Re: Personality test for counselors

[Drnanjo]

Hi gang,

Just a quick comment - many professionals are of the considered opinion that
a good counselor or therapist really ought to have experienced counseling or
therapy in order to be competent practicioners. Yet I had peers in graduate
school who claimed proudly that they never had been in therapy (we were in a
counseling and school psychology program) and worse yet professors who would
make negative comments about students who were in therapy while enrolled in
the program.

Perhaps I am fearing a spurious "slippery slope" here, but I am concerned
about giving a negative message to people about needing mental health
services occasionally (which I think almost everyone does in this particular
era.) Also, I am not overly impressed by the validity of personality
assessment instruments, and have been growing more and more to believe (a la
Szasz) that most personality disorder diagnoses are labels for people that
are (by subjective consensus) thought to be difficult and annoying.

Just my 1/50th of a dollar.

Nancy Melucci
Los Angeles Harbor College