Recovery is a life long process and it is difficult for me to put into words what recovery means to me. Recovery, in short, means living a life worth living. It has given me so much I cannot express my gratitude. Tomorrow, 1/14/22, I will have 9 years clean in a 12 step recovery program. Through attending meetings, working with a sponsor on steps, developing a relationship with the God of my understanding, as well as giving back through service work is key to my recovery. I am currently enrolled in a masters program to become a mental health counselor and that’s dream is becoming a reality through my recovery. Thank you for this opportunity to apply for this scholarship!

Personal Rationale The reason I chose a career in professional counseling and am pursuing this through a master’s program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Southern New Hampshire University is due to personal issues with substance use in my past. I have wanted to be a substance use professional since my early twenties; however, I was unable to obtain this goal until the beginning of my thirties because I was unable to remain abstinent from the use of substances. I have now been a substance use counselor for almost five years and completed my bachelor’s program in the beginning of this year. In my bachelors’ program my professors would constantly ask how I was going to utilize my Bachelor of Arts degree. After speaking to numerous classmates, professors, supervisors, and mental health therapists I decided I want to further my career in counseling through becoming a professional counselor. I would like to help a bigger population in my community than just those who struggle with substances. This is a professional fit for me because I am passionate about helping others especially helping those who do not know how to help themselves because of mental illness. Personal Interests I believe I am a good fit for professional counseling due to most of the concepts and ideas from the text, Introduction to Professional Counseling, aligning with my personal ideas. I am currently working in the field of substance use counseling and wanting to further my career in professional counseling because I have had the opportunity to exhibit and practice some of these concepts such as a therapeutic alliance and microskills. The book discusses, “Therapeutic alliance comprises three important components of the relationship: counseling relationship, collaborative goals, and trust, which can bring about changes and help clients to achieve their goals. Needless to say, therapeutic alliance is critical to the treatment outcome (Sangganjanavanich and Reynolds, 2015).” I believe I have a solid understanding of how to build a good therapeutic alliance with some, if not most, of my clients helping them achieve sobriety and become productive members of society. Building this rapport with my clients comes extremely naturally to me and I utilize microskills that are mentioned in the book such as attending, listening, silence, restatement, reflection of feelings, summarizing, and probing (Sangganjanavanich and Reynolds, 2015). Some personal strengths I have in understanding the professional field of counseling includes my ability to be flexible and open-minded looking for ways I can improve my skillset to help my clients. Since professional counseling is new the field continues to expand, and new information is presented regularly on how to effectively practice counseling. I think this is a great asset because if I am rigid in my counseling techniques and skills, they can become dated and not meet the client where they are at. Other personal strengths I have is to constantly work on myself as a person through counseling and through a 12-step program constantly working on these strengths such as tolerance, understanding, empathy, compassion, and so much more. If I am a healthy person then I can not only display that in my life, but I can also display that in my counseling strategies. Some areas I can focus on to achieve more growth in the profession of counseling is to gain insight into different counseling theories as well as techniques. During this term I have had the opportunity to be introduced to some theorists and how to begin to apply these theories to the lifespan in my Human Development course. Other areas of growth I can practice on are some of the microskills of restatement, reflection, and summarizing. These skills are important to use in the counseling setting to help establish and foster a therapeutic alliance with the client by helping them feel heard and validated. I believe what will help me is to be mindful of practicing these skills instead of wanting to help the client identify and practice new coping skills. In practicing these microskills the client can hear their thoughts and feelings from another person and may come to their own solution. Goals Two different SMART goals I would like to achieve through my learning at Southern New Hampshire University to help me personally as well as professionally would be to be more confident as a mental health counselor and to learn different counseling techniques. These two goals are somewhat dependent on each other because if I learn different counseling techniques these techniques will fuel my ability to be confident in counseling my clients. My first SMART goal is to become confident in my abilities as a mental health counselor throughout my master’s program. This is specific due to gaining more confidence as my program progresses. It is measurable because I will complete this within two years of my master’s program. Being confident is attainable because the more I learn in my courses the more confidence I will build through the knowledge I obtain. This goal is relevant because I need confidence in myself and in the techniques I will be providing to become a good mental health counselor. It is time-bound because I will become more confident through my internship and supervision in the program. My second SMART goal is to develop different counseling techniques through different courses and internship in my master’s program. This goal is specific to establishing and practicing various counseling techniques. It is measurable because I will learn new techniques in the next two years. This goal is attainable due to being enrolled in Clinical Mental Health Counseling master’s program. It is relevant to becoming a well-informed mental health counselor who will be able to understand different techniques and application. This goal is time-bound because I will learn numerous styles and counseling techniques within my master’s program of two years. References 2014 code of Ethics - American Counseling Association. (n.d.). Retrieved December 12, 2021, from https://www.counseling.org/resources/aca-code-of-ethics.pdf. Sangganjanavanich, V. F., & Reynolds, C. A. (2015). Introduction to professional counseling. SAGE.

I have experienced lots of loved ones incarcerated over the years from friends, family, to significant others. I spend a lot of time writing them, worrying about them, visiting them, and doing what I can to help them. It has also put a financial strain on my life trying to help them. My friend is due to get out of prison March 2022 and has no where to go. I have very little space at my house, but I need to do what I need to do to help them on their path of recovery. It is hard to write about my life experiences related to people I love being incarcerated. Especially if they are incarcerated for a long period of time. It changes people in there. I have grown together with some friends because I was the only one that was there and I have also grown apart because of circumstance and the things they have gone through in there. Thinking about all the people I’ve lost either mentally, emotionally, and physically is devastating. I haven’t thought about it in awhile until being asked these questions. My friend that is soon to get out has been in prison for four years and he found out while he has been in there that he has twins. He has been trying really hard to foster those relationships because all he ever wanted to be is a good dad. Whether he stays clean or not when he gets out is on him. I will do my best to take him with me to 12-step fellowship meetings and connect him to recovery, but it is essentially on him. Then hearing about how his mother who has cancer got put on a ventilator recently has also been extremely difficult for him and I’m doing my best to be there. He says she might not make it until March. I will be there for him through this like I have been. I guess to wrap it all up the people I love being incarcerated is heartbreaking to the point it cracks my soul. I just keep pushing forward because that’s all I know how to do. I am a substance use disorder professional furthering my career in clinical mental health to help people like my friend never see the inside walls of a prison or a jail.

The reason I chose a career in professional counseling and am pursuing this through a master’s program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Southern New Hampshire University is due to personal issues with substance use in my past. I have wanted to be a substance use professional since my early twenties; however, I was unable to obtain this goal until the beginning of my thirties because I was unable to remain abstinent from the use of substances. I have now been a substance use counselor for almost five years and completed my bachelor’s program in the beginning of this year. In my bachelors’ program my professors would constantly ask how I was going to utilize my Bachelor of Arts degree. After speaking to numerous classmates, professors, supervisors, and mental health therapists I decided I want to further my career in counseling through becoming a professional counselor. I would like to help a bigger population in my community than just those who struggle with substances. This is a professional fit for me because I am passionate about helping others especially helping those who do not know how to help themselves because of mental illness.