"I understand how essential goal setting is for my clients' progress and self-esteem. Goal setting also boosts my clients' level of accountability and involvement they bring to their treatment. I build rapport with my clients and gain a certain level of trust. Together, we first set small goals so that there are wins along the way. I approach these goals in a supportive and informative way. I also perform check-ins at the beginning of my sessions to ensure that we are on the same page with the goals from the session previous and the ones we are to focus on next. I also send out one encouraging email between sessions, reminding my clients of their goals and progress. This message is simply one of support as I want my clients to gain accountability for their work. One example of my goal-setting in action is a client who was working through PTSD. I determined that cognitive-behavioral therapy would be effective, and we set goals to challenge his negative thoughts. These goals included journaling daily and repeating positive mantras. The primary goal was to set the habit of positive self-talk and slowly build trust in himself. Once he developed the habits of mantras and journaling, he told me that he felt his depression and anxiety lifting. Then, we set larger goals focused on improving his relationships. I continued to check in between sessions with a positive email that often included a helpful quote, a breathing exercise, or a compliment. I continued to give him tools to manage his emotions and self-perceptions, and he has made significant progress in a relatively short amount of time."

"I plan to take a human-centered approach to my counseling sessions so I will work with my client on creating short and long term goals together. It's important that my client feels involved in the goal-setting process so that the targets are achievable and exciting for them. I will ask my client to explore details surrounding their ideal outcome, and we will move forward using that information as a primary driver."