Counselors Seek to Understand Themselves: A PHILOSOPHICAL INQUIRY.

Counselors frequently confuse role definition with professional self-under- standing. The role-definition approach is misleading because it is only after we achieve professional self-understanding will we be able to define ourselves in our unique situations. Too strict a position on counselor role is not desirable as it leads to arbitrary, dualistic choice models. Sigmund Freud and Carl Rogers have already provided us with a basis for perceiving alternatives to static, dualistic absolutes. Using an existential model, this paper seeks new direction through subject-object "bridge building" for achieving deeper professional self-understanding in guidance and counseling. The five subject-object bridges are concerned with: (a) ideals and reality, (b) being and becoming, (c) tentativeness and commitment, (d) the individual and society, (e) freedom and responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]