.....career through a greater understanding of the day-to-day operations of counselors and some of the procedural and formal issues that need to be thoroughly mastered prior to certification. With this practicum, I have engaged in 63 direct practice hours (130 nondirect), and this time has provided me with substantial real world experience that will prove invaluable in the future. The exposure to different counseling philosophies and approaches has opened my mind, and I intend to incorporate what I have learned in the practicum to my future practice. Direct client contact involved intake, group sessions, and a number of interactions that were rooted in what I have been learning previously in school. However, I also found that the indirect practice hours were helpful in showing me how counselors protect their clients, ensuring their information is kept private and confidential as well as accurate.Eager to gain more knowledge, I believe that there are several additional areas in my professional development I wish to obtain. Those include working with people with serious mental health issues and substance abuse, as well as family counseling. I also want to investigate options for client advocacy and public policy, as well as how to integrate technology into the counseling profession. Yet already at this point in my program, I feel I have come a long way. I have been working with a diverse patient population for years, and have long desired to become a professional counselor with the ability...

My professional abilities have improved as my confidence has grown. When I interact with veteran counselors, social workers, and psychologists, I feel increasingly like a colleague. I have also sought the support of mentors, who can help guide me through the next phases of my career. My motivation level remains high when I have a social support system, as when I become frustrated or doubtful of my abilities to achieve my goals, my mentors usually provide me with inspiration and help.
It can be difficult to narrow down my accomplishments into specific areas, but I am especially proud of the way I learned how to do the paperwork and administrative duties necessary to helping keep patient data safe. Therefore, the first accomplishment I will mention is that I learned how to chart. This seems relatively insignificant but it is the cornerstone of effective practice. Second, I learned how to do intakes to the point where I was doing them smoothly. The first few seemed rehearsed and I was nervous but the more I did them, the stronger my reporting on intakes became. Third, and perhaps the accomplishment of which I am most proud, was that I learned how to build trust. The foundation of the client-counselor relationship is trust, and I learned how to use verbal and nonverbal communications skills to ensure mutual trust. The fourth accomplishment I will mention is mastering the computer system. Related to my learning…