Roles and Impact of Counselling and Guidance - Essay Example

Roles and Impact of Counselling and Guidance, Importance of Self-Awareness, Values, Effective Support and Ethics And relevant Themes and Models of Counselling Name Institution affiliation Counseling and guidance is an important tool in every field and at all ages. We are often faced with dilemmas that need the assistance of another party. Counselors are vital assets in our daily undertakings (Leong 2008). Counseling and guidance will help students realize and understand their academic, social and personal competencies. Nonperforming students can realize more potential and perform better via the intervention of a counselor or guidance from another person, for instance, a teacher (Smith 2006). Counseling helps raise the self-esteem for those with low self-esteem. They can, therefore, realize how invaluable they are through the encouragement given by the counselor. A counselor will interpret the cognitive, ability and achievement tests of a student subject. For teachers, counseling will provide proposition for effectively running their classrooms. A counselor will also help the head teacher spot and determine students’ needs, issues and problems. With such counseling and guidance students can have a clear perception about their study life and improve in their academic and societal responsibilities (Smith 2006). Dull students are helped to realize their unharnessed potential in studies and talents and can easily explore them with the experience gained from the counseling and guidance lessons (Lambert 2004). Self-awareness is the clear insight of one’s personality entailing their beliefs, strengths, weaknesses, motivations, thoughts and feelings (Kumar 2010). Self-awareness is an important tool that enables an individual to appreciate other people in the way he/she identifies them, his/her approach and responses towards them at a given moment. Self-awareness helps an individual enhance their understanding of what they feel about something and the reason they behave in a given way. Self-awareness provides the subject a prospect and liberty to revolutionize things about themselves thereby allowing them to design the life of their choice (Rae 2013). Without self-awareness it is rare to transform and become self –accepting. Through self-awareness, one can understand their selves better and discover their uniqueness. He/she is thereafter able to adjust and reinforce their strengths as well as recognize weakness requiring enhancements (Silvia & Phillips n.d). When setting various goals one must be self-aware of their strengths and weaknesses and acknowledge them as the initial step. A person of integrity will always accept their weaknesses and mistakes and aim at improvements unlike the human nature of trying to conceal them (Rae 2013). Values are what an individual or a group of people hold as their code of behavior or one’s view of what is essential in life. What one may value may not necessarily mean that another person values the same (Canziani 2014). Nevertheless, there are conventional values that as a community we should hold. An organization is held together by a group of set values through which members coexist harmoniously. Values guide individual members’ development collectively enabling the realization of goals that would otherwise be unattainable individually (Kumar 2010). Communities exist due to observance of shared rules that steer the conduct of its members. Poor performance in various institutions is as a result of failure to have shared values. Values help an institution or community to hold together at all times. The values constituted in the culture of an organization forms the basis of employee mindset, motivations and prospects (Ciulla 2007). Effective support is essential in the sense that it encourages a counselee keep the spirit initially gained in the counseling session. Several endeavors are typically hard to achieve without perpetual support. Effective support both from our counselors and those around us makes it easier for us to achieve our laid down goals. A non-performing student will do better if he/she passes through counseling and then coupled with support from parents, teachers, and peers (Ward 2011). Ethics basically mean ideologies and value a person or a group of persons uses to regulate their activities and choices. Organizations run by laid down principles by which business programs, decisions, and policies are made (Roth 2005). Leadership ethics guide leaders to determine appropriate behaviors and help determine the right disciplinary procedure (Silsbee 2010). Employees’ ethical behavior guarantee employees accomplish their goals with sincerity and reliability. Employees who practice ethical behavior ensure consistent quality of products and services translating to a better outcome (Ciulla 2007) There are several major types of psychological therapies that are employed in counseling and psychotherapy. Their use is dependent upon their effectiveness and appropriateness on the subject (Zaumseil 2008). To start with, psychoanalytical and psychodynamics therapies concentrate on the instinctive relationship patterns that developed from childhood (Leong 2008). Humanistic therapies concentrate on self-development at the point and time or ‘here and now’. Couple counseling involves approaches directed at resolving issues relating to couples. Behavioral therapies focus on behaviors and perceptions. Finally, Arts Therapies employ creative arts in the therapeutic process. Counselors and psychotherapists may employ the various therapies singly or blend several therapies so as to arrive at a particular goal. Blending different therapies is known as integrative therapy while taking elements of different therapies is known as eclectic therapy (Gielen 2008). Through psychoanalytical and psychodynamic therapies, the counselee can learn their instinctive thoughts and perceptions that have evolved since childhood and their relationship with the present behavior and thoughts. Dreams, free associations, and fantasies enable counselees to deduce what is hidden in the experiences and memories that could be distressing them. This model of therapy provides a solution for the unconscious thoughts and memories that could be affecting an individual (Wang 2012). Humanistic therapies enable an individual to identify their potency, creativity and choice on the spot or the ‘here and now’ concept. Solution-focused therapy highlights more on the goal than the historical problems. This model works best for the goal oriented clientele with a huge urge to change. Person-centered therapy allows members to discover their value and worthiness in the society. Individuals are, therefore, able to admit who they are and restore themselves (Ward 2011). Couples counseling or marriage guidance focuses on improving communication and determine matters affecting an intimate relationship. Partners take their session at the same time unlike the counseling for relationship issues where members can take the sessions individually. The counseling sessions provide couples the chance to discuss the homework; the experience felt and the challenges encountered (Leong 2008). Couple counseling helps in circumstances that one member tends not to be ready to listen or communicate to the other since they have been together for a long time. There is, therefore, the need to talk to a nonpartisan individual as this will help the couple open up easily. A couple counselor with his/her vast knowledge and expertise helps them solve their issues affably. In their sessions, the affected couple will benefit from various dimensions that will collectively enable them to review the past and how it influences the present, communicate more effectively and understand why feuds rise. The counselor will, therefore, enable them find a way to discuss and settle conflicts where possible (Ward 2011). Behavioral therapies rely on the way one thinks and behaves. The model recognizes one’s ability to change thoughts and behavior so as to overcome particular problems. This model of therapy helps the counselee increase their psychological flexibility, recondition behaviors and reassess negative thoughts. This kind of therapy is helpful to individuals suffering from anxiety, depression and phobias (Silvia &Phillips n.d). Through arts therapies, individuals can draw their internal imaginative resources and convey their emotions without essentially using words. A counselee may use paper, paints or clay to convey emotions, feelings and problems hence providing a clue to any conflicts that they might be undergoing (Gielen 2008). Acting allows members to find solutions to difficult emotions via indirect communication. Music employs its communicative ability to create change. With its resourcefulness, issues such as dementia, anxiety and autism can be solved through music therapy (Ward 2011). References Canziani, B. 2014. Values-based Internships: Combining TEFI Values, Career Internships, and Community Engagement. Journal of Teaching in Travel & Tourism, 129-148. Ciulla, J. 2007. Honest work: A business ethics reader. New York: Oxford University Press. Gielen, U. 2008. Principles of multicultural counseling and therapy. New York, NY: Brunner-Routledge. Kumar, V. 2010. Social awareness, self awareness, personality development and current affairs. Mumbai [India: Himalaya Pub. House. Lambert, N. 2004. Consultee-centered consultation improving the quality of professional services in schools and community organizations. Mahwah, N.J.: L. Erlbaum Associates. Leong, F. 2008. Counseling psychology. Aldershot: Ashgate. Leong, F. 2008. Encyclopedia of counseling. Los Angeles, Calif.: SAGE Publications. Rae, T. 2013. Developing emotional literacy with teenagers: Building confidence, self-esteem and self awareness (2nd ed.). London: SAGE. Rendtorff, J. 2010. Power and principle in the market place on ethics and economics. Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate. Roth, J. 2005. Ethics (Rev. ed.). Pasadena, Calif.: Salem Press. Silsbee, D. 2010. The mindful coach seven roles for facilitating leader development (New and rev. ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Silvia, P., & Phillips, A. (n.d.). Self-awareness Without Awareness? Implicit Self-focused Attention and Behavioral Self-regulation. Self and Identity, 1-14. Smith, M. 2006. Best practices in nursing education stories of exemplary teachers. New York: Springer Pub. Wang, V. 2012. Encyclopedia of e-leadership, counseling, and training. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference. Ward, C. 2011. Strength-centered counseling: Integrating postmodern approaches and skills with practice. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage. Zaumseil, M. 2008. Cultural psychology of coping with disasters the case of an earthquake in Java, Indonesia. Read More