Pomeo And Levitt's Model Of Self-Reflection

Pomeo and Levitt (2014) affirm that self-reflection is at the foundation of the counseling profession. Self-reflection is the process of evaluating, observing and interpreting one's motives, actions, thoughts, and feelings. According to the authors, it is important for counselors to remain in a self-reflective state in order to achieve self-awareness. Additionally, a self-reflective state will aid the counselor to remain in line with ethical standards. According to ACA’s Code of Ethics (American Counseling Association [ACA], 2014) counselors are responsible for ensuring that they do not impose their personal values upon their clients. Subsequently, the claim is that counselors can only remain in compliance with this ethical code through the act of persistent …show more content…
“Continual self-reflection is an ethical and professional obligation agreed upon … by many in the counseling profession (Pomeo and Levitt 2014 p 80).” The authors continue, stating that a counselor's commitment to self-reflection will lead to self-awareness. However, not all counselors are clear on how to achieve nor maintain self-reflection. As a result of such an inability, counselor self-awareness will be absent. Consequently, such a result will affect a counselor's ability to uphold ACA’s (2014) ethical code concerning the counseling relationships. Therefore, the authors suggest that a guide can (1) assist counselors in recognizing the opportunities to self-reflect, (2) assist counselors in understanding the impasses that can discourage one from self-reflecting, (3) assist counselors in recognizing the connection between moving from and in between self-reflection and self-awareness, and (4) inform counselors on how to maintain self-reflection and