FOUNDATION
OF COUNSELLING
CATEGORIES OF COUNSELLING
There are many ways of distinguishing types of
counseling.
Three main criterion used are:
1) Number
of clients receiving counseling
2) Nature
of problem
3)
Theoretical orientation guarding counseling practice.
NUMBER OF CLIENTS
Individual counseling
•
Usually held between a professional
counsellor and a client in a confined place where the third person has no
unauthorized access to the process.
Assumption: Individual experiences are subjective
and ought to be explored privately.
Individual counseling
Advantage:
Personal concerns, needs and feelings are carefully
considered
Challenge:
•
The client’s choice, however, is solely
from their own reflections (no alternative experience)
•
Client may not be able to generate ideas
from other members’ pattern of thoughts
Group Counseling
•
Takes place between the professionally
trained counselor and a group of people (not be more than seven)
•
Members of the groups are clients/counselees
whose tasks or problems that are meant for resolution are similar.
•
Advantage: clients
learn from each other and practice new interpersonal skills in group. Clients
hear a range of perspectives from the group members and learn problem solving
skills.
Challenges:
•
Clients may have unique needs and they
may be resistant t participating in group.
•
Examples could be educational
counseling; Marital Counseling etc.
Community counselling
•
While the individual/group counselling
has always look at the individuals, community counselling focuses on social
context.
•
As such, human behaviours happen in
community context/settings.
•
Is a comprehensive helping framework of
intervention strategies and services that promotes the personal development and
well being of all individuals and communities.
•
A community, is a group of people with a
common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society in
the same geographical area.
NATURE OF THE
CLIENT’S PROBLEM
Personal/Social Counselling
•
Deals with emotional distress and
behavioral difficulties that arise when an individual struggles to cope with
developmental stages and tasks.
•
Everyone encounter exceptional
difficulty with an ordinary challenge of life.
For example;
–
Anxiety over a career decision
–
Lingering anger over an interpersonal
conflict
–
Insecurity about getting older
–
Depressive feelings when bored with work
–
Excessive guilt about a serious mistake
–
A lack of assertion and confidence
Crisis Counselling
•
Provided to a client as a response to
immediate situation or event where a client feels overwhelmed or unable to
cope.
•
The immediate situation or event usually
is intense and short lived but last a few weeks. Counselling, therefore,
becomes part of help to assist the client to cope.
For example:
•
Grief over the loss of a loved one
•
Loss of job
•
Rough ending of a relationship
•
Bad news eg report that a student has
failed an important examination
•
HIV/AIDS testing and status disclosure
Career/Vocational
Counselling
•
Facilitate the counselee’s career
development process.
•
Helping students become aware of the
many occupations available for exploration.
•
Interpreting an occupational interest
inventory to a student
•
Assisting a teenager in deciding what to
do after school.
•
Helping a student apply for a course in
a university or technical.
•
Role playing a job interview with a
counselee in preparation for the real job interview.
Marital/Family
Counselling
•
Focuses on helping people work on their
relationship to gain happiness in a marriage or family.
•
Facilitates understanding of
perspectives and unique needs of members of the family and focus on how a
marriage and relationships can be made free of instability.
For example:
•
Adolescent behavior in the family
•
Dealing parent’s misunderstanding and
divorce
•
Financial challenges in the family
•
Family trauma eg prolonged sickness of
the member of the family
•
Helping couples experiencing instability
in their marriage.
THEORETICAL ORIENTATION
Psychodynamic/Directive
Counselling
•
Assumes that the present problem
behaviours are a result of unconscious drives and conflicts.
•
A psychodynamic counselor focuses on
letting the client aware of how the past has contributed to the current
problem.
Cognitive Behavioural
Counselling
•
Underscores the contribution of
illogical thinking and beliefs in how a client feels and behaves.
•
The main idea is that unhealthy emotions
and problem behaviors form from crooked/distorted thinking.
Humanistic/Client
Centered Counselling
•
Assumes that clients have
unique/subjective experience which is best understood by themselves and not the
counselor.
•
Clients have potentials and will power
to actualize their unique goals which may be challenged by difficult life
experience.
QUALITIES OF EFFECTIVE
COUNSELLOR
•
Counselling invites clients to look
honestly at their behavior to gain the bigger picture of their own problem.
•
In the process, the counselor provides
support, warmth, care to challenge and confront the client to reflect their
behaviours and make informed decision.
•
Since counselling is an intimate form
of learning, which focuses on client feelings and emotions, it demands a
practitioner who is able to build a trusting and genuine relationship with a
client.
•
It is within the context of such
person-to-person relationship that the client experiences growth and solution
of his own problem.
•
The central function of counselor is to
help clients recognize their own strength and values.
•
The important instrument that counselors
need is themselves as persons.
•
For counselors to promote growth and
change in clients, they need to start with themselves by reflecting on own
personal qualities.
Clarified Personal
Values
•
Personal principles and beliefs which
determine how individuals see themselves and world around them.
•
Values make us convinced of what is
important in life and what is not.
•
Values are a result of socialization and
guide the decision we make and how we define who we are.
Why do counsellors need
to have values?
•
Maintains clients’ (and your) identity
in the counseling process.
•
To help clients clarify their values and
therefore
•
To realize when you are about to impose
your values to the client (to find solutions which are congruent with their
values)
•
Determine if you (counselor) are able to
work with them or not
Sincere Interest in the Others.
•
Counsellors need to feel rewarded seeing
other people change or empowered.
•
The sincere interest in wellbeing of
others is based on respect, care, trust and real valuing of others.
•
It is important for counselors to have
sincere interest in others so that the focus of counseling become solely on the
client without feeling threatened.
Genuineness in a Relationship
•
Counsellors do not hide behind masks,
defenses and facades (incongruent behaviour, a deceit)
•
Genuineness means being sincere and
honest (being who really are)
Why?
•
Sincerity increases the clients’ trust
to the counselor because they know that what counselors say is meant.
•
Trust increases clients’ self disclosure
which is important for effective counseling.
Empathetic Understanding
•
Ability to understand the private worlds
of other people.
•
It involves being fully present for
clients (attending to what the client says) and attempting to know what the
client is going through with unconditional acceptance.
Why?
•
Empathetic understanding increases the exploration
and clarification of the clients’ problem and therefore facilitates the
clients to identify effective strategies to deal with their problems.
Maintaining Healthy Boundaries.
•
Effective counselors build healing
relationship with the client and know when to terminate the relationship.
•
Although they strive to be fully present
for their clients, they do not carry the problems of their clients around with
them during leisure hours.
•
Maintaining healthy boundaries includes
being honest about own limitation.
RESPONSIBILITIES.
What are the responsibilities of the
counsellor?
•
Establish a relationship of trust and
respect with clients
•
Encourage clients to talk about issues
they feel they can not normally share with others and actively listening to
client concerns and empathizing with their position.
•
Accepting without bias the issues raised
by clients.
•
Helping clients towards a deeper understanding
of their concerns.
•
Challenging any inconsistencies in what
clients say or do.
•
Helping clients to make decisions and
choices regarding possible ways forward
•
Referring clients to other sources of
help as appropriate and terminating a relationship.
ETHICAL ISSUES IN COUNSELLING.
Putting Client’s Needs First
•
Counselling relationship exists for the
benefits of the client and not of the counselor.
•
The objective to help the client to feel
relieved and find solution to their own problems
•
It is important to avoid exploiting the
client to meet your own needs
Examples of our needs:
•
Changing others in the direction of your
own values and beliefs. Your beliefs and values are good for yourself and not
for the client,
•
Persuading the client to change their
identity or things they consider important. If their values are source of the
problem, confront them to review them and not convincing them to change.
Right of Informed Consent
•
Building counseling relationship entails
educating the client of the rights and responsibilities to enhance active
cooperation of clients and therefore make informed choices from information
provided.
Examples of information that needs to be discussed
before counseling begins:
•
General goal of counseling including
potential benefits and risks
•
Responsibilities of the counselor and
clients
•
Limitation and exceptions to
confidentiality
•
Qualification of the counselor
•
Approximate length of counseling
•
Fees involved
Confidentiality
•
Trusting relationship with the
client involves the assurance that what is discussed in the counseling process
remains private and confidential.
•
Confidentiality is both legal and
ethical requirement.
•
It is important that confidentiality is
discussed early in counseling process.
How do you make your client believe that you will
keep their information confidential:
•
Signing confidentiality form in the
beginning of the counseling
•
Giving verbal assurance during the
intake interview
•
Avoiding using other clients information
as examples in the counseling
Breach of confidentiality is
justifiable:
•
When the client poses a danger to others
or themselves eg threatening to kill others
•
The client is under age of 18 years and
is the victim of rape, child abuse or other forms of crimes
•
Client requests that information to be
released to third party
Acting in Line to Guidelines
•
Some of the ethical issues are specific
to professional organizations.
•
For example, there are professional
codes of ethics which address a range of issues and behaviours.
•
There are provisions for accountability
which are responsible for any practice; clients’ protection from unethical
practice. You need to abide to the provisions and guidelines in counseling
process.
Reflection
Why do you think students do not like coming to
their teachers for counseling?
.jfif)
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