COUNSELING

WHAT IS COUNSELING?
It is a process wherein a helping relations between two persons takes place because one person feels the need for special help with a problem which he has not been to resolve by himself.

It is a means of helping people acquire the knowledge and skills to solve their own problems. Counseling could be conducted with individuals, groups, and families.

WHO ARE INVOLVES IN COUNSELING?

A.

Person who needed help (helpee)

Almost always initiates relationship Part of the problem solved because he acknowledges problem and seeks help

B.

Counselor the person who provides help (helper)

sometimes initiates the relationship by letting the client know that he/she is there if needed Responsible for helping the client solve his/her problems

THE EFFECTIVE COUNSELOR:

Attitudes and skills of an Traits of a Good Counselor Effective Counselor
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Acceptance Understanding Building rapport Empathy Attentiveness

1. 2. 3.

4.
5.

6.
7. 8.

Friendly, warm Open-hearted/minded Attentive, good listener Has skills in communication (listening and responding) Can establish harmony with client Can get clients trust Understanding Non- judgmental

STRATEGIES USED IN COUNSELING

1. 2. 3. 4.

5.
6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Setting the proper atmosphere Understanding the clients expectations Building a trusting relationship The use of silence Listening for understanding Observing non-verbal behavior Identifying the right problem and facilitating understanding Making referrals Evaluating the session with the client Ending the session

HELPERS CHECKLIST (When Handling Crisis Situation)

1. 2. 3.

4.
5.

Display a calm and relaxed behavior Communicate clearly Demonstrate interest and concern Provide a sense of reassurance and safety Use calming and encouraging statements such as: please speak slowly, its okay, Im here to help, etc.

6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

Demonstrate ability to assess situation Provide appropriate action on the basis of assessment. Make fast and appropriate decisions Attend to immediate needs of clients Demonstrate control of the situation Demonstrate presence of mind Allow client to ventilate/express emotions such as anger, crying Show non-emotional involvement and yet able to empathize.

COUNSELING WOMEN
The basic principles, values, and skills needed in helping and counseling is based on the framework that the person in need and the helper will work together to address the problems that cause stress and other manifestations of it. In working women, the helper needs to consider the clients capacities, capabilities, and vulnerabilities. Meaning, the helper needs to relate to the client in manner that is appropriate and relevant to the cliets understanding. Again, this is important because they helper and the client must work together.

ATTITUDE AND SKILLS NEEDED IN COUNSELING WOMEN

1.

The helper must develop a warm, friendly relationship with the client, in which good rapport is established as soon as possible.

2.
3.

The helper accepts the client as he/she is.

The helper establishes a feeling of permissiveness in the relationship so that the client feels free to express his/her feelings completely

4.

Helper is alert to recognize the feelings the client is expressing and reflects those feeling back to him/her in such a manner that he/she gains insight into his/her behavior.

5.

The helper maintains a deep respect for the clients ability to solve his/her own problems if given the opportunity to do so. The responsibility to make choices and to institute change in the client.

6.

The helper does not attempt to direct the clients actions or conversation in any manner. The client leads the way; the helper follows. The helper does not attempt to hurry the counseling session along. It is a gradual process and is recognized as such by the helper. The helper establishes only those limitations that are necessary to anchor the counseling session to the world of reality and to make the client aware of his/her responsibility in the relationship.

7.

8.

GUIDELINES IN INTERVIEWING
1.

When the client presents for interview, they are likely to be feeling anxious, fearful or nervous. Thus, it is very important for the helper to help the client feel comfortable and at ease. Demonstrate through reassurance that you understand that the clients is feeling uncomfortable. Younger clients or children may need to play freely; this helps them to relax and feel comfortable. For adolescents, a general talk about their hobbies and interests will serve a similar purpose.

2.

Introduce yourself. Explain in simple terms who you are and what is going to happen. Remember that the client may never have been interviewed before and may not understand what is happening, Smile. Sit on the same level as the client. Remember that the client will interpret your tone of voice, rate of speech, volume, facial expression, movements, gestures, as well as your words. Try to be warm and accepting and dont make sudden changes in any of the above. Never assume that the client understands you. When checking to see of he/she understands, ask the client to repeat your question rather than asking, do you understand?

3.

4.

5.

Rephrase misunderstood questions. Repeating the question may be taken as an indication that client has given an incorrect answer and the client may change his answer. Use a language or other ways to communicate that the client can easily understand, e.g., if the client is a child you may have art play and story telling. We need to know about their world that is different from ours. It helps to remember ourselves at their stage.

6.

7.

LEARNING POINTS:

Listening is an important counseling skill which involves not only hearing what the helpee is saying but also understanding the meaning of it. It involves understanding the verbal and non-verbal communication and responding appropriately. It involves the body, the mind and the feelings. This is called active listening.

In active listening, the helper enables the helpee to understand him/herself by communicating warmth, acceptance and understanding.

One of the most fundamental skills in counseling is interviewing. The four major techniques of interviewing are: observing listen, questioning, and exploring. In counseling, it is important to understand feelings. Empathy is the ability to see and feel as other s do. It is entering into another persons frame of reference and feeling what is like to be that person. A good helper is able to tolerate silence. It is important skill in counseling.

SKILLS NEEDED IN INTERVIEWING

1.

OBSERVING
In the pre-interview phase, observe the clients non verbal signals, physical and personal appearance, posture, facial expression.

In the interview proper, facial expressions occur simultaneously with verbal expressions. However, many times there is discrepancy between verbal communication and facial expressions. The most accurate communication of true feelings occurs when verbal communication and non- verbal communication reflect the same basic meaning.

2.

LISTENING
Involves hearing what the client is saying literally and understanding what it meant

To understand completely, the helper must be attentive and concentrate on what the client is saying; understand the meaning of words, language, facial expression and non-verbal communication
The helper must be sensitive to emotionally laden words, to have a clear picture of the clients problems and conflicts and the reasons they exist.

4.

QUESTIONING
purpose :
a.) to gather data b.) to understand the clients situation

c.) to motivate the client to pursue a specific topic or subject matter

d.) to help the client clarify thoughts

4. EXPLORING

This means delving into a topic in depth. It lets the helper and client share the clients experience for as long as the client is willing. It can be used to help the client express powerful feelings that are essential to resolve the crisis. The purpose of exploring is to encourage the sharing and expression of feelings as well as to gain information

TWO DIFFERENT SKILLS ARE INVOLVED IN QUESTIONING AND EXPLORING:

1.

Timing the ability to know when to ask question without interfering with the flow of the clients conversation. Formulating or phrasing questions should be designed to encourage the client to express feelings openly and freely.

2.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS FOR QUESTIONING AND EXPLORING:

Tone of voice Use open-ended questions Language and vocabulary use should fir the clients educational level, age, and frame of reference An indirect method is to form a question as a statement, e.g., That sounds really hard for you. This kind of questioning is used to get the client to share more feelings. Its is used when the client may be a little reserved or reluctant to express painful feelings.

 Use

of comparative questions. For the wife who says her husband does not love her, the helper could say, by love, do you mean affection or concern for your welfare? The question stimulates the client to think about what love is and about whether there are some positive things in the relationship. The direct question, What do you mean by love? could make the client defensive and reactive basic feelings of being unloved.

In formulating direct questions:

a. The sequence of questions should progress from the general to the specific. b. The questions should progress from the less personal to the more personal c. The questions should be worded to elicit answer of a sentence or more and to avoid yes and no responses d. The questions should be worded to avoid bias.

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