just a thought

It’s been three months since I assume the post of a counselor. It was hard at first, but as the days goes along I'm getting use to the work. Talking to students every now and then. Listening to their problems, probing and then guiding them.

I remember during my college days, my counselor always tells me that if I'm going to be a counselor someday. I'm not supposed to give advice to my counselee because it's a no in the field of counseling. At that time, it’s not that clear to me why he told me that.

Now that I’m a counselor, a young counselor to be exact, I have this tendency to lead my counselee to conclusion. A conclusion or solution which I think fits the situation. but at the end of the day, when I recall what I have done the whole day I came to realize that I will be so selfish if I insist on what I think is right for them. I also came to realize that these students have minds of their own. So all that I have to do is help them at arriving on solutions that best fit their own problems. It is based on their capabilities and weaknesses.

Counseling is more of empowerment of students, individuals with problems for that matter, to make or arrive at their own decision. Thus teaching them to be responsible for they are the one who choose that path or made that decision. The counselor's role is to show the door and they are the one who should walk through it. It’s like in the movie matrix. Morpheus showed Neo the door, and it is Neo who decided to walk through it.