Katie Skinner Janvrin

CNS 745b BG FA 2019

December 6, 2019

Self-Evaluation Paper

Over the course of Internship II, I was able to continue my work with several clients from

my practicum and Internship I as well as add new challenging and diversified populations to my

caseload. When I began the search for my internship, I heard cautionary tales of those who had

begun in private practice and been forced to seek sites elsewhere. While I admit at times it has

been challenging, I am so thankful for this experience. I have had the privilege to get my feet

wet, so to speak, with many populations instead of specializing in just one. This has been

invaluable in helping me to discover what populations I like, which I do not, those that are

challenging or triggering for some reason, as well as help me to begin to think about the type of

work I might want to do post-graduation and licensure. In internship II I have been able to see

and treat trauma for the first time and I think I may have found my niche in the counseling

world.

As I began practicum there was a degree of almost vulnerability not present before in

practice sessions as I was employing the counseling skills for the first time on my own

independent from the cohort. It was nerve racking to think that these clients were real people

with real problems. I distinctly remember one of my supervision sessions at my site in the early

weeks of Internship I where my supervisor assured me that I was not going to make my clients

any worse. I remember looking at her dumb founded like of course if I said or did the wrong

thing, the client might break into a million tiny little pieces before my very eyes. We talked at

length about this misconception and processed my own anxiety around my perfectionism. We
 Katie Skinner Janvrin

CNS 745b BG FA 2019

December 6, 2019

Self-Evaluation Paper
discussed the importance of showing up for our clients well but in a way in which they

understand that just because we are in the role of a professional counselor does not mean we

ourselves are free of fault – no one is. With this weight lifted off my shoulders I felt a renewed

sense of calm in my role as counselor as well as within the therapeutic relationship with my

clients overall. As my clinical hours have progressed and I move closer and closer to graduation

I have become more comfortable in my chair as the counselor and more confident in my skills. I

have also found myself willing to push beyond my own comfort zone and really dig in deep with

my clients unlike like ever before.

As I have become more comfortable, so to speak, in my chair I have found it less

challenging to find as well as maintain a balance between the technicality of my core counseling

skills as well as the degree of comfortability in my role as counselor. I have learned not to be

hyper focused on my skills and I hold space for my clients the way I need to as well as have

precautions in place to avoid getting too much in my own head. Now when I ease back I find that

I am warm and empathetic, while still a tad too conversationalist at times, I am taking more

advantage of opportunities to challenge and reflect ultimately increasing my ability to go deeper

with my clients. As I have continued on my journey and have had additional time as well as

practice the marriage of these two components has come naturally together in my work. As these

pieces have come together, I have been able to more effectively utilize reflections of meaning

and slow down overall decreasing the chance for closed or stacked questions.
 Katie Skinner Janvrin

CNS 745b BG FA 2019

December 6, 2019

Self-Evaluation Paper
My areas of strength include mirroring, paraphrasing, and summarizing. My areas of

weakness while I have improved include stacking questions, missed opportunities to reflect

meaning or confront, interruptions, and failing to use silence when appropriate. Towards the end

of Internship I, I began to notice that I became more frustrated in my work with my kid clients

than that of my adult clients. As I was nearing the end of my pregnancy, I was about to have five

children of my own at home ranging in ages from six to infancy. I discussed with my supervisor

the different seasons we go through as a counselor and that just because I am struggling now and

may need to take a step back from working with kids it does not mean i'll never work with kids

again. At the start of Internship II, I gave birth to my daughter and felt it was even more

necessary to step back and focus more on my adult clients. I am proud that with the right plan,

self care regimen, and support and consultation both at my clinical site as well as at Wake Forest

I was able to avoid needing to take off a semester once my daughter arrive.

In regard to my work with kids, I did learn to put aside my own expectations of progress and

focus on the most important and crucial first step of building a relationship and rapport with the

child in order to build trust. I also learned to let go and be okay with the fact that establishing this

degree of trust may take quite some time.

I have heard from several faculty members at Wake Forest as well as counselor with

whom I have worked or know that good counselors have their own counselors. I have shrugged

that comment off as a nice tag line or cliché but I began my own therapy in the middle of

Internship I to prepare for potential postpartum depression due to a familial history. Shortly after
 Katie Skinner Janvrin

CNS 745b BG FA 2019

December 6, 2019

Self-Evaluation Paper
my daughter was born I returned to therapy as a form of maintenance, I have been in therapy

before I cannot say enough how valuable it has been in my life both personally as well as

professionally. I find that having my own space makes it easier for me to hold space

appropriately and effectively for my clients. Being a counselor in counseling myself has

increased my overall self-awareness as well as empathy and understanding.

This semester I was really fortunate with the group of people who made up my group

supervision as well as my supervisors. I felt myself looking forward to not only collaborating

but supporting one another on Sunday evenings. We were a unique mix all at different stages in

the process of becoming a counselor offering a really diverse set of circumstances and

experiences.. This semester I was faced with some pretty complex and challenging cases and the

opportunity to hear feedback from so many different people with different backgrounds and

perspectives was invaluable to my growth as a counselor.

As I move forward heading into my third and final internship, I hope to continue to

continue to fine tune my areas of strength and improve upon my areas of weakness as well as add

new ones to my arsenal. I hope as a counselor to provide a unique space in which a client can be

heard when they feel like no one else is listening. I also hope to continue to advocate to remove

the stigma surrounding mental health. I am eager to continue to grow both personally as well as

professionally thought-out this process.