Professional Identity of a Clinical Psychology at The Masters’ Level

My professional identity is the professional group with whom I will be identifying once I start practicing. However, choosing one’s professional identity has become complicated since there are many options in psychology, many graduate programs, licenses and professional groups to choose from. Recently professional counselors, psychologists, and social workers have found their jobs overlapping, although different foundations and disciplines, nevertheless these professions have become very similar. Just within the Master’s in Clinical Psychology we can find: research or counseling, private practice, organizational practice, group therapy, individual therapy, family therapy, and school counselors just to name a few. Professional identity is one’s professional self-concept, based on one’s professional skills, beliefs and values, together with own personal experiences and the notion that as a professional there are limits on what I can do to help people.

To best know what my professional identity is I have to know where my skills as a counselor will be the most useful, I have to find out the reason I choose this profession, what expectations I have as a counselor, and imperatively I have to be sure that I have the fundamental and required abilities to be an effective helper. If I want to be efficient and produce results as a counselor, I must develop a strong sense of professional identity base on the foundations of an effective counselor which are: empathy, that is being able to really listen to clients and inspire. I have to make the client feel accepted, that would built rapport and elicit information from the client, the client will be more open to sharing information. Acceptance is key for a counselor-client relationship to develop, you have to let the client know that he/she is accepted regardless of what the client has to say, the client has to feel that you are there to help them without judgement and with positive regard. Being genuine and authentic is another skill that will project security and trust in the client since they see you as someone who is congruent an in sync with our thoughts, feelings and behaviors.

Projecting security in oneself while being authentic will help the client see you as someone who is pretty much capable of helping them. I also have to be present and available to the client, that is I should not be burned out, tired or stress when seeing clients. I also need to deal with any personal issues that will prevent me from being open minded while listening to the client otherwise I could find myself lacking empathy and acceptance towards the client, perhaps even critical.

Another important aptitude I must possess to be an effective helper is to have cultural competence, that is I have to be able to help clients even if they differ in culture and race without stereotypes. D’Andrea and Daniel’s respectuful counseling model which helps lessen the gap of cultural differences between counselor and client. Many people avoid going to therapy because they don’t find a counselor who could “understand” them, especially if they don’t speak English. In Chapter 1, Neukrug mentions the importance of having diversity within helpers, that is one of the reasons I decided to become I counselor, to help my community understand and pursue mental health support. I also have to find my “it” factor, as a counselor there would be something that will make me connect with clients, something special that will strengthen my relationship with the client, I still do not know what that “it” factor would be, but I hope I have it. It is important for me to be familiar with our Ethical rules, as Part of my professional identity as a counselor is choosing my theoretical orientation from psychoanalysis and psychodynamic therapies, behaviorism, humanism, cognitive therapy, and integrative or holistic therapy. Perhaps I will focus on one therapy as my theoretical orientation, but there will be instances in which a mix of these therapies will be use with some clients. As I gain experience I will know my strengths and the clients I will be most able to help, I feel that on this depends the theoretical orientation I will chose. For my professional identity as a counselor who wish to work and provide psychotherapy services I am required to obtain a practicing license and be certified by the state I am planning to practice in. The licenses required to practice in Illinois are the Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) and a License in Professional Counselor (LPC). It is important for my professional development to become a member of professional organizations that give support and keep helpers updated with developments in psychology. These organizations are the American Counseling Association (ACA) and the Masters in Psychology and Counseling Accreditation Council (MPCAC), which is the association that accredits MA programs in psychology – though Roosevelt University is not yet part of this organization, it is currently pursuing accreditation from MPCAC. Organizations like the ACA, the APA (American Psychological Association), MPCAC, etc. were created to preserve the quality of the helping profession, set educational standards and create the National Counselor Exam (NCE) that we are required to pass to become a professional helper. My professional identity will depend on me, the skills I possess, the characteristics I have, how open minded and multicultural I am, and how I present myself to the clients. It is also important that I recognize my own limits as a counselor and know when I am not able to help a client.

Empathy, Acceptance, Genuineness, Wellness, and Competence are fundamental to my profession as a helper. I must select from the various options on which is the best way I could help. I also need to develop my therapy based on the theoretical orientation that will best suit the clients I will be seeing. Ethic issues may arise while working with a client, it is important for me to know what to do and who to contact in case I find myself with an ethical challenge. My professors and supervisors are always a good source of advice and information, however there are associations that were created especially for our profession, which set rules and regulations to becoming a helper and are there to help us become better professionals.