The basic principles upheld by social constructionists are outlined in
this article. Social constructionist practitioners insist that helping
professionals should take a critical stance toward our taken-for-granted ways
of understanding the world, including ourselves. Such an emphasis broadens
the understanding of knowledge and language of the counseling professionals
that sheds light on their own clinical practice. Although there are several
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Siu-Wai Lit, Daniel T. L. Shek
obstacles that hinder the development of social constructionist principles in
counseling and social work in the sociocultural context of Hong Kong, the
contributions of social constructionist thoughts to counseling and social work
practice should be realized. We agree to the view of Dean and FleckHenderson
(1992) that “to be consistently reflective about our own
assumptions, our own positions and biases, in our knowledge of others and
in our relations to our own theories, it keeps us appropriately humble”
(p. 18). Obviously, reflection and humility are valuable qualities of a
counselor in a world that gives heavy emphases on expertise and
qualifications.