Characteristics of the Effective Counselor - Research Paper Example

Characteristics of the Effective Counsellor Abstract Mental health problems are growing day by day across the world because of various reasons. Both old people and young people are equally vulnerable to psychological disorders at present. It is expected that psychological problems may increase in future also because of the rapid changes taking place in life styles and life philosophies. There are plenty of medicines available to treat psychological problems. However, Counselling seems to be the preferred treatment option in majority of the cases of psychological problems. Simple psychological disorders can be managed effectively with the help of an experienced counsellor. In order to succeed in counselling profession, a counsellor should have some specific skills. This paper briefly analyses the characteristics of an effective counsellor. Introduction According to Plato, "The greatest mistake in the treatment of disease is that there are physicians for the body and physicians for the soul, but the two cannot be separated." We must address cognitive, behavioral, affective and spiritual issues”(Di Cicco, 2010). The treatment of body and the treatment of soul or mind are entirely different things. Medicines are required for the treatment of body whereas the treatment of the mind can be done with the help of counselling. Man is a social animal and he requires advises and guidance from his fellow humans in order to lead a peaceful life. The personal, social, professional and family commitments of the modern generation are increasing day by day. There are plenty of people who struggle to manage all their commitments effectively. Failure in fulfilling the commitments may often end up in anxiety and stress. Increased anxiety and stress may cause psychological problems. In order to treat such people, counselling is an effective treatment option. “The first known counselling program in the United States dates to 1889, when a Detroit school principal, Jesse B. Davis, introduced a guidance curriculum that was delivered in each English class in his school” (Bauman et al, 2003, p.1). Since then, counselling programs started to earn immense popularity across America. The incorporation of counseling with the treatment of mental disorders was happened during the initial periods of twentieth century. Since then plenty of scholars worked in the field of psychology and counselling and laid theoretical foundations for counselling. One of the major contributors for counseling psychology was Sigmund Freud who devised counselling based psychotherapy treatment for mental disorders. Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, Sandor Ferenczi, Karl Abraham and Otto Rank are some of the other prominent scholars who contributed heavily to the development of counselling as a treatment option for mental disorders. It is difficult for ordinary people to become successful counsellors. Some skills are necessary to become a successful counsellor. Characteristics of the effective counsellor “Counsellors use their counselling skills to develop client’s capacity to use their human potential both now and in future” (Jones, 2008, p.8). Counselling usually takes place through the interaction between the counsellor and the counselee. The counselee may have lot of concerns and agonies in his/her life. It is the duty of the counsellor to help the client to overcome such problems. Effective communication ability is necessary for the counsellor to convince the client with his/her points. The counsellor should communicate his ideas with the help of strong and effective words. He should have the ability to convince the client. He should present his opinions logically so that the client should not develop any doubts about the abilities of the counsellor. Logical presentation of ideas from the counsellor helps the client to think positively and avoid negative thoughts. Many people have the illusion that communication takes place only through verbal channels. However, modern studies have shown that more than 60% of the ideas are communicated through nonverbal means. Therefore, the counsellor should express his ideas and views through nonverbal channels also. The body language, gestures, eye contacts, facial expressions movement of hands etc can communicate many things to the client. Relationship building ability is another necessary requirement for an effective counsellor. The counsellor should be able to derive respect from the client so that the client would trust his words and abilities. Only after building strong relations with the therapist or the counselor, the patient will reveal the causes of his agony. The counsellor should use initial counseling sessions just for the relationship building process. The client may not reveal the reasons of his agony in the first meeting with the counsellor. The client may speak out only after he gets enough confidence in the abilities of the counsellor. The client’s mind may have lot of hidden faculties in which he might have hid the reasons of his agony. It is the duty of the counsellor to penetrate deep into the mind of the client so that he will get the exact reasons for the mental problems of the client. In short, relationship building with the client is an essential part of counselling process. The counsellor should have the ability to formulate suitable questions based on the interactions and responses with the client. Both open and closed end questions can be used for the counselling purposes. “An open question is one that is used in order to gathering lots of information with the intent of getting a long answer. A closed question is one used to gather specific information - it can normally be answered with either a single word or a short phrase” (Steven 2008). Initially the client may not respond well to the open end questions. However, he may answer such questions later after building a sound relationship with the counsellor. The counsellor should be able to identify these situations and use open and close questions judiciously based on the circumstances. Over the years, changes in the profession of counselling are reflective of a large number of factors that include broad societal as well as more focused political, familial, economic, and cultural dimensions. These changes have influenced the counselling profession, which is composed of members embedded in the larger society (Helwig & Schmidt, 2011, p.148) Changes are taking place in the counselling profession quite rapidly. It should be noted that the reasons for mental problems are changing day by day because of the changes taking place in the life styles and life philosophies. For example, generations in the past were particular abut food, shelter and clothing alone. They were satisfied when they get all these basic things necessary for life. However, modern generation needs are much more than the above three things. Along with these things, they need recognition and approval in the society. Social status is a big thing for them. In other words, lack of social status may cause mental problems. Moreover, same sex marriages and lesbianism were unacceptable life styles in the past. At present, these life styles are getting more popularity. Counsellors should be able to identify all these changes taking place in the life styles of people and they should formulate their counselling techniques based on these life style changes among people. Some people have the illusions that counselling is another way of advising. However, counselling is much more than advising. In fact counsellors never try to advise their clients. They try to guide the clients to behave in a particular way by injecting positive thinking into the minds of the clients. The role of the counsellor is to facilitate the person’s resolution of the issues, whilst respect their values, personal resources, culture and capacity for choice. Counselling can provide people with a regular time and space to talk about their problems and explore difficult feelings in a confidential and dependable environment (ACS Distance education, 2007). Negative thinking is the major reason for all mental problems. It is the duty of the counsellor to streamline the thoughts of the client from negative to positive. Conclusions An effective counsellor should have good verbal and nonverbal communication skills. He should be able to establish warm relationship with the client so that the client may reveal the reasons for his problem in front of the counsellor. The counsellor should have enough power and authority to commend respect from the client. Instead of advising, the counsellor should guide the client towards positive thinking. References Bauman S, Siegel J, Falco L, Szymanski G, Davis A, & Seabolt K (2003). Trends in school counseling journals: the first fifty years. Professional School Counseling 01/2003 ACS Distance education. (2007). Counselling Skills. Retrieved from http://www.acsedu.co.uk/Courses/Psychology/COUNSELLING-SKILLS-l-BPS109-475.aspx Di Cicco, C. (2010). Physician quotes. Retrieved from http://www.science20.com/scientist/blog/physician_quotes-64984 Helwig, A.A.& Schmidt L.L.L. (2011). Content Analysis of 32 Years of American counselling Association Convention Programs. Journal of Counselling and Development, Spring March 1 2011. Vol. 89. EBSCOhost Jones, R.N. (2008). Introduction to Counselling Skills: Text and Activities. Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd; Third Edition edition (18 Nov 2008) Steven, J. C. (2008), Step One - Learning the Basic Skills of Counselling Techniques Retrieved from http://www.basic-counseling-skills.com/counseling-techniques.html Read More