The Counselor

Key to Efective Counseling

Counseling is an activity that cannot be done mechanically.
It is a human encounter that involves people helping in a relationship
established for this purpose.
This relationship is facilitated by the counselor with skillful responses to
engage the client in problem solving.
This is the way to deal with psychological marital and family problems
through human resources.
If people are best helped by people the key to efective counseling must
surely be the counselor himself.
The counselor must possess !
". certain #ualities found to be facilitative in counseling
$. basic knowledge of the theory and practice of counseling
%. ac#uisition of interviewing and intervention skills
The Efective Counselor
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* fairly clear idea of what you believe about life people and problems
+eneral (oundation for Counseling
". fairly optimistic view of life
$. an altruistic orientation to people
%. realistic acceptance that problems are part and parcel of life
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* counseling re#uires that a counselor be sub0ected to analysis himself
* to help become more aware of himself personal problems and hang ups
and bring to consciousness past di1culties that can come in the way of efective
relationship with clients.
* it is also assumed that a counselor would be more efective if he himself
growing and willing to be a 2patient3 before being a counselor.
The counselor should be!
". in reasonable contact with himself
$. be aware of his values beliefs
%. be open to deal with his own problems
This will not only minimi4e barriers in counseling relationship5 but
can help him be in touch with his own feelings and deal with client6s
problems without being too emotionally involved or absorbed.
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* the 9eld of counseling is very dynamic
* new theories and innovations are emerging from time to time sometimes
too #uickly for anyone to keep pace with it.
* helping professionals have to undergo a training program at the university
level
* e:perience helps but with the increasing sophistication in counseling
practice it is insu1cient to rely on personal e:perience alone.
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* some counselors regard themselves as do-all and be-all
- a counselor should remember that he is an enabler not an omnipotent
saviour
* he is supposed to have e:pertise in helping people solve their
problems with emphasis on helping not solving.
* the client still has to do the work but the counselor is there to help him to do
it.
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@eo A"BC"D
,wareness of self and values
Trust
-armth and care
,cceptance
Empathy
Knowledge
,lbert Ellis A"BCED
". Counselors are vitally interested in helping their clients and energetically
work to ful9ll this interest.
$. They unconditionally accept their clients as people.
%. They are con9dent of their work therapeutic ability.
F. They have a wide knowledge of therapeutic theories and practices and are
Ge:ible undogmatic and conse#uently open to ac#uiring of new skills and to
e:perimenting with them.
E. They are able to cope with and ameliorate their own disturbances and
conse#uently are not inordinately an:ious depressed hostile self*downing
self* pitying or undisciplined.
H. They are patient persistent and hard*working in the therapeutic endeavors.
I. They are ethical and responsible and use counseling almost entirely for the
bene9t of the clients and not for personal indulgence.
C. They act professionally and appropriately in a therapeutic setting but are still
able to maintain some degree of humanness spontaneity and personal
en0oyment in what they are doing.
B. They are encouraging and optimistic and show clients that whatever
di1culties they may e:perience they can appreciably change.
"J. They are eager to help virtually all their clients and freely refer to other
helping professionals those they think they can6t help or who are not
interested in being helped. They also try to be neither under*involved nor
over involved with their clients. They monitor their pre0udices that lead to
their strongly favoring or disfavoring some of their clients. If advisable they
would refer such clients to others.
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* working with clients re#uires a counselor to be willing to adapt to them
open to shift focus on issues as indicated by clients
* adopt various strategies or techni#ues to help bring about change.
* this will ensure that proper 2reverence and appreciation for each client6s
personal rate of change idiosyncrasies di1culties vulnerabilities and resources3
are maintained.
* this attitude will ensure respect for clients and restrain counselors from
e:pecting that clients must always respond to what is prescribed for them.