1st MODULE

Meaning of counseling
•Counseling is a professional advice given by a counsellor based on personal or psychology
related problems of the individuals.

•Counseling is a learning oriented process, which occurs usually in an interactive relationship,

with the aim of helping a person learn more about the self and to use such understanding to
enable the person to become an effective member of society.

•Counseling is a helping approach that highlights :

-The emotional and intellectual experience of a client

-How a client is feeling and what they think about the problem they have sought help for

•It is a helping relationship which includes

-Someone seeking help

-Someone willing to give help and capable or trained to help

-In a setting that permits, help to be given and received.

Definition of counseling

•American counseling association (ACA) (1997) accepted the following definition of professional
counseling:

“Counseling is the application of mental health, psychological or human development principles,

through cognitive, affective, behavioural or systemic interventions, strategies that address
wellness, personal growth, or career development, as well as pathology.”

•According to Patterson and welfel (1994) counseling is an interactive process characterized by

a unique relationship between counsellors and clients that leads to changes in the client in one
or more of the following areas:

•Behaviour (overt changes in the ways clients act, their coping skills, decision making skills, and
relationship skills)

•Beliefs and values ( ways of thinking about self, others and the world ) or emotional concerns
relating to these perceptions.
•Levels of emotional distress (uncomfortable feelings or reactivity to environmental stress).

GOALS OF COUNSELLING

The main objective of counselling is to bring about a voluntary change in the client. For this purpose the
counsellor provides facilities to help achieve the desired change or make the suitable choice.

The goal of counseling is to help individuals overcome their immediate problems and also to equip them
to meet future problems.

Decision-Making as a Goal of Counselling

Some counsellors hold the view that counselling should enable the counsellee to make decisions. It is
through the process of making critical decisions that personal growth is fostered,.

Reaves and Reaves (1965) point out that the primary objective of counselling ling is that of stimulating
individuals to evaluate, make, accept and act upon his choice counselling is to help individual learn as to
what is needed in choice making, by which 1s meant that the individual should lean to make decisions
independently.

It has been stressed more than once that it is not for t the counsellor to make decisions for his clients. lf
it were so, it would cease to be counselling.

Decisions are always the counselees own, and they are responsible for themselves. In other words, the
counselees should know how and why they made the concerned decisions.

In the process of decision-making, information may be required and the counsellor should provide it or
help obtain it. The information may have to be clarified, sorted out and analysed. The counsellor should
help in this such that the counsellee is able to make responsible decision.

Tyler (1961) also defines the goal of counselling as decision-making. The counsellor has to help the
counsellee utilize the resources-intra-personal and environmental-available and make decision based on
them to cope with life situations.

The counsel or has the goal of understanding the behaviour, motivations, and feelings of the counselee.
He has different goals at different levels of functioning. The immediate goal is to obtain relief for the client
and the long-range goal is to make him 'a fully functioning person'. Both the immediate and long- tem
goals are secured through what are known as mediate or process goals.

The long-range goals are those that reflect the counsellor S philosophy of life and could be stated as:

1 To help the counsellee become self-actualizing.

2. To help the counsellee attain self-realization.

3. To help the counsellee become a fully-functioning person.

The immediate goals of counselling refer to the problems for which the client is seeking solutions, here
and now. The client tails to utilize his capacities fully and efficiently and, therefore, is unable to function
efficiently. The counsellee could be helped to gain fuller self- understanding through self-exploration and
to appreciate his strengths and weaknesses. The counsellor could provide necessary information but the
information, however exhaustive, may not be useful to the client unless he has an integrative
understanding of himself vis-a-vis his personal resources and environmental constraints and resources.

The long-range and immediate goals are not unrelated. There is an inter-relation between the m, as both
depend on the process goals tor their realization. 1he process goals are the basic Counselling dimensions
which are essential conditions for counselling to take place. They comprise empathic understanding,
warmth and friendliness which provide for interpersonal exploration which, in turn, helps the client in his
self-exploration and self-understanding eventually lead to the long-range goals, namely, self-
actualisation, self realization and self enhancement patterns of behaviour enhancement. The client may
have certain inhibiting and se become a fully-f, functioning which are eliminated and overcome, to enable
the person.

Mediate goals (Parloff, 1967) may be considered as specific steps contributing to the realization of general
goals. Behaviourists place much emphasis on mediate goals. These comprise the reduction of anxiety,
feeling of hostility, undesirable habits, etc., on the negative side; and the increase of pleasure, acquisition
of adaptive habits, understanding of self, etc., on positive side.

Specific counseling goals are unique to each client and involve a consideration of the client's expectations
as well as the environmental aspects.

The general public tends to view counseling as a remedial function and emphasizes immediate goals, such
as problem resolution, tension reduction, and the like.

Counselee may refer to the resolution of a particular conflict or problem situation. However, the goals of
counseling are appropriately concerned with such fundamental and basic aspects such as self-
understanding and self actualization. These help provide the counselee with self-direction and self
motivation.

Counseling in its spirit and essence is generative. It aims at assisting the individual to develop such that
he becomes psychologically mature and is capable of realizing his potentialities optimally.

Some of the different goals that are adopted either explicitly or implicitly by counsellors are listed:

1.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.

2.Relating with others: Becoming better able to form and maintain meaningful and satisfying relationships
with other people: for example, within the family or workplace.

3.Self-awareness: Becoming more aware of thoughts and feelings that had been blocked off or developing
a more accurate sense of how self is perceived by others.
4.Self-acceptance: The development of a positive attitude towards self, marked by an ability to
acknowledge areas of experience that had been the subject of self-criticism and rejection.

5.Self-actualization or individuation: Moving in the direction of fulfilling potential or achieving an

integration of previously conflicting parts of self.

6. Enlightenment: Assisting the client to arrive at a higher state of spiritual awakening.

7.Problem-solving: Finding a solution to a specific problem that the client had not been able to resolve
alone. Acquiring a general competence in problem solving.

8.Psychological education: Enabling the client to acquire ideas and techniques with which to understand
and control behaviour.

9.Acquisition of social skills: Learning and mastering social and interpersonal skills such as maintenance
of eye contact, turn taking in convers actions, assertiveness or anger control.

10.Cognitive change: The modification or replacement of irrational beliefs or maladaptive thought

patterns associated with self-destructive behaviour

11. Behaviour change: The modification or replacement of maladaptive or self destructive patterns of
behaviour.

12. Systemic change: Introducing change into the way in that social systems (eg. families) operate.

13. Empowerment: Working on skills, awareness and knowledge that will enable the client to take control
of his or her own life.

14 Restitution: Helping the client to make amends for previous destructive behaviour.

15. Generativity and social action: Inspiring in the person a desire and capacity to care for others and pass
on knowledge and to contribute to the collective good through political engagement and community work.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF COUNSELING PROFESSION

• Counseling as a profession grew out of the progressive guidance movement of the early 1900s.
Its emphasis was on prevention and purposefulness—on helping individuals of all ages and stages
avoid making bad choices in life while finding meaning, direction, and fulfillment in what they did.
• Today professional counseling encompasses within its practice clinicians who still focus on the
avoidance of problems and the promotion of growth, but the profession is much more than that.
• The focus on wellness, development, mindfulness, meaningfulness, and remediation of mental
disorders is the hallmark of counseling for individuals, groups, couples, and fami-lies across the
life span.
 • To understand what counseling is now, it is important first to understand the history of the
profession and how counseling is similar to and different from concepts such as guidance and
psychotherapy.
Guidance:
• Guidance focuses on helping people make important choices that affect their lives, such as
choosing a preferred lifestyle.
• One distinction between guidance and counseling is that guidance centers on helping individuals
choose what they value most, whereas counseling helps them make changes.
• Much of the early work in guidance occurred in schools and career centers where an adult would
help a student make decisions, such as deciding on a course of study or a vocation. That
relationship was between unequals and was beneficial in helping the less experienced person find
direction in life.
• Similarly, children have long received “guidance” from parents, religious leaders, and coaches. In
the process they have gained an understanding of themselves and their world.
Psychotherapy:
• Traditionally, psychotherapy (or therapy) has focused on serious problems associated with
intrapsychic, internal, and personal issues and conflicts.
• Psychotherapy has historically involved a long-term relationship (20 to 40 sessions over a period
of 6 months to 2 years) that concentrated on reconstructive change as opposed to a more short-
term relationship (8 to 12 sessions spread over a period of less than 6 months).
• Psychotherapy has also been more of a process associated with inpatient settings—some of which
are residential, such as mental hospitals—as opposed to outpatient settings—some of which are
nonresidential, such as community agencies.

History of counseling

• Before 1900 :Counseling is a relatively new profession (Aubrey, 1977, 1982). It developed in the
late 1890s and early 1900s, and was interdisciplinary from its inception. “Some of the functions
of counselors were and are shared by persons in other professions”.
• Before the 1900s, most counseling was in the form of advice or information.
• 1900–1909 : Counseling was an infant profession in the early 1900s. During this decade, however,
three persons emerged as leaders in counseling’s development: Frank Parsons, Jesse B. Davis, and
Clifford Beers.
• Frank Parsons, often called the founder of guidance, focused his work on growth and prevention.
His influence was great in his time and it is “Parson’s body of work and his efforts to help others
[that] lie at the center of the wheel that represents present day counseling” .
• He is rightly called the “father of guidance” and is best known for founding Boston’s Vocational
Bureau in 1908.
• Parsons had a colorful life career in multiple disciplines, being a lawyer, an engineer, a college
teacher, and a social worker before ultimately becoming a social reformer and working with
youth .
• Jesse B. Davis was the first person to set up a systematized guidance program in the public
schools .He was known as a broad scholar, writer and a tireless activist. He introduced “vocational
and moral guidance” as a curriculum into an English language composition course. Davis worked
for educational and vocational problems of students; a clear illustration of the early ties of
counseling to vocational guidance.
• Clifford whittingham Beers, a former Yale student, was hospitalized for depression several times
during his life (Kiselica & Robinson, 2001). He found conditions in mental institutions deplorable
and exposed them in his book, A Mind That Found Itself (1908), which became a popular best
seller.this help to change societal attitude towards mental illness.His work was also a forerunner
of mental health counseling.
• 1910s - founding of the National Vocational Guidance Association (NVGA), which was the
forerunner of the American Counseling Association(1913).
• The French psychologist Alfred Binet and his associate Theodore Simon introduced the first
general intelligence test in 1905.
• World War I was another important event of the decade. During the war “counseling became
more widely recognized as the military began to employ testing and placement practices for great
numbers of military personnel”.psychological instruments were used for screening purposes.
Clinicians equipped to administer and interpret these screening were called psychometrist.
• In 1915, the first guidance journal “Vocational Guidance” was published.
• 1920 -The 1920s were relatively quiet for the developing counseling profession. This was a period
of consolidation.
• A notable event was the certification of counselors in Boston and New York in the mid-1920s . The
publication of new psychological instruments such as Edward Strong’s Strong Vocational Interest
Inventory (SVII) in 1927. The publication of this instrument set the stage for future directions for
assessment in counseling .
• A final noteworthy event was Abraham and Hannah Stone’s 1929 establishment of the first
marriage and family counseling center in New York City. This center was followed by others across
the nation, marking the beginning of the specialty of marriage and family counseling.
• Child Guidance Movement was primarily initiated as the result of the work of G. Stanley Hall.
• 1930- Development of the first theory of counseling, which was formulated by E. G. Williamson
and his colleagues (including John Darley and Donald Paterson) at the University of Minnesota.
His emphasis on a direct, counselor-centered approach came to be known by several names—for
example, as the Minnesota point of view and trait-factor counseling.
• John Brewer helped broaden counseling beyond occupational concerns. He emphasized this
change and published a book “Education as Guidance” He maintained that every teacher be a
counselor and that guidance be incorporated into school curriculum.
• Alcoholic anonymous was founded. AA was a self-help approach to alcohol addition.
• 1940- Carl Rogers rose to prominence in 1942 with the publication of his book Counseling and
Psychotherapy, which challenged the counselor-centered approach of Williamson as well as major
tenets of Freudian psychoanalysis. Rogers emphasized the importance of the client, espousing a
nondirective approach to counseling.
• The certification of school counselor was established. The National mental health was introduced.
This act authorised fund for research for training into the area of prevention, diagnosis and
treatment of mental health disorders.
• 1950- American Personnel and Guidance Association. APGA grew out of the Council of Guidance
and Personnel Associations (CGPA), a loose confederation of organizations “concerned with
educational and vocational guidance and other personnel activities” .
• New theories created by Albert Ellis, Aaron Beck, Eric Berne, Donald super and B.F Skinner.
• At that time the most popular theories were psychoanalysis and insight oriented theories, trait-
factor, and client centered theories. This decade is also important for the development of new
theories, such as Behavioral, Cognitive and Learning theories.
• The American Rehabilitation Counseling Association (ARCA) was charted. This association
promotes the development of professional counselor and the advancement of counseling
profession.
• 1960- C. Gilbert Wrenn introduced the concept of the culturally encapsulated counselor in his
book titled " The counselor in the changing world" . This concept mean that counselor lacked the
understanding or ignoring of another's cultural background.
• The impact of the developmental model lessened, however, as the decade continued, primarily
because of three events: the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement, and the women’s
movement.
• Each event pointed out needs within society and the main focus of that time was on crises
counseling and other short-term interventions.
• Humanistic counseling theories of Dugald Arbuckle, Abraham Maslow, and Sidney Jourard. A were
established. 1963 Community Mental Health Centers Act, which authorized the establishment of
community mental health centers.The American Psychological Association (APA) legalization
committee proposed a restriction on who could provide counseling/perform counseling practice.
• 1970-Diversification of counseling was established. The diversification of counseling meant that
specialized training began to be offered in counselor education programs. It also meant the
development of new concepts of counseling.; Lewis and Lewis (1977) coined the term community
counselor for a new type of counselor who could function in multidimensional roles regardless of
employment setting.
• American mental health counseling association and four other new division of APGA formed.
Virginia was the first state to adopt a professional counselor licensure law, doing so in 1976.
Helping skills program established.
• 1980- APGA changed its name to the American Association for Counseling and Development
(AACD) to “reflect the changing demographics of its membership and the settings in which they
worked .
• The National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), which was formed in 1982. The NBCC
developed a standardized test and defined 8 major areas of knowledgeThis was a national
certifying organisation for professional counselor in the US .
• The Association for Counselor and Educator in Government (ACEG) was charted.This encouraged
counselors to deliver guidance, counseling and education to all members of the armed services
and their families.
• 1990-The American Association For Counseling and Development (AACD) changed their name to
the American Counseling Association,with 16 subdivisions, that is still used in present day. The
changed name better reflected the work of the members.
• Increased attention to counseling within a pluralistic society: Multicultural issues were given due
attention in a pluralistic society.
• The Association for Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Issues in Counseling (AGLBIC) was charted. This
organisation serves members of the counseling profession and seeks to promote awareness and
understanding of sexual identity topic and sexual minority issues.
• 2000s-More than 31,000 counselors held the certification of NationalCertified Counselor. The
20/20 committee was formed and "A Vision for theFuture of Counseling was introduced.
• The Affordable Health Care Act was passed. This law was significant to the counseling profession
because counselors needed to have an understanding about client's health insurance coverage.
• Today, As you can see, the counseling profession has come a long way. Even today, the profession
is still continuing to grow and thrive in society. Counseling organizations, such as the American
Counseling Association, continue to work on developing and raising awareness for the counseling
profession.
Counselling process
• The counselling process is a planned, structured dialogue between a
counsellor and at client. It is a cooperative process in which a trained
professional helps a person called the client to identify sources of difficulties
or concerns that he or she is experiencing.
• Together they develop ways to deal with and overcome these problems so
that person has new skills and increased understanding of themselves and
others.
• . For example students in a college or university may be anxious about how
to study in university, lack of clarity on educational or career direction, have
difficulty living with a room-mate of another race or religion, have concerns
 with self-esteem, feelings with being "stressed out", difficulties in romantic
relationships and so forth.
• The fact that counselling is described as a process, there is the implicit
meaning of a progressive movement toward an ultimate conclusion.
• Hackney and Cormier (1987) describes the counselling process as a series of
steps through which the counsellor and client move.
• Counselling can help client learn to make better decision.
• It can help improve personal skills, develop greater confidence, in the
persons academic or work performance.
• Counsellors can help the client only if they are willing to receive help, attend
scheduled sessions, and engage in new ways of thinking pattern and acting
outside of the counseling settings.
Stages of counselling process
• The word process helps to communicate much about the essence of
counseling.
• A process is an identifiable sequence of events taking place over time.
Usually there is the implication of progressive stages in the process.
• For example, there are identifiable stages in the healing process for a serious
physical injury such as a broken leg. Similarly, there are identifiable stages in
the process of human development from birth to death. Although the stages
in this process are common to all human beings, what happens within each
of these stages is unique for each individual.
• Counseling also has a predictable set of stages that occur in any com plete
sequence.
• Initially, the counselor and the client must establish contact, define together
"where the client is" in his or her life, and clarify the client's current
difficulties. If successful, the client commits to using counseling as a tool for
personal growth.
• This stage is followed by conversation that leads to a deeper understanding
of the client's needs and desires in the context of his or her interpersonal
world and to a mutually acceptable diagnosis of the problems.
• Finally, the participants agree on goals for change and design and implement
action plans to accomplish the identified goals. When a client comes to a
counselor to discuss a concern that is fairly specific and compart mentalized
(such as which of two job offers to accept), the entire sequence of stages
may be accomplished in a single session.
• In contrast, when a client comes to a counselor with highly disruptive,
distressful, or long-standing con cern (such as learning how to live as a single
parent or how to cope with an eating disorder), the stages may be
accomplished over many sessions.
• Once rapport has been established and in-depth exploration has been
undertaken, the participants will define each problem or issue more fully and
develop goals for resolving the problems. Next, the client and counselor
devise a plan of action for change that the client carries out and modifies
depending on its success.
• If new information emerges that changes either the understanding of the
problems or the goals for counseling, the process is adapted to meet these
new circumstances.
• First Stage: Initial Disclosure- Relationship Building
• At the beginning of counseling, the counselor and the client typically do not
know one another.
• Counsellor and client must establish contact, define "where the client is" in
his or her life, and clarify the client's current difficuties.
• client is probably anxious about disclosing concems because he-or-she-is not
sure how the counselor will receive the disclosures. Hackney and Cormier
(2001) describe two sets of feelings clients have at the beginning of
counseling: I know I need help and "I wish I weren't here".
• Any counseling process, be it individual or group, starts with the interview
stage. This stage could also be referred to as the familiarization, orientation
or introductory stage. This stage is very important because for you as a
counselor to start well determines the success of other stages and the entire
counseling relationship. The first step involves building a relationship and
focuses on engaging clients to explore issue that directly affect them.
 • "Relationship" is a term that has been used in many different situations. It
could imply the ties between two people in love, the bond between family
members or close friends or colleagues or even the bond between a person
and his or her pet. In conselling, relationship takes on a more specific
meaning. The counsellor establishes rapport with the client based on trust,
respect and mutual prupose. When there is good rapport, a positive
psychological climate is created and vice-versa. The likelihood of desirable
outcomes is greater when the psychological climate is positive. Mutual
purpose means both the counsellor and client have common goals leading
to what has been described as a theurapetic alliance.
• The counsellor establishes rapport with the client based on trust, respect and
mutual purpose.
• To encourage client disclosure, the counselor must offer a climate that
promotes trust in the client and encourages clients to put their own
resources to use to address the sues they bring to counseling, Carl Rogers
(1951) described these trist-promoting conditions as the characteristics of
the helping relationship.Empathy, Genuineness and Unconditional positive
regard.

1-Empathy: Empathic understanding is the ability to feel with clients as opposed to

feeling for clients. It is the ability to understand feelings, thoughts, ideas, and
experiences by viewing them from the client's frame of reference.

• According to Rogers, empathy "means that the therapist senses accurately

the feelings and personal meanings that the client is experiencing and
communicates this acceptant understanding to the client".
• Counsellor's help clients make and implement important decisions in life.
Most decision making involves an emotional dimension.
• The person who understands his or her inner realm consisting of memories,
hopes, fears and dreams, will have a better insight of who he or she is which
hopefully will lead to better decisions. This inner realm is often called the
person's "inscape".
• Empathy is intimate participation in the inscape of another.
 • When you sit with a client, the first challenge is to listen as you with as
possible, without expectation or judgment.
• Always remember this person is not you. Race, class, gender, culture, region,
specific family history, specific personal history, all have their influences.
• You must assure the client that they feel safer to speak. Feel safe means
being free to speak even the most hurtful things, feeling heard, understood
and accepted. Your client may reveal all their experiences, from earliest
childhood to the present and the way you respond will either build or destroy
that sense of safety.
• Some of the client's message is verbal, some is non-verbal (tone of voice,
facial expression, posture, and very much more).
• Some of the client's messages are explicit while some of it is implied and both
shape the client's reactions. If you really listen, and really care, you will
inevitably have emotional responses to what you hear. As a counsellor you
have to listen as openly as possible.
• You should be able to distinguish between emotions you are picking up from
your client, and those that are entirely your own.
• For example, confronted with a very angry client, an empathic counsellor
would feel into the client's anger. But, if the counsellor had previous painful
experiences with anger, he or she might bring their own feelings. It is
important to be clear about where each feeling comes from.
• Empathy is an intellectual and emotional skill that requires consistent and
patient practice. Be patient with yourself. Give yourself room and timle to
grow.

2.Congruence or genuineness: Genuineness and congruence describe the ability to

be authentic in the helping relationship.

• Genuiness refers to the counsellor's state of mind. It means that you as a

counsellor can respond to the client as a human being and not in terms of a
therapist. You are comfortable with yourself and the counselling situation.
The genuine counsellor is one who is congruent, spontaneous, nondefensive,
consistent and comfortable with the client. In other words, a genuine
 counsellor is one who is without pretenses, fictions, roles or veiled images.
How do you as a counsellor show that you are genuine?
• Congruence: which means that your words, actions and feelings are
consistent. In other words, what you say corresponds to how you feel, look
and act.
• For example, you say that you are comfortable with discussing about
homosexuality but show signs of discomfort when your client reveals that he
has homosexual tendencies.
• When this happen incongruence which can contribute to confusion and
mistrust. as a counsellor must strive to overcome their prejudices,
stereotypes and biases.

3.Unconditional Positive regard: An expression of caring and nurturance as well as

acceptance, includes conveying warmth.

• Rogers placed importance that the counsellor treat the client as a person
with inherent worth and dignity regardless of the client's behaviour
appearance. This is significant when the client is someone who is of a
different ethinic background, religion, gender, socioecnomic statues or
educational level from the counsellor. In other words, the client is treated as
a human being and the counsellor should also embrace the client's world
view.

4.Concreteness-using clear language to describe the client's life

situation.It is the counselor's task to sort out ambiguous statements and help the
client find descriptions that will accurately portray what is happening in his or her
life. Concreteness promotes clearer insight by the client into his her life and
provides the counselor with a fuller sense of the uniqueness of the client's
experience.

• If these conditions are present in the initial disclosure stage of counsel ing,
clients will be encouraged to talk freely and to elaborate on their concerns.
• Essentially what counselors are doing when they communicate in these
ways is giving clients permission to use their tendency to active self
 improvement in this relationship, Gelso and Carter (1985) refer to this point
in counseling as the establishment of a "working alliance
• In the process, clients don't simply tell the counselor what the problem is,
they begin to clarify the dimensions of life concems, rethink their problem
and its relation to other parts of their lives, and consider the potential for the
counselor to help and support change.
• In other words, as clients work to try to communicate their ideas and feelings
to another, they also reach greater personal understanding and become
aware of possibilities for change in a problem that seemed insoluble prior to
counseling.
• Research by Michael Lambert and his colleagues (2001, 2002) high lights the
importance of the first stage of counseling. Their work suggests that clients
decide in the first three sessions whether they believe that coun seling with
this particular counselor will help them reach their goals for change.
• They make this decision based largely on the effectiveness of the counselor
in forging a therapeutic alliance, in conveying real interest in them as unique
people, and in a communication style that eases the difficulty of discussing
painful and sensitive issues.
• When clients are not positively disposed toward the counselor in the first
few sessions, they are at risk for dropping out of counseling before they
reach their goals.

Second stage: In-Depth Exploration – problem

• The counsellor attempts to assess the client means gather the information
and draw conclusions about the concerns of clients.
• In the second stage of the counselling process, the counsellor attempts to
assess the client. Assessment refers to anything counsellors do to gather
information and draw conclusions about the concerns of clients. Assessment
takes place at the beginning of the counselling process. But, some degree of
assessment takes place throughout the counselling process with purpose of
finding missing pieces if the puzzle, i.e. the client.
• According to Seligman (1996), assessment should attempt to recognize the
importance and uniqueness of the client.
• The counsellor needs such knowledge about the client so that nothing is left
out. For example, you might have left out an important piece of information
about your client which may affect the counselling or therapeutic process.
• This stage is followed by conversation that leads to a deeper understanding
of the client’s needs and desires in the context of his or her interpersonal world.
• The client should reach clearer understandings of his or her life concerns and
formulate a new sense of hope and direction.

WHY ASSESS YOUR CLIENT?

• It should be remembered that you are assessing your client not for the
purpose of judging or evaluating him or her. The purpose of assessment is to
seek clarification; you want to know about your client. Seligman suggests the
following reasons for assessing a client:

• Enable counsellors to make an accurate diagnosis

• Determine a person’s suitability for a particular treatment plan
• Enable counsellors to develop a treatment plan
• Make goal setting easier and achievement of goals measurable
• Enable assessment of environment or context
• Facilitate generation of options and alternatives

WHAT TO ASSESS?
Hackney and Cormier (2005) listed the following important components of
assessing the client:

Identifying Data

• Name, address, phone number [to enable the counsellor to contact and
gives an indication of the conditions under which the client lives
• Age, gender, marital status, occupation [gives an indication of the age of the
client and some background about marital status]

Problems Presented

• Present the problem exactly the way the client reports them and the
following questions might reveal additional information:
• How does the problem interfere with the client’s daily life?
• What are the behaviors, thoughts and feeling associated with the problem?
How often and how long has the problem existed?
• Is a Patten of events? e.g. when? With whom? Is it predictable?

Client’s Current Life Style

• How does the client spend a typical day?

• What social, religious and recreational activities is the client involved in?
• What is the nature of the client’s educational situation?
• What special characteristics about the client? e.g. age, physic al, cultural, etc.

Family History

• Father and mother: age, occupation, personalities, roles, relationship with

client
• Siblings: age, present life and relationship with client
• Family stability: jobs held, family moves and reasons.

Personal History

• Medical hi story: illness, injury

• Education history: academic performance, extracurriculur activities, hobbies
and
interests, relationships with peers
• Career: jobs held, types of jobs, relationships with colleagues and fellow
workers
• Client’s personal goals in life

Description of the Client during the Interview

• Physical appearance: posture, dress, gestures, facial expression

• How client related to counsellor in the session?
• Client’s warmth, readiness, motivation, passivity, etc.
• Were the client’s remarks logical? Connected to another.

Summary and Recommendations

• Connection between problem stated by the client and other information

collected.
• Should the client be assigned to a particular counsellor?
• Are the goals for counselling stated by the client realistic?
• How much counselling might be required?

WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM PRESENTED BY THE CLIENT?

Here, the counsellor tries to gather specific details regarding the nature and
content of the problem presented by the client as well as other problems that
may have been mentioned during the earlier and subsequent sessions. Usually,
a person will seek counselling because of a problem and during the counselling
sessions something else might be revealed. Hence, it is important to have more
than one session with the client to determine more specifically the problem
encountered.

Whiston suggested that to understand in more detail the problem stated by the
client, the counsellor could explore the following areas:
How does the problem manifest itself?
• Feelings associated with the problem (e.g. anger, fear)
• Thinking associated with the problem (i.e. the client’s beliefs, perceptions)
• Behaviors associated with the problem (e.g. rude, insults, avoids being in a
crowd)
Physiological complaints associated with the problem (e.g. stomach aches,
unable to sleep)
• Interpersonal effects (e.g. quarrels with family members, keeps to himself,
bullies classmates)

HOW IS THE ASSESSMENT INFORMATION TO BE USED?

There are different ways in which counsellors use the information collected
about their clients. Some counsellors look mainly for patterns of behavior.
Others use it for planning relevant counselling strategies and approaches to use
with problems. For ex ample, a person who complains that he is unable to make
friends, the counsellor moght look at the client’s behaviour in interpersonal
relationships and use behavioural strategies that emphasizes acquisition of
social skills and interpersonal strategies that deal with relationships between
people.
Counsellors who do not assess the problems presented by their clients “are
more likely to formulate wrong conclusions about client problems and irrelevant
or non-workable counselling approaches and strategies. As a result, not only is
more time spent on ‘hit and miss’ counselling, but ultimately clients might leave
with the same set of problems they brought to the first session.

• Immediacy is another quality of the counselor's behavior that becomes

important in the second stage of counselling (Egan, 2002). According to Egan,
Immediacy can be defined in three distinct ways.
• First, it can refers to general discussions about the progress of the
counselling relationship. Questions such as "Is the counseling process
progressing in a way that is satisfactory to you?" fall into this category.
• Second, Immediacy refers to any statements in which the counsellor tells the
client some of his or her immediate reactions to the client's statements or asks
the client to disclose current thoughts about the counselor.
• Third kind of immediacy response is a self involving statements: that
expresses the counselors personal response to a client in the present.
• Immediacy response often begin with the word I rather than you so as to
identify the content with the counselor, not the client. Immediacy response can
be openly supportive or confrontive.

Third Stage: Commitment to Action- Goal setting

• The counsellor should prepare the counselee to achieve the goal.
• Goals are the results or outcomes that client wants to achieve at the end of
counselling.
• Goals helps the counsellor and client determine what can and what cannot
be accomplished through counselling.
• Client identifies with the help of counsellor, specific ways in which they want
to resolve the issues and what course of action should be taken to resolve the
problem.
• WHY DO YOU NEED GOALS?
According to Dixon and Glover, “once a goal is formulated and selected by a
problem solver, it is likely to be rehearsed in the working memory and stored in
long-tem memory. A goal encoded in this way, then, becomes a major heuristic
for the problem solver as he or she interacts with the environment”.
• With clear goals, clients are more likely or motivated to work toward achieving
those goals.
• With goals clients learn how to structure their lives towards achieving the
goals.
• With goals, it is easier for the counsellor to select and evaluate appropriate
counselling interventions.

When goals are stated clearly, both the counsellor and client have a better
understanding of what is to be accomplished. For example, “to help the client
develop his or he self-esteem”. Clarity of purpose allows the counsellor to work
more directly with th e client’s problems or concerns. Stating goals in behavioral
terms, enhances the clients’ understanding of what is to be done. It also allows
both client and counsellor recognize progress when it happens which reinforces
further progress.

• WHAT PREVENTS ACLIENT FROM SETTING GOALS?

Occasionally, the client may be relictant to participate in goal setting. Although
it does not happen frequently, there are times when clients simply cannot or
will not participate. It is possible that a person who resists setting goals could
be protecting the very behavior that is in need of modification because that
behavior is also serving some desirable behavior. For example, a smoker who
recognizes the negative consequences of smoking, including its addictive
properties, he or she also clings to the habit, believing that it helps him or her
relax during stressful moments, or that it increases the enjoyment of a good
meal.
• Third stage is a decision making and action time. The client considers possible
actions and then chooses some to try out. The counselor gives support for trying
new behaviors and helps the client evaluate the effectiveness of new behaviors
or new conceptions of reality as they may relate to the reduction of stress.
When the client is satisfied that the new behaviors or the new constructs are
working satisfactorily, counseling is finished.
• Termination: Professional ending of the counseling sessions.
• Follow-up Sessions: A further action connected with counselling that
happened before.
• The steps taken by a counsellor to help a client with any ongoing problems
or new symptoms that may occur. Evaluating a person's progress.
-
COUNSELING PROCEDURE-1
Initial Procedures
1. The Counseling environment:- Several investigators have
focused on the importance of the setting and the relationship of such
factors as chair arrangements and room sizes, furniture arrangement
to the client's response to counseling. In a study it was found that
client's self-disclosure is significantly more intimate in a soft room
environment than in a hard one. In arranging an environment
conducive to counseling, the privacy and sound proofness of the
room are possibly the most significant factors to consider. Comfortable
chairs, indirect lighting and warm colours help develop a released
mood. Seating should be arranged so that the client is not threatened
by the counselor's physical proximity.
2. Intake procedures:- The intake procedure includes client's
filling at personal data sheets and often also taking a battery of
psychological tests. In some settings intake interview may be required.
The purpose of intake interview is to obtain a case history on the
client. This case history is a systematic collection of facts about the
client's current and past life.
3. Confidentiality and counselor dependability:- All that
transpires in an interview in private, and the counselors are obligated
not to discuss client relationships with outside parties, unless the client
has given the counselor written permission to do so. As the client
becomes confident that the counselor respects the privacy of
relationship, trust in the counselor grows. The dependability of the
counselor affects the client's perception of trust in the relationship.
It is more than a matter of courtesy for the counselor to meet scheduled
appointments and to be on time. Counselors who are late or miss appointments
can cause client's to wonder "Whether they have forgotten them or whether he
is of importance to us".

The Initial Counseling Interviewed

Counseling is a process that moves through predictable phases and stages. The
process has a beginning, a middle and an end. A counselors must be familiar
with the appropriate procedures for opening the interview, for continuing the
interview and for terminating it.

1. How to open the session:- After the client has been introduced to the
counselor by name the counselor may want to spend a few minutes in social
conversation to relieve the tension and anxiety the client is probably
experiencing. However, the counselor must be careful not to spend too much
time in this fashion. Some clients come to counseling at the insistence of a third
party. Teachers and parents often require an individual to see a therapist for
psychological counseling. Clients referred under such circumstances are
frequently more anxious and resistant to the process. This situation requires
careful thought and planning on the counselor's part. Regardless of the reason
for referral the counselor must come across as warm and accepting.

2. Structuring the session:- The counselors must give attention both to

structuring the initial session and to establishing a long-term counseling
relationship. The counselor should open the first session by addressing the
specific issues of client and counselor roles, client goals and the confidentiality
of relationship. In the initial interview. the counselor must also deal with time
limits as part of the structuring process. The length of the interview will vary
depending on the age of the client and the setting. An interview with a child
between five and seven would be approximately twenty minutes long; between
eight and twelve approximately a half hour long and twelve and above,
approximately an hour. The counselor should state at the beginning of the
session how long the interview will be. The client need to understand how much
time is available so that they can pace themselves accordingly and can bring up
personally relevant material early enough in the session to allow discussion. The
duration of counseling relationship can also be discussed in the
initial interview. although the counselor will be probably want one or two
sessions with the client before estimating the duration. The duration will
depend on the severity of the problem and the effectiveness of the counseling.

3. Goals for the first session:- The initial counseling interview is in some ways
the most important. The client begins to build trust in the counselor during this
session, and many of the counselors' behaviors are being carefully scrutinized.
The primary goal of the first session is establishing rapport.

4. Termination of the initial interview:- At the close of initial counseling session,

the client and the counselor must make a decision regarding the continuation
of their relationship. If the client and counselor both agree that another session
is in order, then the next appointment must be scheduled. It should be
reiterated that the client should be notified that the session in drawing to a close
before the time period ends. At the end of the initial interview, the counselor
must decide whether or not to refer the client to another counselor or agency.

5. Referral procedures:-A counselor who is proficient in counselling skills will

tend toattract people to come to him or her with their problems, and will run
into situations where it is not appropriate to help with the problem. Instead the
counselee needs to be referred elsewhere. But how should the counsellor or
counselor decide where to refer the person seeking help. He should refer the
client when he feels that he is out of depth, i.e., he does not feel himself to be
qualified to deal with the issues or when he feels uncomfortable in handling the
task or does not have the resources to deal with the problems. Also he should
refer the client to someone else when time constraints do not allow him to help.
He should try follow the axiom: "Do not try to take on everything yourself. Be
aware of when professional help is needed and what sorts of professional help
are available".
A counselor should stick to dealing with here and now' problems, not deeply
ingrained or long-term emotional problems which require a more permanent
and professional nurturing relationship to heal. If he does not refer when he is
out of his depth he could make matters worse. If he encounters a situation
where phases of developing the trust required for openness and defining the
problem, are going to take a long time, then it is likely that the counselee would
be better off referred to a professional. In many instances, counsellors cannot
provide the counselling service needed by the client and must send the client
elsewhere. Although some may view referring a client as a sign of inadequacy,
a great deal of competency is needed to identify situations that require
specialized services. It is unrealistic for counsellors to assume that they can be
of service to every person seeking assistance.
When to Refer : To make a good referral, the counsellor must have information
about the client and the nature of the client's concern. A brief interview may be
conducted to gather this information, or as noted earlier, the referral can be
made at the close of the initial interview.
It is appropriate to refer a client to a professional counsellor under the following
conditions:
(a) When the client presents a concern that is beyond the counsellor's
level of competency.
(b) When the counsellor feels that personality differences between him and the
client cannot be resolved and will interfere with the counselling process.
(c) Also in case the client is a personal friend or relative, and the concern is going
to require an ongoing relationship. Because of their basic skills in human
relations, counsellors are often the first persons sought out by friends and
relatives in need of assistance, and it would be inhumane not to respond.
However, it is difficult and in fact undesirable to maintain a counselling
relationship over a period of time with a friend or relative. When it becomes
obvious that the concern requires an ongoing therapeutic relationship, the
individual should be referred to another counsellor.
(d) The client is reluctant to discuss his problem with the counsellor for some
reason.
(e) After several sessions, the counsellor does not feel your relationship with the
client is effective.
How to Refer: Following points should be borne in mind while referring a client
to some other professional counsellor agency:
(a) Rather than referring a client to an agency, whenever possible the
counselling counselor should refer the client to a specific person in the agency.
Become familiar with the services provided by local agencies and with the staff
of each agency, so that he can match the client's needs with a specific
counsellor's competencies.
(b) The counselor should provide the client with accurate and specific
information, including the names, addresses and phone numbers of the persons
or agencies to which he is referring him. The client may wish to place a call for
an appointment from the office, but the counsellor should not make the
appointment for the client.The client must assume responsibility for getting
further help, and making the appointment reflect some commitment to the
process.
 (c) The client may ask the counselling manager to share information about his
concern with the person to whom he has been referred. It is recommended that
this information not be given in front of the client. Often this kind of contact
relieves some of the client's anxiety about seeing a new counsellor. It is
preferable to get written permission from the client for this consultation.
(d) Do not expect to be informed regarding the confidence shared by the client
with the next counsellor without the client's permission. If the counselling
counsellor continues to have a working relationship of a different nature with
the client, he can request information regarding how to relate to the client in
future interactions if such information is necessary.
(e) Whenever possible, follow up the referral by checking with the client to see
if the new relationship is satisfactorily meeting the client's needs. But avoid
pressuring the client for information and accept whatever the client wishes to
share.
Like the counselling process, referrals procedures must be based on trust and
respect for the individual seeking assistance. Counsellors can only make clients
aware of the alternatives that will provide the best means of assistance on the
client's terms. The client may choose to ignore or accept the help available. The
counsellor's role is to create an awareness of the alternatives and to see that
the client has the maximum opportunities to utilize them. Counsellors should
be aware of the legal issues surrounding the referral process and should be
careful to take appropriate steps to prevent the possibility of legal action.

COUNSELING PROCEDURE/SKILLS-1
Procedure in the counseling process.
1. Establish a safe, trusting environment.
2. Help the person put their concert into words.
3. Active listening: find out the client's agenda. - Paraphrase ,summarize, reflect,
interpret.
- Focus on feelings, not events.
4. Transformation problem statement into goal statements.
5. Explore possible approaches to goal.
6. Help person choose one way towards goals.
7. Make a contract to fulfil the plan (or to take the next step)
8. Summarize what has occured, clarity, get verification.
9. Get feedback and confirmation.
Skills.
1. Listening - The act of listening is further delineated into the following two
components,
a) Attending - Orienting oneself physically to the patient to indicate one is aware
of the patient, and in fact that the client has your full, undivided attention
and that you care.
b) Listening /observing - Capturing & understanding the verbal and non-verbal
information communicated by the patient.
2. Empathy.
3. Genuineness
4. Unconditional positive Regard.
5. Concreteness.
6. Eye contact : Maintaing good eye contact is how a professional counselor
conveys interest, confidence, and involvement in the client's story.
7. Body position - Your body position should convey to the client your interest
and involvement.
• Face the client and adopt an open, relaxed and attentive body posture, as this
will assist in putting your client at ease.
• Do not cross arms & legs.
• Do not sit behind a desk or other barriers.
• slightly lean in the upper body towards the client.
• Let your clients decide the physical distance b/w you and them by offering to
let them the chairs but make at sure to an individual comport level set up your
own personal space boundaries, too.
8. Vocal Tone.
• Emotions are frequently conveyed via tone of voice.The pitch, pacing and
volume can all have an effect on how a client responds emotionally to a
professional counselor.
•Your voice can do much to help create a soothing and anxiety regulating
atmosphere for the client.
• Verbal underlining - giving, increased vocal emphasis to certain words or short
Phrases - helps convey a sense of empathic understanding.
OPENING TECHNIQUES.
Counseling is a technique/skill concerned with helping people to help
themselves by the development of a special relationship which leads the client
into a greater depth of self understanding.
-There are many different techniques that counsellors can use with their clients.
Opening Techniques: Greeting, to pics, physical arrangements, attitudes, Non
verbal skills (SOLER), Rapport building.
-The opening process is one of the most important parts of the interaction with
the client. It is a chance to get to know the client and for them to get to know
the counsellor. It is also where the counsellor will set the tone for the rest of the
therapeutic relationship.
Greet the client warmly- smile and shake hands.Then open up the topics to be
discussed.
- counseling may take place anywhere but some kind of physical setting may
promote and enhance the counseling process better than others
-Benjamin (1987) and Shertzer and Stone (1980) emphasise that among the
most important factor that influences the counseling process is the
place where coursaling occurs. Optimal conditions within the room where
counselling is to be rendered can provide a conducive environment to both
counselor and counselee.
-The optimal condition include a room with quiet colors, Lighting that is neither
too flashy and bright nor too dull and depressing clutter free with harmonious
and comfortable furniture and good ventilation.
- It should be free from outside disturbances and should exude a feeling of
warmth.
-In short, it should be comfortable such that relaxed atmosphere is provided in
which the counselee can talk in a relaxed mood.
-The sitting arrangement with in the room depends on the counsellor.
-Benjamin (1987) suggests that counselors include two chairs and in the setting.
The chairs 90 degree angle from one another that the clients tablmay can look
at their counselors or straight ahead. Counselors could opt for other variations
of physical arrangement as per their comfort level.
Attitudes: There is probably nothing which has a greater impact on the outcome
of a counseling. than the helper's attitude. Attitucles can be positive or reactive.
They include the following:
• Respect: It is one of the most important human attitudes required. It
normally begins with respecting one's self, so that others respect you in turn.
It is having good intentions and warm regard for client. Avoid judgement.
• Genuineness / congruence- Genuiness is at times referred to as congruence.
It the consistency what you are, as or harmony b/w what you say, a
counsellor. This condition reflect & honesty, transperancy and trust. This
element is basic to a counseling relationship. Once it is established, open
communication, warmth and respect for the client gradually develop.
• Unconditional positive Regard (warmth).
-Unconditional positive regard makes client feel welcomed & valuedas
individuals.
• Empathy:Empathy is the ability to understand what client experience &
communicate this kind of feeling.
• Carl Rogers (1980), defined it as perceiving the internal frame of reference
of another person.
• Gerald Egan (1990), explains it as private perceptual world of entering the
client, & being sensitive to his/her feelings, whether good or bad.

Non-verbal skills: Equally important are the counsellor's non-verbal behaviours.

Non-verbal communication skills include a common system of symbols, signs &
gestures.
-Non-verbal communication skills give expression to our messages that we are
transmitting to be received as a communication. Virtually anything that we can
communicate receive with the senses is a form of non-verbal communication.
-Non-verbal communication involves what we call body language, which
includes is like facial things like expressions, hand gestures, tone and pitch of
voice, smell, essentially anything non-verbal.
Egan (1990) summarises five non-verbal skills involved in attending and which
conveys to the client that the counsellor is interested in and open to him/her.
Skills are abbreviated as SOLER.
• S: Face the client squarely; That is, adopt a posture that indicates
involvement.
→ When people we seated in a circle, they usually try some way to turn
toward the individuals to whom they are speaking.
→ If, for any reason, facing the person squarely is too threatening, then an
angled position may be more helpful. Your body sends out messages
whether you like it or not. Make them congruent with what you are trying to
do.
• O: Adopt an open posture. Sit with both feet on the ground to begin with and
with one over your hands folded, one over the other. crossed arms & crossed
legs can be signs of lessened involvement with or An open posture can be a
sign that you're open to the client and to what he/she has to say.
• L: Lean toward the other -watch two people in restaurant who are intimately
engaged in conversation. Very often they are both leaning forward over the
table as a natural sign of their involvement.
→ The main thing is to remember that the upper part your body is on a hinge.
It can move toward a person and back away.In a wides sense the word "lean"
can refer to a kind of bedily flexibility or responsiveness that enhance your
communication with a client.And bodily flexibility an mirror mental flexibility.
• E: Maintain eye contact. Good eye contact with the clients indicates that the
counselor contact is attuned to the client. For other less eye contact may be
appropriate.
• R: As counselor incorporates these skills into his/her attending or listening
skills, he/she should relax.
→ Try to be relatively Relaxed or natural in these behaviours. Being relaxed
means two things.first, it means not fidgeting nervously / engaging in
distracting facial expressions. The client may wonder what's making u
nervous. second, it means becoming comfortable with using your body as a
vehicle of personal contact and expression. Your being natural in the use of
these skills helps but the client at ease.
 → Rapport Building: To work well with a client, we need to establish rapport
with them. Rapport is important, whatever model of counselling the
counsellor is working with. Rapport means a sense of having connection with
the person. It is used to reduce anxiety. Rapport will be helped & facilitated
by how the counsellor manages their own feelings towards the client, and
how they balance behave with the client. Unless a client feels a sense of
rapport, they will be unlikely to be able to work well with the counsellor.

Guidelines for Effective Counselling

Once the initial process has begun, there are some guidelines that followed for
effective counselling. These are as follows:

Keeping the Focus on the Other Person. When the counselee focuses excessively
on another person (or people), it is important to redirect the conversation towards
his focusing on himself, and make them take responsibility for his own actions.

Silence is Golden. If counselling skills are used appropriately, there will be silent
periods in the conversation. At first, this might make the client uncomfortable.
When counselling, however, silence actually improves the conversation remarkably.
It allows time to consider what has been said, and to gather thoughts and clarify
them. Silence also gives time and space to get in tough with thoughts and feelings,
which are not so immediate and close to the surface.

Managing Emotions. In order to use counselling skills effectively, the counselor

needs to understand emotions. When counselee bring problems to the counselor,
there are two ways in which emotions can have an effect on the conversation: the
counselee might be in an emotional state to start with, or suddenly have an
emotional outburst during the course of the conversation; or they might be
repressing emotions in a detrimental way.

Outbursts and ventilation. When the counselee are already in or get into an
emotional state, the counselor should be aware that they will need a period of time
to discharge the emotions (in Phase 1) before moving on either to define or resolve
the problem.
Repression Thoughts are often expression of feelings at various levels of
awareness. If your counselee is exhibiting strange or inexplicable behaviors, it may
be due to a repressed feeling. When counselee are avoiding discussing emotions-
refusing to acknowledge emotions and talking only on a logical level when the
counselor suspect there are indeed emotions involved- then encourage them to
talk about the repressed feelings. The counselor can either reflect only the emotion
content of their communication, or ask direct questions about what they are feeling.

Positive thinking. The emotions/thoughts/behaviors cycle works in both directions.

Note that positive thinking tends to work only after negative feelings have been
validated; otherwise, it just becomes another way of repressin them.

Symptom or cause. The counselor should be aware that the original problem as
presented by the counselee is often not a full explanation of the real problem. It
could be a symptom of the underlying problem, or it could be totally unrelated,
especially if the counselee feels too uncomfortable to jump straight into talking
about the real problem.

Counselling Skills

There are specific counselor skills that are basic to the therapeutic process and are
most used by most counselors and therapists regardless of their particular
theoretical orientation.

1. Nonverbal Behavior:- Individuals are continuously transmitting information

about themselves through their facial expressions, body movements and
proxemics behavior.

The importance of non-verbal behavior in the counseling process has been

acknowledged by counseling theorists and practitioners who asset that the
constant interplay of verbal and nonverbal messages is an integral part of
counseling process, Counselors must be skillful at observing and responding to
nonverbal messages of the clients, and they must be aware of the impact of their
non-verbal behavior on the client during the counseling interview.

Non-verbal communication behaviors using the body are eye contact, posture,
facial expression, hand and arm gestures etc. Non-verbal communication behavior
using vocal media are: Tone of voice, rate of speech, loudness of voice etc.

a. Interpretation of nonverbal behavior:- Non-verbal behaviors must be viewed

simply as clues to the individual's underlying feelings and motives. The counselor
must interpret nonverbal messages tentatively and must realize that given
behavior may have opposite meanings for two individuals or even for the same
person on two different occasions. The meaning of non-verbal behavior also varies
among societies and cultures, and the counselors should be sensitive to these
differences..

b. Counselor's non-verbal behavior:- The nonverbal behavior of the counselor also

communicates unspoken feelings and thus has an impact on the client's perception
of the relationship.

c. Attending behaviors: The nonverbal behaviors of counselors that have received

the most attention are referred to as physical attending behaviors. Among the
physical attending behaviors. Egan lists, eye contact, adopting an open posture,
facing the person squarely, leaning slightly forward, and assuming a natural and
relaxed position.

2. Basic Communication Skills:

a. Open ended leads:- An open-ended lead essentially says to the client "tell me
about it". Unlike a closed question, the open-ended lead requires more than the
yes or no. Open-ended leads encourage clients to share their concerns with the
counselor.

b. Listening:-The process of turning in carefully to the client's messages and

responding accurately to the meaning behind the message has been referred to
simply as listening. Listening at its simplest level calls on the counselor to feed back
the content and feelings that the client has expressed. On another level, listening
requires that the counselor decode the client's message.

c. Silence and passive listening:- Possibly the most basic skill is using silence within
the counseling interview. First, silence lets the clients know that the responsibility
for the interview lies of their shoulders, second, silence allows clients to delve
further into thoughts and feelings and to ponder the implications of what has
transpired during the session. Silence communicates to the client a sincere and
deep acceptance. It demonstrates the counselor's deep concern and willingness to
let the client experience the relationship without sensing pressure to be verbal.

d. Restatement of content: - In restating the content of the client's message, the

counselor feeds back to the client the content of the statement using different
words.

e. Reflection of feeling:- The basic difference between restatement of content and

reflection of feeling is one of emphasis. In reflecting client's feeling, the counselor
listens carefully to the client's statement and responds by paraphrasing the content
of the message, but he or she places the emphasis on the feeling the client
expressed.

f. Summarization of content:- Summarization enables the counselor to condense

and crystallize the essence of the client's statements.

g. Summarization of feeling:- In a summarization of feeling the counselor attempts

to identify and respond to the overriding feelings of the client, not only expressed
feelings but also the general feeling tone of the phase of the interview being
summarized.

LISTENING TECHNIQUES

Listening techniques involves active listening, forms of poor listening. Open-ended

questions, Silence, Focusing, Empathic responding, Paraphrasing and reflecting,
Probing and Summarising.
• Listening is one of the most valuable counselling skills in the therapeutic
relationship.
• Counsellors listen to clients both to understand them and their concerns. and
to respond to them in constructive ways
• . The logic of listening includes, as we have seen, tuning in to clients both
physically and psychologically, listening actively, processing what is heard
contextually, and identifying the key ideas, messages, or points of view the
client is trying to communicate-all at the service of understanding clients and
helping them understand themselves.
• Listening techniques involves active listening, forms of poor listening, Open-
ended questions, Silence, Focusing, Empathic responding, Paraphrasing and
reflecting, Probing and Summarizing.
1.Active Listening: Active listening occurs when you are listening with all of
your senses.
• When we listen in an active way we verbally feed back what we have heard
to the speaker to confirm what they have heard is correct.
• Counsellor should tune in both mentally and visibly in order to listen to what
clients have to say-their stories, complaints, points of view,intentions,
proposals, decisions, and everything else.
• Full listening means listening actively, listening accurately, and listening for
meaning. It is a rich metaphor for the helping relationship itself-indeed, for
all relationships.

2.Forms of poor listening: Effective listening is not a state of mind, like

being happy or relaxed. It's not something that "just happens." It's an activity.
In other words, effective listening requires work. All of us have been, at one time
or another, both perpetrators and victims of the following forms of inactive or
inadequate listening.

• Non listening: Sometimes we go through the motions of listening but are

not really engaged. At times we get away with it. Sometimes we are caught.
It consists of appearing attentive in conversation while actually ignoring or
only partially listening to the other speaker.
 • Partial listening: This is listening that skims the surface. The helper picks up
bits and pieces, but not necessarily the essential points the client is making.
• Tape-recorder listening: What clients look for from listening is not the
helper's ability to repeat their words. People want more than physical
presence in human communication; they want the other person to be
present psychologically, socially, and emotionally. Sometimes helpers fail to
visibly tune in and listen; they are not totally present. Clients pick up on signs
of non listening and lack of total presence. Clients want the counsellor as a
live counsellor, not a recorder.
• Rehearsing: Listen to the other person's point of view, you might be
tempted to start forming your argument. Rehearsing what you're going to
say-and how you're going to say it--makes it impossible to hear the other
• Questioning: Questions are helpful in the therapeutic environment because
they allow the counselor to learn more about client. The type of quest
counsellor ask will set the tone of the session and the entire counselling
process. Questions occur in two forms:

> Closed: A closed question is the practice of asking a question that can be
answered as a 'yes' or 'no'. Closed questions should generally be avoided in the
counseling relationship, as they do not encourage deeper exploration.

➤ Open: An open question is necessary to gather information. An open question

is one that cannot be answered with a simple 'yes' or 'no' and it requires reflection
or exploration on the client's end. Every open question should be intentional and
therapeutic. This strategy, when done in an open manner, enables the counselor
or therapist to gain important information and allows the client to remain in control
of the information presented.

3. Silence: When attentive, silence allows space for the client to reflect on what
they are saying and to continue talking. In the counselling context, silence
takes on a particular and important role, facilitating the client's movement
and journey.
While using silence in counselling may seem unfamiliar and daunting to
someone just starting counselling training, experience both within skills
 practice and on placement generally shows student counsellors just how
powerful silence can be.
It allows the client to speak about their issues without interruption
(sometimes a new experience for them).
Silence also enables the client space to process their thoughts and feelings
without distraction. This helps them gain clarity on the difficulties they face
and consider a possible way forward.

Silences occur for a number of reasons, for the counsellor it can be:

• A deliberate use of silence to encourage the client's self-exploration

• A deliberate use of silence to encourage the client to "carry the burden" of
the conversation.
• An organizational use of silence enabling the counsellor to collect her/his
own thoughts.
• A natural ending to a phase of discussion

For the client it can be:

• A time to make connections, to wait for words or images to occur

• A space in which feelings can be nurtured and allowed to develop A space in
which the client is able to recover from "here and now" emotions.
• An attempt to elicit a response from the counsellor, such as satisfying a need
for approval or advice

The person-centered counsellor trusts that the client will work in a way, and at a
pace, that is suitable for them. The counsellor gives the client control of the content,
pace and objectives. This includes listening to silences as well as words, sitting with
them and recognizing that the silences may facilitate the counselling process.

4. Focusing: It is a counselling skill that involves actively listening to what the

client is bringing, and then choosing an area to focus down on.

The counsellor zooms in on the emotions behind the story, or narrative, that
the client is bringing.
 Focusing allows access to deeper levels of awareness, wisdom, and self-guidance
that reside inside each of us.

Simply stated, Focusing allows us conscious access to that which often remains

unconscious or subconscious, due to the fact that most people do not know how

to access it.

5. Empathic responding: Counsellors don't just listen; they also respond to

clients in a variety of ways.

➤ They respond by sharing their understanding, checking to make sure that

they've got things right, probing for clarity, summarizing the issues being discussed,
and helping clients challenge themselves in a variety of ways.

➤ Counsellors respond to clients and clients respond to helpers in the give-and-

take of the therapeutic dialogue.

> Making an effort to get in touch with your conversational partner's frame of
reference sends a message of respect. Therefore, empathic responses play an
important part in building relationships.

The therapeutic alliance should be an empathic relationship. The skill and practice
of communicating empathy to clients should not be an "add on," but should flow
naturally from this relationship.

➤ Empathic Responding is based on empathic listening and involves sharing with

clients your non judgmental understanding of what they are thinking and feeling.

➤ Rogers (1980) described empathy is the therapist's sensitive ability and

willingness to understand the client's thoughts, feelings, and struggles from the
client's point of view.

> Arthur Clark (2007) devotes an entire book to empathy in counseling and therapy.
He describes three kinds of empathy: subjective, interpersonal, and objective.
In his view subjective empathy "enables a counselor to momentarily identify with
a client through intuitive reactions and fleetingly imagine and experience what it is
like to be a client".

> Objective empathy arises from what a counselor has learned from various sources,
including his or her own experience or from reputable theories and research
findings.

> Interpersonal empathy, the ability to get inside a client's frame of

reference and understand what the client is thinking and feeling together with the
ability to communicate this understanding without prejudice to the client.

➤ Both subjective and objective empathy can either contribute to and facilitate
interpersonal empathy or, conversely, stand in the way.

The communication skills involved in responding to clients have three

dimensions: perceptiveness, know-how, and assertiveness.

> Perceptiveness: Feeling empathy for others is not helpful if the helper's
perceptions are not accurate. But empathy, as used here, is much more than a
feeling for the other person and, therefore, accuracy is more complicated than one
would first think.

• Ickes defined "empathic accuracy" as "the ability to accurately infer the

specific content of another person's thought and feelings".
• Counsellors do this by sharing empathic responses with their clients. An
empathic response involves accurately communicating one's understanding
of another person from that person's point of view. Clinically, however, it is
accurate only if it is perceived to be accurate by the client.

> Assertiveness: Accurate perceptions and excellent know-how are meaningless if

they remain locked up inside you. They need to become part of the therapeutic
dialogue.

• The understanding, the communication of that understanding, and the

client's view of the accuracy are all components.
 • Accuracy is a relationship thing that is subject to all the uncertainties
involved in the relationship.

> Know-how: Once you are aware of what kind of response is called for, you need
to be able to deliver it.

Being assertive means being able to stand up for your own or other
people's rights in a calm and positive way, without being either aggressive, or
passively accepting 'wrong'.

3 C's Of Assertive Communication: Confidence - you believe in your ability to

handle a situation. Clear - the message you have is clear and easy to understand.
Controlled - you deliver information in a calm and controlled manner.

6. Paraphrasing and reflecting

The word 'paraphrasing' refers to the rewording of the content of what clients say.
Paraphrasing is repeating the thoughts and feelings of the client but in the words
of the counselor or therapist.

➤ Restating involves repeating the exact words used by the client.

➤ These strategies enable a counselor or therapist to serve as a sounding board

for the client by feeding back thoughts and feelings that the client verbalizes.

Reflection paraphrasing are very similar; the difference between them being that
the former is generally used to describe a rewording of the emotional content,
while the latter is mainly concerned with the factual.

➤ When responding to clients, it is obviously best to do so in a way that does not

simply repeat verbatim what has just been said. It is helpful to practise the skill of
paraphrasing by concentrating on the content first, and later on incorporating the
emotional content as well.
➤ To paraphrase, the counsellor chooses the most important details of what the
client has just said and reflects them back to the client. Paraphrases can be just a
few words or one or two brief sentences.

The word 'reflection' refers to the skill of communicating back to clients that their
words and feelings have been heard.

> These strategies enable the counselor or therapist to provide feedback to the
client regarding both the ideas (content) and the emotions (feelings) that the client
is expressing.

> By reflecting content, the counselor or therapist shares his or her perceptions of
the thoughts that the client is expressing. This can be done either by using the
client's words or by changing the words to better reflect the counselor or
therapist's perceptions.

> By reflecting feelings, a counselor or therapist goes beyond the ideas and
thoughts expressed by the client and responds to the feelings or emotions behind
those words.

7. Probing and Summarising

➤ Probing and Leading: These strategies enable a counselor or therapist to gather

information in a specific area related to the client's presented concerns and are
designed to provide clarity and to move things forward (probing) or to encourage
the client to respond to specific topic areas (leading).

➤ Each of these strategies enables the counselor or therapist to explore in greater

depth areas that are seen as important to progress within the session.

> Summarizing: This strategy enables the counselor or therapist to do several

things: first, to verbally review various types of information that have been
presented in the session; second, to highlight what the counselor or therapist sees
as significant information based on everything that has been discussed; and third,
to provide the client with better understanding of what the actual problem is.
Therefore, summarizing provides both the client and the counselor or therapist
with the opportunity not only to review and determine the significance of
information presented but also to use this review to establish priorities. A checkout,
phrased at the end of the summary, is an important component of the statement,
enabling a check of the accuracy of the counsellor's response.

ADVANCED EMPATHY

Empathy is the ability to emotionally understand what other people feel, see things
from their point of view, and imagine yourself in their place. Essentially, it is putting
yourself in someone else’s position and feeling what they must be feeling.When
you see another person suffering, you might be able to instantly envision yourself
in the other person’s place and feel sympathy for what they are going through.

Empathy was defined as the ability to tune in to the client’s feelings and to be able
to see the client’s world as it truly seems to the client. At its primary level, an
empathic response communicates an understanding of the client’s frame of
reference and accurately identifies the client’s feelings. In contrast advanced
empathy takes the client a step further into self-exploration by adding deeper
feeling and meaning to client’s expression.

Types
There are two types of Empathy:

1) Primary Empathy: The ability to respond in such a way that is readily

apparent from the client’s statements and the counselor has understood the
client’s major themes.
2) Advanced empathy: It is a process of helping a client explore themes, issues and
emotions new to his or her awareness.Affective empathy involves the ability to
understand another person’s emotions and respond appropriately. Such
emotional understanding may lead to someone feeling concerned for another
person’s well-being, or it may lead to feelings of personal distress.

➢ Empathy allows the client to feel really understood and the non-
judgmental, understanding, caring, attitude of the counsellor fosters a
safe environment where the client can express their feelings.

➢ Advanced empathy enables the client to see new perspectives on their

behaviours, experiences and feelings

➢ The intense listening, probing and clues from clients expressions and
body language or how they view their experiences or their behaviours
allows the counsellor to see or sense feelings or meanings that the client
is scaresly aware of.

➢ In advanced empathy what the counsellor is communicating to the client

is the felt sense. The felt sense it what is on the edge of the awareness,
between the known and the unknown

> To access the unknown, the underlying feelings, the counsellor must focus on the
edge of the client’s awareness.

➢ The felt sense is the door to the unknown. Its may be accessed by
echoing words or sensations the client is experiencing – reflecting
tightness, blackness.
 ➢ The therapeutic value of advanced empathy is helping the client to
become aware of feelings and meanings.

THEME IDENTIFICATION

The advanced empathic response also helps the counselor to identify themes in
the counseling session. Typically, client expresses a variety of concerns during the
session. At the outset these concerns may seem unrelated. The counselor who
listens carefully and with a tramed ear can begin to hear the relationshin among
various incidents, situations, problems, and feelings.

Themes that might arise in a counseling situation could include:

• The client’s self-concept- a poor self-image.

The client as a dependent person.

• The client’s need for approval.

The client’s lack of assertiveness.

• The client’s rebellion against authority etc.

Sometimes there are recurrent themes or patterns discernible in the problems

clients recount. Once a relationship of trust has been established between
counselor and client, it is possible to identify and highlight these patterns so that
clients are challenged to consider them more seriously. This identification of a
pattern, or theme, enabled the client to look more honestly at the way she
communicated with other people, and the problems this seemed to generate.

Theme identification is one of the most fundamental tasks in qualitative research.

It also is one of the most mysterious. Explicit descriptions of theme discovery are
rarely found in articles and reports, and when they are, they are often relegated
to appendices or footnotes.

If at all possible, it is always best to encourage clients to confront themselves and,

in this case, this is exactly what happened. Since the client had already identified
her problem in relation to others, the counselor’s task was simplified as a result.
Clients also tend to respond best when they are challenged to identify their own
strengths and coping resources.

SELF-DISCLOSURE

Within the counseling relationship, the counselor may choose to reveal himself to
the client to facilitate the client’s openness. In one method of self-disclosure, the
counselor might use immediacy to share his or her reactions to the client or to
their relationship openly in the here and now. In another method the counselor
might respond to a client statement that is closely related to the counselor’s own
experience by sharing the similar experience in feeling terms. Self- disclosure,
when properly implemented, can promote a client’s feeling of being understood.
It can also enable the counselor to identify client feeling at a deeper level than
might otherwise be achieved. In this respect, self-disclosure can facilitate
advanced empathetic response.

When using self-disclosure, the counselor briefly and appropriately discloses

information about him/herself in a facilitative manner. The purpose of self-
disclosure is to enhance the relationship between counselor and client. Self-
disclosure can be made in response to a request by the client for information or
may be offered voluntarily by the counselor. Self-disclosure is usually of a factual
nature. It is essential that the self-disclosure on the part of the counselor be
appropriate to, the context of the professional nature of the relationship.Self-
disclosure is the process of passing on information about yourself to someone
else – whether you intend to or not.
 There are two types of self-disclosure: verbal and nonverbal. We self-disclose
verbally, for example, when we tell others about our thoughts, feelings,
preferences, ambitions, hopes, and fears. And we disclose nonverbally through
our body language, clothes, tattoos, jewelry, and any other clues we might give
about our personalities and lives.

Self-disclosure can be used to establish similarity between a counselor and a

client. However, there are important implications for the type of similarity being
established and its impact on the counseling process. Self disclosure is an
important way to let clients know the counselor as a person, Self disclosure at a
moderate level is seen more positively by clients than disclosure at a high or low
level (Edwards & Murdock, 1994). In moderation, it is helpful for the counselor to
disclose facts about himself, if it serves the needs of the session / client. As a rule,
it is better to not self-disclose unless there is a pressing clinical need which cannot
be met in any other way.

Self disclosure takes the following forms:

• The counselor’s own problems

• Facts about the counselor’s role

• The counselor’s reactions to the client (feedback)

• The counselor’s reactions to the counselor-client relationship.

There are specialized areas of counseling in which counselor self disclosure is

sometimes used. These include counseling for substance abuse or addiction, and
in these contexts self- disclosure is very beneficial for clients, since it serves to
encourage them to persevere in overcoming problems.

INTERPRETATION
Interpretive statements cover a broad range of counselor responses, their
purpose is to add meaning to elient's attitudes, feelings and behavior. The two
important interpretive techniques clarification and confrontation.

a. Clarification

In clarifcation, the counselor's response attempts to make a client's verbalization

clearer to both the counselor and the client. A clarification can focus on cognitive
information, or it can seek to highlight client meanings that are not initially clear.

b. Confrontation

Confronting another's behavior is a delicate procedure requiring both a sense of

timing and a sensitivity and awareness of client's receptivity. When properly
done, confrontation can help clients became more integrated and consistent in
their behavior and in their relationships with others. A confrontive response
should only be made in the context of trust and caring for the client and should
not be used as a means of venting anger and frustration. Confrontation help
clients understand when they may be evading issues or ignoring feedback from
others.

Immediacy

Of the myriad difficulties, which clients bring to counsellors, most involve

interpersonal relationships. The counsellor-client relationship mirrors the client's
behaviour in the outside world, which makes it an ideal situation in which to
explore the client's interpersonal skills. If counsellors can be sensitive to the
dynamics of their relationships with clients, they can help their clients explore
interpersonal issues ranging from trust and dependency to manipulation. The skill
of immediacy involves counsellors being sensitively turned into their interactions
with and reactions to clients as they occur. They ean respond to these feelings
about either the client or the relationship in the here and now. Immediacy is
closely related to the skills of self-disclosure and confrontation, as well as to
counsellor genuineness. Immediacy requires that counsellors should trust
theirgut- level reactions and that they respect the client.
ACTION STRATEGIES

Since the purpose of all counselling is to facilitate a change in client, counsellors

should be familiar with the basic principles underlying behaviour change. As
noted in the discussion later on goal setting, internal processes and behaviour are
not viewed as separate entities;' rather, they are intimately related to each other.
Many clients are able to act on the insights and new under-standings they gain
through the therapeutic climate and through the various advanced skills
employed by the counsellor. However, at times counsellors must facilitate the
behaviour change process by implementing specific action strategies or
programmes. The timing for implementation of these programmes will depend on
the theoretical orientation of the counsellor and on the nature of the clients
concern.

ROLE PLAYING

Role playing, also called behavioural rehearsal, can be especially useful in solving
interpersonal relationship difficulties.

Role-Playing focuses on patients who have phobias and want to overcome them
by learning new behaviors. The sessions will consist of the therapist taking the
role of someone who may be difficult for the patient to confront. When the client
is interacting with the counselor they will use the new behaviors that have been
taught to them during treatment.

Role-Playing can help individuals overcome the fears by breaking the habit and
learning new behavioral techniques. How well the treatment plan works is going
to depend on how severe the fear is.

How Role-Playing Therapy Works

Treatment works by gradually exposing the patient to the situation through role-
playing and rehearsal. They will learn methods in reducing the amount of anxiety
they experience.
These methods will provide them with courage and help them relax when
nervous feelings begin taking over.

The counselor will teach the patient relaxation techniques, deep breathing and
demonstrate biofeedback.

Being that there are some fears that cannot be cured there is medication to help
patients who are affected by it heavily.

The medications are used with therapy although they usually are not prescribed
until the counselor is aware of the severity. The medications that are most
effective in treating social phobias are antidepressants and SSRIs.

By the end of treatment the patient should be able to approach their situation
slowly while working on learned relaxation components.

The key to Role-Playing Therapy is slow progress and gradually learning the new
target behavior which can be accomplished using imagination, trust in the
therapist and gradual courage.

Counseling Skills-II:

BEHAVIOURAL TECHNIQUES

Systematic application of learning principles to assess and improve individuals

covert and overt behaviours in order to help them function more fully in society.

1) Reinforcement & Punishment

Reinforcement is the application or removal of a stimulus to increase the strength

of a specific behaviour.

Positive reinforcement: Application of a desirable stimulus.

Negative reinforcement: Application of an undesirable stimulus.

Punishment is the application or removal of stimulus decreases the strength of a

behaviour.
Positive punishment: Application of an undesirable stimulus (aversive)

Negative punishment: Loss or postponement of a desirable stimulus.

2) Shaping

A method of training by which successive approximations toward a target

behaviour are reinforced. The therapist starts shaping by reinforcing, the existing
behavior.

3) Chaining

A procedure that establishes a sequence of responses, which lead to a reward

following the final response in the chain.

4) Token economies

This type of behavioral strategy relies on reinforcement to modify behavior. This

program involves giving token rewards for appropriate or desired target
behaviours performed by the patient.

5) Modelling

This technique involves learning through observation and modeling the behavior
of others. It is a method of teaching by demonstration where the therapist shows
how a specific behavior is to be performed. In modeling the patient observes
other in delging in target behaviors and getting rewards for those behaviors. This
will make the patient repeat the same behavior and earn rewards in the same
manner.

Another types of behavioral techniques are,

1) Extinction

It is observed in both operantly conditioned and classically conditioned behaviour.

Extinction as a procedure occurs when reinforcement of a previously reinforced
behaviour is discontinued; as a result, the frequently of that behaviour decreases
in the future.
Extinction mean removal of attention rewards parmanently, following a problem
behavior.

2) Aversion Therapy

This process involves pairing an undesirable behavior with an aversive stimulus in

the hope that the unwanted behavior will eventually be reduced. Unpleasant
behaviour is produced by electric stimulus, drugs, social disapproval or even
fantasy.

Alcohol abuse, paraphilias, impulsive & obsessive behaviour

3) Assertiveness Training

A behavior therapy technique in which the patient is given training to bring about
change in emotional and other behavioral pattern by being assertive.

It is designed to help people stand up for themselves- to empower themselves, in

more contemporary terms.

Assertive responses promote fairness and equality in human interactions, based

on a positive sense of respect for self and others.

Client is encouraged not to be afraid of showing an appropriate response,

negative or positive, to an idea or suggestion.

4) Social skills training

It is a form of behavior therapy used by teachers, therapist, and trainers to help

persons who have difficulties relating to other people.

Social skills training helps to improve social manners like encouraging eye contact,
speaking appropriately, observing simple etiquette and relating to people.

Using the right tone and volume of voice, expressing opinions to others,
perceiving how others are feeling and showing empathy, appropriate emotional
responses.
5) Systematic desensitization

This technique was proposed by Joseph Wolpe 1958. It involves having a client
make a list of fears and then teaching the individual to relax while concentrating
on these fears. In this, patient attain a state of complete ralaxation and are then
exposed to the stimulus that elicits the anxiety response.

1st step: Learn relaxation

2nd step: Make a list of anxiety hierarchies

3rd step: Imagine anxiety-evoking situation while being relaxed

Desensitization is appropriate when the client has a high level of anxiety

associated with problem behaviour. Examples of such problems would include
anxiety about test taking, fear of heights and fear of speaking to groups, and So
on. Counter conditioning coupled with muscle relaxation procedures are used to
desensitize the client to anxiety- producing situations.

a) Behaviour Contracts:

A behaviour contract is an agreement between twoparties aimed at changing the

behaviour of one of the persons involved. The agreement specifies the
reinforcement contingent on reaching the goal. The behaviour' contract obviously
has many applications in facilitating client action and has been used with
behaviours ranging from smoking and weight reduction to disruptive. behayiour
and speech problems.

b) Social Modelling:

When the present concern of the client involves a problematic relationship with
another person, it is often useful for the client to practice new ways of relating to
the other party with the counsellor. The client is given instructions regarding how
to act so that the situation will resemble real life, and then the client and
counsellor act out the situation. This gives the client the opportunity to get
feedback from the counsellor regarding the effectiveness of the client's
behaviour. This technique is similar to the "empty chair" technique from the
Gestalt approach.

DECISION MAKING METHODOLOGIES IN COUNSELLING

• The ability to make good decisions is an integral part of healthy personal

functioning. We are constantly faced with situations that require effective
decision-making skills. Many problems, which clients bring to counsellors,
involve the inability to make good decisions. Counsellors are not interested
in solving client’s concerns for them; rather, they aim to give clients the
skills to solve their own problems.

• This approach facilitates client’s independence

• The task of the Counsellor is to Facilitate in such a way that the client found
his/her decisions and consequent actions in a coherent and realistic vision
of his her wishes, tools, constraints, and possibilities: then his/her
evaluation of the situation with consequent expectations, perspectives of
the possible alternatives. i.e. how actions are tied with wishes.

• The Counsellor, establishing a relation that allows to attune his techniques

to the emotional framework and the cognitive objectives of the client. Has
to get that the client himself builds his/her answers and decides the own
proper social actions
• Crucial help my be obtained by formalizing the situation in terms of
decision theory, Formalization should be Understood “as needed” and
anyway it should be a light, an ideal target, a far reference point, that gives
the client the Logic framework of his her thoughts, in order that he/she
avoids dispersions, incoherencies between wishes and Effects of his/her
actions.
• The client must be oriented to be aware of
1)His /her objectives, the subjective value of each objective

2) The possible action or behaviour alternatives.

• Of course, a complete clarification of the objectives of a complete

knowledge of the Alternatives is neither possible, nor desirable;

• Nevertheless a “divergent phase” is necessary, that leads the client to

enlarging the fan of the Objectives and alternatives, that starts from an
analysis within oneself and outside in the social environment

• The person to be oriented must be aware of what he/ she gets, or the
frame of the possible outcomes Related with any alternative and each his
/her objective.

• Decision theory helps to collect these data in order that the Subject be
oriented toward the actions that are more coherent with his her wishes.
• The counsellor must help the client to find out the possible consequences
of his her Actions and set choice criteria neither too optimist, nor too
pessimist.

Decision Making Methodologies

1.First, counselor needs to make sure that they understand client’s issue or
dilemma.

2.Next, help the client brainstorm and come up with possible Solutions.

3.Next, help the client evaluate the possibilities by helping them Understand the
negative and positive consequences of the possible choice.

4.Another option is to use a pro/con list. For each option, have two columns, one
for pros and one for cons. The client will then start to list the pros and cons.

Next to each pro or con, have the client assign an numeric value from 1 to 10 that
represents the saliency of each option, with 1 being not very salient and 10
extremely salient.
 • Use positive numbers for pros and negative for cons. When the client
finishes the list, total up the numbers in the two columns, then add those
numbers together. This number represents how beneficial the choice is,
with the higher numbers being more beneficial.

Many authors have proposed that the decision-making process Involves

sequential steps. Stewart et al. (1978) list the following steps in their decision-
making model:

Identify the Problem:

This step should include answers to problems such as -What is the problem?
What prevents a solution? When and under what circumstances does the
problem occur? And So on.

Identification of Values and Goals:

During this phase the clients’ values are examined so that the solution will be
consistent with the clients’ values and long-range goals.

Identify Alternatives

a list of possible alternatives is Formulated.

Examine Alternatives

At this stage the advantages and disadvantages of each proposal are weighed,
based on factual information such as amount of time and money involved.

Make a Tentative Decision:

At this stage a tentative decision Is taken regarding how to solve the problem.

Take Action on the Decision:

If the decision is critical and the client is unsure about the choice, the decision
may be tested at this stage, then further information can be gained and fed Back
into the decision-making process.

Evaluate Outcomes:

Evaluation should be a continual part of the process. It should again be

emphasized that the role of the counsellor is not to make decisions for the client
but to give them the skills not only to deal with the present concern but also to
deal effectively with future problems. Krumboltz’s (1966) model emphasizes this
important point by adding the step of generalizing

• The decision-making process to future problems. The steps of the generic

model to deal effectively with the present problems as well As the future
problems are:

1)Generating a list of all possible courses of action.

2.)Gathering relevant information about each feasible alternative Course of

action.

3)Estimating the probability of success in each alternative on the basis of the

experience of others and projections of current Trends.

4)Considering the personal values, which may be enhanced or diminished under

each course of action.

5)Deliberating and weighing the facts, probable outcomes and values for each
alternative.

6.)Eliminating from consideration the least favourable courses of the action.

7)Formulating a tentative plan of action subject to new development And

opportunities.

8)Generalizing the decisions making process to future problems.

PROBLEM SOLVING

• Problem solving is a creative process by which individuals evaluate changes in

them and environment, make new choices or adjustments in harmonious
manner.

• Purpose of counselling is to identify the problems of person.

• The basic purpose of counselling is to help people use their existing problem-
solving skills more effectively or to develop new or better coping skills.

• The counsellor becomes the expert problem-solver with minimal involvement

on the client’s Part. The thrust is to help client with problem presented, yet it
is conducted in a way where attention is given to the person and his relational
world, rather than the problem.

• Their job is to provide an opportunity for the person to describe their feelings
and problems for themselves and then to reach decisions and actions that are
based on informed choices.

• The counsellor becomes the expert problem-solver with minimal involvement

on the client’s Part. The thrust is to help client with problem presented, yet it
is conducted in a way where attention is given to the person and his relational
world, rather than the problem.

• The emphasis is on helping the client draw On resources available to him and
become committed to managing life’s problems with self-reliance. The aim is
to offer a listening ear, offer minimal advice, help client know himself and
discover Solutions to problems.
• Minimal attention is given to letting client talk and ventilate without any
particular direction. Instead, the counsellor is actively engaged in the process
to help client focus on issues and generate solutions.

• Counselling should focus on helping him to deal with his present problem. It is
also the task of the coun sellor help him assume responsibility for his life now.
It should be noted that normalising problems is firstly an orienta tion of the
counsellor.

• He must learn to interpret problems as normal reactions. Once he can do that,

he will not be overwhelmed. Instead, he will be able to respond to clients by
helping them see their problems as such.

• When a client presents a problem we should be acquainted with his family

relationships, and see how the family is affected by or involved with his
problem.

• Problems do serve some funcTions. It is important for the counsellor to assess

carefully before intervening or prescribing a change.

• Counsellor is normally trained to view the presenting problem as a clue or

disguise for something deeper.

• Person-centred problem-solving approach requires counsellor to establish a

relationship with the client before trying anything.

• When we identify a problem to work on, it is possible to assess the

outcome of the counselling offered and the counsellor will know if his
intervention is successful. If it is not, he will know and a different strategy
can be used. If he succeeds, he can build on it and generalise to other
situations. In this way he can monitor the counselling process and evaluate
the outcome.
 PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGIES

The five steps in a problem-solving model can be used to describe a

psychological assessment model. Depending on a client’s problem-solving
style, he or she will have varying levels of success in resolving a problem.

1)Problem Orientation: This first step assesses how a problem is viewed

(can be positive or negative) and requires the client to recognize and accept
the problem.

2)Problem Identification: This step involves the counselor and the client
attempting to identify the problem in as much detail as possible. A client is
more likely to continue in counseling and to achieve positive outcomes if
the counselor and client agree on the nature of the problem.

3)Generation of Alternatives: In the third step, the counselor and client

generate alternatives to help resolve the problem. Counselors use
assessment procedures to assist clients in discovering strengths on which
they can build to overcome difficulties or enhance development.

4)Decision Making: In this step clients anticipate the consequences of the

various alternatives.

5)Verification: The counselor in this final step should discuss with the client how
the client will know when the problem has been solved. This step requires that
goals be clearly specified, that they be translated into specific behavioral
objectives, and that the possibility for progress in accomplishing these goals be
realistically viewed. Counselors are to verify the effectiveness of interventions

Egan (1975) proposes a systematic problem-solving methodology that includes his

approach to the decision-making process and incorporates force-field analysis.
The steps of the model are briefly summarized here.
Identify and Clarify the Problem

: Clients often present counsellors with rather vague problems that, as stated, are
insolvable. Therefore,as a first step the problem must be stated in a solvable
manner. Instead of accepting vague descriptions of feelings, such as “I am so
depressed”, the counsellor seeks the stimulus for the client’s feelings “I am
feeling sad and lonely as I have just moved into this new city and I don’t have any
friends.” The counsellor emphasizes that problems cannot be solved when stated
vaguely, when they are not dealing with the present and when they are
attributing to the outside forces.

Establish Priorities in Choosing Problems for Attention:

After clients have a grasp for their problems and their resources, they must
decide which problem to tackle first. Some criteria would include

a)Problems directly under client’s control,

b)Situation that can cause crisis in client’s life,

c) a problem that is easily handled,

d)A problem which when solved will bring about some improvement

e) move from lesser to greater severity (other than crisis).

Establish Workable Goals:

Problems reflect the ways things are And goals represent the future. In other
words, problems equal Restraining forces; goals equal facilitating forces. Goals
should be Workable and concrete and should be owned by the client.

Take a Census of Available Means for Reaching the Goals

 List restraining and facilitating forces related to goal achievement. List action
steps that could reduce restraining forces and enhance facilitating forces.

Choose the Means that will most Effectively Achieve Established Goals:
The means must be consistent with the client values, should Have a high
probability for success, and should help the client move Systematically towards
the goal.

Establish Criteria for the Effectiveness of the ActionProgrammes:

Some criteria need to be established which will Become the basis for measuring
the effectiveness of the action Programmes.

Implementation

The chosen mean has to be implemented to achieve the established goals in a

right manner.

Goal Setting

• Whether or not to set goals for the counseling process and the type of goals
considered acceptable will largely be determined by the counselor’s theatrical
orientation. Traditionally, behaviorists have been concerned with identification of
specific counseling goals, stated as behavior, that can be easily identified and
measured. Counselors with a humanistic orientation, on the other hand, would be
inclined to identify a few broad goals, such as improved self-concept or increased
self-understanding, rather than to focus on behaviors.

• The broad goal of all counseling is one of change, whether in attitudes,

values, beliefs, feelings or behavior. Since internal process and behavior
 walk hand-in-hand, many counselors feel it is appropriate to focus on both
areas.

Termination and Follow-up

• A counselor must learn how to bring a counseling session to a close

effectively. He also must be familiar with issues and skills involved in
terminating a counseling relationship. In closing an individual session, the
counselor must be aware of time and should let the client know when the
session is near ending. As the session draws to a close, the counselor may
ask the client to summarize the main themes, feelings or issues of the
session. It helps the clients crystallize in their own minds the important
things that took place during the session. A summary by the counselor is
particularly helpful since it recapitulates the entire session and serves as a
stimulus to the formulation of goals for the client to work on between the
session.

• Once relationship has been terminated, the counselor will want to keep in
touch with the client to see, how things are progressing. This
communicates the counselor’s genuine concern for the client’s further
growth and development.

PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES OF GROUP COUNSELING

GROUP

Group may be described as any collection of human beings who are

brought into a social relationship with one another, while group
dynamics is all that it takes to form a group.
Members in a group is generally by chance (born into the group), by
choice (voluntary affiliation), or by circumstance (the result of life-cycle
events over which an individual may or may not have control).

GROUP COUNSELLING

A form of psychosocial treatment in which a number of clients meet

together with a therapist for purposes of sharing, gaining personal
insight, and improving interpersonal coping strategies.

A treatment of psychological problem in which two or client interacts

with each other on both an emotional and cognitive levels in the
presences of psychotherapists who serve as catalysts, facilitators or
interpreters.

Individuals who have similar problems when put together for counselling
intervention, they identify with others and realize that they are not alone
that, there are other people who share similar problems. This makes
them open up so as to share experience and find a way of finding
solutions to their problems.

The broader concept of group therapy refers to any helping process that
takes place in a group, including support groups, skills training groups
(such as anger management, mindfulness, relaxation training or social
skills training), and psycho-education groups.

Group counselling focus on behaviour modification, developing personal

relationship skills, concerns of human sexuality, values or attitudes, or
career decision making
The founder of group therapy was Joseph H. Pratt. After world war ll
group psychotherapy was further developed by Jacob L. Moreno for
treating those with emotional reactions. Moreno developed a specific
and highly structured form of group therapy known as psychodrama

AIMS/GOALS

• To assist each individual in emotional growth and personal

problem solving.
• To help individuals better understand themselves in the context
of their relationships so that they can make more
knowledgeable, healthy, and adaptive choices based on a
deeper awareness of their feelings, interpersonal behaviours,
reactions and patterns.
• Research shows that group therapy is actually the treatment of
choice for many relational issues such as certain forms of anxiety,
isolation, anger, shyness, intimacy concerns, friendship troubles
and work issues.
• To help with solving the emotional difficulties and to encourage
the personal development of the participants in the group. The
therapist (called conductor, leader or facilitator) chooses as
candidates for the group people who can benefit from this kind
of therapy and those who may have a useful influence on other
members in the group.

PRINCIPLES

The main principles of group counselling are:

a) Selection of group members

• It is very important function of a group therapist.

• She has to decide based on the condition of the client who all
can be included in the group.
• Groups composed of clients of the same age, sex, race,
socioeconomic level and similar of illness (homogeneous groups)
• Group vary on different clients age, race, sex, socioeconomic
level and different category of illness (heterogeneous groups).

b) Size of the group

• In forming a counselling group, the size of the group matters a

lot for the effectiveness of the process. In an ideal situation, the
size is determined by the age of the members, the experiences
of the counsellor, the type and purpose of the group and
whether there is a co counsellor or co-leader.
• In group counselling and therapy approximately 6-10 members
(3-4 children) meet face-to-face with a trained group therapist.
During the group meeting time, members decide what they
want to talk about.

c) Duration and time for meeting

• In determining the duration and time for meeting, frequent

short sessions may be used. This suits their attention span.
• If the group is taking place in the school setting, the session can
be after regular class period. This is to avoid clashing with school
time-table and creating unnecessary conflict between the
counsellor, students and the school authority.
• Group sessions range from 1-2 hours.
d) Place of meeting

• The next pertinent question is where should this meeting take

place? Wherever is chosen as the place for meeting, the leader
should ensure adequate physical arrangement, good ventilation
and the place must guarantee some degree of privacy and
freedom from distraction.
• That is why it is not good to have such sessions in the classroom,
staffroom or in the counsellor’s office if the space is enough to
accommodate all the members.

e) Nature of membership

• The counsellor needs to determine if the membership will be on

voluntary or involuntary basis. Voluntary members have been
found to be the best because they voluntarily avail themselves
for counseling unlike those referred. Sometimes it may be that
the counsellor wants to address a particular issue but cannot do
it on individual basis so he adopts the group method. The
counsellor must orientate the members and prepare them to
become part of the group. Also the counsellor should tell the
group what they would gain by participating in the group.

f) Nature of the group

• An open group is one characterized by changing membership

while a closed group adds no new members during the lifetime
of the group. Sometimes, closed groups have advantages that
are distinct, because trust, openness can be developed and work
accomplished. If members are allowed to drop from the group
 and new ones join at random, it may be difficult to determine
the success of the therapy used on the group.
• In open groups members may join and leave the group at
anytime. Closed groups have a specific number of people,
specific time to start and close the group session; the duration is
3-4 weeks.

PROCEDURES OF GROUP COUNSELLING

A model of group development was first proposed by Bruce Tuckman in

1969. The stages are forming, storming, norming, performing and
adjourning.

1. Forming

• Forming the group; setting ground rules; finding similarities

• The polite stage; focus on getting acquainted and feeling
comfortable
• Conflict is low, suppressed; need for approval high
• Verbal members tend to dominate
• Ability to accomplish group tasks and stay focused is low
• Watchful; personal feelings kept hidden
• Must giving of/asking for information and data
• Some inclusion/exclusion issues with “new” and “old” members
• Team acquaints and establishes group rules. Formalities are
preserved and members are treated as ststrangers

2. Storming

• Dealing with issues of power and control; surfacing differences

 • Subgroups and individuals attempt to influence ideas, values,
and opinions
• Competition for attention, recognition, and influence
• People confront each other; interpersonal conflict; unsolicited
comments; opinions
• Sense of feeling stuck; frustrated
• Emotional reaction to task or misperceptions about task
• Members start to communicate their feelings but still view
themselves as individuals rather than part of the team. They
resist control by group leaders and show hostility

3.Norming

• Managing group conflict; finding group norms

• Authority/leadership issues discussed and resolved; cohesion
among group members begins; subgroups disappear
• Members actively listen to each other; appreciation and
acceptance of alternative points of view
• Risky issues/process issues brought up in meetings; ability to
remain focused on task at hand
• Quiet people now contributing more in the group; values and
assumptions begin to get discovered and discussed; relevant
questions are asked; individuals move beyond blame to
responsibility
• People feel part of the team and realize that they can achieve
work if they accept other viewpoint

4. Performing

• Functioning as an effective group

 • Members try new behaviours and accept new ideas
• Members relate with honesty, respect, authenticity.
• Problems and difficult issues are dealt with, handled creatively
• Member resourcefulness is utilized to energize each other
• Decision making process to be used is understood
• Frequent review of process issues
• Clarity on how members experience each other
• Commitment to work toward common goals
• The team works in an open and trusting atmosphere where
flexibility is the key and hierarchy is of little importance

5. Adjourning

• Finding closure
• The sense of the group is that the work is done
• May be apprehension over the impending loss of group identity
and friendships
• Cleaning up the group’s undone tasks and removing symbols of
the group. Evaluating the results and producing final reports.
• The final stage is very important because it gives the members
the opportunity to clarify their experiences, consolidate the
gains they have made and revisit their decisions about the newly
acquired behaviour they want to implement in their everyday
life.
• Saying goodbye.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF GROUP COUNSELLING

Advantages
 • More clients can be treated at once, fostering cost effectiveness
• Members benefits by hearing others discuss similar problems;
feelings of isolation, alienation, and uniqueness often decrease,
encouraging members to share problems.
• Group therapy allows clients to explore their specific styles of
communication in a safe atmosphere where they can receive
feedback and undergo change.
• Members learn from others multiple ways to solve problems,
and group exploration may help them to discover new ways
• Members learn about the functional roles of individuals in a
group. Sometimes, a members share the responsibility as the co-
therapist. Members become culture carriers.
• The group provides for its members understanding,
confrontation, and identification with more than one person

Disadvantages

• A member’s privacy may be violated, such as when a conversation

is shared outside the group. This behaviour obstructs
confidentiality and hampers complete and honest participation.
• Clients may experience difficulty exposing themselves to a group or
believe that they lack the skills to communicate effectively.