Although I learned many lessons throughout my time in Practicum, two lessons contributed to the forming of my counselor identity: the art of attuning to the client and letting go of an agenda. According to Macaulay et al. (2007), attunement is one of the most important attributes of a counselor. In attuning to the client, a counselor can decipher the client’s “inner experience” and have a more empathic response (Macaulay et al., 2007, p. 246).
Geller and Greenberg (2002) state that “availability and openness to all aspects of the client’s experience, openness to one’s own experience in being with the client, and the capacity to respond to the client from this experience” is essential to “therapeutic presence” (Tannen et al., 2019, p. 408). Tannen et al. (2019) also state that putting the can cause harm to the therapeutic relationship. For me, part of this lesson was not only learning to let go of my agenda, but to also let go of myself. I needed to give myself fully to the experience of the client and I discovered that when I did, profound healing could take place.
Alicia used this recorded session in her class presentation which brought tears to my eyes and many of her classmates’ eyes. Her classmates provided feedback that was moving; they mentioned the smiles and boisterous laughter of the child and the skills of Alicia. While I had suggested this intervention, Alicia adapted the technique based on truly noticing the client’s needs and the best way to be within the activity and relationship at the same time. Her story illuminates the paradigm that counselors’ humanistic qualities are central to their development because they are the instrument for client healing (Dollarhide & Oliver, 2014) and that a counselor facilitating play can truly become the playroom (Mills, 2020). Alicia allowed for an “as if” space where “anything is possible” (Rubenstein & Lahad, 2022, p.105) and a child can become the director. This play world that was created between the counselor and client provided containment of distress because the client articulated feelings into actions (Mountain, 2016) and practiced “mastery of creative problem solving” (Pliske et al., 2021, p.251). I was moved to see this dynamic exchange knowing that it would forever change the client and inform Alicia’s counselor identity to continue to utilize play and a person- centered “non-possessive love” (Rogers, 1977) for her clients.
References (4), 276.
Bernard, J., & Goodyear, R. (2014). (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Dameron, M. L. (2016). Person-centered counseling and solution- focused brief therapy: An integrative model for school counselors. (10). Dollarhide, C. T., & Oliver, K. (2014). Humanistic professional identity: The transtheoretical tie that binds.
Hayes, S. C. (2004). Acceptance and commitment therapy, relational frame theory, and the third wave of behavioral and cognitive therapies. , 639-665. Linehan, M. M. (1993). Guilford Press. Macaulay, H. L., Toukmanian, S. G., & Gordon, K.M. (2007). Attunement as the core of therapist-expressed empathy. (4), 244-254. Mills, J. C. (2020). Culture, Metaphors, and Play Therapy: Rainbows of Resilience in Life’s Storms. (1), 4-7.
Pliske, M. M., Stauffer, S. D., & Werner-Lin, A. (2021). Healing from adverse childhood experiences through therapeutic powers of play: “I (4), 244.
Rogers, C. R. (1977). Delacorte. Rubinstein, D., & Lahad, M. (2022). Fantastic reality: The role of imagination, . Stulmaker, H. L., Lertora, I., & Garza, Y. (2015). Facilitating empathic perspective taking in beginning child-centered play therapists: The (4), 177.
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Alicia Cater, MS, LPC, graduated from Eastern Illinois University. She is working towards her LCPC at a private practice in
Illinois.She works mainly with adolescents with anxiety, depression, and emotional and behavioral needs using person- centered therapy. She loves using play and art in her sessions and uses playfulness as a therapeutic tool with her clients. She is a member of the Illinois Counseling Association and the Illinois School Counseling Association.
acater862@gmail.com
Paige Spangler, PhD, LCPC, ACS is a faculty instructor at Eastern Illinois University’s Counseling and Higher Education department. She works with children, teens, and adults and provides support for a variety of mental health issues. She uses a person-centered theoretical foundation with CBT, DBT, existential and expressive therapies. She has as an artist informs how she counsels, teaches, and supervises; interweaving creativity and play into everything she does.
paigespanglerlcpc@gmail.com
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