Simple Steps to Start Professional Practice.

Simple Steps to Start Professional Practice.

My concern about professional practice is professional counseling and therapeutic practice, professional chaplaincy practice, professional rehabilitation and recovery practice.

There are other professional practices that I am not competent to write on no matter how similar as I am not a practioner of such profession such as legal profession, medical profession, accounting profession etc.

Simple Steps to Start your Professional Chaplaincy Practice:

Step 1: Commence or start your professional practice in the simplest form or way following what you were thought.

Step 2: Start as crude as you can, for Rome was not built in a day.

Step 3: Start courageously as professional competence is not earned in one day.

Step 4: Commence with the area you have a flair for or the area of your giftedness.

Step 5: Start practicing under a qualified certified supervisor.

Step 6: Make handy or keep handy the telephone number of your supervisor or consultant, in case a problem becomes difficult to fix yourself – consult immediately.

Step 7: Make ready all the necessary tools required in your practice such as forms, writing paper and pen, drinking water, tissue etc.

Step 8: Document properly all procedures and steps you take in handling any case.

Step 9: Document your experiences, noting what new discoveries you have come across, the challenges and difficulties encountered and how you resolved them; and areas where you need to fortify your efforts, specially your knowledge, skill and competence.

Step 10: Never you seek or go beyond your competence in your practice, educationally and skill wise, as this may bring you untold hardship, difficulties, litigation, punishment and more to it withdrawal of license or certification to practice.

Step 11: In your practice, remember you are dealing with lives (people and their life issues); thus be very courteous in your dealing, be honest, unbiased and trustworthy to earn their trust.

Step 12: Make the ethics of chaplaincy and counseling profession your companion in every inch of your practice.

Step 13: Sympathize with no client that will make you to be biased or show favouritism, in your professional practice you are expected to empathize not sympathize.

Step 14: Be in good control of your own emotions so that you will not be driven away by the client’s emotion. This will help you to be of good help in attending to other people’s emotional problems.

Step 15: Endeavor to treat your client(s) and people who come to you with dignity and respect expected of you as a professional practioner. Your client(s) are dignified people who deserve dignified attention, care and treatment at all times.

Step 16: Maintain the neutrality expected of you as a qualified and skilled professional in any issues present to you no matter the cost or who is involve.

Step 17: Do not be judgemental or condemn anyone in your practice no matter the wrong or mistake that has been done. Remember that your calling is not that of an advocate or a high court judge but a mediator trying to mediate between the person and the problem before him/her. Give the needed support and identification desired by your client(s).

Step 18: Never you point out any mistake made in the past to your client(s); it is for you as a professional to discover the mistake, correct the mistake and chart a new course for your client(s).

Step 19: Your must be thorough in your investigations, diagnoses and treatment plans demonstrating your professional competence at all times.

Step 20: You must make proper assessment of previous sessions and treatment plan followed to enable you know; how effective they are, what the next line of action to follow in the next session, present complications and what solution to proffer.

Step 21: When complication arises, or the type of therapy applied fails to bring about the desired results in the situation of the client(s), you do a referral with the concept of the client(s). As a professional you must know when a situation or case is above your competence and knowledge and when to consider referral.

When the issue at hand goes beyond you or your competence, referral must be the next option. As a professional you must know where to make referrals to, the kinds of referral to make and be conversant with referral formats.

NB: They can be obtained from the write-ups of Chaplain Prof. Mike-David JP, for a fee.

Step 22: Professional practioners are expected to be in control of when to terminate a session, treatments or therapy and counseling with a client; preparing the needed conclusion note on the issues in the case file, (the steps you followed, the method used) for the needed discharge and termination of appointment.

Archbishop Chap. Prof. Mike-Jacobs