The Relevance of Counselor Competency and Ethical Practices to the Role of Counselors - Essay Example

The Relevance of Counselor Competency and Ethical Practices to the Role of Counselors I. Introduction Counseling is a professional relationship which concentrates on personal problems where counselors function as listeners who assist counselees to realize their true desires and feelings, clarify issues or problems and come up with their own solutions to these problems (NYU Wellness Exchange). These counselors have been professionally trained or educated in counseling, and their experiences in the field of counseling are extensive. Counselors do not act as close friends because they are not always subjective and biased in your favor, but they manage to be objective in the guidance that they provide. They are not also like doctors because they do not give specific recommendations or advice on what to do, but they assist in the analysis of problems and issues and the laying down of options for possible solutions. Counseling has been considered as a means to cure or heal but it is seldom believed to be a preventive measure. People who go to counseling are perceived to be those with really big and major problems, those who are weak to deal with life, or those who have mental or psychological disabilities. These are notions that can be true in some cases but are not always the case. Counseling helps prevent relationship breakdowns. Relationships may not necessarily be romantic or sexual, but they could also refer to family, friends or even professional colleagues. Counseling aids people in going deep into themselves to determine their real innermost desires and thoughts with the aim of true self-discovery and self-appreciation. This self-discovery will then lead to the utilization of the person’s abilities and potentials to experience and appreciate life better. In the course of the counseling relationship between a counselor and a counselee, the best possible practices should be employed in the provision of guidance or advice to the counselees. There are important factors that counselors need to consider and be conscious of. There are several skills that counselors need to possess in order to help their counselees and there are also several guidelines that need to be followed. The goal of this paper is to primarily analyze the significance of both the competencies of counselors and the ethical practices involved in the effective fulfillment of the roles of counselors. The aims of counseling and the roles of counselors will be discussed, followed by the relevance of counselor competency to the roles of the counselors. The last part will deal with the effects of ethical practices in the roles of counselors. Theories of counseling will be incorporated in the discourse as support to the points raised. II. Aims of Counseling and the Roles of Counselors As a general rule, the goals and roles of the counselor are always dynamic. They change, adapt and respond to the needs of the counselees, environmental forces and development in theoretical views. Counseling aims to complete the cycle from change to equilibrium. The process oftentimes starts with a change in a person’s life. This change may have something to do with family, friends, intimate relationships, work and other factors that affect the way a person deals with life. Change oftentimes causes anxiety, tension and stress on the person. The succeeding stage is the coping or transition stage where the person looks for ways or solutions to relieve, lessen or totally eradicate the anxiety or stress. The last phase of the process is equilibrium where the person achieves homeostasis or balance. Thus, eliminating any tension created by the change. Counseling aims to help the individuals or counselees to achieve personal satisfaction in majority if not all of the aspects of their lives through their own efforts. It also aims to assist them in facing and solving their own problems as they occur, and it helps them to establish a firm foundation in making mature decisions and judgments. Counseling assists individuals in living a well-balanced life in terms of their physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual development. The very basic but most important role of a counselor is the establishment of rapport with the counselee. This is the initial step of the counseling process and it is when the relationship is built. Rapport is a means to build trust so honesty could be achieved in a counseling relationship. It is the role of the counselee to be client-centered or person-specific in the counseling sessions. There is no one specific style for all counselees. Each individual has his or her own identity, personality, behaviors and experiences which are very distinct and different from other people. Approaches or styles of counseling should differ from one person to another. This way the counseling sessions will be more effective, productive and beneficial to the counselee and the counselor has achieved the counseling goal. Other roles of the counselor include the provision of access and awareness to the counselee. The counselor should provide information service wherein information on available resources and how to access these resources should be given to the counselee. These resources are needed by the counselee in the process of analyzing issues or problems and searching for possible solutions. Alternatives should likewise be presented by the counselor to give a wide array of options available for the counselee to critically assess the best path to take or the best action plan to follow. Another role of the counselor is to be an active listener and facilitator, but never an interrogator or a dictator. The counselor should be an instrument, in helping the individual alter his or her behaviors, attitudes or perceptions to produce desirable outcomes beneficial to both the individual and the community where he or she belongs to. Counseling theories are very vital in the counselors’ performance of their roles. A keen understanding of human behavior is essential to the effectiveness of a counseling relationship. Counseling applies to different age levels and different physical, emotional, mental and social stages in life. It may be employed in settings like the school, community, juvenile and adult institutions, companies or venues of adult employment, and hospitals or clinics. Since counseling covers the entire life process, it is but proper to refer to a developmental theory which focuses on the life stages of a person. Erik Erikson’s Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development is the most apt theory for a better understanding of human behavior in relation to counseling services. Erikson’s theory stresses the interaction of the psychological growth of a person and the social environment where he or she is exposed to. According to Erikson, the successful completion or overcoming of the crisis at each stage results to a healthy personality and healthy relationships or interactions with other people, while failure to overcome the crisis or to complete a stage results to an unhealthy personality and sense of self which hinders successful completion of the succeeding stages (Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development). The stages can also actually be resolved at a later time. The eight stages include trust vs. mistrust, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, ego-identity vs. role-confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. self-absorption and integrity vs. despair. The stages were enumerated chronologically based on age from infancy to old age. Aside from Erik Erikson’s Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development, there are three general theories applicable to counseling: Psychoanalytic theory, Behaviorist theory and the Humanistic theory. These theories serve as guides in choosing the appropriate techniques per counselee that the counselor will use in the fulfillment of his or her counseling roles. The Psychoanalytic theory, developed by Sigmund Freud stated that humans are controlled by forces in the unconscious and driven by desires of sexual nature. The human personality is divided into three parts: the ‘id’ which is based on pleasure, the ‘ego’ which is based on reality and the ‘superego’ which represents the values or morality. Freud also developed the Stages of Psychosexual Development which is much like Erik Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial development where stages should be successfully completed before moving on to the next stage, to gain a healthy personality. The difference with the theory of Freud to that of Erikson is that the stages are based on particular erogenous zones and unsuccessful completion of a stage develops some kind of fixation on a specific erogenous zone which results to over or under-indulgence in adulthood (Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development). The Behaviorist theory was espoused by J.B. Watson. The fundamental characteristic of behaviorism is that it stresses the importance of behaviors that are observable and empirical in nature and its second characteristic is that it believes that the external environment of a person is the major determining factor of behavior (Hall). Behaviorists state that it is the environment where a child is raised which determines temperament, intelligence and other personality traits. The Humanistic theory was spearheaded by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers who emphasized human potential and the point that realization and self-determination are the true human motives. This theory focuses on the empowerment of the individuals as learners with control over the learning process. Maslow believed that every human has a hierarchy of needs that needs to be fulfilled before achieving self-actualization or reaching full potential. The basic needs like food and shelter should first be met, followed by the need for safety, then love, belongingness and acceptance (Humanistic Theory, 1999). III. Counselor Competency and its Relevance to the Roles of Counselors A counselor should be equipped with many competencies in order to effectively accomplish his or her counseling roles. There are general counseling skills that a counselor should possess. The skill areas comprise the attending skills (physical setting, the physical actions or behaviors of the counselor like posture, gestures, facial expressions, and the attention or focus of the counselor), responding skills (observation, accurate empathy and understanding), initiating and personalizing skills (counseling as learning process, additive empathy or identification of recurrent themes, counselee self-exploration and development of goals and models to use), and implementation skills where the counselor teaches the counselee specific skills for decision-making and problem-solving and where counselees have already developed advanced ways of communicating and exploring (Engelkes, 1982, p.119). The more specific competencies include: having the ability to communicate effectively as well as demonstrate quality counseling; having the ability to understand an individual and promote his or her development and achievement; having the ability to counsel individuals toward the realization of their full potential or change; having the ability to recognize, appreciate and serve cultural and ethnic differences as well as special individual needs; having the ability to demonstrate ethical behavior and act professionally in order to fulfill specific individual goals; the ability to develop, collect, analyze and interpret data; having the ability to demonstrate advocacy and leadership in promoting the concerns of clients (“Statement on Counselor Competencies” 2000). Especially with the many different counseling theories that conflict, being equipped with these competencies is necessary for a counselor to function effectively. The counselor must be able to use good judgment especially when choosing which among the theories or which combination of the theories must be used to analyze the situation of the individual. No case is essentially the same and each case must be analyzed separately. Approaches should be carefully tailored to suit each case. Counseling is more of a subjective discipline relative to the other sciences which can be prone to subjective error because of the great number of different ideas and approaches available. A counselor must not fail to recognize this reality and must be able to understand these differences so as to provide a more effective counseling session. The ability to recognize the minute differences in different cases can be very critical because these minute differences could very well alter the choice of the counseling theory to be applied. Use of the different theories can produce different and non-equivalent results that could affect the individual in question himself. It is the counselor’s job to be able to make accurate conclusions in order to do appropriate interventions for the concerned individuals. To be able to do so, one of the competencies that the counselor must possess is the ability to listen actively. Active listening as well as reflective listening help in the development and maintenance of a sharing atmosphere where the counselee becomes more at ease and is encouraged to talk and express him or herself freely. This is very helpful for the counselor as more information is acquired if counselees are open and honest. Verbal skills are likewise very vital. A counselor should have the ability to ask appropriate questions, encourage, interpret, provide information, self-disclose and use silence prudently. Another very important skill that a counselor should possess which would prove to be a great help to his or her role as a counselor is empathy. Through empathy, the counselee or the individual would feel understood and would thus adopt a feeling of acceptance. The skills of listening, both physical and psychological, and empathy are greatly supported by the views of Carl Rogers which is included in the Humanistic theory. According to Rogers, in order for a person to grow, he or she needs an environment which provides genuineness or self-disclosure, acceptance or unconditional positive regard, and empathy or being listened to and understood (Humanistic Theory, 1999). Healthy personalities and relationships will not develop without these needs being met. IV. Effects of Ethical Practices on the Roles of Counselors The roles of counselors in a counseling relationship are neither limited to correct and appropriate methods and procedures, nor are they measured only by the personal and professional skills of the counselors. The roles of counselors are likewise governed and regulated by ethical practices or principles which promote the well-being or interest of the client or the counselee. Ethical Practices are the frameworks of sound decision-making. In the succeeding discussion of the ethical principles, the term client will be used in reference to the counselee in professional counseling services. Ethical principles of counseling include Fidelity or the trustworthiness of the counselor, Autonomy or the right of the client to self-govern, Beneficence or the counselor’s commitment to the well-being of the client, Non-maleficence or the commitment to avoid doing harm to the client, Justice or the provision of sufficient services and fair treatment of all clients, and Self-respect or the advancing of the client’s care for self (Ethics for counselling and psychotherapy ). Fidelity is the obligation of the counselor to uphold confidentiality as respect to the client. Autonomy refers to the consent of the client to engage in the counseling relationship and the processes involved. Beneficence means always considering the best interests of the client in any actions or decisions made based on professional assessment. Non-maleficence involves avoiding infliction of any kind of harm or disadvantage to the client be it physical, sexual, financial or emotional. The ethical principle of Justice requires respect and impartial treatment of all clients regardless of race, gender, religion, social status or group affiliation. Self-respect regards personal development as the ultimate goal of the counseling relationship. There are circumstances when it is not at all possible to apply all these principles together, but the counselor would have to choose certain principles to use. In effect, ethical principles do not pose a difficulty in the role that counselors play in the counseling relationship, but they help the counselor choose and decide the better option. The most common ethical issue is confidentiality where the counselor should not mention the name and the case of the client to anyone but himself as part of protecting and respecting the client’s dignity and privacy. The real ethical dilemma concerning confidentiality comes in when the counselor must choose between protecting confidentiality and allowing a higher risk of harm to the client, or disclosing information to protect the client from possible harm. This is similar to what doctors and medical professionals encounter in many different situations that involve legal, health or criminal issues. In the case of the counselor, the predicament on breaking confidentiality to prevent harm occurs when the issue involves homicide, suicide or child abuse. Lack of competencies could also be considered as a breach of ethics. Since the inability to actively listen would result in inaccurate conclusions and inappropriate interventions, it would be considered unethical to perform counseling without mastering the ability. Such would be comparable to an architect having recommendations on the structural calculations of a building, which is supposedly done by an engineer. Doing so would be unfair to the client and thus, is considered a breach of ethics. V. Conclusion What is the real measure of counselor efficiency? It is the combination of the selective and empirical application of counseling theories, the exercise of competency and the use of ethical principles as a framework in realization of the counseling roles. The competence of counselors and how they are guided by ethical principles are not only relevant to their roles as counselors, but they are essential and even an imperative in the achievement of their counseling goals. Skills are important in the actual process and implementation. Ethical practices are vital as support to the elements involved in the process and implementation. Experience is also a major factor in how a counselor fulfills his or her roles. Extensive experiences in the field of counseling renders the counselor the right amount of expertise and capabilities, on top of the basic skills required of counselors. Ethical principles are not absolute as their presence merely acts as a guide and not as the law of counseling. Different scenarios, cases and personas require different applications and interpretations of ethical principles. In counseling, the focus is always on the interest and welfare of the counselee. This however, is not absolute, as the greater good should always be kept in mind by the counselor. The greater good is not always to the best interest of the counselee. The direction of the counseling session is then dependent on the judgment of the counselor. Therefore, a counselor should be first and foremost a mature, aware, stable, objective person and at the same time one who is concerned and empathetic. Bibliography Engelkes, J. (1982). Introduction to Counseling. Boston: Houghton Mifflin . Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development. (n.d.). AllPsych [online] Available from: [Accessed 16 Aug 2007]. Ethics for counselling and psychotherapy . (n.d.). British Association for Counseling and Psychotherapy [online] Available from: [Accessed 16 Aug 2007]. Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development. (n.d.). AllPsych Online [online] Available from: [Accessed 16 Aug 2007]. Hall, R. H. (n.d.). Behaviorist Theory. [online]. University of Missouri-Rolla. Available from: [Accessed 16 Aug 2007]. Humanistic Theory. (1999) BBC [online] Available from: [Accessed 16 Aug 2007]. NYU Wellness Exchange. (n.d.). New York University [online] Available from: [Accessed 16 Aug 2007]. Statement on Counselor Competencies. (2000). NACAC [online] Available from: [Accessed 16 Aug 2007]. Read More