The Pathologized Counselor: Effectively Integrating Vulnerability and Professional Identity

Discovering Expert Perspectives on Dispositions and Remediation: A Qualitative Study

“…From this vantage point in admissions processes, applicants with a dispositional issue related to emotional stability, for example, may be admissible if the behavioral problems are not severe. This would align with the body of literature suggesting that wounded healers, if aware and actively addressing their wounds, have many gifts to offer the field (Kern, 2014).…”

Relational‐Cultural Supervision: A Humanistic Approach to Promoting Vulnerability and Counselor Development

“…Vulnerability provides the foundation for the essential processes and practices of RCS. As a general rule, the field of professional counseling has largely ignored the exploration of personal vulnerabilities and their role in professional identity development (Kern, 2014). Yet, the presence of vulnerability may be why many counselors are drawn to the profession in the first place.…”

“…Doing so can create a powerful experience for supervisees that can thereby help them learn to translate respectful and compassionate vulnerability to their own clinical work (Shepard & Brew, 2013). Kern (2014) stated that counselors should not take a client somewhere that they are not willing to go themselves. In other words, it is a supervisor's ethical responsibility to promote vulnerability in supervision, because that is precisely what supervisees will be expecting their clients to do in counseling.…”

“…Webb and Wheeler (1998) found that supervisees' perceived level of rapport with supervisors correlated positively with the ability to disclose sensitive issues relating to both clients and the supervision process (Walsh et al, 2002). Furthermore, allowing open and honest dialogues about supervisees' journey to their current place in life can be helpful in establishing a strong relationship foundation for supervision (Kern, 2014). Vulnerability is a key component of RCS, and RCS is a strengths-based, culturally sensitive method for implementing effective humanistic supervision and counseling.…”

Archetypal Identity Development, Meaning in Life, and Life Satisfaction: Differences Among Clinical Mental Health Counselors, School Counselors, and Counselor Educators

“…Although the Wounded Healer is not an archetype included among the 12 archetypes in the PMAI, it is often referenced in literature related to the helping professions, including counseling (Hartwig Moorhead, Gill, Barrio Minton, & Myers, ; Kern, ; Meekums, ; Moodley, ; Trusty, Ng, & Watts, ). Woundedness refers to damage that may have been inflicted on an individual in any number of ways, including emotionally, spiritually, physically, intellectually, and sexually.…”