introduction to counselling chapter 1

Introduction to Counseling

Definitions

 Webster: “advice, especially that given as a result of consultation”  Jackson: “anytime someone helps someone else with a problem”  Rogers: “good communication within and between people”  Ohlsen: “a therapeutic experience for reasonably healthy persons”

Counselling denotes a professional relationship between a trained

counsellor and a client.

Definition

This relationship is usually person-to-person, although it may sometimes involve more than two people.

It is designed to help clients to understand and clarify their views of their lifespace, and to learn to reach their self-determined goals through meaningful, well-informed choices and through resolution of problems of an emotional or interpersonal nature.

Definition

 Counseling is the mutual exploration and exchange of ideas, attitudes, and feelings between a counselor and a client… specifically including

a client’s misperceptions about the problem

a client’s misperceptions that create emotional overlay (prominence) affecting self-concept, and

a disparity between a client’s thoughts & feelings Cooper (1983)

In brief..

 Counselling is an activity that takes place when someone who is troubled invites and allows another person to enter into a particular kind of relationship with them.

 A person seeks such a relationship when they encounter a ‘problem in living’ that they have not been able to resolve through their everyday resources, and that has resulted in their exclusion from some aspect of full participation in social life.

Types of Counseling

 Informational: “counseling in which a counselor shares a body of special information with a counselee”

 Situational: “related to specific situations in life that may create crises and produce human pain and suffering”

 Psychotherapy: “intervention with people whose needs are so specific that usually they can only be met by specially trained physicians or psychologists”

 represents a deeper, more fundamental or involved process of change with more disturbed clients

Mowrer (1982)

Made clear distinction between:

 Guidance: to provide information

 Counseling: to help solve problems & adjustment issues and

 Psychotherapy: to change personality

Styles of Counseling

 Directive: “counselor takes a live speaking role, asking questions, suggesting courses of action etc.

 Non-directive/Client Centered/Person Centered: “one comes actively and voluntarily to gain help on a

problem………stresses the inherent worth of the client and natural capacity for growth and health”

Rational vs. Irrational Emotional Responses

Concern vs. Anxiety

 Concern: “I hope that this threat does not happen, but if it does, it would be unfortunate”

 Anxiety: “This threat must not happen and it would be awful if it did”

Regret vs. Guilt

 Regret: person feels badly about the act or deed but not about himself.

 “I prefer not to act badly, but if I do, too bad!”

 Guilt: person feels badly both about the act and himself  “I must not act badly and if I do it’s awful and I am a rotten person”

Annoyance vs. Anger

 Annoyance: does not like what the other has done but does not damn him or her for doing it

 Anger: believes that the other absolutely must not break the rule and damns the other for doing so

Disappointment vs.

Shame/Embarrassment

 Disappointment: feels disappointed about own action, but accepts self in process…does not demand that she act well

 Shame/Embarrassment: recognizes he/she acted “stupidly” and condemns self for acting in a way that he/she should not have

Aims of Counseling

 Insight. The acquisition of an understanding of the origins and development of emotional difficulties, leading to an increased capacity to take rational control over feelings and actions

 Relating with others. Becoming better able to form and maintain meaningful and satisfying relationships with other people: for example, within the family or workplace.

 Self-awareness. Becoming more aware of thoughts and feelings that had been blocked off or denied, or developing a more accurate sense of how self is perceived by others.

 Self-acceptance. The development of a positive attitude towardsself, marked by an ability to acknowledge areas of experience that had been the subject of self-criticism and rejection.

 Self-actualization or individuation. Moving in the direction of fulfilling potential or achieving an integration of previously conflicting parts of self.

 Enlightenment. Assisting the client to arrive at a higher state of spiritual awakening.

 Problem-solving. Finding a solution to a specific problem that the client had not been able to resolve alone. Acquiringa general competence in problem-solving.

 Psychological education. Enabling the client to acquire ideas and techniques with which to understand and control behaviour.

 Acquisition of social skills. Learning and mastering social and interpersonal skills such as maintenance of eye contact, turn-taking in conversations, assertiveness or anger control.

 Cognitive change. The modification or replacement of irrational beliefs or maladaptive thought patterns associated with self-destructive behaviour.

 Behaviour change. The modification or replacement of maladaptive or self destructive patterns of behaviour.

 Systemic change. Introducing change into the way in that social systems (e.g. families) operate.

 Empowerment. Working on skills, awareness and knowledge that will enable the client to take control of his or her own life.

 Restitution. Helping the client to make amends for previous destructive behaviour.

 Generativity and social action. Inspiring in the person a desire and capacity to care for others and pass on knowledge (generativity) and to contribute to the collective good through political engagement and community work.

Counseling Environment

 Permission to speak.

 This is a place where the person can tell their story, where they are given every encouragement to give voice to aspects of their experience that have previously been silenced, in their own time and their own way, including the expression of feeling and emotion.

 Respect for difference.

 The counsellor sets aside, as far as they are able, their own position on the issues brought by the client, and his or her needs in the moment, in order to focus as completely as possible on helping the client to articulate and act on his or her personal values and desires.

 Confidentiality.

 Whatever is discussed is confidential: the counsellor undertakes to refrain from passing on what they have learned from the person to any others in the person’s life world.

 Affirmation.

 The counsellor enacts a relationship that is an expression of a set of core values: honesty, integrity, care, belief in the worth and value of individual persons, commitment to dialogue and collaboration, reflexivity, the interdependence of persons, a sense of the common ood.

10 Fundamentals for Counseling

10 Fundamentals for Counseling

I. Rarely be a problem solver; help guide the client to coming up with own solutions

II. Trust your intuition

III. Provide a sense of direction for the client

IV. Take care of your client; protect his/her feelings; help him/her move at own pace

V. Have a sense of humor

10 Fundamentals for Counseling

VI. Incorporate self-disclosure as an important part of counseling; show that you are willing to share as well.

VII. Be open-minded

VIII. Believe that clients are doing the best that they can

IX. Mutual agreement on expectations for therapy between you and your client is essential

X. Ask client for feedback

Blood (1995)

Guidelines for Counselors

▪ Offer yourself.

▪ Be respectful.

▪ Become comfortable with silence.

▪ Be a skilled listener.

▪ Normalize practically everything.

▪ Avoid judgment.

▪ Be sensitive to cultural, ethnic, and family traditions.

▪ Be aware of and respond to your own compassion fatigue.

▪ the physical and mental exhaustion and emotional withdrawal experienced by those that care for sick or traumatized people over an extended period of time

Module Outline

 An introduction to counselling

 Morals, values and ethics in counselling practice  Skills and qualities of an effective counsellor  Psychoanalytic therapy

 Cognitive Behavior therapy

 Feminist therapy

 Gestalt therapy

 Postmodern approaches

 Mindfulness based therapy

Independent Study

 Process of counselling

 Code of Ethics – American CounselingAssociation