CLINICAL COUNSELING
Counseling is rational, problem-solving process to facilitate enlightened
self-understanding.
Proponent: Edward Griffith Williamson
Nature of Human Beings:
 Rational beings who can think and use science to further own
development and progress
 Born with the potential for both good and evil
 Can attain meaningful life seeking good and controlling if not
fully rejecting evil
 Can become fully human by the attainment of enlightened self-
control
 Can activate capacity to solve problems by the utilization of
personal abilities
 Need others to achieve the full development of his/her
humanity
SOURCES OF DIFFICULTY:
Potentiality for evil can render him/her incapable of developing
autonomously. When potential for evil is left unchecked, problems arise
GOALS:
 Full human potentialities
 Enlightened self-understanding and self-direction
 Human development identified with the standard of excellence
in all aspects of living with full consideration of group
membership
MAJOR FOCUS:
 Emotions interfering with rational problem solving
 Problem solving with respect to objective difficulties in the
external world and also with regard to related, subjective
emotional disturbances
ROLE OF THE COUNSELOR/THERAPIST
 Help Client to modify subjective and often erroneous self-
appraisal of potentialities, aspirations, and self-concept
through a more scientific method of fact identification.
o Collecting factual data about client
o Helping Client understand and accept capabilities,
aptitudes and interests
o Assisting Client in identifying own motivations and style of
living and their implications of consequences
 Assist Client to develop full potentials without violating the
right to determine own life goals
o Determining the good life with client
o Helping client to commit to values and goals that would
satisfy not only the self but societal considerations as well
o Motivating resistant client to maximize his/her potentials.
 Lead client to practice more adequate behavior to achieve
desired life satisfactions and personal goals
COUNSELOR/THERAPIST CHARACTERISTICS AND COMPETENCIES
 Possession of a sympathetic concern for the affective
development of client
 Respect for the dignity and worth of human beings
 Friendliness and warmth
 Treatment of the client as an equal
 Ability to balance between definiteness and open-mindedness
 Concern for the values of the society, the institution served,
and those represented in the goals of counseling
 Ability to assist Client to make a hierarchy of the values
involved in human existence sithout unduly or unreasonably
restricting personal right to choose
 Commitment to the sovereignty of reason
LEADS AND RESPONSES
 Acceptance
 Restatement
 Clarification
 Paraphrase
 Summarization
 Interpreting and translating the diagnosis
 Direct Teaching
 Advising
o Direct Advising- frank statement of counselor opinion
specially with tough-minded clients who ask for frank
opinion or persist in counter-productive behavior
o Persuasive method- organizing evidence in a reasonable
and logical way when a define choice is to be made, to
lead the client to see the outcome of alternative actions
o Explanatory method- careful and slow explanation of
diagnostic data; identification of possible situations that
will utilize the client’s potentialities; with detailed
reasoning of the implications of the data
TECHNIQUES
 Talk technique to
o Force conformity
o Learn needed skills
o Change attitudes
 Action to
o Change the environment
o Select the appropriate environment
STEPS
Steps in the Counselling Relationship
 Analysis- collecting information and data about the client
 Synthesis- summarizing and organizing of data gathered in
such ways as to reveal the client’s assets, liabilities,
adjustments and maladjustments
 Diagnosis- finding consistencies and patterns leading to a
succinct(brief) summary of problems, their causes and other
significant and relevant characteristics of the client together
with their implications for potential adjustments and
maladjustments
 Prognosis- deciding whether counselling would be sufficient
and effective or whether a referral to another specialist may be
necessitated by the problem or the situation
 Counseling- assisting the client to understand the factors that
caused the behavior, anticipate future developments if the
present situation continues, generate alternative actions and
the means to implement them, and produce the desired
changes in behavior
 Follow-up- helping the client with new problems and possible
recurrences of the original problem, along with determining
counseling effectiveness
Steps in Counselling Proper
 Establishing rapport
 Cultivating self-understanding
 Advising or planning a program of action
 Carrying out a plan of action
 Referral to other personnel workers, if necessary
HISTORY-TAKING
 Family, health, educational, vocationaland work history is
needed for comprehensive understanding and enlightenment
PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT
 Standardized test considered an essential source of reliable,
valid and relevant information regarding aptitudes, interest or
inhibit, motives, emotional balance and other characteristics
which facilitate or inhibit satisfactory adjustment
 Non-psychometric assessment ongoing throughout the session
PERSON-CENTERED APPROACH o Advice giving
Individuals have the capacity to solve their own problems and o Evaluating
regulate themselves without the direction or manipulation of the o Criticizing
therapist o Judging
o Questioning/Probing
Proponent: Carl Ransom Rogers o Moralizing/Preaching
o Imposition of values
Nature of Human Beings:
 Positive, forward-moving, basically good, rational, LEADS AND RESPONSES
socialized, realistic, cooperative, constructive and  Acceptance
trustworthy  Restatement
 Have capacity to become aware of factors involved in own  Clarification
psychological maladjustment  Summarization
 Have the tendency and capacity to move from the state of  General leads
maladjustment to a state of psychological adjustment  Emphatic communication
 Self-actualizing  Reflection of feelings
 Paraphrase
SOURCES OF DIFFICULTY:  Self-disclosure
Discrepancy between the real-self and ideal self, thought and reality,  Feedback-giving
self and experience, self-perception and others’ perceptions
TECHNIQUES
GOALS: o Not technique-oriented; listening and observation
 Fully functioning individual with optimal psychological emphasized
adjustment and complete congruence, openness to o More concerned with the relationship established
experience between the client and the counselor
 Self-actualization or the experience of full humanness o Expressing and communicating acceptance,
manifested on the thorough of life in all its aspects understanding and respect

MAJOR FOCUS: STEPS

 Subjective world of reality, internal frame of reference, or
phenomenological(subjective) world
 Capacity to discover ways to more fully encounter reality
 Here-and-now feelings and perceptions rather than the
then-and-there feelings and events
 Necessary and sufficient conditions for client change
o Psychological contact- full attention and engagement
between client and counsellor
o Incongruence- client’s experience of dissonance
between perception and actual experience
o Congruence and genuineness- counselor’s awareness
of personal feelings, true positive feelings for the client
and true desire to help
ROLE OF THE COUNSELOR/THERAPIST
 Provide an atmosphere of freedom in which the client,
through self-exploration, comes to see himself/herself and
his/her reactions more clearly and accept his/her attitudes
more fully
 Assume the clients internal frame of reference, perceive the
world as the client sees it and perceive the client as the
client sees himself/herself
 Communicate this emphatic understanding to the client
 Ensure that the client arrives at his/her own decisions and
demonstrate complete respect for such decisions
COUNSELOR/THERAPIST CHARACTERISTICS AND COMPETENCIES
 Listening skills
 Genuine acceptance
 Unconditional positive regard
 Nonjudgmental attitude
 Non-possessive warmth
 Accurate Empathy
 Concreteness
 Congruence and authenticity
 Ability to refrain from:
The steps identified by Rogerians reflect the actions taken by the
client and the counselor and the process each actually experiences.
 Clients voluntary submission for counseling
 Definition of helping situation
 Encouragement of free expression of feelings regarding the
problem
 Counselor’s acceptance, recognition and clarification of
negative feelings
 Client’s development of faint and tentative positive impulses
which are growth-producing
 Counselor’s acceptance and recognition of the expressed
positive feelings
 Client’s development of insight leading to the understanding
and acceptance of the self
 Counselor’s clarification of possible decisions and courses of
actions
 Client’s initiation of minute but highly significant positive
actions
 Client’s development of further insight and growth
 Client’s increase confidence and integrated positive action
 Client’s decreased need for help and recognition that the
relationship must end
HISTORY-TAKING
 Unnecessary and contrary to here-and-now focus
 Deterrent to the establishment of unconditional positive
regard and nonjudgmental attitude
PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT
 Standardized test not considered part and parcel of
counseling
 Allowed when deemed absolutely necessary
ECLECTIC COUNSELING
Counseling activities must be based on the specific case data and the
personality of the client
Proponent: Frederick Charles Thorne
Nature of Human Beings:
 Active, dynamic, motivated to strive for self-actualization
 Know what is best for themselves under normal or ideal
conditions
 Manifest a series of drives needed to:
o Maximize themselves, achieve perfect functioning,
organize expanding experiences into meaningful wholes
o Ensure personal stability, including self-preservation,
homeostasis, ideological controls, life goals, roles and
statuses, and life style
o Integrate opposing functions in order to resolve
imbalance, but not necessarily to avoid tensions
SOURCES OF DIFFICULTY:
Identify personality maladjustments caused by inability to transcend the
affective-impulsive unconscious determination of behavior.
GOALS:
 Adaptive coping behaviors and physiological states
 Higher levels of self-actualization
 Personality integration-organizing and unifying all elements of
behavior and states to maintain the highest possible of unity,
integration and functioning
MAJOR FOCUS:
 Client’s present situation, integration and unification
 Psychological forces that cause the psychological state
ROLE OF THE COUNSELOR/THERAPIST
 Serve as a catalyst to help the client achieve greater insight,
knowledge, and competency in achieving a more individualistic
life
 Act as a friendly adviser primarily concerned with helping the
client to work out his/her own problem
 Take control when the client is unable to control
himself/herself
 Return ultimate control of the situation to the client
COUNSELOR/THERAPIST CHARACTERISTICS AND COMPETENCIES
 Personal warmth and liking
 Unconditional positive regard and respect
 Genuine acceptance and nonjudgmental attitude
 Emphatic understanding
 Non-imposition of personal beliefs and values
 Genuine acceptance
 Ability to refrain from criticizing, moralizing and judging
 Resistance to the emphasis on theory alone
 Keen and critical observation of client and counselor behaviors
 Knowledge of own personality and interacting styles with
different clients
 Diligent study of all the existing and developing approaches and
techniques
 Intelligent selection of the most appropriate methods for the
particular problem and the specific individual
 Perceptive and flexible response to developing client attitudes
and responses in counseling
 Possession of superior intelligence and judgment
LEADS AND RESPONSES
Any lead or response can be used but the least influencing must be used
unless found ineffective
 Acceptance/passive listening
 Clarification
 Reflection of feelings
 Paraphrase
 Summarization
 Reassurance
 Suggestion
 Persuasion
 Advice-giving
 Active-uncovering techniques (cause-effect probing)
 “What if?” exploration of what it would be like when he/she
has what is lacking
 Pressure, coercion and punishment with a firm kind,
understanding authoritarianism (if necessary)
TECHNIQUES
 Symptomatic Therapy- work on symptoms manifested
 Supportive Therapy- work on release and improvement of
feelings
 Semantic Reorganization- change language patterns
 Behavior Therapy- modify behavior
 Tutorial Counseling- teach how to do certain things
 Rational-logical Problem-solving- develop-problem-solving
skills
Any technique is acceptable provided the following criteria are met:
 Specificity of action-focus on etiological factors of the problem
 Economy of action- quickest, most economical and safely
effective
 Natural history of the disorder- most effective based on the
pattern of development of the disorder
o Prodromal Stage which is vague and nonspecific-applying
supportive or palliative technique
o Syndromal Stage without Client insight- directing the
client to recognize maladjustment and to accept
treatment
o Syndromal Stage with Client insight- selecting action
more freely
 Distributive Principle-direct and active implementation of a
planned treatment, adapting to the developments and clients
progress
 Total push- concentrated work on possible influences and
treatment
 Failure of progress- application of more drastic methods when
a client fails to respond to treatment
 Adaptiveness of process-adapting techniques to the
developing needs of the client, evaluating the indications and
contraindications of various methods
 Active versus Passive Techniques (Law of Parsimony)-starting
with more passive/nondirective/simpler techniques for client’s
emotional release and opportunity to solve his/her own
problems; shifting to active or complicated techniques only
when such techniques fail
STEPS
 Diagnose causes of personality maladjustment
 Make plans for modifying etiological factors
 Secure proper conditions for efficient learning
 Stimulate client to develop his/her own resources and assume
responsibility for practicing new modes of adjustment
 Handle related problems
HISTORY-TAKING
 Comprehensive case history required to shed light on cause-
effect relationships and to determine whether the behavioral
disorder is environmentally stimulated or organic in nature
PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT
 Objective data from all sources, including tests utilized for
proper diagnosis, provided that they have personal and/or
social relevance to be clinically sound
 Non-psychometric assessment ongoing throughout the
relationship
BEHAVIOR THERAPY TECHNIQUES
All behavior is learned and can be unlearned through experimentally established social  Goal: To eliminate maladaptive behavior
principles of learning. o Extinction and Positive Reinforcement ignoring the behavior to
extinguish it
Proponent: Burrhus Frederic Skinner o Satiation- pushing for the performance of the behavior until the
identified patient is tired or loses the interest since the novelty is gone
Nature of Human Beings: o Incompatible Alternative Principle- acknowledging or rewarding the
 Not inherently or instinctually good or bad positive behavior that cannot be performed simultaneously with the
 Learn to continue performing behaviors that are rewarded and discontinue target maladaptive behavior
behaviors that are punished or ignored o Negative Reinforcement- terminating the existing undesirable or
aversive condition or situation when the maladaptive behavior stops
SOURCES OF DIFFICULTY:
 Learned behaviors not adaptive to the situation  Goal: To develop new behavior
 Performed behaviors inimical to one’s own development and/or harmful o Social Modeling presenting a respected person performing the
to other people desired behavior and being rewarded for it to show how it can be
manifested
GOALS: o Successive Approximation- expressing appreciation in every little
 General goal: modify inappropriate or undesirable behavior effort or movement toward the goal to increase motivation to change
 Categories of Goals o Cueing- informing about the contexts in which a behavior is required
o Elimination of maladaptive behavior (behavioral excesses) and giving a signal when it should or should not be manifested
o Development of new behavior (behavioral deficits) o Discrimination- helping client to realize that some behaviors are
o Strengthening new behavior acceptable in some places and occasions but not in others and helping
o Maintaining new behavior him/her to make such distinctions
o Modifying behavior accompanying strong emotions
 Criteria for goals:  Goal: To strengthen behavior
o Specifically identified and operationally defined o Positive Reinforcement giving a reward until it becomes part of
o Pertinent to desired change his/her habitual activity
o Attainable  Type of Reinforcers
o Measurable and observable progress  Social reinforcers- a pat on the back, a smile, a nod of the head,
o Desired by client positive comments
o Acceptable to the Counselor/therapist  Material Reinforcers- tangible object or money
 Token Reinforcers- nominal rewards which do not involve
MAJOR FOCUS: expenses, like points and stars
 Current maladaptive behavior  Activity reinforcers- activities the client is very much interested
o Occurring with sufficient frequency
o Deterring self-development  Goal: To maintain behavior
o Harmful to self or third party o Substitution presenting a previously ineffective reward just before the
 Environmental situations that may be perpetuating the maladaptive more effective reward to gain also status as a positive reinforcement
behavior o Decreasing Reinforcement lessening the frequency of giving rewards
o Intermittent Reinforcement- making the schedule of reinforcement
ROLE OF THE COUNSELOR/THERAPIST sporadic or unpredictable
 Act as an expert on a variety of techniques to handle different types of o Interval/Ratio Reinforcement- giving the reinforcement only a
behavioral manifestations stipulated time
 Prescribe appropriate ways of dealing with the person with maladaptive
behavior  Goal: To modify behavior accompanying strong emotions
 Introduce the practice of behavior therapy by short didactic presentation o Aversive Therapy- helping client avoid a desired activity by presenting
until fully understood by the client an aversive/undesirable condition simultaneously
 Follow up to ensure that behavior assignments are performed by client and o Assertiveness Training- enabling a person say what he/she wants to
significant others until the maladaptive behavior is completely eliminated say with assertiveness
and the desired behavior maintained. o In-vivo or Contact Desensitization-eliminating fear by gradually
exposing the client to the feared situation
COUNSELOR/THERAPIST CHARACTERISTICS AND COMPETENCIES o Emotional Flooding- eliminating fear by drastically exposing the client
 In dealing with the client to real situation/object which is feared
o Objective o Systematic Desensitization- gradual exposure the client to the feared
o Non-judgmental situation but using only Imagination
o Firm assuring and reinforcing client progress o Implosive Therapy- exposing the client to the feared situations
o Patient and encouraging with client failures through imagination and the worst possible scenarios the client may
be in
 In dealing with the process
STEPS
o Knowledgeable- select the appropriate technique for the client and
Operant Conditioning
the concern
o Diligent- implementing step by step procedure  Identify the target behavior in an operational way(specifically)
o Conscientious- keep tab of progress  Identify in concrete terms the pertinent, attainable and measurable goal
o Alert- notice signals when strategy is not working behavior which the client and the counselor are trying to attain
o Flexible- change procedures when they don’t work  Identify the antecedent (happens before) of the behavior in an operational
o Daring- experiment with procedures as long as they guided by sound way(specifically)
theory  Identify the consequence (happens after) of the maladaptive behavior
o Authoritative- convincing significant other to accept responsibility for  State the baseline of the behavior or the pretreatment (frequency, duration
bringing about change since he/she may be reinforcing and or intensity)
perpetuating the maladaptive behavior of the identified client  Determine the reinforcers consequences of behavior that tend to increase
the frequency
LEADS AND RESPONSES  Select the appropriate strategy based on the goal
Any lead or response can be used but the least influencing must be used unless found  Reverse the strategies by prescribing the opposite of what had been done
ineffective when treatment was in progress to determine the stability of the change
 Acceptance
 Restatement HISTORY-TAKING
 Clarification  Considered irrelevant
 Supposition
 General leads PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT
 Reassurance  Standardized test considered unimportant
 Interpretation  Non-psychometric assessment ongoing throughout the relationship to
 Summarization determine maladaptive behavior, antecedents and reinforcers
 Facilitation
 Interpellation (questioning)
 Rejection