“…Counseling children is like working with an array of different gems and stones. Some are perfect as they are. Others need a little polish to shine, and still others need to be examined for preparation before they are shaped to be the most beautiful and functional…Each is different, each is beautiful in its own right and, most important, each has value.” ASCA President’s statement, Janice Gallagher, summarizes the foundation of my personal counseling philosophy not only to children but even to adults.
In counseling all should be regarded as unique individuals in relation to their strengths, weaknesses, cultures, values, personalities, principles and other dimensions that sum up him as a human being. The approach of counseling to be used should always take into consideration these counselee’s dimensions. Counseling should not repress these aspects of the counselee but rather respect them and if possible use or uphold them in dealing with the conflict he has. Ideally, they should be exploited in solving the current conflict of the person himself. Individual differences exist. Therefore, there’s no way but to deal with it.
Everyone has its beauty in its own right. This is what I personally believe and what should transpire during counseling session. Beyond the physical dimensions that the counselee sees to himself, he should discover the beauty he possesses– his character, ability, attitude, values and the likes. He has to be the first one to perceive his own beauty before others would notice it. In this way, he will gain confidence to address the problem on his own even in the long run.
During counseling session, more than helping and guiding the counselee to solve his conflict and problem, the most important objective is to be able to make the counselee discover and recognize his worth, his value as a human. He should realize that he’s existence has important purpose and he has a role to accomplish in this world. He has to