MOLLY A.

FOSSUM

BEING A HELPER
PROFESSIONAL
RCLS 240 Overview Therapeutic Recreation

Being a Helper Professional has many qualities. The two that stick out to me are Altruism and
compassion and the Ability to empower others. The book describes Altruism and compassion as
assumes first and foremost a commitment to serving the needs of others (Carter, 2011, pg. 69).
To me this is when you do something for someone else without thinking about yourself. Where
the professional puts the clients needs and wants before their own. What I mean is that as a
professional could have goals that I want them to meet and things that I believe that they should
be able to do. But if it isnt what the client wants to do or achieve they wont push themselves to
reach that point. Compassion is understanding what they have been through without feeling pity
for them; to show understanding and be there for them when they need you. The Ability to
empower others is talked about as the ultimate goal of the helping relationship is self-help, or
helping clients become effective change agents (Carter, 2011, pg. 69). By hearing this it makes
me think about giving clients the strength, power, and courage to push themselves; to be who
they once were or who they want to be despite whatever happened to them. Being able to help
them find that inner power or whatever it is they feel is missing from their lives at the point in
time when they become a client. Both of these are extremely important when it comes to
working with Veterans because at times they need that little extra support or that little extra push
to get to a place that feels right for them. To figure out who they are again, not only as men and
women but as a person who protected our country and did what they believed they had to do.
Interpersonal Function Skills are another important thing that anyone in the helping profession
needs to have. Listening and warmth are just a few things that truly stick out to me. Warmth for
example that is really needed within our particular field, without it people come across extremely
cold and like they truly dont care about that person they are working with or that they probably
dont even want to be there with that person almost like they feel like they are just wasting their

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time. The book refers to warmth as the ability of the specialist to communicate a sense of
caring. Showing personal interest in the person by acknowledging his or her uniqueness and
expressing this concern in a friendly, genuine manner is a way of communicating with this
attitude (Carter, 2011, pg. 78). Listening is also huge due to the fact that if a client doesnt feel
like they are being listening to or heard they are less likely to keep talking or communicating to
you. Without that trust there is nothing, being able to communicate is huge in our profession. We
need to be able to understand what they want as well as being able to help them in the way wish.
Like if you arent truly listening to the client and they say that they can stand to paint and you
decide that it is what you guys are going to do; the client will stop caring and wont put effect
into painting along with stop telling you how they feel about things. A considerable portion of a
health professionals day is spent listening (Carter, 2011, pg. 79). Without this skill it is not
likely that being able to hold a job in this profession will be possible. With the Veterans it is
important to be able to listen, due to the fact that I may be the only person they feel like they can
be open with. To be able be that support for them being able to show them warmth. They may
need me most when they need that support, warmth and someone to listen to them.
I would like to think that I have compassion, listening skills, warmth, and the ability to empower
others. I guess I would have to say that I used all those skills come into use when I talk to my
significate other or my parents or my brother. I am always there when they need me to be.
Listening and empowering my significate other to follow his dreams. I show him warm by being
able to show him that I care just by listening to him and that I truly care about how his feeling
and what is going on in his life I also do this through compassion.
I guess you could say that I will be able to do all these things with my clients because they
already seem to come naturally to me. I think it also helps being able to somewhat understand

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what they have gone through. No I may not have been in the military myself, but my parents and
grandparents. So being able to show Veterans the warmth, compassion, listening and being able
to empower them to do what they need to be to become who they want to become. To be that
person in their corner.

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Work Cited
Carter, M. J., & Andel, G. E. V. (2011). Therapeutic Recreation: A Practical Approach, Fourth
Edition. Waveland Press.

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