The development of counseling skills is an essential element of the educational experience for beginning counselors. It is equally important that new counselors can demonstrate the knowledge-based competencies of learning skills. Besides, to become a competent therapist, counseling students have to understand the global context of how counseling skills are applied for the intended purposes. This is a journal of my experience as a psychology student at the masters level, particularly on psychodynamic therapy.

I enjoyed most of the classes, especially those that required us to role play as therapists and patients concerning the theories learned in class. These classes helped me learn more about using my instinctual part of the brain. As a result, I gained confidence in myself compared to the previous group activities in previous courses, where I felt less playful, embarrassed, and the feeling that I lacked something essential in a trainee therapist. I must admit that I had an easy time embracing these exercise and other learning activities as well as make contributions, which were perhaps as a result of the course’s supportive atmosphere.

Learning is characterized by knowledge acquisition that results to change.  For instance, the classical psychoanalysis theory proposes that learning is an experience that involves the unconscious motivations that get in the way of the conscious aims, and happens as a result of an inbuilt tension n an individual struggle to understand their environment better. For example, Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis theory identifies that a person’s ego perceives new material from the external world, and mediates between the learner’s unconscious fantasies and the unique experience to judge it as being good or bad.

Learning about the psychodynamic psychotherapy was an exciting time for me. The good thing about this course was that learning was not confined into the classroom s the tutor encouraged us to socialize with individuals or even visit psychiatric centers and hospitals to integrate the information into real-life situations. I was surprised to know that, contrary to what I had been taught in undergraduate studies, that there is a strong emerging trend that provided empirical evidence supporting the effectiveness of psychodynamic therapy. From my research, I have gathered that the use of theories to treat patients with psychological issues is excellent as the use of medical treatment. Instance, I was happy to read on the various neurocognitive discoveries that support psychodynamic therapy.  For example, neuroanatomically and functionality separate the explicit and implicit memory systems into a psychoanalytic concept of the conscious and subconscious. The non-verbal interaction between people in a dynamic relationship causes the same thought between the parties involves, and this explains how the patient and the therapist unconsciously experience the emotions of each other by attending to their non-verbal cues, body language, and tone. The knowledge I gained from the psychodynamic psychotherapy course has given me a solid foundation on which to base on my subsequent training and counseling career.

The course instructor made sure that the raining was effective by utilizing the course structure provided, alongside experiential learning.  The corrective feedback was done on time, and this enabled the other students and me to correct the mistakes we had made during the training. The teaching was integrated with the analytical frame, thus making us experience some of the lessons and understanding their significance to therapy.  The lecture lasted 3 hours at the same time of the week for three months.  I am happy that the lecturer provided us with a safe learning environment by facilitating a mutual trust between us to allow us to interact, and discuss the various topics respectfully.  The lecturer used the relationship we had in class to model the relationship between the therapists and their patients. For instance, he asked us what we wanted to do during the learning sessions, in so doing teaching us how to allow the patient to determine the direction of the therapy sessions. Treating us respectfully and as his equals, we learned that therapists need to bring themselves into the patient’s level for the therapy to succeed. Listening to us was also a lesson that as future therapists, it is important to connect emotionally with the client, be wholly present, and be attentive to the client’s story. He also taught us to have empathy towards the patients, as well as use silence to connect with the patient.  What’s the professor often asked us open-ended questions and in relating this to therapy, a counselor invites the patient to share on his or her thoughts.

I had a chance to work as a counselor in the local hospital, and my patients were children and adults. The major thing I identified was that developing a good relationship with the patients was the only guarantee that the counseling sessions would be helpful to the patient.  From the course, we have learned that a counselor has to ensure that the words he or she utters to a patient affect him or her. Not everything is as smooth with the counseling as I came to learn. Some of the clients resort to verbal abuse and hurtful words when you seek to get to know their problems on a deeper level. However, the lecturer had told us not to give up in such situations but instead find ways to connect with the patients.

The course made me develop mixed emotions. On the one hand, I was happy, excited, passionate, enthusiastic, and inspired because I was learning what I have wanted to do during my undergraduate level; using therapy to help individuals understand themselves and manage their relationships and values.  On the other hand, I was apprehensive because the training brought up surprising and uncomfortable truths about myself. I discovered, for instance, that my susceptibility to care for other people more than I did myself was an unhealthy practice which is firmly established in my personality. Nonetheless, I am relieved that I made this discovery before embarking on internships and work in the future because I realized that I need to develop a healthy relationship with myself before trying to advise others to do the same.

To conclude, it only took about three weeks into the course for me to develop better reflection skills and to gain a deeper understanding of my motivations. I was fascinated at how my view of myself and others changed, and I had more information about my relationships. I developed the ability to differentiate the different natures of my contacts, discover new meanings, and consider how I felt in various situations. On completion of the course, I had a personal reflection on my experience of the course. I can firmly say that I have become a different person since I developed a greater understanding of therapy, I have become a better listener; have understood the need to listen to the subconscious mind and the importance of childhood experiences in providing psychodynamic treatment. I still have a lot more to do during my internship period and in my general time as a therapist

Do you need high quality Custom Essay Writing Services?