Introduction

 

         Everyone experiences emotional conflicts but the degree to which they impair functioning determines the need for intervention (Feize & Faver, 2019; Gustafsson & Fagerberg, 2004). Until faced with a moral or professional dilemma, people may conduct themselves as though nothing is misaligned; however, becoming a helping professional requires preparation to provide quality unbiased counseling services to mitigate such misalignment of values and perspectives between the client and counselor (Gustafsson & Fagerberg, 2004). Hence, the biblical proverb, "Physician, heal thyself," can be applied to the current dissertation topic. Too often clients turn away from counseling services because they feel as though their counselor (whether assigned or hired) is biased against their presenting issues (Kalkbrenner et al., 2020). The stigma against mental health in general and persons that seek mental health interventions is present even among counselors (Bowman, 2018). The authors asserted that some counselors may feel that the client is weak and unworthy of respect because they are seeking help.

        Alternatively, it may be that the counselor has experienced similar problems and does not want to face or explore them, especially with a stranger (Gleason & Hays, 2019). The counselor may have cultural, racial, or gender biases of which they are unaware (Kabat-Zinn, 2003; Shaw & Kinsella-Shaw, 2016). Some counselors may be aware of their biases but do not know how to separate their biases in order to function professionally within their client interactions (Lenes et al., 2020; Moore et al., 2020) if separation is even possible. A counselor is expected to be an objective confidant providing gentle guidance toward unraveling client socio-emotional and cognitive differences, distress, and disorders (Gleason & Hays, 2019; Harris et al., 2020). However, people are rarely completely objective about human interactions and experiences (Jenkins & Nowlin, 2018). Everyone is subject to implicit biases and attributions regarding life circumstances and personalities in general (Kalkbrenner et al., 2020). In the role of counselor, which is a human service profession, counselors must strive to provide the best service possible to the public (Harris et al., 2020). Self-reflection enhances a counselor’s ability to provide professional service (Moore et al., 2020).

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The effectiveness of a collage art prompted self-reflection exercise has been established in my 2021 graduate counseling students case study research. The exercise was found to assist participants in achieving greater awareness of multicultural competence and self-understanding through self-reflection.

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