"As a Mental Health Counselor, I believe it's important to celebrate all of the wins, big and small. I cannot define my success by client breakthroughs, since this is a fast way to burn out. There are too many variables when it comes to client progress. For this reason, I see success as being a helper. If I helped my client, then I consider it a success. Each client will experience their definition of success, so I mustn't measure myself against their view of success. To measure success more tangibly, I lean on feedback from my clients. I ask them to provide me with feedback regarding the support and value they received from our sessions. If my client feels that our work together made a difference, then I see it as an overall success."

"I appreciate the quote by Winston Churchill that says, 'Success consists of moving from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.' As a new Mental Health Counselor, I know that every day will present new challenges and a significant learning curve. While attending university, I learned an exciting technique for remaining grounded as a counselor. The idea is to journal how I feel at the end of each day and record my professional successes, both big and small. I believe that this approach will help me to revisit each success and maintain enthusiasm for the job no matter the level of engagement my clients bring, or the number of breakthroughs they experience."