Choosing Theoretical Orientation

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Every step in my life has being important to me because it will help determine the future that awaits for me at the end of my journey. Choosing a theoretical orientation is an important decision for me as a graduate student working towards becoming a licensed professional counselor. After being introduced to several theoretical orientations, it was difficult to make a final decision of which one to choose because each one had ideas that I agree with. When reading these theories I realize that many of them had views that I agree or believe by, which made it more difficult to choose one in specific. At first, person-centered by Carl Rogers captivated my attention by his view and the way he develop the theory. He believed that no one was born to be devious towards others and I agree with him (Rogers, 1961). I believe no one is born with the intent to hurt others, but certain experiences that individuals experienced throughout their lives may cause them to do harm to others. One time, I saw a picture illustrating a white baby in a bus touching the hand of a black male who was sitting down next to his mother. The mother seemed to have a disgust face while looking away avoiding eye contact with the man. The picture said, “no one is born racist,” and in that moment I thought about the importance of what children are being exposed every day and the importance of what parents teach their children about life. Holdstock & Rogers (1977) mentioned that each individual is biologically and psychologically unique, which helps each person experienced their environment in their own distinctive way. I agree that each person is unique in their own special way, but at the end of the day each individual chooses to be different from others to... ... middle of paper ... ...in my reality. Works Cited Gladding, T. S. (2013). Counseling a Comprehensive Profession (7thed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Hill, C. E. (2009) Helping Skills: Facilitating, Exploration, Insight, and Action (3rded.). Washington D.C.: American Psychological Association Holdstock, T. L., & Rogers, C. R. (1977). Person-Centered Theory. In R. J. Corsini (Ed), Current Personality Theories (pp. 125-152). Itasca, IL: Peacock. Rogers, C. R. (1961). A Therapist’s View of Psychotherapy. On Becoming a Person. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Rogers, C. R. (1979). The Foundations of the Person-Centered Approach. Education, 100(2), 98. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=4727029&site=ehost-live Sharf, R. S. (2008). Theories of Psychotherapy and Counseling: Counseling and Cases (5thed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole

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