ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS REFLECTION
Abstract
Developing, understanding, and being consistently cognizant of one’s beliefs, values, attitudes,
and potential hinderances in assisting clients in the counseling career field is a cornerstone of
having a successful practice. Recognizing things that bring up feelings of unease, anger, or past
traumas could cause harm to future clients if they are not identified and work through in a
personal and professional standpoint. Being able to recognize and elaborate on these topics is
imperative to all future mental health counselors.
Keywords: personal beliefs, values, future clients
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Attitudes and Beliefs Reflection Paper
Understanding one’s values and beliefs and recognizing where there is a potential
hinderance and unease with certain topics is important for all future and current mental health
counselors. This paper will cover a total of three different topics that I found to be either
uncomfortable because of personal situations, or perhaps easier than others because of those
same situations. However, despite my situations, I have realized that understanding that a client’s
personal experience is not the same as mine, and that I was someone who experienced these
situations as a person from the outside looking in, and not from a personal perspective. This
knowledge and explanation below will show how I plan to grow in my values and beliefs and
what I can do to better assist future clients.
Reaction
After the completion of the attitudes and beliefs inventory, I personally had a hard time
singling out three questions that were felt as difficult to answer. I find myself to be a very
accepting and open person, which is one reason why I chose to pursue the profession of mental
health counseling, however I felt I may take a different approach for one of the questions.
The scenario regarding providing counseling to a man convicted of pedophilia, and court-
ordered to counseling, hit closer to home than I would like most people to know. My ex-husband
is currently serving time in prison for a sex-related crime and was arrested while we were
engaged. I married him knowing his charges, and learned throughout his sentencing and time
incarcerated, just how many people are serving time for sex offenses. I began doing my own
research and found that there were many people who had personally been victims of this type of
crime, and ultimately learned this behavior sometime earlier in their life (Evans & Ward, 2019).
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The second scenario that I found would be difficult to deal with, would be working with a
couple who believes having multiple partners is acceptable. I found this to be particularly
difficult, due to the inability to understand how this type of act would foster a trusting and
healthy relationship. I have never known anyone who had these types of beliefs, but am not naïve
to the fact that there are couples who participate in this sort of act. I cannot begin to imagine how
I would handle this situation, as this seems to be the most difficult one that I cannot seem to wrap
my head around. As someone who views marital relationships to be a partnership in which both
parties are committed to each other, attempting to navigate this scenario with my current
knowledge seems impossible, and would require me to evaluate my own thoughts and feelings
regarding what a marriage is, and accepting that others may view marriage in a different light.
Lastly, the scenario which I found to be thought provoking, was a gay or lesbian couple
wanting to work on conflicts in their relationship. I marked this question as somewhat
comfortable but was curious to do further research on how Christian counselors currently in the
profession deal with this scenario, as I myself do not identify as a member of this community. I
do have friends and family members who identify as LGBT, but I do not want that knowledge of
what I think I may know hinder the potential success of the clients’ goals.
Response
Regarding the first question that invoked an emotional response, this was due to the
situation I went through with my ex-husband. Receiving a phone call from a sheriff’s deputy
informing me that he had been arrested for attempting to have sex with a fifteen-year-old, put me
in a downward spiral for months. Having known his substance abuse struggles in the past, and
his drug of choice, it became clear throughout his case that he was in fact not a pedophile, but
had a substance abuse issue, and his drug of choice hindered his decision-making abilities and
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was found to not have a high probability to re-offend (per a psychiatrist hired by the state to
evaluate him). Despite this finding, he will still be required to register as a sex offender for the
rest of his life, and will be ordered, upon his release his two years, to complete court ordered sex-
offender counseling during his 7-year probation period.
This question evoked a strong reaction because I have personally lived through this, and
had the fear of what others would think about my husband when they found out his charges, and
once released, would his court-ordered therapist believe him when he said he was not a
pedophile, but instead was under the influence of drugs? I stepped away from that relationship
for my own mental health, but that one question brought up memories and thoughts that I have
attempted to suppress over the past three years, hence the reason it was difficult to answer.
Marriage is something that the Bible says is a covenant between a man and a woman, and
that a marriage should be honored and revered, and not defiled (English Standard Version Bible,
2010, Hebrews 13:4). Having been raised in a sheltered household, the act of having multiple
sexual partners while married, and it being accepted by the spouse was not something I was
familiar with until adulthood. I grew up around in a traditional family household for my first
thirteen years, and then grew up in a split family household, after my parents’ divorce. However,
despite this divorce, I still was raised to believe that marriage was between two people, and there
should be a constant drive to make that marriage work, and that marriage and that covenant and
vows that were spoken before one another should be honored.
Lastly, despite being raised in a sheltered and traditional household, my views toward the
LGBT community do not align with my family’s. I believe that who a person chooses to love is
their own prerogative, and their decisions do not impact how I live my life. My best friend of 20
years recently came out within the last five years and looking back it was evident that she was
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not like the rest of us girls in the friend group, but despite my religious beliefs and teachings, I
chose to love her and support her despite her decision to live her true life. It has taken other
friends and family members a bit longer to come to terms with her decision, but thankfully she
has been supported and loved by many of them. I do recognize that despite having close friends
who identify as LGBT and being familiar with the struggles they have faced throughout their
life, this does not automatically make me extremely knowledgeable on the trials and tribulations
that those in this community face.
Action
After taking time to contemplate these specific scenarios, my personal values and beliefs,
and my potential blind spots, I find that it is important that I work on knowing that I do not
“know it all.” Despite having personal involvement with friends and family members who
identify as those mentioned in two of the three scenarios, I still have not lived through these
experiences as the client, and only have an outside looking in perspective, and not a personal
one.
If I ever have the ability to work with a sex-offender, or potentially become specifically
licensed to work with this specific population, I am going to have to personally ensure that I
partake in self-care, as this type of work has been shown to be extremely impactful on one’s
personal life, due to the failure of the client to potentially accept that they have done something
wrong, or their ability to change their way of thinking. If this is a field I enter, taking on a small
caseload to ensure I do not get burnt out and could focus on potential co-occurring disorders that
many sex offenders may suffer from would result in a potential better out-come for the client
(Evans & Ward, 2019). I must come to terms with the fact that not everyone who has committed
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a sex offense is suffering from childhood trauma, or a drug abuse problem, and that there are
people who will not want to admit there is a problem in which counseling would help with.
Recognizing and accepting these facts will help me overcome not only my own personal
struggles and trauma in this type of situation, but also allow for success in potential clients.
As a future Christian counselor, I am going to have to work on walking the balance beam
of ensuring I do not impose my own beliefs and values on future clients, but am also transparent
about my own beliefs while assuring these clients that those beliefs will not hinder the respect I
place in them as a human, nor will it deter the value that I feel I will be able to provide them as
their counselor. Being a counselor who is a Christian personally means that I find support in my
own beliefs and spirituality, while also recognizing and understanding that my own beliefs and
things that I find comfort in will not always apply to my clients (Evans et al., 2021). This
mindset I feel ensures that I will be able to openly support anyone who enters into my future
office, and if there is a lack of knowledge in a certain area, I will strive to learn from my client
and through research on their thought process on the situation that I may not understand, as well
as from research and speaking with other counselors who may have dealt with similar situations
in the past.
Lastly, I want to be a counselor who can provide ethical and competent services to future
clients, despite potential personal conflicts and beliefs. Studies have shown that counselors who
have experienced personal conflict when working with clients, has driven them to find a deeper
meaning to their own personal values and beliefs, through a deep examination on what exactly
the meaning behind those values and beliefs are, and what is hindering them from providing
ethical and competent services (Bayne et al., 2020).
Conclusion
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Reflecting on my own personal attitudes and beliefs was not something I thought I would
struggle with, as I am an extremely accepting and open person, and who welcomes the black
sheep or person who is differs from others with open arms. However, these scenarios made me
think about why I am so open to certain situations, and why others may make me uncomfortable
in a more professional setting more than a personal one. Understanding that there is always room
for growth in both the professional and personal realm is something that a successful counselor
should be cognizant of and is a mindset that I will strive to hold onto throughout my studies and
future career.
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References
Bayne,EH.EB., Harness,EL., Kane,EB., & Warfield,EM. (2020). Christian counselors and
affirmative counseling of lesbian and gay clients.EJournal of Counseling &
Development,E99(1), 60-71.Ehttps://doi.org/10.1002/jcad.12354
Evans,EC., Brown,ED., & Davis,EJ. (2021). Professional counseling from a Christian
worldview.EJournal of Spirituality in Mental Health,E24(3), 309-
326. https://doi.org/10.1080/19349637.2021.1885004
Evans,EC.ET., & Ward,EC. (2019). Counseling sex offenders and the importance of counselor
self-care.ECogent Social Sciences,E5(1),
1595878.Ehttps://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2019.1595878
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