On Being a Therapist by Jeffrey Kottler is an excellent book that conveys what being a therapist means. After reading the first chapter, I fell in love with the book. A therapist journey, chapter one, really reels one in to why they became a therapist in the first place. I learned I wanted to become a counselor while helping out at the school in my hometown. We as counselors strive to understand the human condition. Working with clients is like playing detective, Kottler said. This is very true because we want to know why the client is feeling the way he or she does and help the client to understand that feeling. We instill hope for change and success. In the book, Kottler talks often about how we are to teach goodness, honesty and trustworthiness, which are key in the client/therapist relationships. These character traits cannot be faked or mocked. It is all about the amount of empathy the therapist contains. …show more content…
Kottler talks about how we have this calling to not only play detective, but also because of our own personal motives. We see ourselves in some of our clients and through working with them we can help ourselves. We should listen to the advice we give our clients because it could help us solve our own problems, as well. What caught me in the book is the two types of helping the formal therapy and the kinda therapy. The kinda therapy is something I have done since I was in high school. Kottler says that kinda therapy is what we do with friend, family, or acquaintances. My friends see me as the advice giver and now that I am becoming a counselor, I will have to learn to separate work from home. Counselors are generally always on duty because of how we listen and read