SOCIAL WORK AND

COUNSELING

The Relationship of Social Work to

Counselling
The relationship between social work
and Counselling has always been
complex and interactive.
As 2 distinct activities they share
some theoretical origins and ways of
thinking.

 Professionals in the 1960s and 70s

were grounded in Casework
principles based on psycho-dynamic
theories.
From then on, Social Work training
moved on to other directions,
( behavioural theories, ecological and
systems theories and other practice
methods (Sedan 2001 and 2005)

 Just as the knowledge base for social work practice

has developed and refined by practitioners and the
academe, the discipline of counselling has also
developed (McLeod 1998; BACP 2004)
Counselling service and the methods used by
counsellors became more diverse. But
Psychodynamic counselling remained a major
theoretical approach.( like person-centered,
behavioural, cognitive and integrative approaches.

 Counselling practice has been reevaluated for its relevance in work

with women, black people, lesbians,
gays, etc.
Counselling training, like Social Work
training, has examined its ideologies
and practices as societys attitudes
and values have changed.

 At this time, boundaries between the

activities of social work and
counselling were not clear yet.
At one end, direct work with clients in
agencies were labelled as
counselling, while at the other end,
social workers regarded counselling
as a service.

 In reality, social workers in a number

of situations take counselling roles,
and counselling skills are applied to a
number of social work tasks.

 The historical interaction between

counselling and social work was
analized by Barclay (1991) who
traced the ways the two activities
intertwined and influenced each
other in terms of skills, knowledge
and values, and how the two
disciplines have also developed
distinct activities and training
pathways.

 The Barclay Report identified Counselling as

one of the two main activities of social
workers.. The other one is social care
planning And the report acknowledge the
interlocking nature of these activities.
The particular challenge, perhaps, faced by
social workers, is to offer counselling in a way
that is integrated appropriately with a variety
of other approaches in the overall work with a
given client.

 A logical categorization of counselling

dimensions of social work would
therefore be as follows:
Counselling skills underpinning the whole
range of social work
Counselling as a significant component of
the work carried out in conjunction with
other approaches
Counselling as a major explicit part of the
job description.

 The International Association of Schools of

Social Work (IASSW) and the International
Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) defined
Social Work as:
A profession which promotes social change,
problem-solving in human relationships and the
empowerment and liberation of people to enhance
well-being. Utilizing theories of human behaviour &
social systems, social work intervenes at the point
where people interact with their environments.
Principles of human rights and social justice are
fundamental to social work.

 This international definition of social work

provides an ecological perspective which
suggest that social workers are engaged with
people who are themselves inter-acting with
their environments.
It also reminds social workers that they are
there to promote change and to enhance wellbeing.
The principles that guide practice are those of
respecting rights and promoting social justice.

 Since the Barclay Report, Counselling has been

mentioned as a function of social workbut it
did not clarify its meaning in relation to social
work.
It is clear that social workers need to have at
least basic counselling skills for communicating
and relating. It is not necessary for all social
workers to be qualified for in-depth Counselling.
What is required depends upon the setting
where the social worker is employed.

Introduction to Counselling
The WHO defines Counselling as a
process of dialogue and mutual
interaction aimed at:
Facilitating
Problem-solving
Motivating
Decision-making

 UNFPA defines Counselling as a particular way

of helping that involves:
A skilled helper and one or more clients ( people
seeking help, the term client suggests an equal
relationship)
An accepting, trusting, and safe relationship
A process whereby clients learn how to understand
better themselves and their present situations
A process whereby clients are helped to construct
goals for the future
A process whereby clients are helped to acquire the
skills and courage to pursue these goals.

 Counselling is face-to-face
communication through a dynamic process
of interaction between two or more people
during which the counsellor helps the client
to take decisions. It involves active listening
to people talking about their problems,
giving in them comfort in an atmosphere of
empathy and helping them to work out what
to do about their problems, working at the
empowerment of the client.

 Counselling is a helping relationship

aimed at enabling a client to explore
a personal problem giving the client
increased awareness of choices than
what they already have in dealing
with the problem and assisting
him/her to make an informed
decision what to do about the
problem.

 Counselling is an information
exchange process with the additional
component of sharing feelings and
emotions that the client finds difficult
or disturbing, which acts as
constraints to functioning and so that
the client is not able to resolve alone
within usual social relationship.

Types of Counselling
Crisis Intervention Counselling:
A counselling which usually concentrate
on helping a person around the time of
crisis, and
can only take place when
there is a possibility for interpersonal
interaction.

 Preventive Counselling:
A counselling devoted toward stopping
something before it develops. So when
a risk of developing the behaviour is
identified, effort is given in trying to stop
further development.

 Problem-Solving Counselling:
It is structured., involving active
empathetic listening to help individuals
to identify problems, analyze them and
find alternative solutions. The aim is to
help clients to accept circumstances and
to reduce adverse effect of the problem
in his/her psychosocial well being.

 Decision-making Counselling:
Usually works well after a problemsolving process has taken place when
the client is facing the risk of making
difficult decisions.

 Individual Counselling:
A very common form of one-on-one
counselling. Some problems are very
personal and difficult to confront with
other people around.

 Family Therapy:
This can help family members resolve
issues among themselves. It can also
help family and members to adopt ways
to get well.
Family members can learn how actions
and ways of communicating can worsen
problems.

 Group Therapy ( and self-help

groups)
People come together or join a group to
discuss their problems together with the
counsellor as their guide. Very often
members share their problem.

What Counselling is NOT

GIVING ADVICE is telling someone
what you think and how you think
they should do it. It is giving your
personal opinion, implying that you
propose your own view of the
situation and suggest the best way to
solve it.

What Counselling is Not..

GIVING ADVICE is not useful in professional
health counselling because:
You dont know if you are giving the right advise;
You might give the wrong advise and it might
worsen the situation;
Counselling is about the clients opinion and
judgment , not the counsellors;
Counselling is about empowering clients to make
their own decisions about their own lives. Telling
them what to do does not help a person understand
his/her choices. The client decides the best way to
solve his problem.

What Counselling is Not.

Equity is essential in the counselling
relationship. If the Counsellor gives
advice, the role of expert is reinforced
and equity is denied.
Often people dont want advice, they
just want to be listened to and be
understood;
Client may feel that he is not respected
if you tell him what to do.
Giving advice is based in ones values
and beliefs. It suits more the giver than

 GIVING INFORMATION is telling someone facts so that

they can make an informed decision on what to do.
GIVING INFORMATION is useful in professional
counselling because:
Empowers the client to have control over his/her choices
Shows that counsellor respect the clients opinion and
judgment
Client is responsible in making decisions for
himself/herself, not the counsellor
Client will have to deal with the consequences of his
decisions, not the counsellor.

The Helping Relationship in

Counselling
Counsellor-client relationship is unique
which establishes a one way relationship
with the purpose of resolving a concern
and/or fostering the growth of one person
the client.
Counsellor is designated as the helper &
assumed to have the knowledge & training
to assist the client in an intentional and
systematic way.

 Helping Relationship (as defined by

Rogers 1961) is one in which at
least one of the parties has the intent
of promoting the growth,
development, maturity, improved
functioning and improved coping
with life of the other.

The Goals of Helping

Relationship
Increased awareness or insight &
understanding;
Relief from suffering
Changes of behaviour and lifestyle
Changes in thoughts and self-perception

Three Phases of the Helping

Relationship
Relationship Building the goal is to build a
foundation of mutual trust that promotes the
clients exploration of the presenting issues;
Challenging the client to find ways to change the
client has a deeper level of awareness and
understanding regarding the issues and the helper
then challenges to try on new ways of thinking,
feeling and behaving;
Facilitating positive client action the helper
facilitates client actions that lead toward change &
growth in the clients life outside the counselling
relationship.

Characteristics of positive helping

relationship (Seligman 2004)
Provides a safe and protective environment for clients;
Encourages collaboration, with both clients and the
helpers playing an active role in the counselling
process;
Mutual feeling of shared warmth, caring, affirmation &
the respect;
Client and counsellor have an agreement on goals an
procedures; sessions are structured in such a way as
to clearly move toward accomplishment of these
goals;
Client & counsellor view themselves as engaged in a
shared endeavour that seems likely to succeed.

Essential Components of a Helping

Relationship (Carl Rogers 1957)
Congruence emphasized the importance
of being genuine and real in the
relationship. When the counsellor is
congruent. Interactions with the client are
characterized by honesty, transparency,
and openness.
Unconditional positive regard for the
individual stressed the importance of
accepting the client without evaluation
and judgment.

Components. . . .
Emphatic understanding this is
needed for a relationship to be
therapeutic Assuring clients that
they are understood.. Provides a
sense of safety and encourage client
exploration.
(Empathy is defined as the
understanding of the clients
experiences and feelings as if they
were their own. Rogers 1957 )

Necessary Elements for a

Therapeutic Relationship
Respect describes the helping attitude that
communicates acceptance of the client as a
person of worth and dignity (Rogers- 1957)
Trust expression of respect and positive
regard for the clients individual worth.
Confidentiality assures client that
whatever they reveal will remain private
(within certain limits) This promise allows the client to feel
safe and promotes revealing information that would
otherwise remain hidden.

Necessary elements
The use of benevolent power refers
to using the interpersonal influence
one has as a counsellor in a careful
manner. According to Strong and Claiborn
1992, Counsellors are influential
because of their perceived levels of
expertness, attractiveness &
trustworthiness. And must use this
power responsibly in facilitating
change for the clients.

Necessary elements
Commitment - is carrying out respective
responsibilities in the helping relationship is
important for both counsellors and clients.
Counsellor responsibilities include delivering
specified services and following ethical
guidelines ..and client responsibilities include a
commitment toward working on his/her
problems and investing energy in the
counselling process.

Checklist of Desirable Counsellor

Characteristics
Come up with desirable
characteristics of a
Counsellor

Intelligent Energetic
CaringTrustworthy
Genuine Emotionally stable
Resourceful Unselfish
Curious Good listener
Realistic Dependable
Respectful of individual differences
Maintain balance in own life
Emphatic Optimistic

Self-confident self-aware
Creative flexible
Hardworking Insightful
Non-judgmental Knowledgeable
Ethical Sense of humour
Friendly
Comfortable with intimacy
Able to express self-clearly (Ref. Introduction to
the Counselling Profession by David Capuzzi Douglas R.
Gross 2009)

Counselling
A planned interaction between the client
and the worker to assist client in altering
his/her present behaviour.
Helps the client through guidance and
support to find a solution to a problem and
make a decision.
To enhance the clients ability to
understand his/her situation and
adequately cope with the demands and
challenges of life.

Aims of Counselling
Insight - the acquisition of an understanding
of the origins and development of emotional
difficulties leading to an increased capacity to
take rational control over feelings and actions.
Self-awareness - becoming more aware of
thoughts and feelings which had been blocked
off or denied, or developing a more accurate
sense of how self is perceived by others

Aims.
Self-acceptance the development of
a positve attitude toward self, marked
by an ability to acknowledge areas of
experience which had been the
subject of self-criticism and rejection.
Self-actualization or individuationMoving in the direction of fulfilling
potential or achieving an integration
of previously conflicting pars of self.

Aims
Enlightenment assisting the client
to arrive at a higher level state of
spiritual awakening.
Problem-solving finding a solution
to a specific problem which the client
had not been able to resolve alone.
Psychological education- enabling
the client to acquire ideas and
techniques with which to understand
and control behaviour.

Aims.
Acquisition of social skills - learning
and mastering social and
interpersonal skills such
maintenance of eye contact, turn
taking in conversations,
assertiveness or anger control.
Cognitive Change the modification
or replacement of irrational beliefs or
maladaptive thought patterns
associated with self-destructive

Aims
Behaviour change the modification or
replacement of maladaptive or self-destructive
patterns of behaviour.
Systemic change introducing change into the
way in which social systems (families) operate.
Empowerment working on skills, awareness,
and knowledge which will enable the client to
confront social inequalities.
Restitution helping the client to make
amends for previous destructive behaviour.

Phases of Counseling
Preparation Phase:
Prepare the place
Prepare needed things like water, tissue
paper
Review the available documents
Review theories, concepts, techniques
Formulate your hypothesis
State clearly the objectives of the session
Prepare yourself for the session
Think of a ritual that can be used.

Phase
Interview/session proper
Welcoming
Introduction of the worker
Attend to the body language of the client
Make the client feel at ease and comfortable
Present objectives of the session
Set expectations and rules
Contracting
Know the information about the client

Phase
Middle Phase
Ask the client about her/his feelings
Acknowledge the attribute of the client
Be sensitive to clients expression and non-verbal cues
Provide the client an opportunity to express him/her feelings
Clarify gray areas
Utilize techniques in questioning to draw information from the
client
Guide or provide client with direction
Show acceptance of the client
Summarize identified problems
Facilitate identification of plans and solutions (who, when, what,
how, where)Draw out internal and external resources of the
family.

Phase
Ending Phase
Summarize the whole session and
highlight the action point
Demonstrate gratitude
Evaluate the session
Draw out feelings
Schedule next session
Ending the session ( can use ritual)

Phase
Post interview
Preparation of report
Evaluation/assessment
Recommendation
Coordination with other service
providers that can provide needed
resource by the client
Conferencing with colleagues, case
manager and/or other professional
Monitoring on agreed upon plans

Basic Skills in Counselling

Active listening/responding skills
Paying full attention to the clients verbal
disclosure, non-verbal cues and feelings.
Maintaining and communicating active
involvement with the client while listening
through non-verbal communication such as
eye-to-eye contact and nodding of the head.
Involvement of the worker is measured not
by the number of words spoken or the issue
covered, but by the time he/she spends
actively listening.

Skills
Paraphrasing
Is restating the clients message..
Making sure that the client has
understood what the worker just said &
vice versa. This will encourage the
client to continue speaking.
( example I heard you say you are
worried about your sons behaviouris
that correct? ?)

Skills.
Clarifying
Is making an educated guess about the
clients message for the client to confirm
or deny. It is also to clear up confusion
if a clients response is vague or not
understandable.
(Example: I dont think I understand what
you said..can you explain .)

Skills.
Asking appropriate questions to
obtain specific information
Asking the right question at the right
time and the right way will encourage
client to communicate, elaborate on
his/her thoughts, knowledge or
feelings..and
To make the client feel that the worker is
interested in what he/she has to say.

Asking questions..
Open ended questions ..requires client to
express his/her feelings, beliefs, knowledge &
gives more than a yes or no answer. (what and
how questions)
Probing questions helps the worker to clarify
the clients response to open-ended question.
Normally, probing questions follow open-ended
questions.
Closed questions usually Yes and No
response or a few words. It may discourage
discussion or exploration.

Skills
Identifying & reflecting fee lings help client
identify and clarify ideas, feelings and
reactions by listening to how the feelings are
described.
Problem clarification - allowing the client the
state the problem and helping the client
clarify and define it. The social worker should
not make assumptions on what the clients
problem is, nor should worker make an
attempt to solve the clients problem, solving
it for him/her.

Skills
Confronting - this can be an effective response
when an issue is being denied of has not come
out into the open.
Focusing - help the client focus on the most
important issues at hand and not get sidetracked.
Appropriate se of silence - Silence in
counselling session is important. It gives the
client an opportunity to reflect, integrate
feelings, think through an idea or absorb new
information.

Skills.
Providing information presenting
information in a clear, concise and
understandable manner at a point in
the session in which it is appropriate
and helpful.
Rephrasing statements for accuracy
of feelings expressed by the
counselee. Giving honest feedbacks
on messages.

 Non-critical Acceptance - The tendency to

believe generally positive or flattering
descriptions of oneself.
An accepting attitude involves respecting
clients as separate human being with right to
their own thought and feelings.. Though an
accepting attitude involves respecting others
as separate and unique human beings, this
does not mean that you agree with everything
they say. It is just that you respect their
version of reality.

Other skills..
Reflecting back Reflecting is showing
the client that you have not only heard
what is being said, but what feelings
and emotions the client is experiencing
while sharing his story..
It is like holding up a mirror to the client,
repeating what they have said.
It also allows the client to make sure your
fully understood them, and if not, the client
can correct you.

 Summarizing and checking - In

summarization, the counsellor combines 2
or more of the clients thoughts, feelings or
behaviours into a general theme.
Summarization is usually used as a skill
during choice points of a counselling
interview in which the counsellor wants to
draw connection between two or more
topics..
Summarization is also used as a way to close
a session.

 Confrontation - Generally this means

challenging another person over a
discrepancy or disagreement. However,
Confrontation as a counselling skill is an
attempt by the counsellor to gently
bring about awareness in the client of
something that they may have
overlooked or avoided.

 Challenging - is bringing into focus

discrepancies in the other persons
feelings, thinking of behaviour that they
tend to overlook or ignore. In the words
of Fritz Perls (founder of gestalt
therapy) the neurotic is the person
who is unable to see the obvious..
Where our blindspots and distortions
differ, we are in a position to feedback
to them discrepancies that we notice
from our perspective.

 Immediacy is the ability of the

counsellor to use the immediate
situation to invite the client to look at
what is going on between them in the
relationship. It implies the use of the
present tense BEING immediate, being
able to respond at the moment. This is
an essential skill needed by the
counsellor and is valuable in helping
identify feelings. It focuses on using the
Here and Now.

 Goal Setting a very powerful tool for all areas

of Life. Hill (1975) emphasizes that establishing
goals is crucial in providing direction. Rule
(1982) states that goals are the emerging fabric
of daily living but are often elusive.
Avoidance of Judging and Moralistic
Response - The common mistake of any
person who are dealing with people through
counselling is Judging and Moralizing. Often, a
counsellor has a tendency to think that he/she
knows better and can think many possible ways
to help people with their problematic situation.

 - The ability to Offer Feedback

Feedback is a useful tool in indicating
when things are going in the right
direction or for redirecting problem
performance. Your objective in
giving feedback is to provide
guidance by supplying information in
a useful manner, either to support
effective behaviour, or to guide
someone back on track toward

 -Working with Defenses

Defences and resistances are seen as
natural ways of avoiding discomfort,
anxiety and threat in practice. Using
some counselling skills can lower
resistance and build a more
cooperative relationship.

Qualities of a Good
Counsellor

Empathy
Respect and positive regard
Genuineness
Concreteness
Good communicator
Strength to do counselling
Supportive of another person
Sense of Humor

Technique in Counselling
Establishing rapport and eye contact
Having clear objectives
Conditioning ones self by coming
prepared and not bringing personal
problem to the situation
Asking questions in an appropriate and
timely fashion
Considering the physical and the
psychological readiness of the client.

 Being comfortable with silence

Using verbal and non-verbal communication as
well as active listening
Giving the person an affirmation
Imposing emotional distance when needed
Considering the frequency, duration and intensity
of the problem before making an assessment
Always end the session by indicating a desire to
see the client again at a time convenient for
him/her.

THANK YOU
E. ED. DUBLIN
8-10-16