Why Counselors Should Engage in Activities that Ensure Personal Development (Essay Sample)

Counselors should be responsible not just for ensuring ethical and competent practice but should also engage in activities that ensure personal development. Simpson and Falkner argue that personal development involves ensuring personal growth and embracing self-care. However, it has not been easy for counselors to balance between the achievement of personal development and meeting professional standards. The reason is that most counselors spend more time and energy attending to clients’ needs. Lack of self-care can be detrimental to counseling practice as it reduces the quality of counseling services. Due to the importance of the issue, many organizations offering professional counseling have made efforts to enhance counselors’ wellness. This led to the formation of ACA, that has formulated various codes of ethics to guide counselors as they undertake their duties. The codes of ethics are to help impaired counselors regain health and protect clients and other counselors from any danger posed by impaired counselors.