Counselor Identity

The identity of a counselor is influenced by several different aspects of the counselor’s life. It is influenced by the role that they are expected to play, their personal and professional values, their personal religious beliefs, their personality, and their personal and educational experiences. Each of these areas helps to establish each person’s individual counselor identity. Just like in every other profession, no two counselors are the same, because of their various experiences and backgrounds.
Professional Counselor Role Each counselor has a professional role that they play. This role depends on their education, and what type of licensure they have. In my case I am going to look at the role of the professional counselor, as this is the field of counseling that I am pursuing. The field of professional counseling is unique and different from other areas of the mental health profession. Being a professional counselor is going to give me the opportunity to counsel people in a different manner than I have counseled people in the past. In the past, I have counseled people in more of a friendship or mentor role. This type of counseling is in a relaxed setting and is also putting both myself and the person I was counseling, on an …show more content…
However, there was one factor that impacted my decision more than any other. I worked as a day camp counselor working with children between the ages of six and eleven. I worked at this job for three years starting at age sixteen. There were several children that I worked with who had very difficult childhoods and they influenced me to want to work counseling children with similar problems. There was on child the specifically influenced my decision. This child came to camp one day after his mother had committed suicide. I spent the entire week talking to him and comforting him. This led me to want to do this type of thing as a