TPC Journal V8, Issue 2 - FULL ISSUE

The Professional Counselor | Volume 8, Issue 2 201 increase their effectiveness by engaging in opportunities to reframe their experiences (Ivers et al., 2017; Schön, 1983). Neufeldt, Karno, and Nelson (1996) contextualized this element of reflection for the development of counselors by describing how reflection often begins with a persisting issue or problem of counseling practice and proceeds with a search for better understanding of that issue or problem, as well as potential solutions to it. Reflection also is the process in which we examine our own assumptions and attitudes that inform our experiences; especially at settings where counselors serve clients whose cultural backgrounds differ significantly from their clientele. This description has its origins in the work of Dewey (1938), who suggested beliefs regarding practice must be a focus of reflection. Dewey’s introduction of personal meaning as a dimension of the reflective process has resonated with counselor educator perspectives. Here again, Neufeldt et al. (1996) also emphasized the subjectivity of the counselor during reflection when they wrote that reflection is “a search for understanding the phenomena of the counseling session with attention to therapist actions, emotions, and thoughts” (p. 8). Those preparing, training, and supervising counselors are faced with the constant challenge of facilitating students’ abilities to integrate theories of counseling into actual practice. The term praxis is often used to describe the mediation between theory and practice that occurs through reflection (Kolb, 1984). Kolb (1984) emphasized that intentional reflective practices serve to not only close the gap between theory and practice, but also can and should transform by enriching understanding of theory while simultaneously developing the ability to practice more effectively through foundational theoretical approaches. In contrast to Kolb’s definition, Freire (1973) described praxis as “reflection and action upon the world in order to transform it” (p. 47). In doing so, Freire positioned reflection as not simply a mechanism to integrate theory and practice, but to include agency in the process. That is, reflection should serve as a foundation of transformative action. Finally, reflection has been described as a mechanism through which practitioners can further investigate the challenging and complex sociopolitical landscape of counseling. This philosophical aim of reflection has its origins in the transformative pedagogical approach of Paulo Freire (1970, 1973). Freire posited that education is essentially a political act and that approaches to teaching and learning influence how students position themselves in society. Reflection, then, presents opportunities for educators to examine the impact their practices and approaches have on the self- agency of their students. The potential for reflection to serve as a method to the broader, often hidden impacts of practice has continued to be developed by other scholars and researchers. The foundation of this use for reflection is to nurture practitioners’ “moral code” in order to encourage them “to ferret out structures and practices that interfere with the goal of equity” (Risko, Roskos, & Vukelich, 2001, p. 136). Given the recognition of the need to infuse social justice and equity issues within counselor education training approaches (Stone & Dahir, 2006; Thrupp & Lupton, 2006; Zalaquett, Foley, Tillotson, Dinsmore, & Hof, 2008), the purposeful inclusion of reflective practices aiming to explore pernicious and persisting social dilemmas could serve as an important tool for developing culturally responsive counselors. Strategies for Encouraging Reflection Although there are distinct paradigmatic rationales for the inclusion of reflection in the training and development of counselors, there seems to be broad consensus regarding its importance and use. The importance of utilizing reflective practices to facilitate counselor development has translated to professional literature identifying and describing approaches and strategies to facilitate the development