So these mysterious internships I have referred to are for my master's program in counseling. I'm finishing up this year, which means I have to so 1500 hours of counseling both in a mental health setting and in a school setting (a high school, in my case). I've spent a lot of time this week at the counseling center where I work, and I'm been thinking a lot about clothing and the role it plays for a counselor.
I watch a lot of "What Not to Wear" and I love it. I think that Stacey and Clinton, while high end, are very practical and reasonable in that they want people to look and feel their best, and I think it's just honest that what you wear says something about yourself as a person. I totally buy it, because it happens to be true.
As I've been working this week, and contemplating the fact that I'm creating a safe space for people to talk and emote, it's occurred to me that as a counselor, I'm in a sensitive position in terms of what I wear. I don't dress outlandishly by any means, but if I wore things that were flashy or loud or bright, then I would be filling up that space with myself and my clothes rather than leaving room for my clients to be and fill that space. This doesn't mean that clothes can't be neat or cool, or that there can't be parts of my individuality shining through, but it does mean that perhaps it's ok for clothing to NOT be the focus of my mornings. Because putting on something that looks nice and professional but relatively neutral is probably the best gesture I can make for the people I'm working it.
[sidebar]Also, the blue shirt I wore today was super soothing. Even for myself. I like it better for counseling than the red shirt I wore Monday. [/sidebar]
So even though I'm, like Caroline, starting to dread the repetition of this month (and contemplating when I'm going to do laundry to always have the widest selection of clothing), I think there's value to letting yourself come out through, you know, your actions and words rather than through the visual image you portray. That's what I'm going to focus on, at least in my work, this month as I continue on this little journey.
This is a great reflection, I think. I was just thinking about my own work wardrobe yesterday, since it's challenging to choose things that are appropriately professional and modest while still feeling like they express me in some way. It seems like I'm trying to strike a balance between feeling attractive and feeling deliberately uninteresting to my students. I don't know how to strike that balance yet. (I wonder if a wardrobe limiting experiment would help clarify my thoughts on the issue...)
ReplyDeleteAlso just wanted to say hi and tell you I'm going to follow your experiment. And good luck with the internships -- I bet you are awesome at what you're doing!