The first stage: amateur helpers have just entered the learning stage of psychological counseling, and have not really understood and digested the basic psychological theory and counseling theory, but these novices have already had some experience in helping others. For example, they used to like to be friends, guardians or colleagues to relax and answer questions for others. At this stage, novices have more enthusiasm and mentality to help others. They often take the initiative to solve problems for others and are unhappy. At this stage, the novice's state of helping others is often called "the state of amateur helper". "The typical feature of amateur helper is to quickly determine what problems the helper may encounter after talking with the helper, and at the same time give the helper strong and excessive emotional support, and then make suggestions and solutions according to his own experience." Ronnestady and Skovholt, 2003. Therefore, laymen tend to define specific problems quickly, tend to be excessively involved in emotions and interventions, and they are always expressing sympathy rather than affection. The motivation behind the rapid definition of the problem is the anxiety and impatience of the helper when facing the helper with the problem; The excessive participation and intervention of emotions highlights the omnipotent narcissism of help seekers driven by impatient inner feelings; And * * * love is an emotional ability that needs to be exercised. Only those who are helped can sincerely face their inner feelings and impulses, and their sense of shame is low, can they sing with the feelings of those who are helped properly, and sympathy does not need training.
The second stage: the state of junior students When the consultant enters the stage of doing cases, although it is an exciting and exciting stage for them, they feel that they are finally beginning to truly appreciate the help work they like. But they usually feel dependent, helpless, sensitive, anxious and weak in self-confidence in this state of junior students. They can't stand even a little setback in their work, so they doubt their ability and whether they are suitable for this line of work. Therefore, at this stage, psychological counselors pay special attention to and need the encouragement and support of the supervisor. Once a consultant detects even a little critical language from a supervisor or visitor, it will have a serious impact on his self-confidence and morale. They actively seek the "right way" to complete their duties, and look for role models or expert practitioners to follow. So, at this stage, you will see that they have been asking the supervisor: Please tell me the most effective way to solve this problem. Many times, they forget that the question that they seek "the correct way to solve the problem" from the supervisor is exactly the question that the visitors themselves often ask the consultants. They try their best to follow and imitate the patterns that can be imitated, and they are also following experts. At present, in the absence of supervision mechanism and conditions in China, consultants at this stage have to spend a lot of money and energy to listen to some experts' workshops and lectures, but these short-term lectures are difficult to achieve the role of supervision.
The third stage: the state of top students. Counselors at this stage are usually students in advanced internship or internship stage. They have already possessed and established a certain foundation in the basic professional level of psychological theory and psychological counseling. At this stage, their central task is to exercise their duties and work at a basic professional level. At this stage, the pressure they feel mainly comes from how to do psychological counseling properly, correctly and effectively. The pressure they feel urges them to "do things correctly", so they usually show a conservative, cautious and strict style in their work (as opposed to a relaxed, adventurous or casual style) in pursuit of "correctness, structure and efficiency".
Students in this state can realize that they have gained benefits, progress and growth from the training and supervision activities of psychological counselors, and feel comfortable at the same time. However, at this stage, they still feel insecure and vulnerable. The support and affirmation given by the supervisor has become more important. At the same time, the opportunity to provide supervision for junior students is to make them "a powerful influence factor for senior students" (Ronnestady and Skovholt, 2003). The opportunity of supervision allows junior students to see how much they have learned and how much they have improved, which improves their self-confidence and motivation to continue to grow. In addition, the process of providing supervision for consultant students can also help them consolidate their knowledge.
The fourth stage: the status of the new major. At this stage, the students of psychological counselors walked out of the learning stage and began to work independently. At this stage, because there is no need to be restricted by the requirements and supervision of the learning stage, the first few years of working independently may be an arbitrary and exciting period. The new therapist gradually integrated his personality into the treatment. As this process progresses, the therapist will become more comfortable. During this period, he (she) is also exploring his/her work role and environment. However, after working for a period of time, many people find that they are not as prepared and capable as they thought. Therefore, they still need to accept the supervision of supervisors in stages, or supervise each other among peers.
The fifth stage: the status of experienced professionals. At this stage, psychological counselors or therapists already have certain qualifications and certain types of experience. The core development task of counselors in this period is to find ways to establish professional authority, especially to establish a work style that is highly consistent with their own values, hobbies and personality characteristics. At this stage, psychological counselors have deeply understood the essence of anxiety, and they show the characteristics of peace, quietness, firmness, safety and credibility in consultation and treatment. On this basis, these therapists began to understand and deeply understand the therapeutic relationship between therapists and visitors, which is very important for the change of visitors. They have also reached a very flexible and personalized level in technology application. At the same time, they gradually realize that it is usually impossible to find a clear answer to all the situations they encounter. Therefore, they are calm, not anxious, not nervous, step by step, step by step, and make continuous progress.
A remarkable feature of psychological counselors in this state is that counselors or therapists have the ability to adjust their participation in visitors' questions, that is, to know that they are consulting & When do psychological counselors and therapists participate in treatment, when do they not participate, when do they participate, and how much do they participate. Therefore, they can devote themselves wholeheartedly to the work with visitors, and then they can get rid of this situation freely. They can regard visitors as valuable learning resources, and many therapists feel that the visitors they help are an important information channel for them to teach and supervise junior professionals. In addition, at this stage, they usually turn their attention to areas other than their careers, such as religion or poetry, or even theaters or cinemas, in order to expand their understanding of people.
The sixth stage: the status of senior professionals. Professionals at this stage usually have more than 20 years of experience, which is characterized by establishing very personalized and reliable consultation &; Treatment methods. Although they think they are qualified for this job, they are usually more modest about their influence on tourists. They are also often skeptical about new things in this field. In this state, loss is an important theme. This loss includes expectations, such as the day when they imagine that they are about to retire; At the same time, it is realistic, because "the older professionals have passed away, and colleagues of the same age are generally no longer a powerful source of influence." Ronnestady and Skovholt, 2003.
The above lists several common processes in the growth of psychological counselors. I hope that all counselors can think about their career development in combination with their own work, study experience and feelings, with the aim of making themselves grow into a real and capable counselor who can help themselves and others.