Reflective practice

Reflective practice refers to the aptitude to reflect on one’s activities with the aim of involving oneself in a procedure that encompasses continuous learning. In other words, reflective practice can also be defied as the process of paying serious consideration to the real-world values and philosophies which notify commonplace actions, by exploring the practice contemplatively and instinctively (Gould & Taylor, 2017). My enrolled discipline is psychology (Bachelors of Counselling) where in my future practice I would be involved in initiating and conducting structured, and planned dialogue with my clients. This essay will discuss the benefits of reflective practice and will recommend the different ways by which reflection can be utilised in the discipline of psychology.

The concepts that underline reflective practice are quite old and they were discussed broadly in the 20^th century where John Dewey wrote on reflective practice, with the intent of talking about his experiences, exploration, reflection and interaction in professional life. Soon thereafter, Jean Piaget and Kurt Lewin also contributed to certain theories of human development and learning that encompasses reflective practice. These helped in establishing the fact that reflection is an imperative human action in which individuals evoke their knowledge, contemplate over it, followed by an evaluation. Hence, the concept of reflective practice is closely associated to learning from past experience (Johns, 2017).

Reflective practice has also been defined in the form of a dynamic, active, action centred and moral set of expertise, positioned in real time that deals with actual, complex and problematic situations (Gould & Taylor, 2017). Academics also incline to decide that reflective practice connexions the break between the ‘high ground’ of philosophy and the ‘swampy lowlands’ of exercise.  In other words, reflective practice has been found imperative in assisting professionals to explore different theories and implement them to actual experiences in a well-thought-out approach. These can either be recognised philosophies from theoretical exploration, or personal notions. It also inspires the professionals to explore set of principles and conventions, besides finding explanations to problems.

In the words of Elkjaer and Høyrup (2006) a portion of the ‘art of listening’ encompasses adoption of an approach that works towards ensuring that the client recognises their story is being attended to with utmost priority. This is accomplished when the effective helper and/or counsellor repeats back and clarifies part of their account to the client, a process that is commonly referred to as paraphrasing. Hence, reflecting comprises of a set of actions that allow the client to understand that not only have their spoken words been taken into account, but their emotions and feelings are also paid attention (Bassot, 2015). According to Johns (2017) while using the skill of reflective practice, the counsellors take attempt at matching the feelings of said words, tone, body language and facial expression of the clients. The potential advantages of reflective practice encompasses three domains namely, (i) affirming what has been said, (ii) gaining an awareness of the current practices that need improvements, and (iiii) recognition of areas that should be given considerable attention (Knott & Scragg, 2016).  

Reflection in counselling

The process of self-evaluation should not be conducted in isolation. Rather the process should also include the supervisor, which in turn will benefit the counsellor from the neutrality, complexity, and awareness (Hickson, 2011). Reflective writing helps in gaining metacognition and acts as a core element in effective professional learning. An assessment of the writing during the process of revision creates provision that allows the explanation of counselling therapy choices, and evaluation of the potential advantages and disadvantages of the implemented therapy. According to Gould and Taylor (2017) under circumstances when an effective helper or counsellor uses reflection, the professional is expected to accurately label the affective state of a client, with the use of either non-verbal or verbal indications.

In the words of Elkjaer and Høyrup (2006) counselling and reflective practice can also be collaborated by attending for and retorting to the spirits of the client, in place of the content of declaration that they are communicating. This helps the counsellors to precisely sense their profession, as they are observing it. Hence, reflective practice amid counsellors is found to facilitate movement towards increased self-awareness, which in turn allows them to attain optimal health and wellbeing of their clients. It has been stated several times that the voice plays an important role during counselling sessions (Lengelle, Meijers, Poell & Post, 2013). Presence of a high or low voice often creates an unfavourable impact on the outcomes of counselling. Hence, maintaining a reflective journal helps the counsellors to determine whether the voice was kept at a medium tone and volume, thus helping with clarity and ease of understanding of the sessions conducted (Knott & Scragg, 2016). Counsellors also have the duty of asking suitable questions at fitting time, in order to professionally guide the client to reveal valuable information, thereby achieving effectual solution.

In other words, to be skilful as a counsellor it is absolutely necessary to reflect and identify where working methods can be changed for the better (Lengelle, Meijers, Poell & Post, 2013). Counselling can be a stressful and emotional job, and reflection helps to clarify issues and improve the effectiveness of client sessions. A service user often wants to understand results when they endure counselling. This requires the counsellor to meet a plethora of professional standards, and adorning the role of a reflective practitioner, the counsellor should ensure meeting these needs (Hickson, 2011). Thus, keeping a reflective account will encourage the development and growth of the counsellor.

Conclusion

To conclude, in order to be a successful reflective practitioner, all counsellors are expected to recognise their professional domains where changes are required. The counsellors must also have the capability of reflecting on therapies and approaches that did not work in enhancing health outcomes for the clients (not all counselling strategies are expected to yield similar results for all clients). This in turn can create difficulties, which can be accredited to the fact that accepting the failure of implemented strategies can most often be discouraging. Thus, a prosperous reflective practitioner will have the capabilities of identifying the positive benefits of change. Thus, reflective practice will help the counsellor to perform their professional responsibilities to the maximum standards. It will also ensure that the counsellors do not waste their time on counselling methods that have not proved effective upon patients.

References

Bassot, B. (2015). The reflective practice guide: An interdisciplinary approach to critical reflection. Routledge. Retrieved from https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781317666011 

Elkjaer, B., & Høyrup, S. (2006). Reflection: Taking it Beyond the Individual. In Productive Reflection at Work(pp. 43-56). Routledge. Retrieved from https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781134252954/chapters/10.4324%2F9780203001745-13 

Gould, N., & Taylor, I. (2017). Reflective learning for social work: research, theory and practice. Routledge. Retrieved from https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781351905909 

Hickson, H. (2011). Critical reflection: Reflecting on learning to be reflective. Reflective Practice, 12(6), 829-839. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2011.616687 

Johns, C. (Ed.). (2017). Becoming a reflective practitioner. John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=9tnCDgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP2&dq=Johns,+C.+(Ed.).+(2017).+Becoming+a+reflective+practitioner.+John+Wiley+%26+Sons.&ots=CQTbpouPng&sig=sbShzAt0ycQcDZC8vqhkvRC89Xs#v=onepage&q=Johns%2C%20C.%20(Ed.).%20(2017).%20Becoming%20a%20reflective%20practitioner.%20John%20Wiley%20%26%20Sons.&f=false 

Knott, C., & Scragg, T. (Eds.). (2016). Reflective practice in social work. Learning Matters. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=OxOUCwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Reflective+practice+in+social+work.+Learning+Matters&ots=-gNF7G0yaR&sig=fEKiVxQKdk-bUEvbH3ynARcdUU0#v=onepage&q=Reflective%20practice%20in%20social%20work.%20Learning%20Matters&f=false 

Lengelle, R., Meijers, F., Poell, R., & Post, M. (2013). The effects of creative, expressive, and reflective writing on career learning: An explorative study. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 83(3), 419-427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2013.06.014