Church and Religion - Narrative Essay

Growing up in church and religious belief has had an influence on my moral and ethical development. I have grown up in a religious family where everyone in the family had to go for church services. Having grown a religious environment, I was taught Christian values while very young. Whilst in the church I was taught what was wrong and right according to the bible. I remember my Sunday school teacher constantly giving us narrations of how individuals who obeyed and were loyal to God in the Bible were rewarded as well as how those who disobeyed God were punished. Furthermore, I was also taught that people with good morals belong to God while those with bad characters or morals belonged to Satan. This infringed fear in since I always wanted to be associated with God and thus thrived to act in a manner as was taught in church so that I could not experience Gods wrath for disobedience. What made me even more religious was my participation and engagement in church activities. It is in a church where I learned about the societal values, how to treat others as well as how to go about different aspects of life. I strongly concur with Ofsted (2003:14) argument regarding moral development. Ofsted describes moral development as the building of an approach or rather framework of moral values for teenagers or pupils which regulate their personal values. He further stipulates that the development of teenagers understanding of societys agreed and shared values and that the values of the society change and that there are also contagious issues that can bring a long disagreement requiring teenagers or pupils to develop an opinion of the different possible views. from Ofsteds argument, it can be deduced that religion emphasizes expectation in peoples moral development and focusing on Christian and normative values and highlighting areas of possible disagreements and how to go about them.

Becoming a single parent while stationed away from family with little support was another life experience that greatly shaped my life. After completion of the Navy training, I was stationed at a location far from where my family was. I became a single parent. Becoming a single parent came in with a lot of responsibilities. I had to balance between work and taking care of the young child. This was no doubt the hardest task. I was in a foreign place and got little support from my family. I had to work to provide for my child. My work was also very demanding and sometimes worked in shifts, and some of the shifts were night shift. I, therefore, had to get a nanny to help me with babysitting. However, I had to be cautious as I was in a foreign land and could not trust anyone. I gained much from this experience; I learned how to plan for time and balance between work and family. I became more hardworking and sometimes engaging in side hustles to increase my income and sustain my family. Furthermore, I became much more responsible at a young age. I also learned how to manage stress since the child was sometimes was very troublesome. I was able to pass the morals I learned while growing up to my child.

Losing four relatives in less than 2 years and learning how to cope with the losses so closely also influenced my personal development. These periods were very emotional and traumatizing to me. I lost my close relatives in a span of fewer than three years. It was not simple as they were very dear to me. During these periods I learned how to cope up with losses of close relatives. The first loss had the greatest impact as it was the first experience of losing a close relative. I was traumatized, and my wellbeing was greatly affected, my productivity reduced, had no feeling for sleep or eating. It took almost six months to recover from the loss. for the subsequent, the pain of the losses was not as much as the first as I had experienced that before and learned how to manage it. From the losses, I learned how to manage losses and quickly recover from them. I learned losses used to greatly affect me in all aspects including my productivity at work. However, I came to learn that once dies it cannot be reversed. Thus I have to move on quickly and continue with my life.

A. School

Getting a college education is very helpful when looking for jobs in the community. Going to learn about Navy was a door opener for me as I immediately completed my studies I got stationed and started earning a living. While in school I not only gained skills related to the Navy, I also learned about life skills.

Getting an education allows you to see the various points of view not only for yourself but others as well, especially as a future counselor who will encounter various cultures, different beliefs, morals, and ethics. My career as a Navy officer involves interacting with persons from different cultural backgrounds. I was able to learn how to interact with people from diverse cultural backgrounds while at college and this gave me a smooth sail in my career now as a Navy officer.

Legal and Ethical Issues in Counseling as they Relate to My Ethical Autobiography

A. Confidentiality

Confidentiality is imperative for counselors because it helps build a solid foundation with their clients. Being a Navy officer requires brevity, an individual who can make commands and the commands be obeyed without question. I used to be shy, I, however, learned how to be brave with time and can as at now I believe I am confident and can make commands as I best understand my work.

It is important to understand what Ethical Standards protect you when it comes to confidentiality and the protection of not only your client but also yourself as a counselor (American Counseling Association (ACA), 2005). While in school I was able to learn useful insights regarding the required ethical standards. Gaining this insight helped me in building my confidentiality as well as understanding how to carry myself while at work.

B. Boundaries

As a counselor, we must remain professional and be sure not to cross boundaries. This leaves less more for clients to take advantage of our services and respect us as a counselor. I learned about the boundaries that I need to keep and the limits which I am not supposed to exceed.

Boundaries are essential for healthy relationships and put them in place during the beginning of the counseling sessions. As a counselor, there are limits that I am not supposed to exceed. I was able to learn how to maintain these boundaries and how to go about situations where the client wants to exceed his or her boundary.

C. Transference/Countertransference

Transference can be very helpful for a counselor to change how a client feels about himself or herself (Cottone, 2000). I am tasked with binging back to a stable state an individual that is troubled, to successfully attain this I have to put myself in the clients shoe and feel what he or she feels so that I can be able to offer informed advice.

Countertransference is not always helpful for clients and can sometime interfere with treatment plans (Burwell-Pender, 2008). Having understood the context of usage for both Transference and Countertransference, I will place precedence in using transference than Countertransference.

Reflection

This assignment has been insightful as I have substantially gained a lot of knowledge that will be of significance in practicing my career. It has opened my scope and made me research on more aspects that I was previously not well conversant with regards to counseling .

References

American Counseling Association (ACA). (2005). 2005 ACA code of ethics. New York, NY: American Counseling Association

Burwell-Pender, L. (2008). Enhanced Awareness of Countertransference. Journal Of Professional Counseling: Practice, Theory & Research, 36(2, 38-59.

Coleman, J. (n.d.). The Influence of Life Experiences On Personality During Adulthood. Retrieved from http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/the_influence_of_life_experiences_on_personality_during_adulthood

Cottone, R. (2000). Ethical Decision-Making Models: A Review of the Literature. Journal Of Counseling & Development, 78(3), 275.

Kohlberg, Lawrence. Essays on Moral Development, I: The Philosophy of Moral Development: Moral Stages and the Idea of Justice. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1981.