Keys of Effective Counseling - Coursework Example

Running Header: Counseling Effective Counseling Student: Lecturer: Subject Code and Name Date Submitted Introduction Counseling is a very important component of management of patients in the hospital. This covers a wide range of diseases from the psychiatric illnesses to the surgical diseases or medical diseases. However, it is in the psychiatry where counseling is of a high importance. In most of the times, counseling alone is enough to bring about healing of the patient. Without counseling, it is not possible to achieve therapy in psychiatric illnesses and thus it is taken seriously in the management of these patients. Nurses and other people dealing with these patients must thus be appropriately trained to ensure that they have all what is needed in the management of these patients. Counseling involves the obtainingof informed consent which will be for the purpose of respecting the rights of the patient. The counselor should observe ethical issues and also ensure that he or she is culture sensitive. He should also ensure that the process is centered at the discovery of the client’s abilities and weaknesses (Rush, et al. 2009). Culture Culture is a significant part of the process of counseling process because of the diversity in the cultural values of different people. In counseling, culture must be considered as an integral part of the process and the counselor should be culturally sensitive to the person he or she is counseling. In most of the collages training counseling, multicultural approach was found to one of the courses offered (Pieterse, 2007). The purpose of this course is to ensure that the counselors who will be released to the community will be sensitive to the cultural values of the people they are going to deal with. However, most of the cultural values overlap with others of another culture and thus they are almost similar except in a few instances. This makes it easier for the counselor to be culturally sensitive as most people will have a common culture and even if it is not the same, the values of these different cultures will have some similarities (Pieterse, 2007). Culture defines how a person is going to behave on a daily basis. It defines one occupation, reaction to various stimuli, and reaction to friends among others. Therefore, all what is going to happen in the individual is usually defined in his or her own culture. Thus, in the process of counseling, the counselor should bear in mind that the culture of that person will play a very significant role in that person and thus give solutions which are sensitive to the culture of that individual. For example, a counselor dealing with a person who comes from a place whose culture dictates that he or she should not have two wives, should not propose marrying two ladies to solve his marital problems. This is because that will not be accepted culturally. Thus, any counselor who wants to be successful must consider the cultural values of his or her client so that he or she can get good results (Constantine, & Sue, 2007). Importance of Contracting an Informed Consent The process of counseling should be voluntary in nature and not forced. Since time memorial, it has been believed that the obtaining of informed consent is respect for the human rights but this has been debated over time. However, in the process of counseling, it is very necessary that the client gives consent to the counselor (Kegley, 2004). This is because the client might be requested to divulge a lot of details about him or herself to the counselor which might be very personal and private. If the client has not given consent, it might not be easy for the client to give enough information which will help the counselor deal with the patient better. Thus, to ensure patient’s cooperation, the counselor should obtain the informed consent first before he or she starts the counseling session. In the obtaining of the consent from the client, the counselor must first explain the client what the counseling process would entail. He or she will tell the client what is likely to happen in the process of counseling. For example, the counselor will need to tell the patient that the process of counseling will require him or her to reveal some information which the client will consider as very confidential (Kegley, 2004). The counselor must also inform the client that the information he or she is going to reveal will be very confidential and that no one will use that information. The client will need to be told that all what he or she says will not be used in a court of law against him or her so that he or she will be able to give all the important details. Lastly, the counselor should tell the client to sign a consent form so that it can act as evidence that they have consented to the counseling process. Role of Self Awareness In counseling, self-awareness is a very basic component in the therapy of the patients. One of the most important things for a counselor to remember in the process of counseling is that the change in the patient will be brought about by him or herself. Self-awareness is thus very critical in the process of therapy without which, the counseling process will be deemed to fail. A successful counselor ensures that the client understands himself and thus he or she knows the values he has (Clare, 2007). This will make the patient understand that he or she has some inert energy which he has not used and could use in the solving of the problem. One of the important duties of the counselor is to make the client understand him or herself. As a result, the counselor will be able to drive the client towards making of resolutions which he or she will abide by them. There is a higher likelihood of the patient adhering to the resolutions of the counseling process more if he or she is the one who came up with them. Self-awareness makes the client understand his or her strengths and weaknesses. With this, the client can understand how he or she will use the strengths he has and thus come with a solution to the problem he or she is facing (Janzen, et al. 2008). They will also be able to understand their weaknesses and with the help of the counselor, they can learn how to live with those weaknesses or overcome them. This will result in a situation where the client is able to point his or her areas of strengths and weaknesses making him or her understand himself better. By understanding him or herself, there is a higher likelihood of arriving at solutions easier and faster than it would have been without such an understanding (Clare, 2007). Ethical Issues In the counseling process, there are several ethical issues which are very essential in the therapy. First, the counselor must maintain confidentiality of the information he or she gets from the patient. The information which the counselor is told by the patient is very private and the clients will tell the counselor this information with that it will not be said to anyone. Some of the information which clients tell the counselors can even lead to legal proceedings if it leaks. Thus, the counselor should never disclose any information he or she gets from the client to any other person. Secondly, the counselor should not use the information which he or she has got against the client. This will include such things as instituting criminal proceedings in court against his or her client on the basis of the information which he or she has got from the patient. This means that the information which has been obtained in the process of counseling should never be used against the patient (Charles, 2010). The counselor should ensure that he or she does not take the advantage of the condition of the patient to benefit him or herself. For example, a client who presents to the counselor with a history of depression because of lack of a boyfriend, the counselor should not take the advantage of this and befriend the patient. In addition, the counselor should ensure that he or he gets into the shoes of the patients. He should always have the same feelings as the patient so that the patient will feel cared for. Thus, the counselor should not lough at the patients when he or she hears the problems the patient is having. This will make the patient be free to disclose his or her problems and thus it will be easy to solve those problems (Charles, 2010). Consent Obtaining Counselor: How are you? Client: I am good Counselor: thank you for accepting to seek the counseling services here. You will have the answers which you need here. Client: I will be happy Counselor: Before we begin, I want to make it clear that you are supposed to sign that you have accepted this process as part of your rights Client: What does the process entail? Counselor: The process will involve you telling me about your information which might be very private. However, any information I get from you here will be confidential and will not be known by any other person other than me. It will also not be used against you anywhere. Thus, be free to give me the information. What do you think? Client: It is okay. I will accept and sign the consent and hope that the information will be safe. Counselor: Thank you for accepting, let’s begin our session. Conclusion The counseling process is an essential part of the management of patients in the hospital or even outside the hospital. Counseling may be the only therapeutic intervention for most illnesses in psychiatry. The counselor should first obtain consent from the patient. This will be obtained after the counselor has explained to the patient the whole process of counseling and thus make him or her understand the whole process. Being culturally sensitive during the process of counseling enables the counselor to seek solutions which the patient will accept better. However, if the counselor is not culturally sensitive, he or she is likely to lose the support of the patient. The counseling process should be centered at discovering the potentials and the weaknesses of the patient. It should be self-centered so that the patient will explain to the counselor what he or she thinks about himself and what they think they can be able to achieve. The counselor should allow the patient come up with the solution so that he or she will be able to abid by that resolution, as opposed to where the counselor gives the resolution to the patients to follow. Lastly, the counselor should observe ethics such as requesting for an informed consent before starting the process of counseling. He or she should be in the mood of the patient so that he can get all the information from him or her for effective therapy. References Charles, N. (2010). Counselling Process: Ethical Issues.Journal of Medicine and Psychiatry, 7 (45): 764-796. Clare, Lennie, (2007). The role of personal development groups in counselor training: understanding factors contributing to self-awareness in the personal development group. British Journal of Guidance and Counseling, 35, (1). 115-129(15) Collins, S. (2010). Enhancing Reflective Practice in Multicultural Counseling Through Cultural Auditing.Journal of Counseling & Development, 88,(3):340 – 347 Constantine, M., & Sue, D. (2007). Perceptions of racial microaggressions among black supervisees in cross-racial dyads. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 54(2), 142–153 Janzen, J. et al. (2008). The secure-base hypothesis: Global attachment, attachment to counselor, and session exploration in psychotherapy. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 55(4), 495– 504. Kegley, K. A., (2004). Challenges to informed consent.EMBO reports 5, (9): 832–836 (2004) Pieterse, Alex, L. (2009) Multicultural Competence and Social Justice Training in Counseling Psychology and Counselor Education. A Review and Analysis of a Sample of Multicultural Course Syllabi.The Counseling Psychologist, 37, (1): 93-115 Rush, J.D. et al. (2009) The Meta-Analysis of Clinical Judgment Project: Effects of Experience in Judgment Accuracy. 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This is because the client might be requested to divulge a lot of details about him or herself to the counselor which might be very personal and private. If the client has not given consent, it might not be easy for the client to give enough information which will help the counselor deal with the patient better. Thus, to ensure patient’s cooperation, the counselor should obtain the informed consent first before he or she starts the counseling session. In the obtaining of the consent from the client, the counselor must first explain the client what the counseling process would entail.

He or she will tell the client what is likely to happen in the process of counseling. For example, the counselor will need to tell the patient that the process of counseling will require him or her to reveal some information which the client will consider as very confidential (Kegley, 2004). The counselor must also inform the client that the information he or she is going to reveal will be very confidential and that no one will use that information. The client will need to be told that all what he or she says will not be used in a court of law against him or her so that he or she will be able to give all the important details.

Lastly, the counselor should tell the client to sign a consent form so that it can act as evidence that they have consented to the counseling process. Role of Self Awareness In counseling, self-awareness is a very basic component in the therapy of the patients. One of the most important things for a counselor to remember in the process of counseling is that the change in the patient will be brought about by him or herself. Self-awareness is thus very critical in the process of therapy without which, the counseling process will be deemed to fail.

A successful counselor ensures that the client understands himself and thus he or she knows the values he has (Clare, 2007). This will make the patient understand that he or she has some inert energy which he has not used and could use in the solving of the problem. One of the important duties of the counselor is to make the client understand him or herself. As a result, the counselor will be able to drive the client towards making of resolutions which he or she will abide by them. There is a higher likelihood of the patient adhering to the resolutions of the counseling process more if he or she is the one who came up with them.

Self-awareness makes the client understand his or her strengths and weaknesses. With this, the client can understand how he or she will use the strengths he has and thus come with a solution to the problem he or she is facing (Janzen, et al. 2008). They will also be able to understand their weaknesses and with the help of the counselor, they can learn how to live with those weaknesses or overcome them. This will result in a situation where the client is able to point his or her areas of strengths and weaknesses making him or her understand himself better.

By understanding him or herself, there is a higher likelihood of arriving at solutions easier and faster than it would have been without such an understanding (Clare, 2007). Ethical Issues In the counseling process, there are several ethical issues which are very essential in the therapy. First, the counselor must maintain confidentiality of the information he or she gets from the patient. The information which the counselor is told by the patient is very private and the clients will tell the counselor this information with that it will not be said to anyone.

Some of the information which clients tell the counselors can even lead to legal proceedings if it leaks. Thus, the counselor should never disclose any information he or she gets from the client to any other person. Secondly, the counselor should not use the information which he or she has got against the client. This will include such things as instituting criminal proceedings in court against his or her client on the basis of the information which he or she has got from the patient.

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