Attitudes and Beliefs Reflection 2
Abstract
In this assignment, we as future counselors were challenged by the idea of our future students’
different values and beliefs. We were instructed to complete the attitudes and beliefs inventory,
basically rating ourselves of how comfortable or uncomfortable we would be to help a client
with this issue. After rating, we were then told to pick the three items that had the strongest
reaction from us and discuss how we could prepare to help these students and all students that
have conflicting values with us. The three items I chose are a student and family who believe
non-whites are inferior, a student who sexually abused younger siblings, and a student with
terminal cancer who wants to hasten his/her death.
Keywords: values, belief, self-awareness, ethical considerations
Attitudes and Beliefs Reflection 3
Managing Differences: A Counselor’s Perspective
What makes us who we are? This question can be answered in many different ways: our
careers, our culture, the way we treat people, etc. However, I believe one of the main attributes
of what determines who we are is our values. The beliefs that were embedded into me and the
main attitudes I have about details in life are what makes me who I am; these are called my
values. I have recently had to dig a little deeper into what I believe in through the Attitudes
Inventory by deciding on what students I would have the most difficulties counseling because of
conflicting values. Our values sometimes affect our relationships and how well we connect with
people, so this is important to learn to cope with in this profession. In this paper, I will discuss
my reaction, response, and action towards three types of students I could possibly encounter in
order to best support my preparation in becoming a counselor.
Reaction
As counselors, we must remember we are dealing with heavy incidents at times and may
have triggering reactions for us. The three questions I had the strongest reaction to were: “A
student and family who believe non-whites are inferior,” “A student who sexually abused
younger siblings”, and “A student with terminal cancer who wants to hasten his/her death.”
These three student examples would oppose what I believe in. For example, “A student and
family who believe non-whites are inferior” caused a reaction because I believe in anti-racism,
equality, and respect; all of those values lead to my basic belief that all people are created equal.
This question conflicts with my value of anti-racism because he or she obviously believes that
race determines who is better than other people. This question also opposes my value of equality
because the student believes some people are inferior to others. It lastly conflicts with my basic
value of respect because it is disrespectful of this student to assume people are lesser just from
Attitudes and Beliefs Reflection 4
the color of their skin, and he or she obviously does not respect our diverse community. This
very obvious form of racism caused a strong reaction from me because of the values I hold.
The next question that triggered me was “A student who sexually abused younger
siblings.” This caused a reaction because I believe in integrity and protection. This student, if he
or she has a right mind, would know doing this to his or her younger siblings was wrong, and a
person with integrity would not do something knowing they are going to hurt someone in this
way. These younger siblings rely on family members and loved ones to protect them from
harm’s way because they are too vulnerable to do so themselves. Protecting his or her younger
sibling should have been priority number one. However, another side of this reaction is that I
believe hurt people hurt people, and I feel sorry for this student because he or she has maybe
been a victim of sexual abuse; that could have been what drove he or she to do it to someone
else. This student’s opposing values would definitely be difficult for me because I believe in
integrity and protection so heavily.
The last question that I feel caused a strong reaction in me was “A student with terminal
cancer who wants to hasten his/her death.” This caused a reaction because I believe in
compassion and empathy, while also believing that only God can decide our time and in the
value of life. A student with terminal illness would make me feel so sad for him or her, and I
would actually be understanding why he or she feels like that may be the best option for the end
of his or her life. However, I believe that when it is our time, only our maker will know, and I
value not disrupting Him through that process. The student in this situation may share the values
of compassion and empathy with me, but he or she must not value letting God determine his or
her path. He or she also may not believe that the rest of his or her life left has much value, which
while understandable, I do not agree with. That is such a hard topic to try to think through for
Attitudes and Beliefs Reflection 5
yourself, let alone counsel someone through, and I believe that is why it caused such a strong
reaction from me.
Response
Values are formed in us at a young age, and they continue to develop overtime through
our experiences with others. Some things you believe in when you are younger, you may have an
event or person in your life you meet that makes you think otherwise, and vice versa. The beliefs
you have evolve with you throughout your growth and development. People in my life have
definitely embedded some of the values previously discussed. In this section, I will discuss
where these values and beliefs come from.
The conflicting values from my first question were anti-racism, equality, and respect, the
basis for my belief that all people are created equal. While I apply this belief to other
characteristics of the hierarchy of life—gender, age, socioeconomic status, etc.—this one
especially triggered me because of the race card mentioned. I was not raised in a household with
parents that supported racism, as it is unfair to groups of individuals and also harming and dis-
strengthening to our society as a whole (Jones, 2018). Growing up in a small town in south
Louisiana, it was a belief that some people in the community held, and I was always
uncomfortable when people openly spoke in that way. As I have gotten older, I have held onto
this value and educated myself on the opinions of the world around me and very much believe
that racism is a huge issue in this country. Besides my parents’ influence, this value was also
guided by my interracial relationship. My future children will be half black, I teach at a majority
non-white school, and my brother’s wife is Asian. I hold true to the values of equality, respect,
and anti-racism, and I believe my experiences and people around me have molded the
importance of them in me.
Attitudes and Beliefs Reflection 6
The conflicting values from my second question were integrity and protection. In a small-
town community, you were expected to always do the right thing for the betterment of the
community around you, so integrity is a huge moral value I believe in. When you live in a
household with older siblings, sometimes they are entrusted with the responsibility of watching
over you, and I grew up with two older brothers who never in a million years would have
dreamed of harming me in that way. I believe that level of trust and protection has helped me
feel safe and loved, and that has been critical to my personal development. I also have friends
that have had opposite situations from me growing up, and I know how much pain it caused
them. I believe that plus coming from a loving, moral home is what developed the values of
staying true to integrity and protecting others.
The conflicting values from my third question were value of life and allowing God to
have sole control over our time here. I was raised in a Catholic church, and oftentimes, we
discussed such topics. We talked about abortion, suicide, even in the later years, we discussed
how to medically ensure what gender baby people were having. These were all topics I was
taught only God should play a hand in, and I value that. While the student may then have to
suffer longer, which, as a caring person, is difficult to imagine, I believe one must trust God’s
plan for them and that there must be a reason for the suffering needed to be endured (Merrill
Childs, 2022). I had a friend with cancer in college, and those last few weeks were really ugly
and traumatic for everyone involved, including him, but he held strong to his faith in God and
transitioned gracefully. This also made me value any quality of life one has because he loved his
to the very last minute. My faith growing up and my experience witnessing my friend’s faith
certainly impacted some of the values I believe in.
Attitudes and Beliefs Reflection 7
Action
It is imperative to be self-aware and know what values you hold true, but as a counselor,
it is just as important for us to know the next steps in ensuring we can still actively counsel these
students with opposing beliefs correctly. In this section, I will discuss the personal and
professional work I need to do to prepare to work with these students. For example, Bayne,
Harness and Colburn discuss something called Q-methodology in their journal regarding
religious counselors with LGBTQ+ clients. While this is not the population I had struggles with
in any of my example questions, I can still utilize this practice to better ready myself to counsel
any student that I have opposing values from, like the student from situation one. This process
has participants rate themselves on where they value certain aspects of this topic, and then
brackets each “type” by name (Bayne et. al, 2022). After reading through, if I had to relate these
types to any situation with opposing beliefs of mine, I believe I would fall under the Bracketer,
which is basically the one that prioritizes his or her job as a counselor to the client while still
holding on to his or her beliefs (Bayne et al, 2022). I believe I would seek ways to help the client
with the issues he or she is having in life and not focus so much on trying to sway the values of
the client to be similar to mine. Now that have self-awareness of which type of counselor I fall
under, I can do more research on how to prepare as a Bracketer for clients with opposing views.
The next main action I can take as a counselor is a multi-step program Colleen Grunhaus
describes in her journal “A Counselor Education Case Study: The Counselor Values-Based
Conflict Model in Action” (2018). The steps include actions the counselor should take like
determining what kind of value conflict there is, examining my own core issues, seeking
guidance to ensure appropriate level of care, identifying all options for action with client, and
selecting the option that is best suited for my client (Grunhaus et al., 2018). These steps would
Attitudes and Beliefs Reflection 8
definitely help me as the counselor prepare to assist any student, but in situation two with the
student who has abused younger siblings, I believe the most important step is seeking guidance. I
need to ask for help in this situation and get peers’ advice on how to best handle this situation.
Consultation is our most powerful tool as counselors to ensure the best standard of care.
The last, but possibly most vital, action I need to take with any client with different
values than me is to educate myself. In situation three specifically, the best thing I can do as a
counselor to prepare is to acquire all the knowledge I can on the topic of medically-assisted
suicide. In their journal, Thacker and Blueford discuss specifically how counselors can help
these patients by better understanding exactly what they are looking at in terms of life (2018).
This journal gives an example of a counselor helping a client through this option, and one of the
first steps is to educate yourself, not only on what your patient may be feeling and thinking, but
also on their rights in your state and your diligence as a counselor through ethical considerations
(Thacker et. al, 2018). Knowledge on the topic, especially one that may initially shock us due to
our own set of beliefs, can be most beneficial to provide our clients with the highest standard of
care.
Conclusion
We have a hard job as counselors sometimes; this paper has assured me of that. It is our
duty to always remain in the best interest of the client, but how do we do it when we have
opposing values in our core? Through educating ourselves, gaining self-awareness in our views,
and asking for guidance in these ethical considerations, we can best manage our differences for
any client we encounter. While some students may be more difficult to counsel, those are the
situations that best help us grow as people and as counselors. We make the world a better place
one person at a time, and even the most trying clients are our people in this world to help.
Attitudes and Beliefs Reflection 9
References
Bayne, Hannah B, Luke Harness, and Anita Neuer Colburn. “Religious Counselors and LGBTQ+
Clients: A Q‐sort of Value Navigation.” Counselor education and supervision. 61.2 (2022):
141–159. Web.
Grunhaus, Colleen M L et al. “A Counselor Education Case Study: The Counselor Values-Based
Conflict Model in Action.” Counseling and values. 63.2 (2018): 164–179. Web.
Jones CP. Toward the Science and Practice of Anti-Racism: Launching a National Campaign
Against Racism. Ethn Dis. 2018 Aug 9;28(Suppl 1):231-234. doi: 10.18865/ed.28.S1.231.
PMID: 30116091; PMCID: PMC6092166.
Merrill Childs, James. “Medical Assistance in Dying and the Trust of Faith.” Dialog. 61.4 (2022):
288–295. Web.
Thacker, N. E., & Blueford, J. M. (2018). Resolving Value Conflicts With Physician- Assisted
Death: A Systemic Application of the Counselor Values-Based Conflict Model. The
Professional Counselor, 8(3), 249-261. https://doi.org/10.15241/net.8.3.249
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