Phenomenological Study on School Counselors’ Self-Reflection Experiences

The purpose of this study is to reveal the essence of school counselors' self-reflection experiences and to highlight the value of self-reflection in their professional development. To achieve this, individual interviews were conducted with five school counselors, and the interview data were analyzed using Giorgi's phenomenological research method. As a result, a total of 148 meaning units, 57 summarized meaning units, 20 subcategories, and ultimately 7 categories were emerged. The categories were: (1) “Questions function as both a catalyst and a raw material,” (2) “Internal processes are externally expressed through language,” (3) “Following the principle of learning from the past to create something new,” (4) “Actively accepting diverse feedback and applying it to practice, leading to continuous development,” (5) “Moving beyond recognizing one's shortcomings to achieving deeper and broader self-understanding,” (6) “Reducing psychological fear and anxiety while increasing confidence and self-efficacy,” and (7) “Expanding perspective and broadening the horizon of awareness.” Based on these findings, significances and limitations of this study, implications for promoting school counselors' self-reflection, and directions for future research were presented.