To what extent is a counsellor more than just a good listener? In your discussion we would like you to draw on key elements that form the practise of counselling. In addition we would like you to consider your own qualities and skills and identify what you need to do to progress in the profession. This century has seen a rise in counselling services. We have counsellors for specific diseases, addictions, depression, divorce, name the problem and we seem to have a ‘therapist’ for it. So what are counsellors? Do we need them? Is that not what friends and family are for, to listen and help us through difficult times? Is a counsellor just a ‘paid friend’? Can anyone be a counsellor? After all anyone can listen, we do it all the …show more content…
the time and length of session, cost, what is on offer and how things will progress. Some perspectives prefer strong boundaries whereby psychoanalysts interact less, letting themselves be the blank canvas for the client to project onto. Though it may be that, as therapy progresses, boundaries may be relaxed. Humanistic counsellors tend to become more involved and less rigid in their approach. It is important to get a verbal agreement on the boundaries to preclude misunderstandings on both sides. Key values within the framework also include respecting the dignity and rights of the client; integrity is essential for trust and respect and a sound knowledge base constantly updated ensures appropriate techniques or interventions to help diminish the suffering and distress of the client. Confidentiality is crucial, the client must be aware that he is free and safe, in a non-judgemental environment, to express all views and feelings knowing permission will be sought to share anything unless there is a fear of danger to self or others. Working within an ethical framework like this will help both client and counsellor to achieve the most from the relationship. Empathy, good listening, and appropriate nonverbal communication coupled with good language skills are developed alongside being able to divorce personal beliefs in order to accept how the client looks at the world.
ETHICAL FRAMEWORK, LIMITS OF PROFICIENCY AND THE LIMITATIONS ON COUNSELLORS COMPARED TO OTHER PROFESSIONS THAT USE COUNSELLING SKILLS.
A person using counselling skills should not describe themselves as a qualified counsellor as the level of training differs greatly and it would be misleading and unethical to do so. Pete Sanders refers to counselling skills as being “basic helping” without being required to adhere to the ethical principles of counselling and psychotherapy, whereas a qualified counsellor will be held “appropriately accountable” for
Cognitive-behavioural therapy is widely short-term and concentrates on enabling clients to deal with very particular problems. Often six weeks to six months sessions of course depending upon the problem it is pacifically goal directed and places great weight upon self-help as a long term coping tool that the client can take away with them and successfully use. Cognitive-behavioural therapy believes that clients can learn the wrong ways of developing and making sense of information during their cognitive development. This can often lead to distortions in the way they identify reality, it’s the job of the therapist to enable them to work this out.
In this assignment I intend to define ‘counselling skills and knowledge’ and then show how I actively employ these qualities during my everyday life. These include informal helping interactions with family and friends, in a supervisory capacity at work and during skills practice sessions as part of my counselling course. Finally I’ll analyse the effects that these helping interactions have on me personally and the various ways in which I deal with those effects.
Counsellors do not offer advice as such but instead give an insight into a client’s feelings and behaviour and they help the client to change their behaviour accordingly. They do this by actively listening to what the client has to say and comment from a professional perspective. Counsellors are trained to be effective helpers, especially in sensitive and difficult situations. They have to be independent, very neutral and professional as well as respecting the privacy and confidentiality of a client. Counselling can help clients to clarify their problems, identify the changes they wish to make and give them a fresh perspective. Counsellors should help them to seek other options and look at the impact that life events have made on the
A counselling relationship is likened to being on a journey - a beginning, middle and end (Smallwood, 2013). During the beginning phase the client develops sufficient trust in the counsellor and the relationship ‘to explore the previously feared edges of his awareness’ (Mearns and Thorne, 1988, p.126).
It is up to the professional to ensure that the line is not crossed. (Community Door E Training, 2013). To be able to impact someone's life is a privilege, so the importance of a client-worker relationship should not be taken lightly or overlooked. Professionals have the responsibility to respect and uphold their clients’ integrity and security in order to provide them with the best possible care (Muirhead, 2016). Integrity in itself is a complex notion, however, is most simply defined as uncompromising in the adherence to codes, honest work, accountability and conducting yourself in a genuine way (Cherrie May Appleton, 13). Clear objectives in professional practice should be highly considered and acted upon in a consistent and principled way to ensure the best outcomes for clients. There are many elements to consider when maintaining a professional and appropriate relationship with clients to maintain integrity within ethical boundaries. This idea refers to several standards covered by the Queensland Government Human Services Quality Framework (HSQF). Standard 3.2 states that an effective organisation is able to ‘formulate service delivery that respects and values the individual and their beliefs’. (Queensland Government, 2016) A huge contributing factor to consider in relation to ethical boundaries is
Perhaps I should start with three questions: ‘Counselling’- why am I doing this? For whom am I doing this? How will I do this?
Someone who uses counselling skills will utilise the same key concepts and principles, such as empathy and unconditional positive regard, but is less likely to belong to, and be bound by, a
Discuss the competencies behind counselor self-awareness, in terms of the importance of knowing yourself, your client, and your limitations.
Respectful: Counsellors need to show respect for clients to make them feel safe and in a place of
Counselling is the process of seeking guidance or professional help from a therapist in order to resolve any conflicts that affect you emotionally and psychologically ("Counselling - NHS Choices", 2016). Another aim of counselling, as the client, is to feel heard, understood and to gain problem-solving skills that will assist in resolving issues that occur in the future and to realize the potential that the client has ("Counselling - NHS Choices", 2016). When going to a counselling session for the first time, there are various expectations placed on the therapist where the therapist is expected to solve problems and give advice ("Counselling - NHS Choices", 2016). The reality of counselling is that the therapist shows; active
Instead, the counsellor’s role is to provide an atmosphere in which the client, through the exploration of her situation, comes to see herself and her reactions more clearly and accept her attitudes more fully.
Counsellors are in a profession which assess individuals lives and behavior’s. They are not there to provide quick advice or a quick fix or to solves client’s issues for them, but rather there to facilitate healing by use of a dialogue. Counselors who have practical and theoretical knowledge, but lack human qualities are more like technicians according to Corey (2014). Therefore, it is vital for counsellors to explore their values, beliefs, attitudes to increase their awareness.
Counseling becomes the one great invention of the 20th century. It can contribute to improve a person, resolve crisis,lessen anxiety, have better realtionship and increase his/her ability to function better in his/her lives . To be assigned as a guidance practitioner/facilitator, this requires responsibility, It entails one to ask herself/himself “How can I help people?” With the trainings/practice and seminar attended and past experience I have is it enough to help? Applying what one has acquired during these experience