My Beliefs, Values, and Clinical Gestalt with Individual’s and Systems
Jerra K. Roberts
University of Phoenix

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY: I certify that the attached paper, which was produced for the class identified above, is my original work and has not previously been submitted by me or by anyone else for any class. I further declare that I have cited all sources from which I used language, ideas and information, whether quoted verbatim or paraphrased, and that any and all assistance of any kind, which I received while producing this paper, has been acknowledged in the References section. This paper includes no trademarked material, logos, or images from the Internet, which I do not have written permission to include. I further agree that my name typed on the line below is intended to have, and shall have the same validity as my handwritten signature. Student's signature (name typed here is equivalent to a signature): ___Jerra K. Roberts
________________________ ___

My Beliefs, Values and Clinical Gestalt with Individual’s and Systems’ Clinicians working in the Human Service field have extremely challenging jobs. They must learn to balance their own beliefs with the client’s beliefs. This involves taking the clinicians’ personal values and experiences and putting them aside to determine what is the best treatment approach for the client. Recognizing my own identity will help me see how I fit in the community and with the clients who I interact with (Murphy & Dillon, 2011). People have multiple identities based on age, educational level, and socioeconomic class, and others (Murphy & Dillon, 2011). If I hold myself higher than the clients I help, then I will have a hard time connecting with them and showing an understanding of their issues. Understanding the identities of my clients as well as my own will only increase my knowledge and capacity to help others (Murphy & Dillon, 2011). Clients who I may interact with might fit certain stereotypes that as a clinician I should work hard to avoid. Stereotyping is something that I subconsciously do and need to work on improving. It is so easy when meeting a client for the first time to stereotype him or her and make treatment decisions based on that stereotype. Even by just reading the client’s information beforehand can cause him or her to fit a certain stereotyped group. I have learned that my personal beliefs and values indirectly influence the way I interact with clients. A few of my personal beliefs and values are, individuals should be self-sufficient as adults, hardworking, respect their elders, obey the law, be honest, do the right thing when confronted with issues, and love God. Clients who I interact with may not necessarily share these same beliefs. It is my job as a professional human service worker to contain those beliefs and values and respect those that clients might have. I must be open-minded, not pass judgment, and learn to be objective. Learning to be open-minded and objective are key qualities that I need to work on improving. Cultural diversity is another area that should be practiced in the clinical world. I have learned much about the difference in cultures and how this might affect the way a client interacts with me or the method of treatment that is chosen. Non-verbal communication is another area that I am learning to be more aware of when interacting with clients. Non-verbal communication is extremely important and often conveys stronger messages than spoken words. Learning to be more aware of particular body language, such as folding of the arms, smiles, nodding of the head, are all ways that I can improve my relationship with the client. I have determined after completing a self-assessment of my characteristics that I am a very helpful and nurturing individual. My experiences have created a sense of responsibility and desire to help others. These characteristics are important to a clinician and their relationship to clients. If someone does not have the desire to help others then they are not going to make a good clinician. My self-assessment has also helped me to determine that I need to make some changes in my attitude to be an even better clinician. The qualities that I need to practice and improve upon are patience, greater self-esteem, increased positive attitude, and greater confidence. Improving these characteristics will help me better understand and help clients when they have needs. Many things influence the way we make decisions as clinicians. The context or circumstances of the issue, our values, our principles, and ethical systems that we choose to follow (Access Excellence, n.d.). Learning to be aware of what these things are and how our client thinks will improve the degree that we are able to help him or her.

As a clinician I work with a variety of clients. Sometimes I may find a client to be difficult to work with because of his or her particular problem, history, or perception of things. Gaining more knowledge and understanding of the issue is the key to building the relationship where her or she will trust me and begin to communicate openly. One of the hardest things to accept as a clinician is that I cannot change everyone’s beliefs or perceptions about things, even if they are not rational. Learning to listen carefully and deal with the problems at hand instead of focusing on issues that we cannot control or change is an important lesson that I have determined I need practice in. Clinical gestalt is the practice of making clinical decisions and designing solutions without all the information (Cook, n.d.). Clinical gestalt can cause errors on the part of the clinician when used independently. Clinicians may attempt to base a decision on something similar, available, confirmatory, illusory, or overconfidence. Using these methods can affect the true findings and the rational aspect of the decision making phase (Cook, n.d.). Getting the clients to focus on what is happening in the present instead of what should or could be, or has been, is a form of Gestalt therapy (Yontef, 1993). Practicing this type of realization instead of attempting to make decisions based on assumptions without proper information will improve the quality of treatment for the client. Trying to treat someone based on a predetermined attitude is not in the client’s best interest. Reviewing my journal entries and reading the text has helped me gain a better understanding of the relationship between the clinician and the client. We must have a better understanding of ourselves to help others. Putting judgments aside and learning really to listen to the client is most important. A client’s history can be helpful when determining how to treat him or her, but it also can be harmful because it can cause the clinician to overlook clues about what is going on in the client’s present life. Clients are individuals with their beliefs and values, and we as clinicians must learn to respect those even if we do not agree with them. Learning to balance their treatment and my role as a clinician as well as respect cultural diversity will increase my chances of a successful relationship with the client. Learning to maintain control of the treatment process, not the client’s beliefs and thoughts and accepting that some things cannot be changed are issues that I must continue to work on to be a better clinician.

References
Access Excellence. (n.d.). Factors Influence The Way Decisions Are Made. Retrieved from http://www.accessexcellence.org/LC/SEK/BE/teachingc.php
Cook, Chad. (n.d.) Is Clinical Gestalt Good Enough? Journal of Manual and Manipulative Therapy, 17(1), 6-7.
Murphy, B.C. & Dillon, C. (2011). Interviewing in Action in a multicultural world. (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.
Yontef, Gary. (1993). Gestalt Therapy: An Introduction. Retrieved from http://www.gestalt.org/yontef.htm.