personal development counselling essay

How to Create a Personal Development Plan: 3 Examples

For successful change, it is vital that the client remains engaged, recognizing and identifying with the goals captured inside and outside sessions. A personal development plan (PDP) creates a focus for development while offering a guide for life and future success (Starr, 2021).

This article introduces and explores the value of personal development plans, offering tools, worksheets, and approaches to boost self-reflection and self-improvement.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Goal Achievement Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or your clients create actionable goals and master techniques to create lasting behavior change.

This Article Contains

What is personal development 7 theories, coaching in personal development and growth, how to create a personal development plan, 3 examples of personal development plans, defining goals and objectives: 10 tips and tools, fostering personal development skills, 3 inspiring books to read on the topic, resources from positivepsychology.com, a take-home message, frequently asked questions.

Personal development is a fundamental concept in psychology and encompasses the lifelong process of self-improvement, self-awareness, and personal growth. Crucial to coaching and counseling, it aims to enhance various aspects of clients’ lives, including their emotional wellbeing, relationships, careers, and overall happiness (Cox, 2018; Starr, 2021).

Several psychological models underpin and support transformation. Together, they help us understand personal development in our clients and the mechanisms and approaches available to make positive life changes (Cox, 2018; Passmore, 2021).

The following psychological theories and frameworks underpin and influence the approach a mental health professional adopts.

1. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

As a proponent of the humanistic or person-centered approach to helping people, Abraham Maslow (1970) suggested that individuals have a hierarchy of needs. Simply put, they begin with basic physiological and safety needs and progress through psychological and self-fulfillment needs.

Personal development is often found in or recognized by the pursuit of higher-level needs, such as self-esteem and self-actualization (Cox, 2018).

2. Erikson’s psychosocial development

Erik Erikson (1963) mapped out a series of eight psychosocial development stages that individuals go through across their lifespan.

Each one involves challenges and crises that once successfully navigated, contribute to personal growth and identity development.

3. Piaget’s cognitive development

The biologist and epistemologist Jean Piaget (1959) focused on cognitive development in children and how they construct their understanding of the world.

We can draw on insights from Piaget’s stages of cognitive development, including intellectual growth and adaptability, to inform our own and others’ personal development (Illeris, 2018).

4. Bandura’s social cognitive theory

Albert Bandura’s (1977) theory highlights the role of social learning and self-efficacy in personal development. It emphasizes that individuals can learn and grow through observation, imitation, and belief in their ability to effect change.

5. Self-determination theory

Ryan and Deci’s (2018) motivational self-determination theory recognizes the importance of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in personal development.

Their approach suggests that individuals are more likely to experience growth and wellbeing when such basic psychological needs are met.

6. Positive psychology

Positive psychology , developed by Martin Seligman (2011) and others, focuses on strengths, wellbeing, and the pursuit of happiness.

Seligman’s PERMA model offers a framework for personal development that emphasizes identifying and using our strengths while cultivating positive emotions and experiences (Lomas et al., 2014).

7. Cognitive-Behavioral Theory (CBT)

Developed by Aaron Beck (Beck & Haigh, 2014) and Albert Ellis (2000), CBT explores the relationship between thoughts, emotions, and behavior.

As such, the theory provides practical techniques for personal development, helping individuals identify and challenge negative thought patterns and behaviors (Beck, 2011).

Theories like the seven mentioned above offer valuable insights into many of the psychological processes underlying personal development. They provide a sound foundation for coaches and counselors to support their clients and help them better understand themselves, their motivations, and the paths they can take to foster positive change in their lives (Cox, 2018).

The client–coach relationship is significant to successful growth and goal achievement.

Typically, the coach will focus on the following (Cox, 2018):

• Actualizing tendency This supports a “universal human motivation resulting in growth, development and autonomy of the individual” (Cox, 2018, p. 53).
• Building a relationship facilitating change Trust clients to find their own way while displaying empathy, congruence, and unconditional positive regard . The coach’s “outward responses consistently match their inner feelings towards a client,” and they display a warm acceptance that they are being how they need to be (Passmore, 2021, p. 162).
• Adopting a positive psychological stance Recognize that the client has the potential and wish to become fully functioning (Cox, 2018).

Effective coaching for personal growth involves adopting and committing to a series of beliefs that remind the coach that the “coachee is responsible for the results they create” (Starr, 2021, p. 18) and help them recognize when they may be avoiding this idea.

The following principles are, therefore, helpful for coaching personal development and growth (Starr, 2021).

• Stay committed to supporting the client. While initially strong, you may experience factors that reduce your sense of support for the individual’s challenges.
• Coach nonjudgmentally. Our job is not to adopt a stance based on personal beliefs or judgment of others, but to help our clients form connections between behavior and results.
• Maintain integrity, openness, and trust. The client must feel safe in your company and freely able to express themselves.
• Responsibility does not equal blame. Clients who take on blame rather than responsibility will likely feel worse about something without acknowledging their influence on the situation.
• The client can achieve better results. The client is always capable of doing and achieving more, especially in relation to their goals.
• Focus on clients’ thoughts and experiences. Collaborative coaching is about supporting the growth and development of the client, getting them to where they want to go.
• Clients can arrive at perfect solutions. “As a coach, you win when someone else does” (Starr, 2021, p. 34). The solution needs to be the client’s, not yours.
• Coach as an equal partnership. Explore the way forward together collaboratively rather than from a parental or advisory perspective.

Creating a supportive and nonjudgmental environment helps clients explore their thoughts, feelings, and goals, creating an environment for personal development and flourishing (Passmore, 2021).

Download 3 Free Goals Exercises (PDF)

These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or your clients create actionable goals and master techniques for lasting behavior change.

Download 3 Free Goals Pack (PDF)

By filling out your name and email address below.

• Email Address *
• Your Expertise * Your expertise Therapy Coaching Education Counseling Business Healthcare Other
• Email This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

A personal development plan is a powerful document “to create mutual clarity of the aims and focus of a coaching assignment” (Starr, 2021, p. 291). While it is valuable during coaching, it can also capture a client’s way forward once sessions have ended.

Crucially, it should have the following characteristics (Starr, 2021):

• Short and succinct
• Providing a quick reference or point of discussion
• Current and fresh, regularly revised and updated

Key elements of a personal development plan include the following (Starr, 2021):

• Area of development This is the general skill or competence to be worked on.
• Development objectives or goals What does the client want to do? Examples might include reducing stress levels, improving diet, or managing work–life balance .
• Behaviors to develop These comprise what the client will probably do more of when meeting their objectives, for example, practicing better coping mechanisms, eating more healthily, and better managing their day.
• Actions to create progress What must the client do to action their objectives? For example, arrange a date to meet with their manager, sign up for a fitness class, or meet with a nutritionist.
• Date to complete or review the objective Capture the dates for completing actions, meeting objectives, and checking progress.

Check out Lindsey Cooper’s excellent video for helpful guidance on action planning within personal development.

We can write and complete personal development plans in many ways. Ultimately, they should meet the needs of the client and leave them with a sense of connection to and ownership of their journey ahead (Starr, 2021).

• Personal Development Plan – Areas of Development In this PDP , we draw on guidance from Starr (2021) to capture development opportunities and the behaviors and actions needed to achieve them.
• Personal Development Plan – Opportunities for Development This template combines short- and long-term goal setting with a self-assessment of strengths, weaknesses, and development opportunities.
• Personal Development Plan – Ideal Self In this PDP template , we focus on our vision of how our ideal self looks and setting goals to get there.

“The setting of a goal becomes the catalyst that drives the remainder of the coaching conversation.”

Passmore, 2021, p. 80

Defining goals and objectives is crucial to many coaching conversations and is usually seen as essential for personal development.

Check out this video on how you can design your life with your personal goals in mind.

The following coaching templates are helpful, containing a series of questions to complete Whitmore’s (2009) GROW model :

• G stands for Goal : Where do you want to be?
• R stands for Reality : Where are you right now with this goal?
• O stands for Options : What are some options for reaching your goal?
• W stands for Way forward : What is your first step forward?

Goal setting creates both direction and motivation for clients to work toward achieving something and meeting their objectives (Passmore, 2021).

The SMART goal-setting framework is another popular tool inside coaching and elsewhere.

S = Specific M = Measurable A = Attainable/ or Agreed upon R = Realistic T = Timely – allowing enough time for achievement

The SMART+ Goals Worksheet contains a series of prompts and spaces for answers to define goals and capture the steps toward achieving them.

We can summarize the five principles of goal setting (Passmore, 2021) as follows:

• Goals must be clear and not open to interpretation.
• Goals should be stretching yet achievable.
• Clients must buy in to the goal from the outset.
• Feedback is essential to keep the client on track.
• Goals should be relatively straightforward. We can break down complex ones into manageable subgoals.

The following insightful articles are also helpful for setting and working toward goals.

• What Is Goal Setting and How to Do it Well
• The Science & Psychology of Goal-Setting 101

1. People skills

Improving how we work with others benefits confidence, and with other’s support, we are more likely to achieve our objectives and goals. The following people skills can all be improved upon:

• Developing rapport
• Assertiveness and negotiation
• Giving and receiving constructive criticism

2. Managing tasks and problem-solving

Inevitably, we encounter challenges on our path to development and growth. Managing our activities and time and solving issues as they surface are paramount.

Here are a few guidelines to help you manage:

• Organize time and tasks effectively.
• Learn fundamental problem-solving strategies.
• Select and apply problem-solving strategies to tackle more complex tasks and challenges.
• Develop planning skills, including identifying priorities, setting achievable targets, and finding practical solutions.
• Acquire skills relevant to project management.
• Familiarize yourself with concepts such as performance indicators and benchmarking.
• Conduct self-audits to assess and enhance your personal competitiveness.

3. Cultivate confidence in your creative abilities

Confidence energizes our performance. Knowing we can perform creatively encourages us to develop novel solutions and be motivated to transform.

Consider the following:

• Understand the fundamentals of how the mind works to enhance your thinking skills.
• Explore a variety of activities to sharpen your creative thinking.
• Embrace the belief that creativity is not limited to artists and performers but is crucial for problem-solving and task completion.
• Learn to ignite the spark of creativity that helps generate innovative ideas when needed.
• Apply creative thinking techniques to enhance your problem-solving and task completion abilities.
• Recognize the role of creative thinking in finding the right ideas at the right time.

To aid you in building your confidence, we have a whole category of articles focused on Optimism and Mindset . Be sure to browse it for confidence-building inspiration.

With new techniques and technology, our understanding of the human brain continues to evolve. Identifying the vital elements involved in learning and connecting with others offers deep insights into how we function and develop as social beings. We handpicked a small but unique selection of books we believe you will enjoy.

1. The Coaching Manual: The Definitive Guide to the Process, Principles and Skills of Personal Coaching – Julie Starr

This insightful book explores and explains the coaching journey from start to finish.

Starr’s book offers a range of free resources and gives clear guidance to support new and existing coaches in providing practical help to their clients.

Find the book on Amazon .

2. The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level – Gay Hendricks

Delving into the “zone of genius” and the “zone of excellence,” Hendricks examines personal growth and our path to personal success.

This valuable book explores how we eliminate the barriers to reaching our goals that arise from false beliefs and fears.

3. The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are – Brené Brown

Brown, a leading expert on shame, vulnerability, and authenticity, examines how we can engage with the world from a place of worthiness.

Use this book to learn how to build courage and compassion and realize the behaviors, skills, and mindset that lead to personal development.

We have many resources available for fostering personal development and supporting client transformation and growth.

Our free resources include:

• Goal Planning and Achievement Tracker This is a valuable worksheet for capturing and reflecting on weekly goals while tracking emotions that surface.
• Adopt a Growth Mindset Successful change is often accompanied by replacing a fixed mindset with a growth one .
• FIRST Framework Questions Understanding a client’s developmental stage can help offer the most appropriate support for a career change.

More extensive versions of the following tools are available with a subscription to the Positive Psychology Toolkit© , but they are described briefly below:

• Backward Goal Planning

Setting goals can build confidence and the skills for ongoing personal development.

Backward goal planning helps focus on the end goal, prevent procrastination, and decrease stress by ensuring we have enough time to complete each task.

Try out the following four simple steps:

• Step one – Identify and visualize your end goal.
• Step two – Reflect on and capture the steps required to reach the goal.
• Step three – Focus on each step one by one.
• Step four – Take action and record progress.
• Boosting Motivation by Celebrating Micro Successes

Celebrating the small successes on our journey toward our goals is motivating and confidence building.

Practice the following:

• Step one – Reflect momentarily on the goal you are working toward.
• Step two – Consider each action being taken to reach that goal.
• Step three – Record the completion of each action as a success.
• Step four – Choose how to celebrate each success.

If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others reach their goals, check out this collection of 17 validated motivation & goal achievement tools for practitioners . Use them to help others turn their dreams into reality by applying the latest science-based behavioral change techniques.

Personal development has a rich and long history. It is underpinned by various psychological theories and remains a vital aspect of creating fulfilling lives inside and outside coaching and counseling.

For many of us, self-improvement, self-awareness, and personal growth are vital aspects of who we are. Coaching can provide a vehicle to help clients along their journey, supporting their sense of autonomy and confidence and highlighting their potential (Cox, 2018).

Working with clients, therefore, requires an open, honest, and supportive relationship. The coach or counselor must believe the client can achieve better results and view them nonjudgmentally as equal partners.

Personal development plans become essential to that relationship and the overall coaching process. They capture areas for development, skills and behaviors required, and goals and objectives to work toward.

Use this article to recognize theoretical elements from psychology that underpin the process and use the skills, guidance, and worksheets to support personal development in clients, helping them remove obstacles along the way.

Ultimately, personal development is a lifelong process that boosts wellbeing and flourishing and creates a richer, more engaging environment for the individual and those around them.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Goal Achievement Exercises for free .

Personal development is vital, as it enables individuals to enhance various aspects of their lives, including emotional wellbeing, relationships, careers, and overall happiness.

It promotes self-awareness, self-improvement, and personal growth, helping individuals reach their full potential and lead fulfilling lives (Passmore, 2021; Starr, 2021).

Personal development is the journey we take to improve ourselves through conscious habits and activities and focusing on the goals that are important to us.

Personal development goals are specific objectives individuals set to improve themselves and their lives. Goals can encompass various areas, such as emotional intelligence, skill development, health, and career advancement, providing direction and motivation for personal growth (Cox, 2018; Starr, 2021).

A personal development plan typically comprises defining the area of development, setting development objectives, identifying behaviors to develop, planning actions for progress, and establishing completion dates. These five stages help individuals clarify their goals and track their progress (Starr, 2021).

• Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory . Prentice-Hall.
• Beck, A. T., & Haigh, E. P. (2014). Advances in cognitive therapy and therapy: The generic cognitive model. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology , 10 , 1–24.
• Beck, J. S. (2011). Cognitive behavior therapy: Basics and beyond . Guilford Press.
• Cottrell, S. (2015). Skills for success: Personal development and employability . Bloomsbury Academic.
• Cox, E. (2018). The complete handbook of coaching . SAGE.
• Ellis, A. (2000). Can rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) be effectively used with people who have devout beliefs in God and religion? Professional Psychology-Research and Practice , 31 (1), 29–33.
• Erikson, E. H. (1963). Youth: Change and challenge . Basic Books.
• Illeris, K. (2018). An overview of the history of learning theory. European Journal of Education , 53 (1), 86–101.
• Lomas, T., Hefferon, K., & Ivtzan, I. (2014). Applied positive psychology: Integrated positive practice . SAGE.
• Maslow, A. H. (1970). Motivation and personalit y (2nd ed.). Harper & Row.
• Passmore, J. (Ed.). (2021). The coaches’ handbook: The complete practitioner guide for professional coaches . Routledge.
• Piaget, J. (1959): The Psychology of intelligence . Routledge.
• Rose, C. (2018). The personal development group: The students’ guide . Routledge.
• Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2018). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness . Guilford Press.
• Seligman, M. E. (2011). Authentic happiness using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfillment . Nicholas Brealey.
• Starr, J. (2021). The coaching manual: The definitive guide to the process, principles and skills of personal coaching . Harlow: Pearson Education.
• Whitmore, J. (2009). Coaching for performance . Nicholas Brealey.

Share this article:

Article feedback

Let us know your thoughts cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Related articles

Personal Development Goals: Helping Your Clients Succeed

In the realm of personal development, individuals often seek to enhance various aspects of their lives, striving for growth, fulfillment, and self-improvement. As coaches and [...]

How to Perform Somatic Coaching: 9 Best Exercises

Our bodies are truly amazing and hold a wellspring of wisdom which, when tapped into, can provide tremendous benefits. Somatic coaching acknowledges the intricate connection [...]

Training in Lifestyle Coaching: 8 Best Certifications and Courses

What makes the Wizard of Oz storyline so compelling? Maybe it’s that we relate to Dorothy’s struggle and her feelings of being stuck, lost, and [...]

Read other articles by their category

• Body & Brain (47)
• Coaching & Application (57)
• Compassion (26)
• Counseling (51)
• Emotional Intelligence (24)
• Gratitude (18)
• Grief & Bereavement (21)
• Happiness & SWB (40)
• Meaning & Values (26)
• Meditation (20)
• Mindfulness (45)
• Motivation & Goals (45)
• Optimism & Mindset (34)
• Positive CBT (27)
• Positive Communication (20)
• Positive Education (47)
• Positive Emotions (31)
• Positive Leadership (16)
• Positive Psychology (33)
• Positive Workplace (35)
• Productivity (16)
• Relationships (48)
• Resilience & Coping (34)
• Self Awareness (20)
• Self Esteem (37)
• Strengths & Virtues (30)
• Stress & Burnout Prevention (34)
• Theory & Books (46)
• Therapy Exercises (37)
• Types of Therapy (64)

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

• We're Hiring!
• Help Center

Reflective Practice and Personal Development in Counselling and Psychotherapy. 2nd ed.

Reflective practice is a vital part of your counselling and psychotherapy training and practice. This book is your go-to introduction to what it is, why it is important, and how to use different models for reflection and reflective practice to enhance your work with clients. It will support your personal development and professional development throughout your counselling training and into your practice.

Related Papers

Sofie Bager-Charleson

Therapists as Research-informed Practitioners (TRP) Metanoia Institute, London. Chair: Dr Sofie Bager-Charleson [email protected] Research team: Dr Sofie Bager-Charleson, Dr Alistair McBeath, Professor Simon du Plock, Dr Biljana can Rijn, Dr Marie Adams and Alan McPherson, Metanoia Institute There is an increased emphasis on research in the field of counselling and psychotherapy. Previous studies* suggest however a strained relationship between psychotherapy research and psychotherapy practice, with therapists often mentioned at the margins of the research community. The TRP group has developed in response to this critique, focusing on opportunities for psychotherapists and counselling psychologists to develop into confident research practitioners. An overarching aim of the group is to contribute to a deeper understanding of how therapists experience the transition from therapists to researchers. What are the opportunities and obstacles, personally, professionally, and academically? The TRP aims to enhance research training for counsellors, psychotherapists, and counselling psychologists by providing learning and professional development events, supporting research and best-practice developments, and making policy recommendations to promote effective and sustainable research training for therapists.

EJQRP (2020) Vol. 10, 93-109

Sofie Bager-Charleson , marie adams

Mental health and emotional wellbeing are notoriously difficult to research and understand. Psychotherapy plays a significant role in generating new knowledge in the field. This study offers a meta-synthesis of earlier published, primary research reports into therapists' experience of and involvement in postgraduate research. Meta-synthesis is an approach of synthesising findings from different studies to enable deeper understanding about a research topic. The synthesis involved 're-searching' and reviewing three studies previously published by the authors in response to an upcoming conference about postgraduate research with a new, transdisciplinary audience focusing on identity, access and opportunity when transitioning to postgraduate research. Our meta-synthesis followed three analytic phases, namely revisiting and reviewing the original findings (meta-data analysis), considering the original methods (metamethod and metatheory phase) and discussing, comparing and contrasting the primary research to create understandings (the synthesis phase). The new interpretations highlighted a loss of self, a re-positioning or attempt to understand self in new contexts, and a newly emerging, integrated (transformed) sense of self across personal, professional, and educational contexts. The synthesis suggests further that researchers in the field of therapy often are particularly disadvantaged in terms of having few professional research opportunities and limited access to academic journals. Our synthesis highlights room for improvement in postgraduate research to support diversity, access, and opportunity.

CPR Journal

References are frequently made to a strained relationship between therapeutic practice and research. This study has developed in response this critique. Our aim has been to explore therapists’ views on the relationship between research and clinical practice within a mixed-methods framework, drawing from a survey (n=92) distributed within and outside of the UK, and coupled with interviews (n=9). Both the survey and the interviews were guided by some of the following questions: What sort of relationship do therapists feel that they have with research? What amount of formal research training do therapists have? To what extent do therapists feel that their own research is valued? To what extent does research inform therapists’ clinical practice? Both the survey and the interviews suggested a sense of ‘homelessness’ for researchers in the field of therapy. Obstacles were referred to within and outside the therapeutic community. Some referred to little training and many felt unsupported among colleagues and employers when pursuing research. One therapist said: ‘The scientists and researchers I work with; they know they have a career in research – you get rewarded and promoted. That kind of recognition doesn’t exist in therapy’. To meet the increased requirements of research-supported practice the study suggests that more systematic efforts are required to support psychotherapists’ engagement in research activities.

There is an increased emphasis on research in the field of counselling and psychotherapy. Previous studies* suggest however a strained relationship between psychotherapy research and psychotherapy practice, with therapists often mentioned at the margins of the research community. The TRP group has developed in response to this critique, focusing on opportunities for psychotherapists and counselling psychologists to develop into confident research practitioners. An overarching aim of the group is to contribute to a deeper understanding of how therapists experience the transition from therapists to researchers. What are the opportunities and obstacles, personally, professionally, and academically? The TRP aims to enhance research training for counsellors, psychotherapists, and counselling psychologists by providing learning and professional development events, supporting research and best-practice developments, and making policy recommendations to promote effective and sustainable research training for therapists. This is a report of completed research so far.

Language and Psychoanalysis

Sofie Bager-Charleson , Jean-Marc Dewaele , Beverley Costa

Therapists are often unprepared to deal with their clients' use of other languages. This study focuses on therapists' experiences of having undertaken awareness-raising training about multilingualism. Did the training impact their practice? If so, in what areas? Adopting a mixed-method approach, quantitative data were initially collected via an online questionnaire with 88 therapy trainees and qualified therapists who underwent training in multilingualism, combined with interview data from 7 volunteers. Having identified the issues on which the training had had most and least impact in survey responses, the interviews were guided by our emergent interest into the impact of the training with potential relational complexities and unique, personal experiences in mind. A narrative-thematic analysis uncovered interrelated themes, relation to changes, or impact of the training, with regard to Identity and Therapeutic Theory Therapists referred to considerable transformative learning on both a personal and professional level, for instance in terms of how multilingual clients might bring different and sometimes conflicting ways of organizing events and experiences into meaningful wholes through their narratives during the session. Language switching seemed less significant in the survey, but emerged as a central theme in the interviews, especially with regard to the possibility of addressing, challenging and sometimes combining different emotional memories, cultural and existential concerns. Working across these areas triggered some therapists to consider the need for expanding their theory.

Alistair McBeath

Research frequently addresses a gap between practice and research in the field of psychotherapy. Castonguay et al (2010) suggest that the practice of many full-time psychotherapists is rarely or nonsubstantially influenced by research. Boisvert and Faust (2005) ask ‘why do psychotherapists not rely on the research to consistently inform their practice?’ and suggest that concerns ‘have echoed through the decades’ about psychotherapists’ failings to integrate of research and practice. This study focuses on therapists’ (counsellors and psychotherapists) reasoning about their engagement with ‘research’ as described in dissertations and in personal, anonymously presented documents, research journals and interviews included. The study focuses on the stages which generally are referred to as ‘data analysis’, which in this study refers research stages where interpretation typically is required with synthesising and analysing in mind. Turning our attention to the therapists’ ‘narrative knowi...

Alistair McBeath , Avigail Abarbanel

The views and feelings of psychotherapists around academic writing were explored using a mixed methods approach. An on-line survey completed by 222 psychotherapists produced both quantitative and qualitative data with the latter being subject to a Reflexive Thematic Analysis. Significant numbers of participants lacked confidence about participating in academic writing. Fear of rejection, not being good enough and not knowing what is required were prominent underlying factors. Current academic writing was viewed as overly intellectual, not focused on clinical practice and the preserve of academics and not practicing therapists. Difficulty in accessing academic material lying behind pay walls was another factor limiting participation in academic writing as well as a lack of formal support. Clinical relevance and clarity of expression were viewed as the key factors of good academic writing. There was overwhelming support for academic writing to be a core skill taught in formal psychoth...

Dr Biljana van Rijn

A naturalistic sessional evaluation of routine outcomes of psychotherapy from a range of theoretical orientations including transactional analysis, using standardised measures for depression, anxiety, general distress and working alliance, was conducted across completed therapy interventions by 113 therapists with 263 clients within an academic institution in the UK and across stages of therapy by 10 therapists with 26 clients in three independent clinics in Spain. Outcomes in both countries demonstrated clinical gains but it was found that such evaluation methodology was more easily applied within a training institute than in private practice; it also appeared to better fit the UK professional climate of evaluation. Suggestions are made concerning the introduction of such research in future.

RELATED PAPERS

Laura A. Cariola , Dianne Hunter , Marie-Mathilde Dupont-Leclerc , Chin Li

European Journal for Qualitative Research in Psychotherapy

Alan McPherson

Laura A. Cariola , Dianne Hunter

Counselling and Psychotherapy Research 2018;00:1–10.

Jean-Marc Dewaele , Beverley Costa

British Journal of Guidance & Counselling

Jane Cronin-Davis

Dagmar Edwards

Jeannie Wright

Language and Psychotherapy

Jean-Marc Dewaele

Sofie Bager-Charleson , Alistair McBeath

Carolyn Jess-Cooke

Journal of International Buddhist Studies

Sanu Mahatthanadull

ATOL: Art Therapy OnLine

Dave Edwards

The Change Process in Psychotherapy During Troubling times

Tree Staunton

Jill Buckeldee

Madeleine De little

Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy

Bethany Paterson

Bethan Jones

Behavioural and …

Claire Mitchell

International Journal of Transactional Analysis Research

Charlotte Sills

ANKWASIIZE EVARIST

http://blogs.bbk.ac.uk/research/2021/01/27/how-words-can-misfire-in-a-foreign-language-a-look-at-the-impact-of-our-research-on-the-role-of-multilingualism-in-psychotherapy/

James Bennett-Levy

Martin Milton

Sandra Taylor

Published in S. Bager-Charleson (ed.), A reflexive approach. Doing practice-based research in therapy. London: Sage

Design for Personalisation

Sarah Kettley

Abubakar Ameir Mtuka

BACP Research Conference paper

Elizabeth du Preez

Journal of Counseling & Development

European Journal of Counselling Theory, Research and Practice

veronika basa

The European Journal of Counselling Psychology

Maria Malikiosi-Loizos

RELATED TOPICS

•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024

Home — Essay Samples — Life — Personal Growth and Development — Personal Development Journey: Practices Learned in Counseling

Personal Development Journey: Practices Learned in Counseling

• Categories: Counseling Personal Development Planning Personal Growth and Development

About this sample

Words: 1851 |

10 min read

Published: Aug 31, 2023

Words: 1851 | Pages: 4 | 10 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, exploring personal development in counseling, core conditions and helping relationships, works cited.

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Dr. Karlyna PhD

Verified writer

• Expert in: Psychology Life

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

3 pages / 1184 words

1 pages / 676 words

3 pages / 1206 words

7 pages / 3125 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Personal Growth and Development

Kohlberg, Lawrence. 'The Philosophy of Moral Development: Moral Stages and the Idea of Justice.' Harper & Row, 1981.Rest, James R. 'Development in Judging Moral Issues.' University of Minnesota, 1979.Turiel, Elliot. 'The [...]

Participating in an externship is a pivotal moment in one's academic and professional journey. In this essay, I will delve into my own externship experience, highlighting its significance in my growth and development. Through my [...]

In the pursuit of personal development, there exists a powerful yet paradoxical notion: getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. This essay delves into the concept of stepping out of one's comfort zone and the [...]

Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning By Doing.Cottrell, S. (2015). Skills For Success: The Personal Development Planning Handbook, Third Edition. Palgrave Macmillan.White, E. R., & Cooper, J. E. (2017). Research on educational leadership [...]

An ideal person is one who is ideal in respect of physical and emotional balance, behavior and attitude, moral values, personality. In practical life, the combination of all these fine characteristics is very rarely found in any [...]

Dealing with an abusive father, vicious dogs, being chased by a crowd of angry southerners are among the many obstacles Huck Finn faces in his journey to personal salvation, but more explicitly, the saving of his friend Jim. [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

• Find My Rep

You are here

Personal Development in Counselling and Psychotherapy

• Sofie Bager-Charleson - Metanoia Institute
• Description

This has been a valuable resource in supporting counselling certificate students in understanding the vital significance of the personal development of the therapist. The chapter focussing on 'trust and support for personal and professional growth' stimulated a particularly useful exercise for students involving application of the ethical principles of counselling and psychotherapy to themselves eg Am I being true to myself?(Fidelity). The chapter on 'reflective writing' was used to help students to think about ways that they might explore personal and course material in their learning journals. The 'therapeutic journey across cultural and linguistic borderlands' assisted exploration of working with difference in the therapeutic relationship. A useful resource for students and tutors.

Good book for exploring what personal development means/entails in counselling training. Will be recommending.

I have passed this text to the tutor who facilitates the experiential group ... very welcome and useful addition as there is a lack of material from this perspective.

Whilst personal development is often held up as the lynchpin of counselling development courses at level 4 and above there are comparatively few texts which provide a systematic and well-researched overview of what this is and how it may be effectively undertaken. Bager-Charleson's latest work does that and will be essential reading on BACP-accredited and other courses

This is a brilliant book! I am recommending it for my students because it clearly links reflective and reflexive practice and challenges practitioners to think creatively.

Preview this book

For instructors.

Please select a format:

Select a Purchasing Option

• Electronic Order Options VitalSource Amazon Kindle Google Play eBooks.com Kobo

Related Products

• Free Samples
• Premium Essays
• Editing Services Editing Proofreading Rewriting
• Extra Tools Essay Topic Generator Thesis Generator Citation Generator GPA Calculator Study Guides Donate Paper
• Essay Writing Help
• About Us About Us Testimonials FAQ
• Studentshare
• Personal Development in Counselling Training

Personal Development in Counselling Training - Essay Example

• Subject: Psychology
• Type: Essay
• Level: Masters
• Pages: 5 (1250 words)
• Downloads: 10
• Author: derdman

Extract of sample "Personal Development in Counselling Training"

• 19 propositions of carl rogers
• Carl Rogers
• Know Thyself
• Cited: 7 times
• Copy Citation Citation is copied Copy Citation Citation is copied Copy Citation Citation is copied

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Personal Development in Counselling Training

Careers in psychology, human resources training manager, group counseling observation, training employees as a cashier, mindset: the new science of personal transformation.

• TERMS & CONDITIONS
• PRIVACY POLICY
• COOKIES POLICY

Remember me?

Personal Development Counselling

The personal development of individuals has various ways of manifesting. It takes a different meaning depending on each individual’s life circumstances. Working towards personal development involves overcoming psychological, emotional and/or background obstacles. It makes us grow and leave behind past attitudes that were keeping us stuck in a place instead of getting ahead in our lives. It makes us feel alive and vibrant, willing to try new things and increase our self-confidence.

When you start to discover how to see things from a different perspective, it becomes possible to grow and move forward. From time to time we all get stuck in chronic situations and viewpoints that create suffering. We can’t see other perspectives, consider new ideas or create movement from it. We cannot see a solution for a problem that seems to be existential. However, there is always a way. Through finding new meanings and changing our behaviour, we change the way we feel about others, the future and ourselves. There are various ways to achieve this. In this blog, we will focus on a specific way of achieving personal change.

How does it look like to work towards Personal Development Counselling?

You can choose the areas of your life you want to focus for your development. You may choose these areas because you are not satisfied where you are and you want to do better. The goals for personal development are usually related to:

• Mental health (i.e.: depression, anxiety, anger)
• Career: a sense of dissatisfaction related to current status in one’s own career
• Personal Relationships: friendships and romantic
• Family relationships
• Self-esteem/Self-confidence
• Education: desire to get a degree or change program
• Health/Exercise/Nutrition

What is a personal development Counselling plan?

For a busy working person, personal development may involve spending time doing activities to refresh and replenish their energy, to feel alive again instead of feeling the sense of doom that comes from rushing to meet deadlines and demands. For example, it could mean to start spending time in nature, doing exercise, meditation and finding time to see friends.

For a grieving individual, it could be to be able to find new meaning to the loss, internalize the good memories of the loved one and be able establish relationships with others and feel they have the right to be excited and happy again after the loss.

For a an individual with a mental health disorder, it could be to live their life based on his/her values rather than on the impulses of their mood swings and dysfunctional behaviour. In terms of goals this could be to replace the yelling at family members with going for a walk or to be compassionate to others instead of aggressive.

A plan for personal development consists of 5 steps.

• What is your goal? What would you like to achieve?

For example: I want to have more time to stop living in automatic pilot and enjoy my life. I want to be present in the midst of my busy schedule and daily responsibilities.

• Where are you now in terms of your goal?

What are you currently doing or not doing in this area?

In our example: I spend most time working, get home tired with no energy to play with my kids.              Don’t see my friends much and feel a bit isolated. Feel anxious with all the workload.

• Play with my children 30 minutes a day
• Walk 30 minutes a day
• Meet with friends twice a week, for coffee or lunch
• Do 20 minutes of meditation daily

Identify some of the small steps you can take in order to advance towards your goal.

You can plan to increase your steps daily, weekly, biweekly or with the frequency that you feel is realistic for you. If you are planning to introduce a new habit into your life, it’s easier to start with a short period of time but do it daily and increase time as the days go by. Each new day of practice will usually feel easier to do the new activity than the day before. You can use this method for studying, exercising, working and any activity you would like to start doing.

GOALS: Goals have to be SMART.

Smart stands for:

S PECIFIC: one at a time (play 30 minutes a day with my children)

M EASURABLE: 30 minutes a day by the end of the month

A CHIEVABLE: Can you accomplish this change in 2 weeks or do you need a month to adjust your schedule? Plan for success. Better slower but sure.

R EALISTIC: Can you make 30 minutes a day to devote completely to your children? If the answer is no, go for 10 minutes.

T IME LIMITED: Want to try this for a month and see how it goes? Maybe after a month, you want to try a different way of bonding with your children and take them out twice a week or create a special family tradition to do over dinner such as talking about what made them happy during the day.

If you feel excited about working towards your personal development, go for it! Start by identifying the areas in your life that you could do better by your own standards and values. Then define your goal. You can have goals for different areas of your life such as family relationships, career, free time, etc.

Then go through the SMART goals plan to define them. Plan a series of steps to get from where you are now to where you want to be.

Start taking the steps one at a time. Enjoy your personal development!

CBT Psychology For Personal Development has an experienced Vaughan Psychologists who work with of child therapy .

Related Articles

•   individual therapy
• Mindfulness Meditation Resources

Book an appointment today. Written By: Dr. Silvina Galperin PhD, C. Psych.

About Dr Silvina Galperin

Dr. Silvina Galperin is a Clinical and Counselling Psychologist and the founder and director of CBT Psychology for Personal Development in Thornhill, Ontario.

You also might be interested in

7 Things you can do to Manage your Anger

We all know what anger feels like. It’s that rage[...]

How Do I Know If My Teen Needs Counselling?

Do you remember your teen years? You know, that time[...]

Procrastination: How To Be More Productive

I’ve always been a productive student, but over the course[...]

Reasons for Treatment

Treatments we use, types of sessions, find us here.

Find us here

• CBT Psychology for Personal Development
• 7626 Yonge St, Thornhill, ON L4J 1V9
• 905-597-4404
• info@cbtpsychology.com

Fresh from our blog

• A Journey to Joy: Overcoming Anxiety in Pregnancy
• From Worry to Wellness: A Guide to Managing Anxiety During Pregnancy
• From Darkness to Light: One Mother’s Journey through Postpartum Depression
• The Strength to Reach Out: Overcoming the Stigma of Postpartum Depression

For tips and news sign up to our newsletter

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Social Anxiety Disorder

Phobia Treatment

Separation Anxiety Disorder

CBT for Adults

CBT for Children

Paranoid Personality Disorder

Schizotypal Personality Disorder

Schizoid Personality Disorder

Antisocial Personality Disorder

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD)

• Terms and Conditions
• Privacy Policy

10 Tips for Composing an Impactful Personal Development Counselling Essay

Answering what to include in your personal development counselling essay is a tough job. A lot has happened in this field: the increasing popularity of tech-driven gadgets, person-centred growth platforms, and new effective counselling skills, the personal development market is expected to experience a high growth rate.

A Research and Markets report estimates that the global personal development industry shall reach USD 67.02 billion growing at a CAGR of 5.5% in 2030.

Particularly millennials are always committed to some sort of self-improvement program. Forbes reported that 94% of millennials remarked that they could spend nearly $300 each month on their personal development.

Isn’t it quite hard to find time for academic activities when you are so invested in participating in self-care programs? You can either concentrate on your academic responsibilities as a full-time student or attend your development circle gatherings.

But, there is one way you can write stellar personal development counselling essays effortlessly and that is when you hire professional essay writers online from best essay writing agencies. Showing your personal development progress in an essay is not easy, and students often need a helping hand to seek assistance with the task.

We have provided you with some tips on how to manage the core conditions of your personal development counselling essays in this article. Let’s start by defining the field.

Source: platfformwellbeing.com

What is Personal Development Counselling?

1. make it seem natural, 2. vary your writing style, 3. make use of transitions, 4. write in a direct manner, 5. make use of thesaurus, 6. avoid passive voice, 7. ensure a logical sequence, 8. check the grammar, 9. avoid weak filler words, 10. revise your essay, what is the importance of counselling for personal development, personal development counselling essay examples, personal development counselling essay topics 2024.

Personal development counselling is the way to go for all the people who want to enhance their self-awareness or want to explore one’s self. Per the definition of CBT Psychology for Personal Development , it provides one-on-one sessions and therapeutic help to clients that apply to their academic, personal, social, financial, and psychological issues.

Personality development and a person-centred approach (Carl Rogers 1957) are of vital importance in this domain. Quest Psychology Services provides his approach based on congruence, empathy and unconditional positive regard in this way.

How Do You Write a Personal Development Counselling Essay?

The top ten tips to follow when writing essays on personal development counselling are the following:

Source: freepik.com

Most students tense up when it comes to writing their essays on personal development psychology. You can loosen up the tension if you think of your essay as a simple conversation that is going to happen between you and your reader. When you write naturally, your ideas flow. Make your essay writing seem natural and your audience shall successfully relate to your journey of personal growth.

You can add interest to your personal development counselling essay by writing simple, compound and complex sentences. Do not use all your essay sentences of the same length. Instead, it shall be better if you occasionally write a short sentence and then later proceed with the longer ones.

Transitions help a writer establish logical links between different sections of an essay and help him introduce new ideas in the work. When you are transitioning to a new topic, it shall be good to use transition sentences or phrases. They help you explain your perspective better while still not cutting ties with the previous information presented in the essay.

In your paper, explain your personal therapy and life experiences in a concise and straightforward manner. For instance, your personal development counselling essay introduction should directly state the aims and objectives of your research. There should be no beating around the bush when you are crafting your essay.

When you seek alternatives to over-used words in your essay, you add variety to the prose of your work. Also, your essay on professional development and counselling training does not seem repetitive or boring this way. Using a thesaurus is advisable in cases when you want to avoid repeating the same word throughout your essay.

Shorter sentences not only help readers understand the content better but also give more room to the writer to offer the evidence to the audience in an understandable way. We do not say that you stop using passive voice totally in your work, but the number of such sentences should be kept at a minimum. Use your judgment for each situation and write accordingly.

Source: cdmginc.com

Your personal development counselling essay structure must be clear and definite. All the sections should be linked to each other and there should be a sense of logical connection among all the paragraphs that you write. The content you curate for your research should be taken from credible sources only.

When you are checking the grammar of your essay discussing the importance of personal development in counselling and psychotherapy, do not solely rely on online grammar-checking programs.

Grammarly is widely acknowledged as a wonderful grammar-checking tool but use it with caution. Review its suggestions manually and apply only if you think the sentence suggested by Grammarly makes sense.

The filler words are so easy to use but they are quite useless. Words like ‘rather’, ‘‘quiet’’, ‘probably’ and more can be used to meet the word count requirements but they make your overall essay seem ambiguous. So, delete all such phrases that flatten your prose and make your essay shine by refining its quality.

Source: canva.com

The last thing that remains to do is the revision of your essay on the personal development topics. Once you have finished writing it, leave your essay for some time. Come back to edit it when you have relaxed for a while and are in a fresh mental state. This way, you shall be able to fix any existing mistakes in the work you crafted.

Getting counselling or therapy can help you achieve your self-development goals. It provides you with an opportunity to gain insight into yourself and get personal gains with the help of trained and experienced therapists. For some people, this self-development counselling is about improvement in the areas of their lives. When you get the counselling sessions from a trained expert, you understand yourself really better.

When writing essays for personal development counselling, highlight the importance of therapeutic relationships, sufficient conditions of therapeutic personality,

To provide you with the required personal development counselling essay help, here are some examples to study during the research and writing process:

• Describe the impact of pets on the emotional and social development of human children.
• Provide a longitudinal study of cognitive development as observed in children who come from diverse backgrounds in the United Kingdom.
• Discuss the role COVID-19 played in the deterioration of the emotional and social development of children.

Source: medium.com

Some personal development counselling essay ideas to choose for writing your essay and getting good grades are as follows:

• Highlight the impact of peer pressure on risk-taking behaviours as seen in the youth of a country.
• Describe the ways in which the age of social media is influencing language development in children. Also provides a comparative investigation of the language development between Generation Y and Generation Z .
• Examine the influence of the birth order on the personality development of individuals in a society.
• Provide the readers with a systematic review of the resilience that is shown while facing adversity in childhood.
• Highlight the role of technology in the promotion of early education trends of children and describe the impact of peer relationships on the psychological well-being of teenagers.

Self-improvement is a journey that continues throughout one’s life. Life has its ups and downs, but when you have the right skill set, you can deal with all sorts of uncertainties. Similarly, if you have the right writing skills, you can demonstrate your perspectives to your audience clearly in your personal development counselling essay. Pick a trendy topic for your work and complete your research work on such a topic.

You come across different obstacles when writing your papers, seek assistance from your friends, supervisors, and most importantly, a professional essay writing service online . The latter is always the best because professional writers craft excellent papers for you that are tailored to your needs and help you achieve your desired results.

Lana is a dedicated writer and Editor in Chief of TheFrisky, who has been with us from the beginning. Her diverse range of interests, from technology and business to health and wellness, allows her to bring a fresh perspective to each topic she covers.

How to Stay Ahead in the Betting Game with Winning Strategies

Exploring the benefits and risks of free vpn downloads, related posts, 7 habits to enter your productive and thriving..., essay writing challenges: how students can overcome common..., enhancing your vocabulary for more impactful essays.

• Relationships
• Entertainment

Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy