ACA Blog

Henry David had his experience at Walden Pond which left an indelible mark on his life and on the field of literature since he published “on Walden Pond” all those years ago. Though I never finished the book because it was too dry for me at the time, I loved the message, the image that his adventure left on me. It meant so much in fact that I have visited Walden Pond many times over the years.

I know of no more difficult occupational challenge than that facing a counselor as he or she moves from their formal education into doing counseling. A physician can learn from other physicians how to set the broken leg so that the body’s systems will mend it. Then that physician can use that skill in his or her practice.

First sessions with new clients can be unnerving: it’s often impossible to know in advance exactly how distressed the client will be, how urgent their circumstances are, how much they might be expecting the counselor to guide and direct them.

Midnight phone calls, Sunday night worries, frustrating emails. Every job has its varied challenges in setting boundaries between work and home. Perhaps due to their emotional nature, the helping professions seem to be particularly full of pitfalls in this area. Interestingly enough, a lot of what we might work on with clients in terms of work-life balance is not too different from what we all might also deal with as counselors.

I can honestly say that I did not perceive myself to be a future leader when I began to pursue a career as a professional school counselor (PSC). Nor would I have identified myself as such growing up.

Aaron was asleep on the couch in my office. I decided not to wake him, even though I don't advocate napping during counseling. But Aaron had just spent several minutes intensely sobbing and unable to speak and so a short nap seemed reasonable.

Anger is an emotion that often comes out of a sense of unfairness. That what happened is not what we wanted to happen, not what should have happened and most certainly not what we deserve to have happen. From a Darwinian approach, the survival reasons for anger would be to summon enough energy to take effective action to defend against a potential danger.

I have received many requests for more examples illustrating how horses can be of benefit in the counseling process. So, here is another one! Of course, a few changes have been made to protect confidentiality.

Sometimes love is enduring, lifelong and beyond. Sometimes you find that love lasts just long enough for bitterness or bigotry to destroy it. When this happens you have to wonder if the love was real to begin with. Our clients come to us with many kind of distress. Some have found their love denied them by those that they feel have a duty to love them unconditionally such as the love from their parents, grandparents and other close relatives. Society and nature teaches us that the love of family is without question; a birthright, but there really is no guarantee that this love will in fact be given freely. When it is denied for any reason, hurt, confusion and disillusion often result.

Fortunately, my family and I have had the opportunity to care for and love a beautiful dog for the last ten years. Her name is Bear, and she is a Chow, German-Shepherd mix. My husband and I adopted her from a dog rescue organization. She was abused and neglected and had already been through so much in her short life of four months when we decided to take her in. Initially, we were going to “foster” her because we had already adopted a dog just six months earlier and didn’t know if we could handle another one so soon after. Of course, once Bear entered our life, I became emotionally attached and the idea of “fostering” her was a thing of the past.