Developing the Counselor as a Person and as a Professional: Attitudinal Changes in Core Counseling Courses.

This quantitative pilot study examined changes in counseling students' professional attitudes in 3 master's-level core courses. Results indicated significantly more change occurred during an ethics course than during the other courses. Changes occurred in attitudes consistent with humanistic philosophy, including self-awareness, professional impairment and self-care, healthy professional relationships, empathy, and multicultural awareness. ********** The development of professional attitudes among counselors is considered a cornerstone of the counseling profession (Corey, Corey, & Callahan, 2005). Humanistic counseling is based on fostering the development of the whole person and rests on the understanding that the capacity for personal growth and change comes from within the human being. Counselors working within a humanistic theoretical framework seek to assist clients in personal growth through the exploration of values, meaning, healthy relationships, self-awareness, and self-actualization. Therapeutic practice requires the counselor to incorporate and use her or his own personality to guide client change (Corey et al., 2005). Thus, professional attitudes of the counselor are an integral part of the humanistic counseling process because the quality of the therapeutic relationship is fundamental to the promotion of client growth and development. Because a significant part of a counselor's role is to facilitate client self-examination and self-awareness, counselors need to be willing to "live in accordance with what they teach [because it] is what makes counselors 'therapeutic persons'" (Corey et al., 2005, p. 36). Thus, it is essential for those seeking to become humanistic counselors to explore their own experiences, attitudes, relationships, multicultural awareness, and capacity for caring and empathy. According to Corey et al. (2005), knowing the theory and possessing diagnostic and interviewing skills do not necessarily make a person a good counselor. Rather, individual aspects of the counselor such as personal attributes, self-awareness, and attitudes regarding self-care, health, and lifestyle affect one's ability to function in the professional counseling role. This is particularly true for the humanistic counselor. Because the humanistic counselor serves as a model of growth, development, and change for the client, it is important to emphasize, as part of counselor education (Crutchfield, Baltimore, Felfeli, & Worth, 2000), the development and awareness of humanistic attitudes (e.g., working toward one's full potential) that may affect the counseling relationship. The exploration and development of professional attitudes consistent with humanistic philosophy is a fundamental component of counselor identity development during training because these attitudes affect the counseling relationship and the professional counselor. Research indicates that counselor attitudes predict burnout, fatigue, and stress (Yager & Tovar-Blank, 2007). Teaching students to recognize the importance of self-awareness and self-care may buffer them from these difficulties. Thus, cultivating the importance of self-awareness is essential for the maintenance of counselor balance, self-care, and humanistic practice. Research suggests that core courses offered as part of the counselor education curriculum have a significant impact on the personal growth of counseling students (Coll, 1993; Woodside, Oberman, Cole, & Carruth, 2007). For example, Woodside et al.'s (2007) qualitative study found that prepracticum students' learning about their own core beliefs and attitudes was an important component in the process of learning to be a professional counselor. Another important component identified was developing self-awareness about counselor boundaries that are balanced by the need for "being with" the client and learning to empower the client rather than merely giving advice. Similarly, Coil's (1993) research examining changes in professional attitudes occurring during an ethics course found that master 's-level counseling students reported an increase in self-awareness and an increased understanding of healthy professional relationships, professional impairment, and multicultural issues through the ethics course work. …