has influenced the development of numerous counselors through his writing, textbooks and workshops. But more important, from my perspective, is that Dr. Corey will address the counselor as both a person and a professional. He emphasizes the concept that who we are as people significantly impacts our effectiveness with our clients. He further notes the impact of values in counseling and the need for counselors to understand and respect the values of their clients. As our country grows more diverse, it also becomes more likely that the culture of our clients - and perhaps their values - will be different from our own, significantly increasing our need as counselors to be reflective.

The next time you are contemplating what you are going to do next, take a moment and think about yourself. Reflect, ponder, analyze. Perhaps that practice will take you to a new level of self-awareness and make you a more effective counselor.