More Thoughts on the Counselor Role
Dear Chris and Phyllis [see previous two articles],
Thanks for teaching RC!
The following are some things I’ve said to my new Co-Counselors:
We all get to, and need to, try things, and we need to have room to make mistakes—so we can learn. Counseling well comes with the doing of it, with practice. It takes time.
Just that we show up and care and try to do the best we can matters so much!
The “mental health” system has given us a paradigm for being a counselor as a “role” or a job instead of being in a relationship with someone. Co-Counseling gives us a chance to have a real, caring, and reciprocal relationship.
We all care about having things go well. We care about each other so much! It’s our nature! I think the feelings of “wanting to do a good job” can also be an expression of our inherent human caring.
I learned over the years to trust my own mind. I learned to pay attention to that voice in my head, to those two or three words, and go ahead and say them out loud to my Co-Counselor as a direction.
If it works, good!
If it doesn’t, I move on to the next thought.
Seattle, Washington, USA
Reprinted from the e-mail discussion list for RC teachers
(Present Time 204, July 2021)