An analysis is one of the key categories within the cognitive domain of Bloom’s taxonomy. In regard to professional development and multicultural counseling, the analysis allowed me to identify gaps in my knowledge that currently exist. On a subconscious level, I realized that if I want to become a more professional and knowledgeable counselor, I should be ready to face people from various ethnic, social, and economic backgrounds. However, I believed that I should treat future clients equally, in the sense that I should apply a universal approach to everyone.
Therefore, I must admit my lack of knowledge, as I did not even know that specific multicultural counseling theories existed. Previously I had studied personality counseling models, which led me to the false conclusion that I should prioritize the client’s personality and disregard other aspects. This fallacy emerged because I had never touched on multicultural counseling theories before. In this regard, the analysis helped me understand my weak spots and what dimensions of counseling I need to study to become a better professional in the future.
Overall, I have learned that I lacked awareness about one of the critical components of contemporary counseling. When the counselor considers the client’s ethnicity, culture, and social status, that ultimately benefits their services. As such, what I perceived as an impartiality and universal approach was essentially the lack of theoretical knowledge. In this regard, I learned that my current knowledge of counseling theories is far from perfect, and I have quite a long distance to cover before becoming a successful counselor.
In particular, I need to improve my awareness and empathy, an ability to look at the situation from the client’s perspective. Only by doing that would I create valuable experiences that help individuals overcome adverse situations. In addition, I have learned that my culture-based attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge are essential elements of multicultural counseling. As a result, I will have to obtain knowledge on how to use them in order to build mutually trusting relationships with future clients.