Counseling Professional Interview, Essay Example

My faculty advisor, Matt Pace, is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist for the state of New York. He received his Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy in 2003, his Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy in 2008, and his licensure in 2010. While Dr. Pace does not have a specialty area per se, he does feel particularly competent in working with clients dealing with relationship challenges, parenting challenges, and grief and loss issues. He also feels particularly efficacious in working with cross-cultural couples, and working with individuals, couples, and families in the LGBTQ community.

When he was 15, Dr. Pace lost his oldest brother to a tragic car accident. It was a loss that had a deep impact on him and his family, and drove him to seek a way to help people. He earned an undergrad degree in psychology, and decided he wanted to become a therapist.

Dr. Pace said the most rewarding aspect is being able to earn others’ trust, and witnessing significant growth in their lives. The most challenging aspect is the responsibility for others, especially children who need to be protected, and individuals who are suicidal.

Dr. Price suggested getting as much exposure to the therapeutic process as possible in the course of the internship. Observing sessions, getting a good mentor, and asking lots of questions are all great ways to succeed.

I closed by asking Dr. Price if he had any additional suggestions for me. I thought it would be good to end with a nice open-ended question like that, one that would allow me to gain the greatest benefits from his wisdom and experience. His advice was to get out of my own comfort zone, since that’s what I will have to invite my clients to do: just as I need to understand what makes them tick, so too I need to understand what makes me tick. It was a really good lesson in perspective for me, one that helped me to understand what it really means to lead clients by example, in a way that will help me to empathize with them.