Analysis of Effective Counseling - Term Paper Example

Effective Counseling Counseling ______________ _______________ d: July-28-2008 Counseling Counseling is the act of helping a person in various conditions and situations in life when psychologically he or she is healthy. Counseling deals with the psychology of the client and is considered as or as a form of psychotherapy that involves assistance with personal problem solving, decision making and life planning but we cannot consider it as a limitation. Counseling according to Patterson is "A relationship, involving verbal interaction, between a professionally trained person and an individual or group of individuals voluntarily seeking help with a problem which is psychological in nature, for the purpose of effecting a change in the individuals seeking help" (Schoenberg & Preston, 1983, p. 6). Counseling is a process, which is intensive as well as generally of long duration, and includes diagnostic procedures, by assuming a relationship between personality structure and effective functioning; therefore it has a stated goal. Purpose and Goal of Counseling The goal of counseling is to have a thorough understanding and appreciation of the possible effects of social, educational and occupational situations on clients. Counselor's goal is to help his client in his intellectual, social, and emotional growth and to check the true worth of his efforts by analyzing the extent to which they are useful in preventing emotional conflicts. The first goal of a counselor towards his client irrespective of the problem is to develop rapport and establish a relationship. The client often comes to the-first session with some feelings of fear or anxiety. In this situation evidence of acceptance by the counselor does much to allay fear. Listening, rephrasing, and reflecting are all means of indicating acceptance of and respect for the client. The first session should usually also involve clarification of expectations of both the client and the counselor and perhaps some initial goal setting. Counseling Relationship Counseling forms a face to face relationship in which the counselor acquires trust of the client after which he develops understanding of himself and others and ability to cope with his personal problems and other life situations. All forms aim to help personalities attain a high level of personal and social development. One counseling process merges into the other on a continuum or scale, arranged according to the degree of emotional content, depth of analysis, and extent of change in the client's personality structure. Counseling is more or less a helping relationship in which there is a natural progression that takes place in the context of two personalities; counselor and client, or in other words the one who is seeking assistance and the other who is providing it. The counseling process enables the counselor and the client to build a relationship on the grounds of assessing the situation, setting goals and coming up with a plan to bring about the mutual results expected by counselor and the client. Such a progression which is based on the mutual trust and confidence of the counselor and his client is known as the counseling process which is divided into four stages. 1) Developing a relationship 2) Making an informed assessment 3) Establishing mutually agreed upon goals and objectives and 4) Developing an implementation plan. Stage One: Developing a Relationship The therapeutic relationship between counselor and his client is the core of the helping process upholding the same characteristics for both the individual and the group process. Relationships are reciprocal and collaborative which are further enhanced by the client's involvement in the counseling process, the client's openness in the relationship with the counselor, and the client's warmth and acceptance of the therapist. Developing an effective and positive relationship with client requires connection. This can only happen when client whether he or she is a student, professional or an aged person is made to feel like the counselor genuinely cares about his or her well-being and that the counselor understands his or her background at least to some extent. It's all about counselor's behaviour in making the client believe the core conditions of genuineness, respect and empathy. To develop solid relationship with client, the counselor needs to create a safe environment where his client feels comfortable enough to open up to him and talk about anything that is on his mind with ease and comfort. Stage Two: An Informed assessment An informed assessment, the second phase is the assessment of the client's situation with respect to his or her problem but with the mutual agreement and collaboration of the counselor and the client and this happens when both of them gather information in order to figure out what's really going on so as to analyze and assess the causes to change the situation for the betterment of the client. A successful assessment requires the need to find out if change is necessary, and if it is what needs to happen for change to take place. Once the need to change is determined, counselor finds out what needs to be changed, situation or behaviour. An informed assessment is all about giving positive reinforcement about behavioural, cognitive, or affective attempts to enhance the probability of change; to provide an opinion or assessment of client functions (Thompson, 2003, p. 21). Stage Three: Establishing mutually agreed goals Mutual agreed goals refer to those counseling approaches that are conducted by the mutual consent of client as well as counselor; therefore client outcome can be viewed as a matrix of possible interactions with the mutual goal of personal well-being and interpersonal adjustment. Systematic eclecticism embraces the perspective that no single theory-bound approach has all the answers to all the needs that clients bring to the therapeutic setting, therefore psychopathic practice should resemble a 'systematic integration' of underlying principles and methods common to a wide range of therapeutic approaches, integrating the best features from multiple sources. Often the counseling therapy is considered as a mutual growth experience. Stage Four: Integration or Implementation Stage This stage focuses on the implementation of plans and practices decided beforehand and are therefore designed to prevent and intervene unhealthy behaviours and practices of the client. The implementation stage identifies each and every concern regarding practicing the counseling sessions like performing activities, place of performing activities, frequency in which they should occur and be effective, the means to carry out such activities and so on. An effective counselor as a psychotherapist identifies all positive aspects of human strength before starting counseling sessions. This way he analyzes every aspect of human personality i.e., positive as well as negative, however he ignores the negative feature of his client by not considering any negative attitude of his client. He also discusses with his superior counselors specific suggestions of how strengths may be usefully addressed in counseling therapies, in terms of both conceptualization of the client and actual counseling activities. An effective counselor during therapy pays attention to the positive, and to the positive potential of the individual, which is best reflected in the deep non-directiveness of the person-centred therapist. The therapist acts according to the conditions imposed by the client if any, else he follows the client's lead and trusts that if the therapist establishes conditions of empathy, positive regard, and genuineness the client has the internal potential to move in an actualizing direction. This reflects as a symbol of profound trust in the inner strength of the client, which is actually the success of therapist because the therapist is the one who is able to gain the inner trust of the client, therefore the client does not need the therapist's direction, reinforcement, or interpretations to grow. It is the duty of the counselor to maintain and increase the inner actualizing tendency of the client toward growth and this is done if only the therapist provides the proper emotional climate in the work (Walsh, 2003, p. 175). Effective counseling in this century is somewhat practical as well as philosophical as it requires imagination, courage to face the unknown, flexibility, some creativeness, and a good deal of personal skills in observation, interviewing, and self-examination (Berrios & Lucca, 2006). I believe and would make use of twelve intervention models that are clinically proven and involve theory-based, life-stage developmental, assessment, and counseling models for a range of populations. By 2018, I would be able to work upon and enhance these twelve models as tools for counseling processes that take into consideration social, cultural, religious, educational, environmental, and ethical challenges. However my target group would be African American adolescents in the process of clarifying issues related to race, and to analyze the rate of their ability to be successful in dealing with environmental and educational challenges. Playing a significant role in working with children placed in foster homes, I would focus on a newer perspective of counseling, spirituality. By the year 2018 spirituality would be incorporated within counseling practices and I would make effective use of it by concentrating on my sense of commitment and my clients, (mostly of which would be adults or students), this way I would try to make some difference in educational settings, in service agencies, and in their communities. References Berrios Reinaldo & Lucca Nydia, (2006) "Qualitative Methodology in Counseling Research: Recent Contributions and Challenges for a New Century" In: Journal of Counseling and Development. Volume: 84. Issue: 2. Schoenberg B. Mark & Preston F. Charles, (1983) Interactive Counseling: Greenwood Press: Westport, CT. Thompson A. Rosemary, (2003) Counseling Techniques: Improving Relationships with Others, Ourselves, Our Families, and Our Environment: Brunner-Routledge: New York. Walsh W. Bruce, (2003) Counseling Psychology and Optimal Human Functioning: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ. Read More