COUNSELLING

MODULE - 1

Many people will, at some point in their lives, find themselves in the role of a
counsellor without having a true understanding of the concept of counselling or
what the role of the professional counsellor entails.

There is a big difference between a professional counsellor and a person who

uses some counselling skills as part of their role, for example as a friend or
colleague. A professional counsellor is a highly-trained individual who is able
to use a different range of counselling approaches with their clients.

DEFINITION

The Concise Oxford Dictionary (9th Edition) gives at least two definitions of

counselling, which appear to be conflicting, adding to potential confusion:
“give advice to (a person) on social or personal problems, especially
professionally.”
and
“the process of assisting and guiding clients, especially by a trained person on a
professional basis, to resolve especially personal, social, or psychological
problems and difficulties.”

As a simpler definitio:“A talking therapy that involves a trained therapist

listening to you and helping you find ways to deal with emotional issues.”
The act of helping the client to see things more clearly, possibly from a
different view-point. This can enable the client to focus on feelings,
experiences or behaviour, with a goal of facilitating positive change.

 A relationship of trust. Confidentiality is paramount to successful

counselling. Professional counsellors will usually explain their policy
on confidentiality. They may, however, be required by law to disclose
information if they believe that there is a risk to life.

NEED AND SCOPE OF COUNSELLING

Counselorsare trained in helping others to work through the
problems. They help people to determine the root cause of e.g.
addiction or behavioural issues and focus on healing. They can guide
and direct people through a variety of situations and help them to
focus on what really matters.
COUNSELLING

Counsellors also help people determine which career they are

interested in and how to plan their education and job search. They
walk the person through the required education and studies and the
testing process as well as the interview process and landing the job.

Of course, there are also other issues that counsellors are helpful in
such as guidance, employment, and how to deal with such issues as
depression or feelings of anxiety. Everyone needs a little bit of help
now and again. It doesn’t make a person stupid, bad or dumb or
weak to require a counsellor; it is a brave step to resolving problems.

Counselling, as a profession, isn’t for the faint of heart. It will take

years of dedication and diligence in school to gain the proper
credentials for a counselling degree.  Add in a specialty and you’ve
got a few more years before you’ll be a full-fledged counsellor. There
are a variety of options for counsellors from specialty fields to
addiction fields. Each field will require its own specifics of study.

Counsellors will work in clinical settings, in private settings, and in

private practices. They may work as a group or individually. Patients
will come from all walks of life. Not all patients will be success
statistics. Some will still struggle in spite of the counselling. This
doesn’t mean that the counselling wasn’t helpful, it may just be that
the person isn’t at a point in life where they can receive the help that
they need or do what is needed to help themselves .

Counselling may help those who are struggling in the world. They
may help them to deal with personal issues such as loss of a job or a
divorce. This can be a very stressful time for anyone. A counsellor
can help the person to get back on their feet and feel empowered
and stronger than ever. Counselling may help the person to let go of
the past and start over without feeling guilty.

The counsellor may help an addict or alcoholic to give up their drug

of choice and their drinking in an effort to lead a normal life. They
may help guide the person through the difficult transition of going
from addict to functional person in society. Not all addicts or
COUNSELLING

alcoholics are bad, many have had serious issues in getting to where
they are at and just need a bit of encouragement and help to make it
back up to the top.

Counsellors will focus on individual treatment as well as group

therapy to help others in similar situations. The field of counselling
offers up many of great opportunities to help others lead a healthy,
happy, and normal life. There are positions from working with
children in hospital settings to working in more public settings.

Types of counselling: Individual and Group counselling

Counselling is defined as a type of psychology and therapy focused on typical

and normal developmental issues as it applies to the human experience. Many
people assume that psychology, therapy, and counselling are all the same, and
they all have to do with crazy people. That is one of the assumptions I hope to
challenge. Counselling focuses on normal issues that come with development -
issues where a simple hand or leg up would resolve the issue before it became
a problem. This includes but is not limited to:

Career counselling

Family counselling

Individual counselling

Organizational counselling

Grief counselling

Purpose and Nature

Counselling’s purpose is to provide help to those who need it. It embraces the
adage that 'an ounce of prevention is equal to a pound of cure.' Counselling
seeks to help people before the problem becomes heightened to a
pathological level. Counselling comes in multiple ways depending on the
nature of the problem it is concerned with. Individual counselling is focused on
the individual's immediate or near future concerns. Individual counselling may
encompass career counselling and planning, grief after a loved one dies or
COUNSELLING

dealing with problems at a job before they become big. Individual counselling
is a one-on-one discussion between the counsellor and the client, who is the
person seeking treatment. The two form an alliance, relationship or bond that
enables trust and personal growth.

Counseling comes in multiple ways depending on the nature of the problem it

is concerned with. Individual counseling is counseling focused on the
individual's immediate or near future concerns. Individual counseling may
encompass career counseling and planning, grief after a loved one dies or
dealing with problems at a job before they become big. Individual counseling is
a one-on-one discussion between the counselor and the client, who is the
person seeking treatment. The two form an alliance, relationship or bond that
enables trust and personal growth.

GROUP COUNSELLING

Group counseling is a form of counseling where a small group of people meet

regularly to discuss, interact, and explore problems with each other and the
group leader. Group counseling seeks to give students a safe and comfortable
place on campus where they can work out problems and emotional concerns.
Members gain insight into their own thoughts and behavior, and offer
suggestions and support to others.

In addition, people who have a difficult time with interpersonal relationships

can benefit from the social interactions that are a basic part of the group
counselling experience.

Goals of Group Counselling

People who participate in counselling groups benefit in many ways. We believe

that groups are uniquely suited to help students.

Give and receive support

Gain understanding of problems and explore possible solutions

Practice interpersonal skills in a safe group setting

Learn more about how you come across to others

Increase observation and feedback skills

COUNSELLING

Enhance problem-solving skills

Improve emotional expressiveness

Decrease social isolation

Develop good communication skills

Family counselling: is counselling focused on family dynamics, immediate

concerns, and the near future. Family counselling, which brings together the
members of a family as a group, is similar to group counselling. An issue that
affects a family, like disease, death or simply people not getting along, may all
warrant family counselling.

Concept, similarities and differences between guidence and counselling

Meaning of Guidance

Guidance is a kind of advice or help given to the individual’s especially

students, on matters like choosing a course of study or career, work or
preparing for vocation, from a person who is superior in the respective field or
an expert. It is the process of guiding, supervising or directing a person for a
particular course of action.

The process aims at making students or individuals aware of the

rightness or wrongness of their choices and importance of their decision, on
which their future depends. It is a service that assists students in selecting the
most appropriate course for them, to discover and develop their psychological
and educational abilities and ambitions. Guidance results in self-development
and helps a person to plan his present and future wisely.

Literally guidance means ‘to direct’, ‘to point out’, ‘to show the path‘.

It is the assistance or help rendered by a more experienced person to a less

experienced person to solve certain major problems of the individual (less
experienced) i.e. educational, vocational, personal etc.
COUNSELLING

Guidance is a concept as well as a process

As a concept guidance is concerned with the optimal development of the

individual.

As a process guidance helps the individual in self understanding

(understanding one’s strengths, limitations, and other resources) and in self-
direction (ability to solve problems, make choices and decision on one’s own).

Definition of Guidance

Ruth Strang, ―Guidance is a process of helping every individual, through his

own efforts, to discover and develop his potentialities for his personal
happiness and social usefulness.

Knapp’s, ―Learning about the individual student, helping him to understand

himself, effecting changes in him and in his environment which will help him to
grow and develop as much as possible – these are the elements of guidance.

Meaning of Counseling

The term counseling is defined as a talking therapy, in which a person (client)

discusses freely his/her problems and share feelings, with the counselor, who
advises or helps the client in dealing with the problems. It aims at discussing
those problems which are related to personal or socio- psychological issues,
causing emotional pain or mental instability that makes you feel uneasy. The
counselor listens the problems of the client with empathy and discusses it, in a
confidential environment. It is not a one day process, but there are many
sessions.

Counseling is not just giving advice or making a judgement, but helping the
client to see clearly the root of problems and identify the potential solutions to
the issues. The counselor also changes the viewpoint of the client, to help him
take the right decision or choose a course of action. It will also help the client
to remain intuitive and positive in the future.

Definition of Counselling
COUNSELLING

According to the American Counseling Association, counseling is defined as, “a

professional relationship that empowers diverse individuals, families, and
groups to accomplish mental health, wellness, education, and career goals.”
Counseling involves helping people make needed changes in ways of thinking,
feeling, and behaving, and is a goal-based collaborative process, involving a
non-judgmental, supportive counselor who works with a client in telling his or
her story, setting viable goals, and developing strategies and plans necessary to
accomplish these goals. For some people this process takes a small amount of
time, in some cases as little as one or two sessions; for others, the process may
last longer.

An extremely important part of counseling is confidentiality, which means that

the information discussed in session will be accessible only by you and your
counselor, with a few exceptions. Please see Client Confidentiality for more
detail.

Webster’s Dictionary: “Counselling means consultation, mutual interchange of

opinion, deliberating together.”

Ruth Strang: “Counselling is a face to face relationship in which growth takes

place in the counsellor as well as the counselee.”

. Harriman: “Counselling is the psychotherapeutic relationship in which an

individual receives direct help from an adviser or finds an opportunity to
release negative feelings and thus clear the way for positive growth in
personality.”

Hamphery and Traxler: “Counselling is the application of the personal

resources of the school or other institution to the solution of the problems that
individuals have.”

The main similarities between guidance and counselling are:

Both guidance and counselling will help the client improve his/her behaviour

Both involve some form of information sharing

Both processes aim at the same goal – to help the client solve a problem or
make a decisions

Differences Between Guidance and Counseling

COUNSELLING

Advice or a relevant piece of information given by a superior, to resolve a

problem or overcome from difficulty, is known as guidance. Counseling refers
to a professional advice given by a counselor to an individual to help him in
overcoming from personal or psychological problems.

Guidance is preventive in nature, whereas counseling tends to be healing,

curative or remedial.

Guidance assists the person in choosing the best alternative. But counseling,
tends to change the perspective, to help him get the solution by himself or
herself.

Guidance is a comprehensive process; that has an external approach. On the

other hand, counseling focuses on the in-depth and inward analysis of the
problem, until client understands and overcome it completely.

Guidance is taken on education and career related issues whereas counseling

is taken when the problem is related to personal and socio-psychological
issues.

Guidance is given by a guide who can be any person superior or an expert in a

particular field. As opposed to counseling, which is provided by counselors,
who possess a high level of skill and undergone through professional training.

Guidance can be open and so the level of privacy is less. Unlike counseling,
wherein complete secrecy is maintained.

Guidance can be given to an individual or group of individuals at a time. On the

contrary, counseling is always one to one.

In the guidance, the guide takes the decision for the client. In contrast to
counseling, where the counselor empowers the client to take decisions on his
own.

SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOCIAL CASE WORK, COUNSELLING

AND PSYCHOTHERAPY

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN SOCIAL CASE WORK & COUNSELLING

COUNSELLING

Both case work and counselling have the same objectives. They attempt to
help individual who have some problem. The capacities of the individuals are
enhanced so that they can help themselves to solve their problem.

Case work and counselling deals with same type of problems

The effectiveness of these two approaches depends on the strength of

relationship between the case worker or therapist and their client or person.

The relationship is the medium between the case worker or therapist and the
client.

Both the approaches believes in the intrinsic worth and dignity of the person
with the problem.

The decision making power completely lies on the client.

Case work and counselling follows the common principles.

Both the case worker and counsellor do not ever give their judgement to the
person with the problem.

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN SOCIAL CASE WORK & PSYCHOTHERAPY

Both case work and psychotherapy help individual who come with emotional
problems and painful situations.

Both the approaches makes efforts to put the client at ease and create an
environment for him or her to express his or her feelings freely .

They share the same value of individuality, dignity of human person, and
respect for the client.

They make use of the interview as a technique in the therapeutic process.

Both case work and psychotherapy believes in the clients right to self-
determination.
COUNSELLING

These two approaches recognise the role of emotional and pre-conscious or

unconscious process at work in the client which influences the clients
thoughts, feelings and behaviour.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN COUNSELLING AND CASEWORK

In counselling, help is provided to the client without social services whereas in

casework, administration of services in concrete forms is essential component
of the intervention strategy. An agency setting is not essentially necessary for
case work but counselling is always practiced in an agency setting. Counselling
is most of the time concerned with one type of problem but in casework the
client is assessed and understood as a whole.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN COUNSELLING AND PSYCHOTHEREPY

Psychotherapy entails a long term process of intervention that identifies

emotional issues and the background to problem and difficulties, where as
case goals, planned intervention strategies, and a time frame.

Psychotherapy helps people with psychological problems that have build up

over long years. Case work is mostly interested in psycho-social problems of
individuals.

The objectives of psychotherapy are to bring about change in the attitude and
behaviour of the individual , or in the environment or both. Sometimes, the
change in the environment is specifically directed to effect change in the
individual for effective social functioning.

Interpretation of the individuals experience, thoughts and feelings are most

common to both psychotherapy and casework it is pre- conscious material
that is interpreted and in psychotherapy it is the unconscious material.

THEORY AND PRACTICE OF COUNSELLING.

COUNSELLING

MODULE 1: BASICS OF COUNSELLING

Elements in Counselling: Counselee, counsellor, counselling setting

1. Counselling involves two individuals—one seeking help and the other, a

professionally trained person who can help the first.

2. There should be a relationship of mutual respect between the two

individuals. The counsellor should be friendly and cooperative and the
counselee should have trust and confidence in the counsellor.

3. The aim of counselling is to help a student to form a decision, make a choice

or find a direction at some important fork in the road such as that of planning a
life career, a programme in college or university, or a campaign to obtain
employment.

4. It helps the counselee acquire independence and develop a sense of

responsibility. It helps him explore and fully utilise his potentialities and
actualise himself.

5. It is more than advice-giving. Progress comes through the thinking that a

person with a problem does for himself rather than through solutions
suggested by the counsellors.

6. It involves something more than the solution to an immediate problem. Its

function is to produce changes in the individual that will enable him to
extricate himself from his immediate difficulties.

7. It concerns itself with attitudes as well as action.

8. Emotional rather than purely intellectual attitudes are the raw material of
the counselling process. Information and intellectual understanding have their
place in the counselling process. But it is the emotionalised feelings which are
most important.

Counselling has proved to be very useful wherever the development of an

individual student is cared for. It helps an individual to know himself better,
gives him confidence, encourages his self-defectiveness and provides him a
vision.

COUNSELLOR
COUNSELLING

Someone who is trained to listen to people and give them advice about their
problems. Counsellor is a person who is involved in counselling. It refers to a
person who is concerned with the profession of giving advice on various things
such as academic matters, vocational issues and personal relationships.

ROLE OF A COUNSELLOR: - Personal/Social Counsellor  assist students in

learning to cope with the social, emotional problems such as anxiety,
depression, grief and loss, relationship issues, homesickness and substance
abuse.  assist in personal and physical development  help in utilization of
leisure time

A professionally trained person who can assist the counselee.

 He should be friendly and cooperative with counselee.

 He should have through experience and sound knowledge with counselling

process.

COUNSELLE

A person who seeks help or needs assistance.

 He should have trust and confidence over the counsellor.

 Mutual respect and satisfactory relationship should be established

COUNSELING SETTING

Physical Setting

Counselling may take place anywhere but some kind of physical setting may
promote and enhance the counselling process better than others. Benjamin
(1987) and Shertzer and Stone (1980) emphasise that among the most
important factor that influences the counselling process is the place where
counselling occurs. Though there is no universal quality that a room should
have certain optimal conditions within the room where counselling is to be
rendered can provide a conducive environment to both counsellor and
counselee.

The optimal condition includes a room with quiet colors, lighting that is neither
too flashy and bright nor too dull and depressing clutter free with harmonious
and Guidance and comfortable furniture and good ventilation. It should be free
COUNSELLING

from outside disturbances and should exude a feeling of warmth. In short it

should be comfortable such that a relaxed atmosphere is provided in which the
counselee can talk in a relaxed mood.

Sitting Arrangement

The sitting arrangement within the room depends on the counsellor. Some
counsellors prefer to sit behind a desk. However, it has been postulated that a
desk can be a physical and symbolic barrier against the development of a
rapport between client and counsellor. Benjamin (1987) suggests that
counsellors may include two chairs and a nearby table in the setting. The chairs
could be at a 90-degree angle from one another so that the clients can look at
their counsellors or straight ahead. Counsellors could opt for other variation of
physical arrangement as per their comfort level.

Proximity between Counsellor and Client

The distance between the counsellor and client (the spatial features of the
environment) can also affect the relationship. A distance of 30 to39 inches has
been found to be the average range of comfort between counsellor and client
of both genders. This optimum distance may vary with room size and furniture
arrangement.

Benjamin (1987) and Shertzer and Stone (1980) emphasises that regardless of
the arrangement within the room, it is a universal requirement that
counsellors should not be interrupted while conducting sessions. All phone
calls should be held. If possible, counsellors should put do-no-disturb sign on
the door to keep others from entering. Auditory and visual privacy are
mandated by professional codes of ethics and assure maximum client self-
disclosure.

THE SETTING IN COUNSELLING

Government setting – Work with the various government agencies that have
counselling services such as social welfare, correctional department, the court
system, child and women, affairs services, military, police, hospitals, foster
homes, and rehabitation centers.
COUNSELLING

Private Sectors Setting – Counselors range from independent providers of

services or work for NGOs, or specialized for profit centers and organizations
that render a variety of counselling services.

Civil Society Setting – The context of civil society is generally charities or non-
profit and issue-based centers or organizations such as for abused women,
abandoned children and elderly, veterans, teachers, professionals or religious
groups.

Community Setting – Had the greatest and widest application of counseling

services considering the diversity of people. There are people who are in
conflict with the law, socially marginalized, people who suffer loss of all kind,
those living in institutional homes, and those experiencing different life
transitions.

School setting – In the school setting, the role of school counselor is more
complex since the needs of students can vary widely.

Module 2 counselling
counselling stages : Relationship building, exploring,
assessment and understanding

Introduction
Counseling is the means by which one person helps another through purposeful
conversation. Counselling is a process in which two people meet to explore
personal problems and to identify solutions. Counseling is a process through
which one person helps another by purposeful conversation in an understanding
atmosphere. It seeks to establish a helping relationship in which the one
counseled can express their thoughts and feelings in such a way as to clarify
their own situation, come to terms with some new experience, see their
difficulty more objectively, and so face their problem with less anxiety and
tension.Counseling involves helping people make needed changes in ways of
thinking, feeling, and behaving, and is a goal-based collaborative process,
involving a non- judgmental, supportive counselor who works with a client in
telling his or her story, setting viable goals, and developing strategies and plans
necessary to accomplish these goals. For some people this process takes a small
COUNSELLING

amount of time, in some cases as little as one or two sessions; for others, the
process may last longer. Counselling is a concept that has existed for a long
time.We have sought through the ages to Understand ourselves, offer counsel
and develop our potential, become aware of opportunities And, in general, help
ourselves in ways associated with formal guidance practice.

Definition

According to the American Counseling Association, counseling is defined as, “a

professional relationship that empowers diverse individuals, families, and
groups to accomplish mental health, wellness ,education, and career goals”

Counselling stages

 Relationship building

 Exploring

 Assessment and understanding

 Goal setting and action

 Termination and evaluation phase

Relationship building

“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 counselling, relationship Takes on a more specific meaning. The
counsellor establishes Rapport with the client based on Trust, respect and
mutual purpose. When there is good rapport, a positive psychological Climate is
created and vice-versa. The likelihood of desirable outcomes I s 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
therapeutic alliance.CarlRogerswas among the earliest to emphasis the
importance of building a relationship Between the counsellor and the client. He
identified three important conditions for the Establishment of an effective
counselor-client relationship: Empathy, Genuineness and Unconditional Caring.
COUNSELLING

1. Empathy

Emotion researchers generally define empathy as the ability to sense other

people’s emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what someone else might
be thinking or feeling. “Cognitive empathy,”sometimes called “perspective
taking,” refers to our ability to identify and understand other people’s emotions.

2. Genuineness

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 counsellingsituation. The
genuine counsellor is one who is congruent Spontaneous, no defensive,
consistent and comfortable with the client. In other words, a Genuine counsellor
is one who is without pretenses, fictions, roles or veiled images.

3. Warmth

Warmth is the ability to communicate and demonstrate genuine caring and

concern for clients. Using this ability, counsellors convey their acceptance of
clients, their desire for client’s wellbeing, and their sincere interest finding
workable solutions to the problems that clients present. Warmth can be
communicated also through nonverbal behaviors such as a smile, tone of
voice,Facial expression. Warmth indicates to the client acceptance.

4.Exploring

Exploring the actions taken by the clients in solving the problems This is to
elicit as many information from the clients themselves regarding the issues. The
exploration stage is based on client-centered theory, and aims to help clients
explore their thoughts and feelings. The insight stage, which is based on
psychodynamic theory, involves helping clients understand the reasons for their
thoughts and feelings. The action stage, based on behavioral theory, centers on
helping clients make desired changes in their lives. This model emphasizes a
number of themes, including empathy, collaboration with the client throughout
therapy, cultural considerations, and a focus on what the individual client needs.

5.Assessment

The procedure of assigning a numerical value to assessment task. Assessment:

The process of measuring something with the purpose of assigning a numerical
COUNSELLING

value. Assessment is a process in which collecting, analyzing, organizing

information about a client to make and inform decision. Problem Assessment
While the counselor and the client are in the process of establishing a
relationship, a second process is taking place, i.e. problem assessment. This step
involves the collection and classification of information about the client’s life
situation and reasons for seeking counseling.

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 topknow 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:
COUNSELLING

 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 problemexisted?

 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, extra-curricular 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
COUNSELLING

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

 How client related to counsellor in thesession?

 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?

Understanding

Social constructionisttheory holds that matters such as ‘understanding’ are

constructedand upheld in human interaction though counselling approaches
derived from this theory offer little insight on how this might occur. The present
study adopts a theoretically compatible research approach (ethnomethodology
and conversation analysis) to empirically examine how understandings were
purportedly constructed in counselling interviews. Understanding is depicted in
conversational interaction terms, in how speakers make evident to each other
that their shared talk is adequate for ‘moving forward’. Counsellor and client
perceptions of their participation in researcher- selected passages of
‘understanding’ supplement the analyses. This preliminary study sheds light on
some pragmatic considerations useful in practicing constructionist forms of
counselling.

Criticism

The most important element in a counselling relationship, whether a single

session or long-term counselling, is the quality of the relationship between the
counsellor and theclient. For this reason, basic counselling coursesspend a large
amount of time on how toeffectively build relationships. Assessment
COUNSELLING

inimportant in seeking relevant information about clients and their problems.

The information can be used to initiate the process of change for clients.
Assessment Collected at the early stages of the counselling process will help
counsellors formulate Hypotheses. Assessment is an ongoing process during
counselling. Assessment gives an idea To the counsellor the intensity of the
problems and how the client is coping with theproblem. The counsellor comes
to the counselling situation with the expectation to do something to ease or
improve the client’s situation. 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 takesplace at the beginning of the counselling process

Conclusion

Empathy,genuiness and warmth are three conditions that enhances relationship

building in the counselling situation: empathy, genuiness and warmth. These
qualities are conveyed to the client thorough verbal and nonverbal behaviors of
the counsellor. The greatest obstacle in the relationship building stage is the
tendency for the counsellor to move too quickly. It is also important for the
counsellor to be sensitive and responsive to each client’s world view.While the
counsellor and the client are in the process of establishing a relationship, a
second Process is taking place, i.e. problem assessment. This step involves the
collection and Classification of information about the client’s life situation and
reasons for seeking Counselling The first step involves building a relationship
and focuses on engaging clients to explore issue that directly affect them. The
first interview is important because the client is reading the verbal and
nonverbal messages and make inferences about the counselor and the
counselling situation.

counselling stages –goal setting and action, termination

and evaluation phase
Goal Setting - Commitment To Action
Focus of the Client = Problem

Focus of the Counsellor = Problem + Client + Counselling Process +Goal . This

is where goals play an important role in giving direction. Goals are the results or
COUNSELLING

outcomes that client wants to achieve at the end of counselling. Goals help the
counsellor and client determine what can and what cannot be accomplished
through counselling. In goal setting, the client identifies with the help of the
counsellor, specific ways in which they want to resolve the issues and what
course of action should be taken to resolve the problem.

GUIDELINES FOR SELECTING AND DEFINING GOALS

Goals should be selected and defined with care. Below are some guidelines for
goal selection that can be used with students:

• Goals should relate to the desired end or ends sought by the student.

• Goals should be defined in explicit and measurable terms.

• Goals should be feasible.

• Goals should be within the range of the counsellor’s knowledge and skills.

• Goals should be stated in positive terms that emphasize growth.

• Goals should be consistent with the school’s mission and school health policy.

Process of Selecting and Defining Goals with the Student

• Determine the student’s readiness to negotiate goals.

• Explain to the student the purpose of selecting and defining goals.

• Select appropriate goals together.

• Define the goals explicitly.

• Determine the feasibility of goals and discuss their potential benefits and risks.

• Assist the student to make a choice about committing to specific goals.

• Rank goals according to the student’s priorities and according to the nature of
the goals.

The easiest goals should be addressed first. This allows the student to feel
success, which builds confidence and motivation.

Breaking Down Large Goals into Smaller Steps

COUNSELLING

The first task in developing strategies to attain goals is to reduce them to

manageable parts.These parts consist of discrete actions to be undertaken by the
student. Behaviour change is very difficult for all of us and particularly for
addicts. It is important to bear in mind that when a student agrees to carry out a
task, it does not necessarily mean that the student has the knowledge, courage,
interpersonal skill or emotional readiness to implement the task
successfully.The student needs to be helped to set small, realistic goals that are
achievable, to avoid disappointment by large failures at the beginning of the
relationship.

Evaluation and termination stage in Counselling

Evaluation is an important part of the counselling process. It is essential that the
counsellor undertakes evaluation before the termination of the process.
Evaluating means to review how the counselee has taken the action in order to
achieve the goal and in view of the plans how far the client is progressing.
Assessment or evaluation of client’s progress is an ongoing process which
begins right in the first stage. However, it is done at this stage with the purpose
of terminating the process. Counselling should never be terminated. The
termination of counselling is systematically done after following a series of
steps.

The counsellor during the evaluation and termination stage ensures the
followings:

1. Evaluating readiness for termination of counselling process;

2. letting the client know in advance about the termination of counselling;

3. Discuss with client the readiness for termination;

4. Review the course of action plan;

5. Emphasis the client’s role in effecting change;

6. Warning against the danger of ‘flight into health’;

7. Giving instructions for the maintenance of adaptive functioning;

8. Discussion of follow up sessions;

COUNSELLING

9. Assuring the availability of counsellor in case of relapse into dysfunction.

While discussing about this stage, it is important to know when and how the
counsellor should discontinue the counselling process. The client is the point of
reference to make this decision. As the client gains desired benefits, the client
her/himself may suggest that there is no further need for continuation.
Sometimes termination may depend upon external influences, such as time
constraints or unforeseen contingencies. The counselling may also terminate
because the client feels that s/he does not wish to continue; or, because both
either decide that no progress is being made towards the set goals. As it has
been discussed in planning stage, counselling is always conducted with
predetermined goals. The goals may be modified as required during the course
of therapy.

The counsellor develops specific plan for each client. Accordingly, as action
plan progresses and the goals of client are progressively attained, the counsellor
must evaluate and assess the readiness to terminate the process.The counsellor
must give adequate advance notice of termination so that clients can
psychologically orient themselves towards independent functioning. Such notice
termination is also necessary to give the client an opportunity to raise issues that
she/ he had not discussed. Failure to provide adequate notice of termination may
lead to crisis in functioning when the termination is announced. The client’s
appraisal of the situation is essential while terminating counselling sessions.
The counsellor should discuss with the client about his/her readiness to
terminate. The discussion mayinclude client’s understanding of what has
transpired during the process, his/her doubts and misconceptions, and
confidence to handle future situations. While terminating counselling,it is
important that the client is warned against the ‘flight into health’ which keeps
him/her aware of the realities of the situation and the possibilities of relapse
after returning to the unsupervised environment. Since the risk for setbacks,
temporary or otherwise, after termination is high, the client should be given
adequate counselling about how to handle potential troublesome situations.

Further, while reviewing the whole process, the counsellor draws to the client’s
attention the problems initially identified with him/her, the goals that were
agreed upon and the plan of action employed to attain the goals, tasks given,
interpretations and insights that resulted, progress and setbacks in the process,
and such other issues. In order to make the client more confident the counsellor
must make the client known about the role that she/he has played. The
COUNSELLING

counsellor should also explain that his/her role has been that of a guide to the
client on his journey to achieve the set goal.

Lastly, at this stage some discussion of follow up sessions and continued

uncritical accessibility of the counsellor to the clients is necessary. There is
need for the client to continue to maintain contact with the counsellor for
continued assistance for the maintenance of the functional equilibrium. The
frequency of such follow-up sessions is based upon individual circumstances,
and can increase or decrease depending upon the need. Therefore, the
counsellor should stress on ‘open doors’ which refers to easy accessibility of the
counsellor to the client. The clients must be made feel that he/she need not feel
guilt in case he/she relapses into dysfunction and he/she should be made to feel
that the counsellor will always be available to him/her.

Attitudes & Skills Required For The Stages Of Counseling

• Counseling is a process to assist the individuals in understanding himself, his

situation and problems, in exploring alternate solutions, in taking most
appropriate decisions in the situation, and enhancing his capacity to solve
problems independently.

• Here we could know about the attitudes & skills required for the different
stages of counseling such as contracting, attending, reflecting feelings,
paraphrasing, focusing, confronting, summarizing,evaluating, goal setting etc.
let us know, what allincluded in the counseling for more better result.

CONTRACTING

• Basically, a contract defined as a promise to do or supply something, an

agreement, an exchange of money.

• It is often a big step to enter individual or couple’s counseling. when you are
sure that you are clear on the terms of the contract, sign it and your counselor
will also sign it and give you a copy. The terms of the treatment contract are
important. They help you to know what to expect. They include the fees you
pay, the time of your appointments, the frequency of sessions and what you and
your counselor expect from each other.
COUNSELLING

• It is important to have a contract so that the client has the information they
need to make an informed choice, and to help balance the power dynamic in the
therapist-client relationship.

• A contract should cover:

 Modality to be used

 No. of sessions on offer

 Limits of legal & agency confidentiality

 How to make complaint if something goes wrong

 terms& conditions for payment

 Cancellation policy

ATTENDING

• Attending in counseling means being in the company of someone else and

giving that person your full attention, to what they are saying or doing, valuing
them as worthy individuals. It is a counseling skill. Giving the client their full
focus, paying attention to what the client is saying, doing, the tone of voice used
and body language.

• Key aspects of attending

 Eye contact

 Body language

 Gestures

 Facial expressions

 Tone of voice

 It shows the client that they are respected &encourage them to talk about
their thoughts&feelings
COUNSELLING

REFLECTING FEELING

• Reflecting in counseling is part of the ‘art of listening’. It is making sure that

the client knows their story is being listened to.

• Counselors and social workers are often reflecting the feelings of their client.
It is determining the feelings and emotions in a person’s verbal & body
language and stating those feelings back to the person or client.

PARAPHRASING

• Paraphrasing is repeating back your understanding of the material that has

been brought by the client, using your own words. A paraphrase reflects the
essence of what has been said.

It is responsibility that keeps or shows the correct attitude towards the each
client. The counselor must keep some skills, the skilled person would be make
right relationship in the counseling. It helps rapport building and collect right
and complete information from the client. somewhere these skills were not
followed in a proper way, it effects the entire condition of the client.

FOCUSING

 Focusing in counseling involves making decisions about what issues the

client wants to deal with. The client may have mentioned a range of issues and
problems and focusing allows the counselor and client together to clear away
some of the less important surrounding material and concentrate on the central
issues of concern.

 Focusing is a counseling skill that involves actively listening to what the

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

 Focusing is like zooming into a detail in a photograph. The counselor zooms

in on the emotions behind the story, or narrative, that the client is bringing.

SUMMARIZING
COUNSELLING

The summary ‘sums up’ the main themes that are emerging. Summarizing is a
counseling skill used to condense, or crystalise, the main points of what the
client is saying and feeling. When summarizing, the counselor is “reflecting
back”, the main points of the session so that the client has opportunity to recap.
Summarize at the end of the session with the client.

CONFRONTING

Confrontation is a direct technique in which the counselor challenges clients to

face themselves realistically. Gamer (1959) describes confrontation as an
authoritative, direct statement instructing the client to control specific drives or
modify certain behaviors. It is intended to help clients explore their willingness
to comply with the analyst’s advice and to evaluate client controls.

 Confrontation is usually an emotionally intense interaction between the

counselor and the client. The counselor needs to consider the impact that a
confrontation may have on the client and be willing to become more deeply
involved in the therapeutic process.

 Berenson and Mitchell (1974) define confrontation as acounselor’s evaluative

comment that provides the important feedback regarding the client’s impact on
the counselor and the client-counselor relationship.

EVALUVATING

 Evaluation is a critical component of a developmental guidance

and counselling program and ensures accountability. The purpose
of evaluation is to determine the value of the program, its activities, and staff in
order to make decisions or to take actions regarding the future.

 To evaluate, counsellors (or clients) simply document what is taking place,

focusing on the informal evaluation procedures that are interwoven into
the counselling enterprise, rather than viewing evaluation as an add-on at the
end.

 In simple terms, evaluation means measuring the effectiveness of any

programme, activity, performance, in terms of its pre-determined goals or
COUNSELLING

objectives. Thus, evaluation helps in guiding the counsellor to develop effective

guidance programme according to the objectives.

 Evaluation is a process that critically examines a program. It involves

collecting and analyzing information about a programs activities,
characteristics, and outcomes. Its purpose is to make judgments about a
program, to improve its effectiveness, and/or to inform programming decisions

 Evaluation provides a systematic method to study a program, practice,

intervention, or initiative to understand how well it achieves its
goals. Evaluations help determine what works well and what could be improved
in a program or initiative. Program evaluations can be used to: Demonstrate
mpact to funders.

GOAL SETTING

Setting goal is very important to the success of the counseling. It involves

making a commitment to a setof conditions, to a course of action or an outcome.

Goals help the counselor and the client determine what can and what cannot be
accomplished through counseling. In goal setting client identifies with the help
of the counselor, specific ways in which they want to resolve the issues and
what course of action should be taken to resolve the problem.

GOAL SETTING,BUILDING RELATIONSHIP, EMPATHIC RESPONDING,

CHALLENGING SKILLS.

INTRODUCTION

Counselling skills are really ‘the art of listening’ and are practised by any
number of people in any number of work roles, not just in counselling.
Counsellors use counselling skills to help them better understand and listen to
clients. Counselling skills are soft (interpersonal) and hard (technical) attributes
that a counsellor puts to use in order to best help their clients work through
personal issues and overcome obstacles that are currently preventing them from
living a full and happy life. Mastering particular counselling skills could make a
COUNSELLING

great difference in whether or not you can provide your clients with the best
opportunities for personal growth. Counsellors need to be particularly able to
listen effectively, giving their full attention to the client. They need to be aware
of body language and other non-verbal communication. Clients will often
communicate far more non-verbally than verbally, so this is an important area
of skill. To be considered a capable counsellor there are a number of qualities
you must possess, along with a few attitudes you should develop.

GOAL SETTING

Setting goal is very important to the success of the counseling. It involves

making a commitment to a set of conditions, to a course of action or an
outcome. Goals help the counselor and the client determine what can and what
cannot be accomplished through counseling. In goal setting client identifies
with the help of the counselor, specificways in which they want to resolve the
issues and whatcourse of action should be taken to resolve the problem.

BUILDING RELATIONSHIP

“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 counselling, relationship takes on a more specific meaning. The counsellor
establishes rapport with the client based on trust, respect and mutual purpose.
When there is good rapport, a positive psychological climate is created and
viceversa. The likelihood of desirable outcomes is greater when the
psychological climate is positive. Relationship building skills are a combination
of soft skills that a person applies to connect with others and form positive
relationships. In the workplace, relationship building skills are essential for
getting along with co- workers, contributing to a team and building an
understanding between yourself and others. The most important element in a
counselling is building relationship, whether a single session or long-term
counselling, is the quality of the relationship between the counsellor and the
client. For this reason, basic counselling courses spend a large amount of time
on how to effectively to build relationships. The fundamental goal of
counselling is to help individuals who are experiencing personal challenges be
COUNSELLING

able to resolve them and improve their emotional wellbeing. Establishing an

open and trustworthy relationship with your patients creates the foundation for
how they’ll most effectively reach their goals, and it’s also a significant
measure of your therapy’s success. Building genuine connections from a
trusting counsellor patient relationship is possible when these factors exist. In
counselling, relationship takes on a more specific meaning.

Steps of building relationship –

• Developing a Relationship In order that the client feels comfortable in

expressing him/herself in an uninhibited way, the relationship between the
client and the counsellor needs to be built on reciprocal trust. It is the
counsellor’s responsibility to provide a safe, confidential environment,and to
offer empathy, understanding and respect.

• Maintaining a Comfortable Relationship Some clientsmay be more reluctant

than others, when it comes to explaining their difficulties, and counsellors must
be aware that these individuals require a sensitive approach. By offering
reassurance, empathy and genuineness, clients will become more comfortable in
a counselling environment. Engaging the client is only possible once they are
sufficiently relaxed and comfortable.

• Seeking Advice The relationship between a counsellor and client is based on a

one-sided discussion. It is the counsellor’s job to actively listen and gently
challenge the client, where appropriate. It is not a counsellor’s responsibility to
offer advice, unless the client specifically asks for it. Support, understanding
and a sympathetic ear is all that a client really wants to receive.

• Boundaries As with any professional relationship the setting of boundaries is

important. All relationships should be limited to a therapeutic setting, and all
social contact between a counsellor and client should be avoided. A counsellor
should also never accept a friend or family member as a client, or enter into a
sexual relationship with a current or former client. Building healthy
relationships begins with being kind to yourself. Having a level of self-
awareness and insights into your own past, as well as present thoughts and
feelings, enables you to represent yourself in the world with dignity and respect.
This is the first step to creating healthy relationships with others.

EMPATHETIC RESPONDING
COUNSELLING

Empathic responding is when the counsellor clearly communicates the feeling

their client has expressed as well as why they possess those feelings (again,
according to the client) this is superior to all other responses in
therapy.Reflective listening differs in that it doesn’t always reflect both feeling
and content. Empathy means understanding another person so well that you
identify with him/her, you feel like he/she does. Empathy is one of the more
important skills you will ever acquire. It is amazing how few people do it well.
Empathy is to respectfully perceive what the client is bringing from their frame
of reference and to communicate that back in a way that makes the client
feelthey’ve been understood. The empathic circle is only

complete when the counsellor is able to communicate her understanding back,

in such a way that the client feels they have been heard and understood.

In winning clients and launching them safely into the challenging process of
therapy, nothing in the world proves more effective than empathic responding
skills. Armed with the empathic skills, therapist trainees will become more
receptive, understanding, responsive, and nurturing. These skills lay the
groundwork for the pyramid of a therapist’s skill repertoire. When your
empathic responses have been successful, it is evident from the client’s
response, a nod of the head, or a positive verbal response. If your empathic
responses have not been accurate, the client will indicate this non-verbally by
stopping, fumbling or becoming frustrated. Empathic responding is when the
counsellor clearly communicates the feeling their client has expressed as well as
why they possess those feelings again, according to the client this is superior to
all other responses in therapy.

Factors related to empathic responding

1. Intensity – responding to the feelings expressed at the appropriate level of

intensity e.g. if you are working with a client. They are very agitated, about to
be evicted and their mother is sick. Your response is “You are a bit upset”. The
client becomes distant – you have not reflected his/her level of emotion
accurately.

2. Context – take all aspects into account, not just word and non-verbal
behaviour. A lot of people we come into contact with have multiple problems in
their lives. They may behave in ways we find inappropriate but taken in context
of their experience are understandable.
COUNSELLING

3. Selective responding – sometimes it may be appropriate to respond only to

feelings or behaviour. Some clients do not respond well to discussing their
feelings, and in these cases it is useful to focus on more concrete elements, such
as experience and behaviour.

CHALLENGING SKILLS

There are a number of situations when a client may benefit from gentle
challenging. There are multiple skills from which a counsellor can choose when
challenging a client. Challenging should always be done with empathy, so
counsellors are encouraged to avoid challenging to meet their needs, instead of
the clients. Challenging skills are part and parcel of the skills toolbox for an
effective coach. Challenge is also about confronting with your client what you
have heard and picked up in the coaching sessions for example, inconsistencies,
goals consistently not achieved or challenging current beliefs, thinking and
values. Here as a coach this is about not being afraid to point out to your client
what you have noticed in order to raise their own awareness of the situations.
Challenges focus on discrepant, inconsistent and mixed messages that counselor
s perceive that clients send. We often think of confrontation as a hostile and
aggressive act. In counseling and therapy, confrontation is usually a far more
gentle process in which, we point out to the clients discrepancies between or
among attitudes, thoughts, or behaviours. In a confrontation, individuals are
faced directly with the fact that they may be saying other than what they mean,
or doing other than what they say.

Challenging skills are:-

➢ Challenging clients to speak for themselves

➢ Challenging mixed messages

➢ Challenging possible distortions of reality

➢Not acknowledging choice

➢ Reframing
 COUNSELLING

CONCLUSION

Attitudes and qualities of a good counsellor person, and will not be able to offer
clients the level of supportive understanding that they will require. Each
counsellor will bring their own unique abilities, qualities and skills into a
counselling. Counselling skills are most effective when building a therapeutic
relationship. Counselling is acollaborative partnership between counsellor and
client.Empathetic Listening and Responding. To develop the ability to
empathize with others, you need to be able to listen effectively and respond
empathetically. Challenge in counselling (also known as confrontation) is the
skill of highlighting incongruence and conflicts in the clientsprocess. Effective
counsellors should have excellent communication skills. Possess certain
communication skills before embarking on a counselling career. Nonjudgmental
attitude accepting the client for who she is and in her current situation to a
predetermined treatment path whenyour clients require a different approach..

MODULE - 3

Personal Qualities Of An Effective Counselor

(1) Perceptual sensitivity:-

Perceptual sensitivity isalso an important characteristics of the counselor. The

counselor should perceive and understand the thoughts feelings of the counselee
and should be sensitive to the clues given by him or her.

(2) Inner life :-

Counselor have an unusually rich inner life. They are not reluctant to express
their feelings of love and appreciation as well as the difficult ones of hurt and
pain. Thus, they have a strong ability to understand the feelings of others. They
have strong empathic abilities. They can became aware of another’s emotions or
 COUNSELLING

intentions sometimes even before that person is conscious of them. They find it
relatively easy to get in touch with their counselees innermost thoughts and
feelings.

(3) Patience:-

Counselor need to be very patient. Goto the next step of explanation only when
the patient/client has clearly understood the content of the information that the
counselor are giving. Thus counselor need to have ample time for the
client/patient.

(4) Good listening :-

Counselor need to be a good listener. Never interrupt what the counselee has to
say. Give counselor inputs only when the counselee has finished talking.

(5) Observant:-

Counselor need to be very observant and able to interpret non-verbal

communication e.g. if the counselee looks angry, find out the cause of his/her
anger first.

(6) Warm:-

Provide non-possessive warmth in a counseling environment. Smile and show

concern and acceptance to the counselee.

(7) Confidentiality:-

Although confidentiality is important in health matters it does not apply very

much to all situations e.g. most people will openly say what they feel/ the
 COUNSELLING

problem they are having. However, ensure that counselor maintain

confidentiality on what the patient/client tells you. The patient/client would feel
greatly offended if you disclose any information about him or her to other people.
This means that counseling must be done individually and privately.

(8) Knowledgeable:-

Counselor should have good knowledge on the topic /problem e.g. compliance to
medication. Some people do not take medication for one reason or the other,
while others demand drugs/medication.

(9) Maintaining a therapeutic relationship with a patient:-

Give the patient/client the opportunity to make his/her own decision from your
message.

(10) Personal integrity:-

Maintain a high degree of personal integrity, credibility and mutual trust as a

counselor.

(11) Attending Behaviour:-

Counselor should greet their patient/client politely and make him/her feel
comfortable and relaxed. With facial expression, eye contact, gestures, and
posture, show him/her that you are interested in what he/she is telling you.

(12) Praise appropriate practice :-

Counselor should praise a patient/client for any good practice he/she may
mention.
 COUNSELLING

(13)Giving information and negotiating changes :-

After the patient/client has told you his/her problem, you should give her/him
relevant information and negotiate changes. You should use words that the
patient/client understands. Check whether the patient/client understands you by
asking him/her to repeat the information and instructions you have given. If the
feedback shows that the patient/client did not understand the information or
cannot remember, explain again.

(14) Acceptance:-

Being nonjudgmental and accepting are important attributes in any of the helping
professions. But professional counselors must be able to "start where the client is
at." This phrase is often used in counseling to describe the ability to relate to
clients with an open, nonjudgmental attitude – accepting the client for who she is
and in her current situation. Counselors need to be able to convey acceptance to
their clients with warmth and understanding.

(15) Rapport-Building Skills:-

Counselors must possess a strong set of interpersonal skills to help establish

rapport quickly with clients and develop strong relationships. They must give
their undivided attention to clients and be able to cultivate trust. Counselors need
to be able to place all of their focus on what their clients are saying and avoid
being distracted by their own personal problems or concerns when they are in a
session.
 COUNSELLING

Critical analysis :- counselors are licensed mental health therapists who

provide assessment, diagnosis and counseling to people facing a variety of life
stresses and psychological problems. They help people with relationship issues,
family problems, job stress, mental health disorders such as depression and
anxiety, and many other challenging problems that can impact feelings of well-
being and happiness. To be effective in their roles, counselors should enjoy
helping others and possess specific attributes and skills. If the counselor does not
have these qualities he/she cannot solve the problems of clients effectively.

Skills And Techniques Of Counselling: Active Listening,

Questioning ,Clarification, Physical Ateending

Skills: Nonverbal Skills: Posture, Facial Expressions And

Eye Contact
Introduction : Counsellors use counselling skills to help them better understand and listen
to clients. There are a number of skills that are required by counsellors. Through active
listening, the speaker feels heard and understood by the counsellor or listener. Perhaps the
most important are good communication skills. Counsellors use questioning both to improve
their understanding (as a form of clarification), and also as an active way to help expose the
client's feelings and emotions. Physical Attending is the ability to be physically present for
 COUNSELLING

the client. These attending behaviors show your client that you care. There are a number of
skills that are required by counsellors. Perhaps the most important are good communication
skills.

Counselling is about creating strong relationships with your clients that will empower them
to obtain mental health and to fulfil their goals. Through the use of intentional counselling
techniques and kills helps to understanding of human nature developed through counselling
theories, you can guide your client in reaching optimal mental health. Counsellors need to be
particularly able to listen effectively, giving their full attention to the client. They need to be
aware of body language and other non-verbal communication . Questioning is an important
skill for counsellors, just as it is in coaching. Counsellors use questioning both to improve
their understanding ,and also as an active way to help expose the client’s feelings and
emotions.

 Active listening
• Active listening is a skill that can be acquired and developed with practice.

• ‘Active listening' means, that is fully concentrating on what is being said rather than just
passively ‘hearing’ the message of the speaker. active listening can be difficult to master and
will, therefore, take time and patience to develop.

• Listening refers to the ability of counselor to capture and understand the messages client
communicate . messages are transmitted verbally or non verbally.

• Active listening involves listening with all senses. As well as giving full attention to the
speaker, it is important that the ‘active listener’ is also ‘seen’ to be listening - otherwise the
speaker may conclude that what they are talking about is uninteresting to the listener.

• It’s a communication technique used in counseling, training and conflict resolution. It

requires that the listener fully concentrate, understand, respond and then remember what is
being said.
 COUNSELLING

• Active listening is a way of listening and responding to another person that improves
mutual understanding

Characterstics

 Emphasizing on listening than talking.

 Understanding personal feelings, beliefs and position rather than obstruct ideas.
 Clarifying the speakers thoughts and feelings

Active listening skills

 Attending: Ask open-ended questions.
 Paraphrase: Repeat what you have heard.
 Acknowledgement: Use signals to convey you are listening.
 Probing : Ask more questions.

5 Active Listening Techniques

1. Pay attention
2. Show that you are listening
3. Provide feedback
4. Don’t interrupt with counter arguments.
5. Respond appropriately

• Signs of Active Listening

• Eye Contact

• Questioning

• Posture

• Remembering
 COUNSELLING

• Distraction

• Mirroring

• Summarization

 Questioning
Questioning is the key to gaining more information and without it interpersonal
communications can fail. Questioning is fundamental to successful communication - we all
ask and are asked questions when engaged in conversation. Although questions are usually
verbal in nature, they can also be non-verbal. The type of questions that you ask will set the
tone of the session and the entire counselling process.

Effective questioning helps guide the counseling conversation and may assist in
enriching the clients story. Questioning is useful in the information gathering stage of
interview.it can however be an important skill to use throughout the entire process.

Questions occur in three forms.

1. Closed questions

These type of questions are that can be answered with a minimal response ( often as yes /
no). they can help the counselor to focus the client or gain very specific information.

2. Open questions

Open questions are those that cannot be answered in a few words, they encourage the client
to speak and offer an opportunity for the counselor to gather information about the client and
their concerns.

3. Elaborate questions

It is used when the client has already been told something but needs more information
regarding what was said.
 COUNSELLING

• Why ask questions?

• To obtain information

• Express an interest in the other person

• To clarify a point

• To explore the personality and or difficulties the other person may have

• To encourage further thought

• Encouraging participation

 Clarification
• Clarification is the skill we use to ensure that the listener's understanding of what the speaker
has said is correct and reducing misunderstanding.

• Reassure the speaker that the listener is genuinely interested in them and is attempting to
understand what they are saying.

• Clarifying questions are tools used

• Clarification can involve asking questions or occasionally summarizing what the speaker has
said.

• Clarification is important in many situations especially when what is being communicated is

difficult in some way. Communication can be 'difficult' for many reasons, perhaps sensitive
emotions are being discussed - or you are listening to some complex information.

• When using clarification, the counselor has the client clarify vague or ambiguous thoughts,
feelings or behaviors by asking the client to restate what he/ she has just said or by stating to
the client what the counselor has understood the client to have said.
 COUNSELLING

Counselling is not:

• Giving advice.

• Being judgemental.

• Attempting to sort out the problems of the client.

• Getting emotionally involved with the client.

• Looking at a client’s problems from your own perspective, based on your own value system.

PHYSICAL ATTENDING

Physical attending is a effective counselling skill. Being attentive means the

counsellor is giving the client their full focus, paying attention to what the client is saying,
doing, the tone of voice used and body language
Smaby and maddux (2011) suggest that attending is a form of social proofing, allowing the
client (or the helped) to assess if the person in front of them is ready and able to help them.

Key aspect of attending

• Eye contact
• Body language
• Gestures
• Facial expression

Non-verbal skills
Nonverbal communication is the act of conveying a thought, feeling, or idea through
physical gestures, posture, and facial expressions.
 COUNSELLING

Nonverbal communication plays a significant role in our lives, as it can improve a person’s
ability to relate, engage, and establish meaningful interactions in everyday life. A better
understanding of this type of communication may lead people to develop stronger
relationships with others.

Posture/Body position
A person’s posture often indicates his or her disposition in a conversation. When people are
Uninterested during communication, they often demonstrate that by crossing their arms or
Legs or pointing their body away from the interlocutor. Inclining back during a conversation
is a sign of comfort and perceived power; normally used in hierarchical situations such as
job interviews or a work meeting. Particular postures are also, in many scenarios, an agreed
convention: people are expected to have a certain posture in a corporate meeting, at a
classroom, at a social event, and so on.
Eye contact

The most important indicator that someone is listening, eye contact is a powerful
communication tool. Making eye contact with the counselee conveys the counsellor’s
confidence and involvement, and can be used to communicate caring and comfort. It needs
to be used with caution, however, as there is wide variance between cultures as to the
meaning of eye contact.

Western cultures associate lack of eye contact with dishonesty, indifference, or shame, and
also – in academic circles – a lack of respect. Eye accessing cues are an example of those.
Following are six distinguishable cues (applied to a normally organized right-handed
person): • Looking left and up: visual recall (recalling a visual memory) • Looking left and
centrally: auditory recall (recalling a noise or sound) • Looking left and down: auditory
internal dialogue • Looking right and up: visual construction (imagining an image, not
factual) • Looking right and centrally: auditory construction

Facialexpressions Psychologists have distinguished six primary emotions: sadness, joy,

anger, surprise, disgust, and fear. These register in our facial expressions regardless of
 COUNSELLING

culture. In addition to the basic emotions, we can distinguish many more facial expressions,
with estimates reaching 5000. This means that, as a helper, you can gain much information
from close observation of your counselee’s expressions. When they do not match what the
person is saying, you have detected incongruence, and this tends to be an indicator of lack of
self-awareness, conflict, or even deceit (hence the expression that someone acting in a
hypocritical manner is “two-faced”).

COUNSELLOR AS A PROFESSIONAL: CODE OF ETHICS

Counselling is a distinct profession. It is concerned with wellness,
development, and situational difficulties as well as with helping dysfunctional
persons. Counseling involves helping people make needed changes in ways of
thinking, feeling, and behaving, and is a goal-based collaborative process,
involving a non-judgmental, supportive counselor who works with a client in
telling his or her story, setting viable goals, and developing strategies and plans
necessary to accomplish these goals. A counselor is a person whose job is to
give advice to people who need it, especially advice on their personal problems.
The codes of ethics of counselling agencies encompass a wide variety of
objectives, which are designed to promote positive counselling experiences that
fall under morally acceptable standards.Ethics codes provide professional
standards for counselors with the purpose of protecting the dignity and well-
being of clients. Honoring diversity and embracing a multicultural approach in
support of the worth, dignity, potential, and uniqueness of people within their
social and cultural contexts.

CODE OF ETHICS

 Section A: The Counselling Relationship

The purpose of Section A is to provide ethical guidelines that focus on the

counselling relationship.
COUNSELLING

Counsellors must:

• Work hard to create and sustain a relationship with their clients based on
trust.
• Obtain informed consent from clients entering a counselling relationship.
• Respect a client’s confidentiality and privacy.
• Explain to clients what the counselling relationship entails.
• Be cognizant of client’s culture, values, and beliefs.
 Section B: Confidentiality, Privileged Communication, and Privacy

The purpose of Section B is to provide ethical guidelines that focus on the

importance of trust, boundaries, and confidential interactions.

Counsellors must:

• Communicate the concept of confidentiality with their clients.

• Inform clients about the limitations of confidentiality regarding what
situations information must be disclosed (e.g., to protect clients or others
from harm).
• Discuss if and how information may be shared with others.
• Maintain and store records in an approved way.
 Section C: Professional Responsibility

The purpose of Section C is to provide ethical guidelines that focus on

respecting the practice of counselling.

Counsellors must:

• Adhere to the ACA Code of Ethics.

• Practice within one’s boundaries of competence.
• Participate in associations that help improve the profession.
• Practice counselling based on scientific foundations.
COUNSELLING

• Engage in self-care activities so they can work at their highest

capacity.
 Section D: Relationships with Other Professionals

The purpose of Section D is to provide ethical guidelines that focus on

developing working relationships .

Counsellors must:

• Develop relationships with colleagues from other disciplines and be

respectful of those who have different theoretical approaches.
• Provide consultation services within areas of competence.
• Provide appropriate consultation referrals when requested or necessary.
 Section E: Evaluation, Assessment and Interpretation

The purpose of Section E is to provide ethical guidelines that focus on

how to ethically use formal and informal assessments to guide treatment plans
and intervention selection.

Counsellors must:

• Understand the use of assessments as an important part of information

gathering and to assist in conducting clients’ treatment and evaluation.

• Diagnose clients and interpret assessments accurately and in a culturally

sensitive manner.

 Section F: Supervision, Training and Teaching

The purpose of Section F is to provide ethical guidelines that focus on how to

develop relationships with supervisees, students, and trainees.

Counselling supervisors must:

• Be trained in supervision methods and techniques before they offer

supervision services.
COUNSELLING

• Inform supervisees of their clients’ rights and inform clients with

information regarding the supervision process and its limitation on
confidentiality.
• Be aware of and address the role of multiculturalism and diversity in the
supervisory relationship.
Counsellor educators must:

• Be knowledgeable regarding the ethical, legal, and everyday aspects of

the profession including how diversity impacts groups and individuals.

• Inform students of their ethical responsibilities and standards as

professionals and as students.

• Provide ongoing feedback, evaluation, and act as gatekeepers to the

profession.

Counselling students must:

• Be aware of their responsibility to follow the ACA Code of Ethics and

applicable laws.

 Section G: Research and Publication

The purpose of Section G is to provide ethical guidelines that focus on how to

ethically conduct human subjects research and publish and/or present results.

Counsellors must:

• Adhere to confidentiality in their research.

• Be responsible for participants’ welfare throughout the research process.

• Inform individuals of their rights as a research participant through

informed consent.

• Plan, conduct, and report research accurately.

 Section H: Resolving Ethical Issues

COUNSELLING

The purpose of Section H is to provide ethical guidelines that focus on how to

address and resolve ethical issues with other counsellors.

Counsellors must:

• Behave in an ethical and legal manner and recognize when there is a

conflict between ethics codes and laws.

• Utilize and document an ethical decision-making process when faced

with an ethical dilemma.

• Hold other counsellors to similar standards of professional conduct.

• Seek consultation when necessary.

• Become familiar with the ACA Policy of Procedures for Processing

Complains of Ethical Violations External link and use it as a reference.

LEGAL and ETHICAL ASPECTS OF COUNSELING

 Clients have a number of legal as well as ethical rights in counselling two

main types of client rights: implied and explicit.
 The records of all clients are legally protected, except under special
circumstances.
 Schmidt had defined ethical conduct as the standards of right and wrong.
The purpose of ethical code are

i) The Code helps support the mission of the association.

ii) The Code establishes principles that define ethical behaviour and best
practices of association member

iii) The Code serves as an ethical guide.

iv) The Code serves as the basis for processing of ethical complaints and
inquiries.
 COUNSELLING

Four prominent sources that can influence the ethical and legal aspects of counselling
practice are

 Governing Entities
 Clinical Practices
 Professionalism
 Decision Making

Module-4
1,Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis, also known as “talk therapy,” is a type of treatment
based on the theories of Sigmund Freud, who is frequently called the
“father of psychoanalysis.” Freud developed this treatment modality
for patients who did not respond to the psychological or medical
treatments available during his time.
Definition
Psychoanalysis is defined as a set of psychological theories and
therapeutic methods which have their origin in the work and theories
of Sigmund Freud.
Psychoanalytic theory
Freud theory has 3 main parts, the stages of development, the
structure of mind, and his description of mental life.
1. TOPOGRAPHIC THEORY OF MIND
2. STRUCTURAL THEORY OF MIND
3. PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES OF MIND
Topographic theory
COUNSELLING

The conscious
The preconscious
The unconscious
2.Structural theory of mind
I’d
Ego
Super ego

4. Psychosexual stage of development

A.oral stage
(Birth to 18 months)
B.The anal stage
(18 month to 3-4 year)
C. The phallic stage
(3 to 6 year)
D. Latency stage
(6 to puberty)
E. The genital stage
Psychoanalytictechniques
Dream analysis
In psychoanalysis ,dream analysis is used to reveal unconscious
thoughts. The person in therapy is asked to report their dreams,
saying whatever comes to mind as they do. The therapist may then
help them look beyond the obvious meaning of the dream (manifest
content), to the hidden and symbolic meanings (latent content), to
reveal unconscious thoughts and intentions.
 Free association — During free association, the patient is
encouraged to talk about anything that freely comes to
mind. The psychoanalyst may read a list of random words,
and the patient simply responds with the first associations
COUNSELLING

that occur. Repressed memories often emerge during the

process of free association.
• Interpretation
The psychoanalyst helps the patient explore memories and personal
narratives in detail, and while doing so, analyses them. The therapist
looks for some common themes in the patient’s stories. One, the so-
called “Freudian slip,” occurs when patients accidentally reveal
something important when making random conversation.
Transference
• Transference is the transfer of feelings from the past to
someone in the present. Usually, it involves these feelings being
transferred from the client onto the therapist. This situation is
considered valuable to the therapeutic process because it
allows the client to re-experience feelings that need to be
resolved.

2,CLIENT – CENTERED THERAPY

INTRODUCTION

Client-centered therapy, which is also known as person-centered, non-directive, or Rogerian

therapy, is a counseling approach that requires the client to take an active role in his or her
treatment with the therapist being nondirective and supportive. In client-centered therapy, the
client determines the course and direction of treatment, while the therapist clarifies the client's
responses to promote self-understanding.

The goals of client-centered therapy are increased self-esteem and openness to experience.
Client-centered therapists work to help clients lead full lives of self-understanding and reduce
defensiveness, guilt, and insecurity. As well as have more positive and comfortable relationships
with others, and an increased capacity to experience and express their feelings.

DEFINITION
COUNSELLING

Client centered therapy, which is also known as person centered, non directive, or Rogerian
therapy, is an approach to counseling and psychotherapy that places much of the responsility
for the treatment process on the client, with the taking a non directive role.

OBJECTIVE OF THERAPY

The primary objective of the therapy is to resolve the incongruence of the clients to help them
able to accept and be themselves.

Goal of counseling:

 Set clients free to engage in self exploration

 Positive view of human nature

 Focus on what is right about someone

 Look at positive side of people.

 Clients work on moving forward, positively, in their world.

 Client deals with obstacles that are blocking growth.

 Therapist is real and emphathetic; facilitates change in client.

MAIN COMPONENTS OR CORE CONDITIONS

o Congruence: refers to the therapist’s openness and genuineness and the willingness to
relate to clients without hiding behind a professional facade. Congruenceis also called
genuineness. Congruence is the most important attribute in counseling, according to Rogers.
This means that, unlike the psychodynamic therapist who generally maintains a 'blank screen'
and reveals little of their own personality in therapy, the Rogerian is keen to allow the client to
experience them as they really are.

The therapist does not have a facade (like psychoanalysis), that is, the therapist's internal
and external experiences are one in the same. In short, the therapist is authentic.
COUNSELLING

o Unconditional positive regard: The next Rogerian core condition is

unconditional positive regard. It means that the therapist accepts the client totally for who he
or she is without evaluating or censoring, and without disapproving of particular feelings,
actions, or characteristics. Rogers believed that for people to grow and fulfill their potential it is
important that they are valued as themselves. This refers to the therapist's deep and genuine
caring for the client. The therapist may not approve of some of the client's actions, but the
therapist does approve of the client. In short, the therapist needs an attitude of "I'll accept you
as you are." The person-centeredcounselor is thus careful to always maintain a positive attitude
to the client, even when disgusted by the client's actions.

o Empathy : showing an emotional understanding of and sensitivity to the client’s feelings

throughout the therapy session. Empathy is the ability to understand what the client is feeling.
This refers to the therapist's ability to understand sensitively and accurately [but not
sympathetically] the client's experience and feelings in the here-and-now. An important part of
the task of the person-centeredcounselor is to follow precisely what the client is feeling and to
communicate to them that the therapist understands what they are feeling. In the words of
Rogers (1959), accurate empathic understanding is as follows:"

The state of empathy, or being empathic, is to perceive the internal frame of reference of
another with accuracy and with the emotional components and meanings which pertain
thereto as if one were the person, but without ever losing the 'as if' condition. Thus it means to
sense the hurt or the pleasure of another as he senses it and to perceive the causes thereof as
he perceives them, but without ever losing the recognition that it is as if I were hurt or pleased
and so forth.

GOAL OF CLIENT –CENTERED THERAPY ( CCT)

In CCT, the focus is on the person, not the problem, and there are four basic goals a person will
achieve if theory is successful. They will become: open to experience, learn to trust themselves,
develop an internal evaluation of themselves and have a willingness to continue growing.

The Benefits of Person-Centred Therapy

Generally, person-centred counselling can help individuals of all ages, with a range of personal
issues. Many people find it an appealing type of therapy because it allows them to keep control
over the content and pace of sessions, and there is no worry that they are being evaluated or
COUNSELLING

assessed in any way. The non-direct style of person-centred counselling is thought to be more
beneficial to those who have a strong urge to explore themselves and their feelings, and for
those who want to address specific psychological habits or patterns of thinking.

The approach is said to be particularly effective in helping individuals to overcome specific

problems such asdepression,anxiety,stressandgrief, or othermental health concerns. These
issues can have significant impact on self-esteem, self-reliance and self-awareness, and person-
centred therapy can help people to reconnect with their inner self in order to transcend any
limitations. While client- centered therapy was originally developed as an approach to
psychotherapy, it is often transferred to other areas where people are required to build strong
relationshilps, such as teaching, childcare and patient care. This approach is not limited to
qualified counselors, many people will use the approach in some form to help guide them
through day to day work and relationships.

 THE THERAPIST’S SHOULD:

 Listen and try to understand how the things are from the client’s point of view.

 Check that ‘understanding’ with the client if unsure.

 Treat the client with the utmost respect and regard.

 There is also a mandate for the therapist to be ‘ congruent’, or ‘transparent’.

 Focuses on the quality of the therapeutic relationship.

 Serves as a model of a human being struggling toward greater realness.

 Is genuine, integrated and authentic, without a false front.

 Can openly express feelings and attitudes that are present in the relationship with the
client.

 THERAPIST DO NOT:
• Ask questions
COUNSELLING

• Make diagnosis

• Conduct psychological tests

• Provide interpretations,evaluations and above.

• Making criticism

TECHNIQUES USED
 Listening

 Accepting

 Respecting

 Understanding

 Responding

FREQUENCY OF THERAPY
o No strict guidelines. oUsually therapists adhere to a one- hour session once

per week. oScheduling may be adjusted according to the client’s expressed needs.

o Termination usually occurs when he or she feels able to better cope with life’s
difficulties.

EXPECTED RESULTS FROM THERAPY

 Improved self esteem

 Increased ablity to learn from (rather than repating) mistakes.

 An increasing capacity to experience and express feelings ath the moment they occur; and
openness to new experiences and new ways of thinking about life.

 Through therapy client is able to let down his/her defenses& become more true to him/her
selves
COUNSELLING

 They gain perception into themselves, which allows them to better understand &accept
others.

3,GESTALT THEORY
INTRODUCTION

There are a number of different approaches used by professional counselors. Perhaps the three
main approaches are psychodynamic, humanistic and behavioral. Each of these has a different
theory and ideas underpinning it, and the therapists and counselors using each will approach
problems and issues in different ways.
Gestalt therapy is a humanistic , holistic, person –centered form of
psychotherapy that is focused on an individual’s present life and challenges rather than
delving into past experiences. This approach stresses the importance of understanding the
context of a person’s life and taking responsibility rather than placing blame.

It can be a little intimidating to consider starting therapy, especially if you

imagine yourself sitting in the therapy room talking about the past. Although revisiting the
past is an important part of identifying what needs to be healed.
Gestalt therapy is an approach that focuses more on the “ here and now” experience of
the client. In Gestalt therapy, your personal experiences are key, along with describing what
you’re going through in your own words. It’s based on an underlying theory that unresolved
conflicts with others including family members or romantic partners- lead to distress.

What does gestalt mean ?

Gestalt , by definition , refers to the form or shape of something and suggest that the whole is
greater than the sum of its parts. There is an emphasis on perception in this particular theory of
counseling. Gestalt therapy gives attention to how we place meaning and makes sense of our world
and our experiences.

Within Gestalt therapy, the client has space to safely explore their
experiences without fear of judgment. In fact, the clients are encouraged to not simply talk
about their emotions or experiences, but to bring them into the room so they can be
processed in real-time with the therapist.

GESTALT THERAPY

Gestalt therapy was developed in the late 1940’s by Fritz Pelrs (a German-born psychiatrist )
with his wife Laura Pelrs and further influenced by the likes of Kurt Lewin and Kurt Goldstein
( Corsini and Wedding, 2000). It was developed as a revision to psychoanalysis and focuses
on an experimental and humanistic approach rather than analysis of the unconscious; which
was one of the main therapeutic tools at the time ‘Gestalt Therapy’ was employed.
COUNSELLING

Gestalt therapy rejects the dualities of mind and body, body and soul ;
rather human beings function as a whole. In doing so, one defines who one is ( sense of self)
by choice of responses to environmental interactions
(boundaries). The word ‘Gestalt’ (German origin) refers to a “whole , configuration,
integration, pattern or form” (Patterson, 1986). Gestalt therapy focuses on the whole of the
client’s experience, including feelings, thoughts and actions. The client gains self-awareness
in the “here and now” ( what is happening from one moment to the next) by
analyzingbehavior and body language and talking about bottled up feelings. In Gestalt
therapy , self-awareness is key to personal growth and developing full potential. The
approach recognizes that sometimes this selfawareness can become blocked by negative
thought patterns and behavior that can leave people feeling dissatisfied and unhappy.

It is the aim of a Gestalt therapist to promote a nonjudgmental self-

awareness that enables clients to develop a unique perspective on life. By helping an
individual to become more aware of how they think, feel and act in the present moment,
gestalt therapy provides insight into ways in which she can alleviate their current issues and
distress in order to aspire to their maximum potential.

USES AND BENEFITS

There are a variety of conditions that Gestalt therapy may be used to treat, including:

➢ Anxiety
➢ Depression
➢ Low self – efficacy
➢ Low self- esteem
➢ Relationship problems

Gestalt therapy can also be useful for helping people gain greater self-awareness and a
greater ability to live in the present moment.

Other potential benefits may include:

➢ An improvement sense of self- control

➢ Better ability to monitor and regulate mental states
➢ Better awareness of your needs
➢ Better tolerance for negative emotions
➢ Improved communication skills
➢ Improved mindfulness
➢ Increased emotional understanding
ROLE OF COUNSELOR
COUNSELLING

➢ Counselor creates an environment for the client to explore their needs in order to
grow.
➢ Counselor is fully with the client in the here-and-now with intense personal
involvement and honesty.
➢ Counselor helps the client to focus on blocking energy and to positively and
adaptively use that energy.
➢ Counselor also helps the clients to discern life patterns.
➢ Among the rules that counselor uses to help client-
• The principle of the now requires the counselor to use present tense.
• The use of an awareness continuum that focuses on how and what
rather than on why.
• The counselor has the client convert questions into statements.
GOALS OF THERAPY

To assist clients in gaining awareness of moment-to-moment experiencing and to expand

the capacity to make choices. Aims not at analysis but at integration.

➢ Emphasis is on the here-and-now of the client’s experience.

➢ The client is encouraged to make choices based on the now as opposed to past.
➢ Help the client resolve the past.
➢ Assist the client to become congruent.
➢ Help the client to reach maturity intellectually.
➢ Help the client shed neuroses.

THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP

The therapist’s attitudes and behavior counts more than the techniques used. The therapist
does not interpret for the clients but assists them in developing the means to make their
own interpretations. Clients identify and work on unfinished business from the past that
interferes with current functioning.

APPLICATIONS

Ultimately, gestalt therapy is considered to help individuals gain a better understanding of

how their emotional and physical needs are connected. They will learn that being aware of
their internal self is key to understanding why they react and behave in certain ways. This
COUNSELLING

journey of self-discovery makes the approach beneficial for individuals who can be guarded
when it comes to their emotions, and find it difficult to process why they feel and act the
way they do. It can also provide support and a safe space for individuals going through times
of personal difficulty.

CONTRIBUTIONS

Main contribution is an emphasis on direct experiencing and doing rather than on merely talking
about feelings. It provides a perspective on growth and enhancement, not merely a treatment of
disorders. It uses clients behaviors as the basis for making them aware of inner creative potential.
The approach to dreams is a unique, creative tool to help clients discover basic conflicts. Therapy is
viewed as an existential encounter; it is process-oriented, not technique-oriented. It recognizes
nonverbal behavior as a key to understanding.
LIMITATIONS

For Gestalt therapy to be effective, the therapist must have a high level of personal
development( Corey ,2005). Effectiveness of the confronting and theatrical techniques of Gestalt
therapy is limited and has not been well established. It has been considered to be a self-centered
approach which is concerned with just individual development. Potential danger of therapists to
abuse the power they have with clients (Corey ,2005). Lacks a strong theoretical base.

4,Rational emotive behaviour therapy

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is previously called Rational Therapy 
and Rational Emotive Therapy, it is a comprehensive, active-directive, philosophically and empirically
based psychotherapy. which focuses on resolving emotional and behavioral problems and
disturbances which are enable people to lead happier and more fulfilling lives. Rational emotive
behavior therapy (REBT) was created and developed by the American
psychotherapist and psychologist Albert Ellis.

it is a short-term form of psychotherapy that helps you identify self-defeating thoughts and feelings,
challenge the rationality of those feelings, and replace them with healthier, more productive beliefs.
 REBT focuses mostly on the present time to help you understand how unhealthy thoughts
and beliefs create emotional distress which, in turn, leads to unhealthy actions and behaviors
that interfere with your current life goals.
 Once identified and understood, negative thoughts and actions can be changed and replaced
with more positive and productive behavior, allowing you to develop more successful
personal and professional relationships.
Goals of REBT

Assist people in;

 minimizing emotional disturbances
 decreasing self-defeating behaviors
 become more self actualized
 clearer and more rational thinking.
How it works

 Ellis believed that most people are not aware that many of their thoughts about themselves
are irrational and negatively affect the way they behave in important relationships and
situations.
COUNSELLING

 According to Ellis, it is these thoughts that lead people to suffer negative emotions and
engage in self-destructive behavior.
 At the same time, humans are capable of challenging and changing their irrational beliefs, if
they are willing to do the work.
 While specific life events may contribute to mental health issues, REBT therapists believe
that it is an individual’s own faulty and irrational belief system that causes the most
problems.
 REBT makes use of a variety of methods and tools, including positive visualization, reframing
your thinking, and the use of self-help books and audio-visual guides, as well as assigned
homework for reinforcement between sessions.
Irrational thinking
 As REBT places a heavy emphasis on rationality and irrationality. In this context, irrationality
is anything that is illogical or in some way hinders an individual from reaching their long-term
goals.
 a result, rationality has no set definition but is dependent on the individual’s goals and what
will aid them in reaching those goals.
 REBT contends that irrational thinking is at the heart of psychological issues.
The ABCDE’S REBT
 The foundation of REBT is the ABCDE model. The model helps uncover one’s irrational beliefs
and provides a process for disputing them and establishing more rational ones. The elements
of the model consist of:
 A – Activating event. 
 B – Beliefs. 
 C –Consequences.
 D – Dispute. 
 E – Effect. 
 This first part of the model focuses on the formation and results of irrational beliefs. REBT
observes that while many people will blame the activating event (A) for the negative
consequences (C) they experience, it is actually the beliefs (B) they form about the activating
event (A) that really lead to the consequences (C). Thus it is uncovering those beliefs that are
key to changing the emotional, behavioral, and cognitive consequences.
Techniques used in REBT
 REBT uses three main types of techniques, which corresponds with the ABC’s. Each therapist
might use a slightly different combination of techniques depending on both their past clinical
experiences and your symptoms.

PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUES

 These strategies can help address the activating event (A). They often include working to
develop;
 Problem solving skills
 Assertiveness
 Social skills
 Decision making
Conflict resolution skills

Cognitive restructuring techniques

These strategies can help you to change irrational beliefs (B). They might include:
 Logical or rationalizing techniques
 Guided imagery and visualization
 Reframing or looking at events in a different way.
 Humor and irony
 Exposure to a feared situation.
 Disputing irrational thoughts.
Copying techniques
 Coping techniques can help you better manage and emotional consequences (C) of irrational
thoughts. These coping techniques may include:
COUNSELLING

 Relaxation
 Hypnosis
Meditation

The basic steps of REBT

 In order to better understand how REBT looks, it is important to take a closer look at the
therapeutic process itself.

Identify Irrational Thought Patterns and Beliefs

The very first step in the process is to identify the underlying, irrational thoughts, feelings, and
beliefs that lead to psychological distress. According to Ellis, some of the most common irrational
beliefs include:
 Feeling excessively upset over other people's mistakes or misconduct
 Believing that you will be happier if you avoid life's difficulties or challenges
Feeling that you have no control over your own happiness, that your contentment and joy are
dependent upon external forces.

 Holding such unyielding beliefs makes it almost impossible to respond to activating situations
in a psychologically healthy way. Possessing such rigid expectations of ourselves and others
only leads to disappointment, recrimination, regret, and anxiety.

Challenge Irrational Beliefs
 Once these underlying feelings have been identified, the next step is to challenge the
mistaken beliefs. In order to do this, the therapist disputes these beliefs using very direct and
even confrontational methods.

Gain insight and change behavior

 Facing irrational thought patterns can be difficult, especially because accepting these beliefs
as unhealthy is far from easy. Once the client has identified the problematic beliefs, the
process of actually changing these thoughts can be even more challenging.
 While REBT uses cognitive strategies, it focuses on emotions and behaviors as well. In
addition to identifying and disputing irrational beliefs, therapists and clients also work
together to target the emotional responses that accompany problematic thoughts. Clients
are encouraged to change unwanted behaviors using strategies such as meditation,
journaling, and guided imagery.

5,Behaviour therapy
Behaviour therapy is an umbrella term for types of therapy that treat mental health disorders.
This form of therapy seeks to identify and help change potentially self-destructive or unhealthy
behaviours. It functions on the idea that all behaviours are learned and that unhealthy
behaviours can be changed. The focus of treatment is often on current problems and how to
change them.Behavioural therapy is a term used to describe a broad range of techniques used to
change maladaptive behaviours. The goal is to reinforce desirable behaviours and eliminate
unwanted ones. Behavioural therapy is rooted in the principles of behaviourism, a school of
thought focused on the idea that we learn from our environment.

Who can benefit from behavioural therapy?

It can also help treat conditions and disorders such as
• Depression
COUNSELLING

• Anxiety
• Panic disorder
• Phobia, including social phobia
• Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Anger issues
• Bipolar disorder
• Eating disorder
• obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Self-harm
• Substance abuse
This type of therapy can benefit adults and children.

Behaviour therapy for children

Treatment involves teaching children different methods of responding to situations more positively.
A central part of this therapy is rewarding positive behavior and punishing negative behavior.
Parents must help to reinforce this in the child’s day-to-day life.
It may take children some time to trust their counsellor. This is normal.
They’ll eventually warm up to them if they feel they can express themselves without consequences.
Children with autism and ADHD often benefit from behavioural therapy.
Behaviour therapy should consider a few different factors in child. They are
 Age
 Level of development
 Environment

6, Cognitive behaviour therapy

Introduction
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the leading methods of psychotherapy
currently practiced by Western counselors. The cognitive behavioral approach evolved from
earlier traditional Western psychotherapy methods and utilizes many of the same principles
as other modes of traditional, individualized therapy.

Cognitive therapy: A relatively short-term form of psychotherapy based on the

concept that the way we think about things affects how we feel emotionally. Cognitive
therapy focuses on present thinking, behavior, and communication rather than on past
experiences and is oriented toward problem solving. Cognitive therapy has been applied to a
broad range of problems including depression, anxiety, panic, fears, eating disorders,
substance abuse, and personality problems.

Cognitive therapy is sometimes called cognitive behavior therapy because it aims to

help people in the ways they think (the cognitive) and in the ways they act (the behavior).
COUNSELLING

Cognitive therapy has, for instance, been used to help cocaine-dependent individuals become
abstinent from cocaine and other substances. The underlying assumption is that learning
processes play an important role in the development and continuation of cocaine abuse and
dependence. These same learning processes can be used to help individuals reduce their drug
use.

What is Cognitive Behaviour Therapy?

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on how
a person’s thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes affect their feelings and behaviors.

The APA note that CBT is based on a number of beliefs, including the following:

 Unhelpful ways that people think can lead to psychological problems.

 If people learn unhelpful behavior, this, too, can lead to psychological issues.
 People can learn more beneficial ways of thinking and behaving.
 New habits can relieve symptoms of mental and physical conditions and allow people to
act in better ways.

Practitioners base CBT on the theory that problems arise from the meanings people
give to events, as well as the events themselves. Unhelpful thoughts can make it difficult for a
person to function confidently in different situations.

 CBT can have a positive impact on how people feel and act and equip them with coping
strategies that help them deal with challenges.
 Research shows that CBT can offer support to people with depression, panic disorder,
and various other health conditions. There is also growing evidence that it can help to
relieve chronic pain.
 CBT is a broad concept. Different types of CBT focus on various aspects of life. Some
types address specific problems, for example, emotional or social challenges.
 A course of CBT consists of a series of sessions, in which a counselor and an individual
or group meet regularly and collaborate.

How does cognitive behavioral therapy work?

Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, is a short-term therapy technique that can help
people find new ways to behave by changing their thought patterns.

 Engaging with CBT can help people reduce stress, cope with complicated relationships, deal
with grief, and face many other common life challenges.
 CBT works on the basis that the way we think and interpret life’s events affects how we
behave and, ultimately, how we feel. Studies have shown that it is useful in many
situations.
COUNSELLING

 More specifically, CBT is a problem-specific, goal-oriented approach that needs the

individual’s active involvement to succeed. It focuses on their present-day challenges,
thoughts and behaviours.
 It is also time-limited, meaning the person knows when a course will end, and they have
some idea what to expect. Often, a course will consist of 20 one-to-one sessions, but this is
not always the case.
 It can also take the form of either individual or group sessions.
 CBT is a collaborative therapy, requiring the individual and counselor to work together.
According to the American Psychological Association (APA), the person eventually learns to
become their own therapist.

During a course of CBT, a person can learn to:

o Identify problems more clearly
o Develop an awareness of automatic thoughts
o Challenge underlying assumptions that may be wrong
o Distinguish between facts and irrational thoughts
o Understand how past experience can affect present feelings and beliefs
o Stop fearing the worst
o See a situation from a different perspective
o Better understand other people’s actions and motivations
o Develop a more positive way of thinking and seeing situations
o Become more aware of their own mood
o Establish attainable goals
o Avoid generalizations and all-or-nothing thinking
o Stop taking the blame for everything
o Focus on how things are rather than how they think they should be
o Face their fears rather than avoid them
o Describe, accept, and understand rather than judge themselves or others

GOALS OF COGNITIVE BEHAVIOUR

THERAPY
CBT aims to help people become aware of when they make negative interpretations,
and of behavioral patterns which reinforce the distorted thinking. Cognitive therapy helps
people to develop alternative ways of thinking and behaving which aims to reduce their
psychological distress.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is, in fact, an umbrella term for many different therapies
that share some common elements. Two of the earliest forms of Cognitive behavioral
Therapy were Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), developed by Albert Ellis in
the 1950s, and Cognitive Therapy, developed by Aaron T. Beck in the 1960s.
COUNSELLING

Cognitive behavioral therapy is regarded as a short-term method of psychotherapy.

Ideally, a client will attend weekly sessions over the course of several months and will
then be able to use the strategies and tools discussed in these sessions independently.

Because cognitive behavioral therapy is tailored to the needs of the individual, the
goals of each therapy session are unique based on the client’s personal circumstances.
The ultimate goal of CBT is to help clients rethink their own perspectives and thinking
patterns, allowing them to take more control over their behavior by separating the actions
of others from their own interpretations of the world.

On a personal level, the goals of any CBT session may include objectives such as
being able to socialize enjoyably; to feel more comfortable conversing or interacting with
friends, strangers, or co-workers; to become comfortable forming friendships or intimate
relationships; to speak in public; to become more assertive; to overcome performance
anxiety; or to overcome any level of depression or trauma. Again, the exact goals of CBT
are personalized to the needs of each client.

Learning tools
 Regular one-to-one or group discussion sessions, or a combination of both
 Frequent feedback
 Role-playing activities
 Ways to calm the mind and body
 Gradually increasing exposure to things that cause fear
 Homework assignments
 Keeping a cognitive behavioral diary
 Practicing the skills learned to promote positive behavioral change and growth

Strengths of CBT
1. Model has great appeal because it focuses on human thought. Human cognitive abilities
have been responsible for our many accomplishments so may also be responsible for our
problems.
2. Cognitive theories lend themselves to testing. When experimental subjects are manipulated
into adopting unpleasant assumptions or thought they became more anxious and depressed
(Rimm& Litvak, 1969)
COUNSELLING

3. Many people with psychological disorders, particularly depressive, anxiety, and sexual
disorders have been found to display maladaptive assumptions and thoughts (Beck et al.,
1983).
4. Cognitive therapy has been very effective for treating depression (Hollon& Beck, 1994), and
moderately effective for anxiety problems (Beck, 1993).

How does it work?

Some forms of psychotherapy focus on looking into the past to gain an understanding of
current feelings. In contrast, CBT focuses on present thoughts and beliefs.

CBT can help people with many problems where thoughts and beliefs are critical. It
emphasizes the need to identify, challenge, and change how a person views a situation.

According to CBT, people’s pattern of thinking is like wearing a pair of glasses that makes us
see the world in a specific way. CBT makes us more aware of how these thought patterns
create our reality and determine how we behave.

7,Reality therapy and transactional analysis

Reality therapy is a form of counseling that views behaviors as
choices. It states that psychological symptoms occur not because of
mental illness, but due to people irresponsibly choosing behaviors to
fulfill their needs. Reality therapy is a client-centered form of
cognitive behavioral psychotherapy that focuses on improving present
relationships and circumstances, while avoiding discussion of past
events.
Reality therapy techniques

Reality therapy involves different techniques to change your current

behavior:

Self-evaluation
COUNSELLING

A therapist will use self-evaluation techniques to help you recognize

your present actions. This serves as a foundation for planning new
actions.

Action planning

After self-evaluation, your therapist will guide you through

action planning. The goal is to plan new actions that better
serve your needs.
Reframing

In reframing, a therapist expresses a concept in a positive or less

negative way. This can help shift your mindset from problem-focused
to solution-focused.

For example, you might say that you can’t stand being disrespected by
others. A reality therapist may relabel the problem and say, “Feeling
respected by other people is important for you.” This helps you find
solutions within problems.

Behavioral rehearsal

Behavioral rehearsal involves practicing appropriate social behaviors.

For example, your therapist might have you imagine or talk about
these behaviors. or, you might act out the situation with your
therapist.

Takeaway

Reality therapy views behavior as a choice. It’s based on taking

responsibility for these choices and choosing more effective actions .
COUNSELLING

If you’re interested in this method, be sure to work with a therapist

who is professionally trained in reality.

When is reality therapy used?

You can use reality therapy for many different scenarios and
relationships, including:

 Individual therapy
 Family therapy
 Parenting
 Marriage counseling
 Education
 Management
 Relationships with colleagues
 Friendships
 Addiction.

TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS

It was introduced by Eric Berne. Transactional analysis is a technique

used to help people better understand their own and other’s behaviour,
especially in interpersonal relationships. It offers a model of
personality and the dynamics of self and its relationship to others that
makes possible a clear and meaningful discussion of behaviour.
Transactional analysis is primarily concerned with following:
• Analysis of self-awareness
• Analysis of ego states
COUNSELLING

• Analysis of transactions
• Script analysis
• Games analysis
• Analysis of life positions
• Stroking

ANALYSIS OF SELF AWARENESS

The interpersonal relationships are composed of interself. Self-

awareness is an important concept, it describes the self in terms of
image, both conscious and unconscious.

• Johari Window is a technique for improving self-awareness

within an individual. This diagram is known as the JOHARI
WINDOW. It comprising of 4 parts.
• It helps in understanding your relationship with yourself and
others, behaviour and attitude that can be known or
unknowing. Johari Window model can be a useful tool if you
want to improve your communication skills.
ANALYSIS OF EGO STATES

The ego plays an important role in human behaviour. Ego states are
person’s way of thinking, feeling and behaving at any time. There
are 3 important ego states. They are child, adult and parent. A
person of any age has these ego states in varying degree. A healthy
person is able to move from one ego state to another.

Parent ego state:

COUNSELLING

The parent ego state means that the values, attitudes and behaviours
of parents an integral part of the personality of an individual.
These people tend to talk to people and treat others like children. The
characteristics of a person with parent ego state are Judgmental, Rule
maker, Moralising, Over protective.

Adult ego state:

The adult ego state is authentic, direct, reality based, fact seeking
and problem solving. They assume that human beings as equal,
worthy and responsible. These people gather relevant information,
carefully analyze it, generate alternatives and make logical choices.

Child ego state:

The child ego state is characterized by very immature behaviour.

The important features of child ego state are creativity, anxiety,
depression, dependence, fear, joy, emotional sentimental etc.

ANALYSIS OF TRANSACTIONS

• A transaction is a basic unit of social interaction. transactional

analysis is the study and diagramming of the exchanges
between two persons.
• where a verbal or nonverbal stimulus from one person is being
responded by another person a transaction occurs.
• Depending on the ego states of the persons involved in
transactions, there may be three types of transactions:
Complementarytransactions :
COUNSELLING

• Both people ego state are operating from the sympathetic or

complementary to one other . This means that what you say
and the response you expect to receive, and actually receive.
For example: if person A says “I think you need to go and wash your
dirty face” from a Parent ego state they are inviting person B to
respond from their Child ego state and comply with something like
“OK, I will go do it now”.
Crossed transactions:
• A crossed transaction is one in which the sender sends message
a behaviour on the basis of his ego state, message reply will be
in unexpected ego state on the part of the receiver.
• In this transaction communication tends to blocked and a
satisfactory transaction is not accomplished
For Example: manager in the adult-to-adult state might rationally
ask an employee about a mistake in a report the employee composed.
A crossed transaction occurs if the employee responds using the
child-to-parent ego and complains.
Ulteriortransactions:
• Two ego states within the same person but one disguises the
other one. Ulterior transactions are manipulative and increase
the risk of communication failure and conflict.
• For example, if a manager tells an employee, “this is a really
fascinating problem, but it might be too hard for you.” This
COUNSELLING

message can be heard either by the employee’s adult or by the

employee’s child.  
• SCRIPT ANALYSIS
• In transactional analysis a person’s life is compared to a play
and the script is the text of the play. Developed in early
childhood under parental influence which directs the individual
behaviour in the most important aspects of his life. A script is a
complete plan of living, offering prescriptions, permissions and
structure which makes one winner or loser in life.
• ANALYSIS OF LIFE POSITIONS
• The process of growing up people make basic assumptions, that
combination of assumptions about self and the other person
called as lifeposition.
• I am OK, you are OK: It appears to be an ideal life position.
People with this type of life position have confidence in
themselves as well as trustand confidence in others
• I am OK, you are not OK: This is a distrustful psychological
position. This is the attitude of those people, who think that
whatever they do is correct.
• I am not OK, you are OK: This is a common position for those
people who feel powerless when they compare themselves to
others.
• I am not OK, you are not OK: people in this position tend to
feel bad about themselves and see the whole world as miserable.
They do not trust others and have no confidence in themselves.
COUNSELLING

STROKING

The term stroke refers to “giving some kind of recognition to others.

People need strokes for their sense of survival and well-being on the
job. Lack of stroking can have negative consequences both on
physiological and psychological well-being of a person.

• Positive strokes: the stroke one feel good, is a positive stroke.

Recognition, approval is some of the examples.
• Negative strokes: a stroke one feel bad or not good is a
negative stroke. Negative strokes hurt physically or
psychologically.
• Mixed strokes: a stroke may be of a mixed type also.
Example: the boss comment to a worker “you did an excellent job
inspite your limited experience.

GAMES ANALYSIS

When people fail to get enough strokes at work, they try a variety of
things. One of the most important things is that they play
psychological games.

Types of games

 A first-degree game is one which is socially acceptable in the

agent’s circle.
 A second-degree game is one which more intimate end up with
bad feelings.
A third-degree game is one which usually involve physical injury.
COUNSELLING

BENEFITS AND UTILITY OF TRANSACATIONAL ANALYSIS

• Improved interpersonal communication.

• Source of positive energy.

• Understanding

• ego state.

• motivation.

• Organizational development

8,Strength based approach

INTRODUCTION

A strength-based approach to therapy involves clients and

therapists working together to use a client’sstrengths and
abilities to instill a sense of purposeand happiness.
COUNSELLING

 Underlying a strengths-based approach is the

belief that how people deal with challenges
depends on their view of themselves and
whether they see their strengths or their
weaknesses.

 STRENGTH - BASED APPROACH

 American psychotherapist
DonaldCliftonbecame known as the “father of
strength-basedtherapy”.

 This type of approach builds the clients on their

strengths, specifically seeing them as
resourceful and resilient when theyare in
adverse conditions.

• Another unique characteristic of this approach is that it is client

led and centered on outcomes in the future individual’sset of
strengths.

• This approach is highly dependent on the thought process and

emotional and information processing of the individual.
COUNSELLING

• This approach allows for open communication and thought

process for individuals to identify value and assemble their
strengthsand capacities in the course of change.

• The strength-based approach allows for habitable conditions for a

person to see themselves at their best, in order to see the value
theybring, by just being them.

• Then moving that value forward to capitalize on their strengths

rather than focusing on negative characteristics.

• Strength-basedapproachnotonlyexamines the individual but also

the individual’s environment

USING THE APPROACH IN COUNSELING

• Counselinguses strength-basedtherapyas a way to

introducepositive psychotherapy.

• The practitioner is focusing on the internal strengths,

resourcefulness, and not as much on weaknesses, deficits, or
failures.

• Doing so, helps the person build a mindset which helps to set
their intention and focus on positive capacitybuilding.

• As well as, understanding that they are resilient, and make

more reasonable expectations not only of themselves
butofotherstoo.

• Strength-basedtherapyis a form of talktherapywhere the

clientis the story teller.

• The practitionerguides the personto have the mindset of a

survivor rather thana victim.
COUNSELLING

• Doing so gives the personunderstandingandcontrolof the

skills and strengthsthe possess.
WHAT CAN A STRENGTH-BASED APPROACH HELP
WITH?
Specific conditions and issues that a strength-based approach
can help with include:

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Schizophrenia

• Schizoaffective disorder

• Substance use and abuse

• Emotional difficulties stemming from past or current abuse or

toxic relationships

• Issues caused by low self-esteem

STRENGTH-BASED THERAPY EXAMPLES

❖ Strength-Based Therapy for Substance Use and Addictions

Instead of focusing on weakness or helplessness, a strength-
focused approach helps people recognize their many positive
qualities and use those qualities to overcome addiction, build
strong relationships, and create and meet life goals.

With this approach, people embrace self-worth, develop power and

control over their addiction, separate themselves from past issues,
COUNSELLING

and begin to form new relationships with loved ones and their
greater community.

❖ Strength-Based Therapy for Youth with Disabilities or

Chronic Illness
While this type of therapy doesn’t treat the illness or disability, it
can help kids see themselves in new ways. They learn to identify
and embrace their positive qualities rather than defining
themselves largely by their disability or illness. When kids know
their strengths and develop ways to use them in their daily lives,
they can flourish in spite of even large obstacles.

9,Solution focused therapy

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), also called Solution-Focused
Therapy (SFT) was developed by Steve de Shazer (1940-2005), and
Insoo Kim Berg (1934-2007) in collaboration with their colleagues at
the Milwaukee Brief Family Therapy Center beginning in the late
1970s. As the name suggests, SFBT is future-focused, goal-directed,
and focuses on solutions, rather than on problems that brought
clients to seek therapy.

Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is a short-term goal-focused

evidence-based therapeutic approach, which incorporates positive
psychology principles and practices, and which helps clients change
by constructing solutions rather than focusing on problems. In the
most basic sense, SFBT is a hope friendly, positive emotion eliciting,
and future oriented vehicle for formulating, motivating, achieving
and sustaining desired behavioral change.
COUNSELLING

Solution-Focused practitioners develop solutions by first generating

a detailed description of how the client’s life will be different when
the problem is gone or their situation improved to a degree
satisfactory to the client. Therapist and client then carefully search
through the client’s life experience and behavioral repertoire to
discover the necessary resources needed to co-construct a practical
and sustainable solution that the client can readily implement.
Typically this process involves identifying and exploring previous
“exceptions”.

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF SFBT

The need for an alternative approach to therapy was recognized as

mental health practitioners began to observe the amount of
energy, time, money, and other resources spent discussing and
analyzing the challenges revealed during the therapy process, while
the issues originally bringing an individual to therapy continued to
have a negative impact. Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg of the
Brief Family Therapy Center in Milwaukee, along with their team,
developed solution-focused brief therapy in the early 1980s in
response to this observation. SFBT aims to develop realistic
solutions as quickly as possible, rather than keeping people in
therapy for long periods of time, in order to promote lasting relief
for those in therapy.

SFBT developed into the fast, effective treatment modality it is

today over approximately three decades, and it continues to evolve
and change in order to meet the needs of those in therapy.
Currently, therapists in the United States, Canada, South America,
Asia, and Europe are trained in the approach. The principles of
solution-focused therapy have been applied to a wide variety of
environments including schools, places of employment, and other
COUNSELLING

settings where people are eager to reach personal goals and

improve interpersonal relationships.

HOW DOES SFBT WORK?

SFBT, which aims to help people experiencing difficulty find tools

they can use immediately to manage symptoms and cope with
challenges, is grounded in the belief that although individuals may
already have the skills to create change in their lives, they often
need help identifying and developing those skills. Similarly, SFBT
recognizes that people already know, on some level, what change is
needed in their lives, and SFBT practitioners work to help the
people in their care clarify their goals. Practitioners of SFBT
encourage individuals to imagine the future they desire and then
work to collaboratively develop a series of steps that will help them
achieve those goals. In particular, therapists can help those in
treatment identify a time in life when a current issue was either less
detrimental or more manageable and evaluate what factors were
different or what solutions may have been present in the past.

This form of therapy involves first developing a vision of one’s

future and then determining how internal abilities can be enhanced
in order to attain the desired outcome. Therapists who practice
SFBT attempt to guide people in therapy through the processof
recognizing what is working for them, help them explore how best
to continue practicing those strategies, and encourage them to
acknowledge and celebrate success. In addition, practitioners of
SFBT support people in therapy as they experiment with new
problem-solving approaches.

SOLUTION-FOCUSED THERAPY TECHNIQUES

COUNSELLING

The solution-focused approach involves a variety of techniques to

clarify solutions and help the person seeking help find ways of
achieving them. These are generally a set of questions tailored to
the individual and their specific circumstances. Below is a basic
model of solution-focused therapy and common questioning
techniques involved.

1) The Miracle Question:

A key element within this questioning is the 'miracle question' - a

question that encourages people to stop thinking about why they
cannot achieve something and instead picture how their lives could
be if a miracle occurred. This helps them to view life very differently
and takes the focus off the cause of their problems. Instead, the
emphasis is placed on times when their problems are non-existent.

Ultimately, the miracle question enables the individual to picture a

solution. Their responses are expected to describe this solution in
detailed behavioural terms, and this can have powerful implications
about their need to do something different. This is thought to pave
the way for small, realistic steps that will help them form an entirely
different way of living. Some people may even begin to implement
some of the behavioural changes they have pictured.

2) Exception Questions:

Exception questions allow people to identify with times when

things may have been different for them - periods in their lives that
are counter to the problem they are currently facing. By exploring
how these exceptions happened and highlighting the strengths and
resources used by the individual to achieve them, a therapist can
empower them to find a solution.

Examples of Exception questions a therapist may ask include:

COUNSELLING

 “Tell me about times when you felt happiest”.

 “What was it about that day that made it a better day”?

 “Can you think of times when the problem was not present in
your life?”

During this process, the therapist will likely offer plenty of praise to
encourage individuals to project their exceptions into the future
and feel more confident about using their strengths and resources
to achieve their new vision.

3) Scaling Questions

Following miracle and exception questions, scaling questions will

typically be asked to invite those taking part to perceive their
problem in terms of difficulty. This tends to involve using a scale
from one to 10 in which each number represents a rating of the
problem (one being the worst a situation could be and 10 being the
best).

By identifying where an individual's problem lies in their mindset, a

therapist can go about exploring where things would need to be for
them to feel that the aims of therapy have been met. From here
they can establish specific goals and identify preferred outcomes.
Scaling questions can also prove useful for tracking progress.

SOLUTION FOCUSED MODEL

Solution-focused theorists and therapists believe that generally,

people develop default problem patterns based on their
experiences, as well as default solution patterns. These patterns
dictate an individual’s usual way of experiencing a problem and his
or her usual way of coping with problems.
COUNSELLING

The solution-focused model holds that focusing only on problems is

not an effective way of solving them. Instead, SFBT targets clients’
default solution patterns, evaluates them for efficacy, and modifies
or replaces them with problem-solving approaches that work. In
addition to this foundational belief, the SFBT model is based on the
following assumptions:

 Change is constant and certain;

 Emphasis should be on what is changeable and possible;

 Clients must want to change;

 Clients are the experts in therapy and must develop their own
goals;

 Clients already have the resources and strengths to solve their

problems;

 Therapy is short-term;

 The focus must be on the future a client’s history is not a key part
of this type of

therapy.

LIMITATIONS OF SFBT COUNSELING

As with any form of therapy, SFBT has limitations and potential

disadvantages. Some of the potential disadvantages for therapists
include:

 The potential for clients to focus on problems that the

therapist believes are secondary problems. For example,
the client may focus on a current relationship problem
rather than the underlying self-esteem problem that is
causing the relationship woes. SFBT dictates that the
COUNSELLING

client is the expert, and the therapist must take what the
client says at face value;
 The client may decide that the treatment is successful or
complete before the therapist is ready to make the same
decision. This focus on taking what the client says at face
value may mean the therapist must end treatment before
they are convinced that the client is truly ready;
 The hard work of the therapist may be ignored. When
conducted successfully, it may seem that clients solved
their problems by themselves, and didn’t need the help of
atherapist at all. An SFBT therapist may rarely get credit
for the work they do but must take all the blame when
sessions end unsuccessfully.
Some of the potential limitations for clients include:
 The focus on quick solutions may miss some important
underlying issues;
  The quick, goal-oriented nature of SFBT may not allow
for an emotional, empathetic connection between
therapist and client.
 If the client wants to discuss factors outside of their
immediate ability to effect change, SFBT may be
frustrating in its assumption that clients are always able to
fix or address
their problems.
10,Mindful based stress reduction
Stress is part of our life, and it can help to motivate us, to get things done.
Even high stresses from serious illness, job loss, a death in the family, or a
painful life event can be a natural part of life. Stress is normal to some extent,
a necessary part of our life. Despite everyone’s experiences, the causes of
stress can differ from person to person. Stress is basically the tension or
anxiety caused by any sort of pressure in everyday life.Stress management and
stress reduction methods include a variety of coping tools used to recognize
COUNSELLING

and assess stress and interpret it in a more positive way. They are tools that are
used to release stress and reduce its negative effects on our lives The ability to
handle or minimize the physical and emotional effects of such anxiety is
known as one’s stress management skills.

Everyone encounters stress every day. Although most people think of it as

something negative that happens to them, in fact stress itself is really neither
good nor bad but is neutral or nonspecific. Stress may be internal (from within
ourselves) or external (such as noise from the environment) and does not
always result from something unpleasant. A certain amount of stress in our
lives is actually essential to being sufficiently stimulated to meet the
challenges of everyday life, but when stress is constant and acute, it can have
dangerous consequences. Since stress is both natural and unavoidable, it is
necessary to understand it and to learn how to deal with it, particularly how to
reduce it.

Stress

Stress is a feeling of emotional or physical tension. It can come from any

event or thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry, or nervous.Stress is
your body's reaction to a challenge or demand.Stress is the “psychological,
physiological and behavioural response by an individual when they perceive a
lack of equilibrium between the demands placed upon them and their ability to
meet those demands, which, over a period of time, leads to ill-health” (Palmer,
1989).Stress is a normal feeling. There are two main types of stress:

Acute stress. This is short-term stress that goes away quickly. You feel it when
you slam on the brakes, have a fight with your partner, or ski down a steep
slope. It helps you manage dangerous situations. It also occurs when you do
something new or exciting. All people have acute stress at one time or another.
COUNSELLING

Chronic stress. This is stress that lasts for a longer period of time. You may
have chronic stress if you have money problems, an unhappy marriage, or
trouble at work. Any type of stress that goes on for weeks or months is chronic
stress. You can become so used to chronic stress that you don't realize it is a
problem. If you don't find ways to manage stress, it may lead to health
problems.

Stress Reduction

Stress is the body's normal response to anything that disturbs its natural
physical, emotional, or mental balance. Stress reduction refers to various
strategies that counteract this response and produce a sense of relaxation and
tranquility.Although stress is a natural phenomenon of living, stress that is not
controlled and that continues for a long period of time can seriously
compromise health. For this reason, stress must be understood, managed and
appropriately reduced. Several very different strategies and therapies are
available that help with relaxation and stress management.

Stress reduction can only present a problem if an individual attributes an

actual, serious condition or disease to being simply a stress-related response
and avoids consulting a physician.Peoplewho have undergone a severe trauma
(criminal assault, combat, natural or transportation disaster, etc.) may
experience symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or acute stress
disorder (ASD). These disorders are defined by their temporal connection to a
traumatic event in the patient's life, and are characterized by a cluster of
anxiety and dissociative symptoms. They interfere with the patient's normal
level of functioning, and require some form of supportive therapy. People who
experience a sense of detachment or unreality, emotional numbing, a general
feeling of being dazed, amnesia for part of the traumatic event, or similar
COUNSELLING

symptoms should consult a medical doctor in addition to using other

approaches to stress reduction.

Stress Reduction Techniques

● Exercise.

● Relaxation and Meditation techniques.

● Time manage.

● Organizational skills.

● Support systems.

● Mindfulness meditation. ...

● Yoga. ...
● Repetitive prayer. etc.
Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a simple and very powerful practice of training our attention.

It’s simple in that it’s really just about paying attention to what’s happening
here and now (i.e. sensations, thoughts, and emotions) in a non-judgmental
way. It’s powerful because it can interrupt the habit of getting lost in
thoughts, mostly about the future or past, which often generates more stress
on top of the real pressures of everyday life. Mindfulness is the basic human
ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and
not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.While
mindfulness is something we all naturally possess, it’s more readily
available to us when we practice on a daily basis.The goal of mindfulness is
to wake up to the inner workings of our mental, emotional, and physical
processes.

Benefits of mindfulness
COUNSELLING

Mindfulness improves well-being. Increasing your capacity for

mindfulness supports many attitudes that contribute to a satisfied life. Being
mindful makes it easier to savor the pleasures in life as they occur, helps
you become fully engaged in activities, and creates a greater capacity to
deal with adverse events. By focusing on the here and now, many people
who practice mindfulness find that they are less likely to get caught up in
worries about the future or regrets over the past, are less preoccupied with
concerns about success and self-esteem, and are better able to form deep
connections with others.

Mindfulness improves physical health. If greater well-being isn’t enough

of an incentive, scientists have discovered that mindfulness techniques help
improve physical health in a number of ways. Mindfulness can: help relieve
stress, treat heart disease, lower blood pressure, reduce chronic pain, ,
improve sleep, and alleviate gastrointestinal difficulties.

Mindfulness improves mental health. In recent years, psychotherapists

have turned to mindfulness meditation as an important element in the
treatment of a number of problems, including: depression, substance abuse,
eating disorders, couples’ conflicts, anxiety disorders, and obsessive-
compulsive disorder.

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a healing approach that

combines meditation and yoga. Developed by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn in the
1970s, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction aims to address the unconscious
thoughts, feelings, and behaviors thought to increase stress and undermine
your health. Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) therapy is a
meditation therapy, though originally designed for stress management, it is
being used for treating a variety of illnesses such as depression, anxiety,
COUNSELLING

chronic pain, cancer, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, skin and immune

disorders.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is an eight-week program that involves

training in mindfulness meditation and yoga. Participants generally meet once
weekly.In mindfulness meditation, individuals strive to cultivate a greater
awareness of the present moment. By increasing their mindfulness,
participants in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction aim to reduce their overall
arousal and emotional reactivity and to gain a deeper sense of calm.

Definitions

1. Mindfulness-based stress reduction is a group program that was

developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn in the 1970s to treat patients struggling
with life’s difficulties and physical and/or mental illness (Kabat-Zinn,
2013).
2. MBSR is a flexible and customizable approach to stress reduction. It’s
composed of two main components: mindfulness meditation and yoga.
Instead of following a script or acting out meticulously described steps,
mindfulness is practiced in the manner that best suits the individual
(Center for Mindfulness, 2017).

Uses

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is said to benefit individuals dealing with

the following health conditions or problems:

⮚ ADHD
⮚ Anxiety
⮚ Depression
⮚ Chronic pain
⮚ Stress
COUNSELLING

⮚ Fatigue
⮚ Anger
⮚ Headaches
⮚ High blood pressure
⮚ Sleep problems

Benefits of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

Here's a look at Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction's potential health

benefits, as tested in scientific studies:

Pain Relief

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction may help relieve pain and improve

psychological well-being in people dealing with chronic pain conditions,
according to a study published in 2010. Researchers found that study members
with arthritis showed the greatest improvement in health-related quality of life
after undergoing Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, while participants with
chronic headache/migraine had the smallest improvement.

Stress Management

For a report published in 2009, scientists sized up ten studies on Mindfulness-

Based Stress Reduction and found that the program is able to reduce stress
levels in healthy people. MBSR also appeared to reduce anxiety and increase
empathy.

Better Sleep

Some studies suggest that MBSR may help reduce certain factors (such as
worrying) that contribute to sleep problems, according to a report published in
2007. However, in their analysis of seven studies on Mindfulness-Based Stress
Reduction and sleep disturbance, the report's authors found insufficient
COUNSELLING

evidence of MBSR's ability to significantly improve sleep quality and

duration.

Depression Relapse Prevention

Research also suggests that mindfulness approaches may help prevent the
reoccurrence of depressive symptoms. Because this mindfulness-based
approach focuses on altering negative thought patterns, it can help prevent
people from developing negative thoughts and beliefs about themselves. One
study found that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy was as effective as
antidepressants for preventing depression relapse.

Bias Reduction

Another benefit of mindfulness-based approaches is that they can often help

people overcome previously existing association such as biased beliefs. One
study found that mindfulness techniques had a positive impact on reducing age
and racial biases as measured by implicit association tests.

Cognitive Improvements

Research also suggests that mindfulness-based approaches may also have

cognitive benefits. One study found that four sessions of meditation training
led to improvements in verbal fluency, mood, visual coding, and working
memory. There were also improvements in visual-spatial processing and
executive functioning.

Trying Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

If you're considering the use of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, make

sure to pursue training at a university medical center, hospital, or clinic, where
classes are taught by qualified health professionals. If you're thinking about
using it for a health condition, make sure to consult your primary care
COUNSELLING

provider first. It's important to note that self-treating a condition and delaying
or avoiding standard care may have serious consequences.

ECLECTIC APPROACH IN COUNSELLING

INTRODUCTION

Eclectic comes from the Greek eklektikos , from the verb eklegein, "to select."
Eclectic was originally applied to ancient philosophers who were not committed
to any single system of philosophy but instead selected whichever doctrines
pleased them from every school of thought.Eclectic therapy is a flexible and
multifaceted approach that allows the therapist to use the most effective
methods available to address their client's individual needs. Some therapists
who don't like how the term seems insufficiently focused might refer to it as
multi-modal therapy.The Approach allows the language teacher to use the
techniques and activities drawn from a range of language teaching approaches
and methodologies. It is the teacher who decides what method or approach to
use depending on the aims of the lesson and the learners in the group.Eclectic
counseling is defined as the combination of the two extremes that is directive
and non-directive counseling.Eclectic approach is a method of language
education that combines various approaches and methodologies to teach
language depending on the aims of the lesson and the abilities of the learners.
Different teaching methods are borrowed and adapted to suit the requirement of
the learners.Eclectic style encompasses a variety of periods and styles and is
brought together through the use of color, texture, shape and finish of
Colors.The palette can vary, but it's best to stick with a few neutrals to help tie
all the elements together.the word eclectic have lots of another words like
jumbled, narrow, choosy, eclecticist, idiosyncratic, heterogeneous, particular,
unvaried, voluntaristic, selective and catholic. Eclectic approaches are using in
many streams. According to counselling sector eclectic approach is very
important. ECLECTIC APPROACH

According to Richard ,the term eclectic approach According to Richards,The

term 'ECLECTIC APPROACH' refers to problem solving approach that is not
based on a single method but that draws on several differend method principles
that are made use of in practice . It is problem based approach. Eclectic
psychotherapy, or eclectic therapy, is an approach that draws on multiple
theoreticalorientations and techniques. Eclectic therapy is a flexible and
COUNSELLING

multifaceted approach that allows the therapist to use the most effective
methods available to address their client's individual needs.

WHAT IS ECLECTIC

Eclectism is a concepyual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single

paradigm or set of assumptions , but instead draws upon multiple
theories ,styles.or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subjects ,or
applies different theories in particular cases.

The term eclectism is used to describe the combination,in a single

work,ofelemrnts from different historical styles,chiefly in architecture and, by
implication , in the fine and decorative arts.Thetrem is some times also loosly
applied to the general stylistic variety of 9 thcentuary architecture after neo-
classiciam and historisissam.

TYPES OF COUNSELLING

1) Directive counselling

2) Non-directive counselling

3) Eclectic counselling

HOW ECLECTIC APPROACH HELPS CLIENTS

In the early part of the 20th century, many therapists rigidly adhered to a single
style of treatment. Over the last decade, more therapists started to draw ideas
from different therapeutic approaches. Eclectic psychotherapy, or eclectic
therapy, is an approach that draws on multiple theoretical orientations and
techniques. Eclectic therapy is a flexible and multifaceted approach that allows
the therapist to use the most effective methods available to address their client’s
individual needs. Some therapists who don't like how the term seems
insufficiently focused might refer to it as multi-modal therapy.

CHARECTERISTICS OF ECLECTIC COUNSILLING

COUNSELLING

1) Methods of counselling may change from client to client or even with

the same client from time to time.

2) It is highly flexible.

3) Freedom of choice and expression is open to both the counsellor and

the counselee.

4) Experience of mutual confidence and faith in the relationship are

basic .

5) The client and the philosophical framework are adjusted to save the
purpose of the relationship.
ECLECTISM THEORY AND THERAPHY

There are many forms of eclecticism, and in a way eclectic therapy is a

pragmaticapproach to therapy, meshing the various approaches together to fit
the individualclient who has approachedfor help.Good eclecticism is neither
messy nor confused. For example, a typical eclectic Eclectic
Counsellingapproach in therapy is to view an individual from a psychodynamic
perspective, butto use more active interventions, such as you might find in a
cognitive behavioralapproach. In eclecticism, there is no one right or guaranteed
way of approachingany given problem. Each problem is tainted and changed by
that individual’s ownhistory and way of viewing or perceiving his or her own
problem. Therapists areflexible, working as a teacher for one patient, as a guide
for another, or as acombination of all of the above for yet another.Eclectics use
techniques, as mentioned above, from all schools of therapy. Theymay have a
favorite theory or therapeutic technique that they tend to use more oftenor fall
back on, but they are willing and often use all that are available to them.
Afterall, the main purpose here is to help the patient as quickly and as
effectively aspossible.

MOSTIMPORTANTSTEP CONDUCTING ECLECTIC COUNSELING

The leading exponent of the Eclectic counseling Thorne, suggested the

following in the process;
COUNSELLING

1) Diagnosis of the cause.

2) Analysis of the problem.

3) Preparation of a tentative plan for modifying factors.

ADVANTAGES OF ECLECTIC APPROACH

1) Does not restrict to one perspective so allows new ideas to be formed

2) Combining methods is a useful way of validating ideas

3) Strength of one method can be used to offset the weakness

4) Individual needs are better matched to treatment when more option are
available

5) Therapeutic method treat the entire disorder and not just one
symptom.DISADVANTAGES OF ECLECTIC APPROACH

1) It does not lent itself to prediction and control of behaviour

2) Its difficult to identify the relative contributions of each approach.

3) There is a practical difficulties in investigating the integration of

approach

4) There are practical difficulties when providing eclectic therapy . it

may be too complex for one clinician to manage.

THEORYAND PRACTICE OFCOUNSELLING

COUNSELLING

5th MODULE – COUNSELLING PRACTICE IN

DIFFERENT SETTINGS

Marriage and family counseling

 WHATISFAMILYANDMARRIAGECOUNSELLING

Marriage and family therapy is a type of marriage counselling. This form of psychotherapy
tends to be more involved then marriage counselling, per se. More specifically, marriage and
family therapy takes a more holistic approach to marital and family problems. What does that
mean? It means that it includes all family members in the therapy process.

During a typically marriage and family therapy session, the family may be given role play
tasks and assignments to work on at home. You will also be encouraged to share your true
feelings with your counselor and spouse. Communication and conflict-resolution skills are
big focuses on marriage and family therapy. Counsellor will expect you to complete all tasks
and assignments. For example, during a session, you and your spouse may be given
communication exercises to practice at home with the expectation that you will share your
experiences during the next session.

The truth is, marriage counselling is not just for unhappy or struggling couples. Rather, it also
involves couples therapy for non-married couples. Regardless of your relationship status,
marriage counselling aka couples counselling can be used to strengthen bonds and gain a
better understanding of one another.

It can also be used to help couples, who are about to be married and those, who are thinking
of getting married. This is called premarital counselling. The goal of this type of counselling
is to help couples learn how to communicate and resolve issues more effectively and to “iron
out differences” before the wedding day.

Family therapy can teach family members how to handle adversity – before it begins. For
instance, newly blended families that include children from previous marriages may benefit
from family therapy. Why? Well, because family therapists can help them (all of the
members of the newly blended family) learn how to respect one another and live peacefully
together.

Because “family” is an important part of a person’s social support network, family therapy
can be crucial for families dysfunction or chronic illness. Keep in mind that the better your
family functions, the lower the stress level and the better the health for the entire family. In
COUNSELLING

addition, adults, who grew up in dysfunctional families, could also benefit from individual

therapy (instead of family or in addition to it) with a focus on family therapy concepts.

 THE BENEFITS OF MARRIAGE AND

FAMILYTHERAPY

1. Improved Communication Skill

Marriage and family therapy helps improve communication skills within intimate
relationships. It provides a safe, non-judgmental setting for people to share and express their
emotions.

More specifically, therapy helps family members and couples resolve miscommunication and
misunderstandings more easily and calmly — a learning process that can carry over to
participants' non-familial relationships as well. Counsellors can also teach reserved people to
open up and articulate their feelings and thoughts so they can avoid miscommunication with
others.

2. Conflict Resolution
Conflict resolution skills form the core of marriage and family therapy. Therapists help
families and couples understand conflict through a combination of therapeutic interventions
and skills training. Clients learn how to handle conflict without fighting, fleeing, shutting
down, or giving in so they can resolve disagreements respectfully and fairly.

3. Increased Self-Esteem
Damaged self-esteem may motivate people to seek out marriage and family therapy. When a
person's close relationships become strained (one person dominates another, parents or
children feel undermined or confined, etc.), their self-esteem can suffer. A marriage and
family therapist may address these issues to curtail one person's power in the relationship or
encourage another person to open up.

4. Coping Skills
Relationships present challenges to everyone, particularly those recovering from marital
separation, a family death, changes in living situations, and past trauma or abuse. Marriage
and family therapists teach coping strategies to help reduce emotional effects in the long-term
for people experiencing these issues. For instance, a counselor can help someone confront
past abuse, recognize triggers for that abuse, and strategize how to avoid or cope with those
triggers.
COUNSELLING

 IMPORTANCE OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

COUNSELLING

Marriage counselling is an effective way to put a marriage relationship into the right track
which may otherwise go down and break. Relationships within families are sometimes put
under strain and family members feel isolated or overlooked. Family counselling can help in
many situations include those which cannot be discussed with anyone and those that are
going through a divorce or separation.

Family Counselling services range from problem analysis, identification, and assistance for
behaviour management/modification, conflict resolution, crisis management, mediation,
generating understanding, capacity building and more. Above all, a family counselling can
improve your relationship and prevent future disasters. It also helps you to get along together
in the present.

 ROLE OF SOCIAL WORKER IN FAMILY AND

MARRIAGE SETTING

Social workers help families improve relationships and cope with difficult situations such as
divorce, illness or death. They guide families through the counselling process by helping
them identify problems, set goals and find suitable solutions to their troubles and tribulations.
In a crisis situation, such as neglect, substance abuse or violence, they may also recommend
a legal action, such as having children temporarily removed while the parents work through
their difficulties.

 Facilitator
 Mentor
 Advocate
 Catalyst
 Counselor
social worker trained in working with families has a special skill set. The goal of a social
worker is to be an objective guide for family members and help them understand their
relationships and roles in the family. The family dynamics, or how family members relate to
each other, will be carefully reviewed by the social worker. There is also a focus on
communication patterns and behaviour patterns among family members which would be
clearly studied and identified by him.
COUNSELLING

Therefore, the social worker will work with the family to establish healthy patterns of
communication, find appropriate ways to express frustration and anger, and set boundaries.

CAREER COUNSELLING

 What is career counselling

It is the process of helping an individual come up with a personal career plan by collecting,
collating and evaluating various information about the self and the world of work to help the
client meet his/her life goals and take the necessary steps to implement the plan.

 Definition
Career counselling is an interpersonal process designed to assist individuals with career
development problems. (Brown and Brooks)

 Six steps for career planning

1. Explore career options

This stage helps make you aware of the many possibilities that exist. In addition to
learning position titles, you will also discover the skill, educational requirement
and personal attributes needed to be successful in various fields. Gathering this
information helps career counsellors make suggestions for majors, jobs ,and
careers that would fit in with your interests and skills. The goal here is to come up
with a few options to share with a career counsellor.

2. Conduct field Research

This stages is useful in deciding between different fields to pursue. What
better way to explore career options than to meet with someone working in
field.

3. Determine your job target

it is time to make decisions and set some goals .the components this decision
ae called your job target .

4. Build your credentials and resume

COUNSELLING

This stage is ongoing and the more you build your credentials, the better your
resume becomes.The credentials knowledge are by:
 bydoing internship realted to your job Target
 Taking classes and attending seminars related to your job target

5. Prepare Your Job Search

This stage requires researching companies and organizations you want to
work for and establishing if your friends, famiky, or ther career center have
any leads there. Learn to write calling scripts and develop tatics approaching
emoloyers other than looking at advertisements.

6. Launch your job search

There are many activities involved in launching your job search. Writing a
targeted resume is important to show emoloyers how your skills relate to
their specific needs.

 Theories of career development

The trait-and factor

Emphasizes the individual’s innate abilities and acquired interest and their relation to the
demand of the different work situations .individuals have different innate capacities abilities
and aptitudes for different works.

 The decision theory

it holds the individual consider various alternatives and decide on the one which promises
satisfaction . This does not, however ,mean that alternatives are rationally or dispassionately
consided.

 The sociological theory

It emphasizes sociological factors which influences individual development and vocational
choice.

The psychological theory

It hold that vocational choice is affected by the individual’s personality structure, his early
experience, motivations and needs.

The developmental theory

COUNSELLING

It emphasizes that vocational choice is not static decisions, but that it is a process subject to
continuous pressure for modification and adaption. Environmental factors affect young
people by providing or denying their opportunities for their growth . The Individual has
some amount of freedom of choice.

 The Vocational /Career Counselling

Vocation refers different things for different people based on their interest.Vocational
counselling measures individual’s intelligence ,aptitude, interest, skills to form and follow a
career path.
Vocational counsellor’s main role is in assessing , training and developing positions and
advancement for individuals.

 Super segment model to career development

Difference occupations require different patterns of abilities ,interest and traits .
The preference of people for different vocation changes with their self- concepts which are
modified with times and experience.
This process of adjustment involves a series of life stages which are modified which are
identified as growth, exploration, establishment ,maintenance and decline.

Vocational development essentially consists in implementing self- concept which develops

as a results of the interaction between the subjective factors and the environmental
conditions.
COUNSELLING

Crisis and trauma counselling

DEFINITION
Crisis is a perception or experiencing of an event or situation as an intolerable difficulty that
exceeds the person’s current resources and coping mechanisms. (James & Gilliland, 2001)

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), trauma is “an emotional

response to a terrible event like an accident, rape, or natural disaster.”

Crisis counselling: a process that has as its focus the emotional consequences of a crisis.

Crisis Intervention: is an immediate and short-term psychological care aimed at assisting

individuals in a crisis situation.

TYPES OF CRISES
1. Developmental crises: These occur as part of the process of growing and developing
through various periods of life. Sometimes a crisis is a predictable part of the life
cycle, such as the crises described in Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development.
2. Existential crises: Inner conflicts are related to things such as life purpose, direction,
and spirituality. A midlife crisis is one example of a crisis that is often rooted in
existential anxiety.
3. Situational crises: These sudden and unexpected crises include accidents and natural
disasters. Getting in a car accident, experiencing a flood or earthquake, or being the
victim of a crime are just a few types of situational crises.

SIGNS OF CRISIS
Counsellors are encouraged to be aware of the typical responses of those who have
experienced a crisis or currently struggling with the trauma.

Cognitive response

:• blame themselves or others for the trauma

. • disoriented, becomes hypersensitive or confused, has poor concentration, uncertainty, and

poor troubleshooting.

Physical responses:

• increased heart rate, tremors, dizziness, weakness, chills, headaches, vomiting, shock,
fainting, sweating, and fatigue
COUNSELLING

COUNSELLORS ROLE:
1. Listen to concerns

2. Assess safety needs

3. Protect rights and responsibilities of client.

4. Build therapeutic relationship.

5. Putting objectives.

6. Speak clearly, in the present, about the problem.

7. Take immediate, direct action to restore mobility and equilibrium

GOALS OF CRISES COUNSELLING:

• Safety: Ensures the individual is safe. If lethality existed before crisis counselling, this risk
has been reducedand resources, if available, have been provided

• Stability: Ensures the individual is stable and has a short-term plan which includes mastery
of self and theemergency or disaster situation

• Connection: Helps connect the individual to formal and informal resources and support. If
resources are supports are not readily available. Crisis counselling helps the individual pursue
potential naturalsupports/resources

ELEMENTS OF CRISES COUNSELLING

Crisis counselling is intended to be quite brief, generally lasting for a period of no longer than
a few weeks.

Crises counselling involves assessment, planning, and treatment, but the scope is generally
much more specific. While there are a number of different treatment models, there are a
number of common elements consistent with the various theories of crisis counselling.

1.Assessing the Situation

The first part of crisis counselling involves assessing the client’s current situation. This
involves listening to the client, asking questions and determining what the individual needs to
cope effectively with the crisis.
COUNSELLING

During this time, the crisis counselling provider needs to define the problem while at the
same time acting as a source of empathy, acceptance, and support. It is also essential to
ensure client safety, both physically and psychologically.

 First step of assessment • The first is triage assessment, which is an immediate

assessment to determine lethality and determine appropriate referral to one of the
following: emergency inpatient hospitalization, outpatient treatment facility or
private therapist, or if no referral is needed.
 Second step of assessment • Gathering information regarding the individual’s crisis
state, environment, and interpersonal relationships in order to work towards
resolving the current crisis. • This step helps facilitate development of an effective
and appropriate treatment plan. Assessment
 Third step of assessment • Biosocial and cultural assessment. • This would be
completed by using systematic assessment tools to ascertain the client’s current level
of stress, situation, present problem, and severe crisis episode Assessment
2.Education

People who are experiencing a crisis need information about their current condition and the
steps they can take to minimize the damage. During crisis counselling, mental health workers
often help the client understand that their reactions are normal but temporary.

While the situation may seem both dire and endless to the person experiencing the crisis, the
goal is to help the client see that they will eventually return to normal functioning.

3.Offering Support

One of the most important elements of crisis counselling involves providing support,
stabilization, and resources. Active listening is critical, as well as offering unconditional
acceptance and reassurance.

Offering this kind of non-judgmental support during a crisis can help reduce stress improve
coping. During the crisis, it can be very beneficial for individuals to develop a brief
dependency on supportive people. Unlike unhealthy dependencies, these relationships help
the individual become stronger and more independent.

4.Developing Coping Skills

In addition to providing support, crisis counsellors also help clients develop coping skills to
deal with the immediate crisis. This might involve helping the client explore different
solutions to the problem, practicing stress reduction techniques and encouraging positive
thinking.

This process is not just about teaching these skills to the client; it is also about helping the
client to make a commitment to continue utilizing these skills in the future.
COUNSELLING

DURATION:
Crisis counselling can range from 15 minutes to 2 hours, whereas the frequency of crisis
counselling with the same person ranges from 1 to 3 times.

GENETIC COUNSELLING

DEFINITION
Guidance relating to genetic disorders that is provided by a medical professional typicallyto
individuals with an increased risk of having a child with such a disorder

TYPES Of GENETIC COUNSELLING

1.Pediatric:
Individuals generally meet with both a medical geneticist and genetic counselor for a genetic
evaluation and consultation

Children who have a personal history of:

• A birth defect

• Intellectual or learning disability

• Developmental delay

• Failure to thrive

• Autism

• Hearing/visual impairment

• Metabolic disorder

• Progressive neurological condition/movement disorder

• Physical and/or cognitive impairments that are suggestive of a specific genetic syndrome
COUNSELLING

2. Adult:
Individuals who have a personal or family history of an adult-onset genetic condition

including:

• Cardiology (unexplained sudden cardiac death, unexplained cardiomyopathy, congenital

heartdefect)

• Neurology (Huntington Disease, ALS, frontotemporal dementia)

• Hematologic conditions (bleeding/clotting disorders)

3. Cancer:
Individuals who have:

• A personal/family history of early onset cancer

• Multiple generations of cancer in their family

• A personal/family history of bilateral or rare cancers

4. Prenatal/Preconception:
Individuals or couples who are pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant who have:

• A personal or family history of multiple pregnancy losses

• A personal or family history of infertility

• A chance of being a carrier of a genetic condition based on ethnicity

• A risk to have a child with a genetic condition or birth defect based on family history or
maternal age

• An abnormal prenatal screen result, ultrasound finding, or newborn screening result

PROCESS OF GENETIC COUNSELING

In general, a genetic counseling session aims to:

• Increase the family’s understanding of a genetic condition

• Discuss options regarding disease management and the risks and benefits of further testing
and other options

• Help the individual and family identify the psychosocial tools required to cope with
potential outcomes
COUNSELLING

• Reduce the family’s anxiety

It is not unusual for multiple genetic counseling sessions to occur and, at a minimum, to
include a pre-testing and post-testing session. During the initial genetic counseling visit, the
geneticcounselor will determine why the patient/family is seeking genetic counseling,
identify whatinformation they wish to obtain from the session, collect and record a family
medical history,and assess and record the medical and psychosocial history of the patient.

QUALITIES NEEDED FOR GENETIC COUNSELING

 Compassion. Patients seek advice on family care or serious illness, so genetic

counselors must be sensitive and compassionate when communicating their findings.
 Critical-thinking skills. Genetic counselorsanalyze laboratory findings to determine
how best to advise a patient or family. They use their applied knowledge of genetics
to assess inherited risks properly.
 Decision-making skills. Genetic counselors must use their expertise and experience
to determine how to disseminate their findings properly to their patients.
 Speaking skills. Genetic counselors must communicate complex findings so that their
patients can understand the magnitude of a health problem.

ROLE OF GENETIC COUNSELING

Genetic counselors work as part of a health care team, providing information and support
tofamilies affected by or at risk of a genetic disorder. They help to identify families at
possible risk of a genetic disorder, gather and analyze family history and inheritance patterns,
calculate risks of recurrence, and provide information about genetic testing and related
procedures.

In particular, genetic counselors can help families to understand the significance of genetic
disorders in the context of cultural, personal, and familial situations. Genetic counselors also
provide supportive counseling services, serve as patient advocates, and refer individuals and
families to other health professionals and community or state support services. They serve as
a central resource of information about genetic disorders for other health care professionals,
patients, and the general public.
COUNSELLING

The most common indications for genetic counseling include advanced maternal age, family
history of a genetic condition, and suspected diagnosis of a genetic condition.
COUNSELLING

GRIEF COUNSELLING AND STRESS

MANAGEMENT

GRIEVING THOUGHTS AND BEHAVIORS

Grief is not limited to feelings of sadness. It can also involve guilt, yearning, anger, and
regret. Emotions are often surprising in their strength or mildness. They can also be
confusing. One person may find themselves grieving a painful relationship. Another may
mourn a loved one who died from cancer and yet feel relief that the person is no longer
suffering.

People in grief can bounce between different thoughts as they make sense of their loss.
Thoughts can range from soothing (“She had a good life.”) to troubling (“It wasn’t her
time.”). People may assign themselves varying levels of responsibility, from “There was
nothing I could have done,” to “It’s all my fault.”

Grieving behaviors also have a wide range. Some people find comfort in sharing their
feelings among company. Other people may prefer to be alone with their feelings, engaging
in silent activities like exercising or writing.

The different feelings, thoughts, and behaviors people express during grief can be categorized
into two main styles: instrumental and intuitive. Most people display a blend of these two
styles of grieving:

Instrumental grieving has a focus primarily on problem-solving tasks. This style involves
controlling or minimizing emotional expression.

Intuitive grieving is based on a heightened emotional experience. This style involves sharing
feelings, exploring the lost relationship, and considering mortality.

No one way of grieving is better than any other. Some people are more emotional and dive
into their feelings. Others are stoic and may seek distraction from dwelling on an
unchangeable fact of living. Every individual has unique needs when coping with loss.

Types of Grief
 Anticipatory Grief
Anticipatory grief begins when the person you were caring for receives a significant
diagnosis and his or her health begins to deteriorate. Feelings are connected to what that
individual was like etc.
COUNSELLING

 Chronic Grief

This type of grief is characterized by feelings of hopelessness, sense of disbelief about

the loss being real, loss of meaning and value in life.
 Delayed Grief
In delayed grief, reactions and emotions connected to the death of a closed one are
postponed until a later time.

 Inhibited Grief
In this type of grief, individuals do not overtly express themselves, they keep their
feelings covered. This can lead to harmful effects on their physical health.

 Normal Grief
Normal grief contains expression and realization of the loss. The process of normal grief
is to move towards acceptance of loss with gradual decrease in the intensity of emotions.

 Unresolved Grief
This type of grief does not go away and it interferes with an individual’s life
significantly. In unresolved grief, individuals are unsure about how they feel about the
loss, they may have feelings of guilt but they may act as nothing has happened or
changed, may become overly involve with work, may indulge in alcohol and they may
even be preoccupied with memories of the loved one.

Symptoms of Grief
people who experience grief can have both emotional and physical symptoms.

Emotional symptoms include:

 Feeling sad and irritable

 Yearning
 Feeling numb
 Engulfed with loss
 Inability to experience pleasure
Many of these emotional symptoms are normal ways of reacting to loss, but if they persist for
a significant amount of time, they may need clinical attention and counseling

People suffering from grief also experience some or all of the following ,

physical symptoms:
COUNSELLING

 Tiredness
 Headaches
 Loss of appetite or comfort eating
 Feeling nauseated
 Chest discomfort

How does grief counselling help

When you find a grief counselor, it is important to know that there is no Basically the idea of
grief counselling is to allow the person to make positive adjustments to magic wand that will
cure the symptoms and take you out of your grief. The process is slow. And, can only be
achieved by investing time in yourself with the help of a trained counsellor.

The first step in grief counselling is where the psychologist will develop a rapport with you
and understand the gravity of the situation. Create a 100% private and safe environment on
phone, chat or email where you can express your emotions.

Next your therapist will set goals with you of what you are expecting and want to achieve
with the grief counselling session. Help you accept the loss, deal with the consequences and
move on.

Now the counsellor will guide you through how to control the overwhelming emotions that
you might face when you go back to your daily routine. As you deal with such confusing
emotions, you start to cope and pass the challenges to function in daily life.

Lastly a follow up grief counselling session is necessary to see how well you are dealing with
loss/void/ emptiness.

Stress management
Stress management is a wide spectrum of techniques and psychotherapies aimed at
controlling a person's level of stress, especially chronic stress, usually for the purpose of and
for the motive of improving everyday functioning.

Stress produces numerous physical and mental symptoms which vary according to each
individual's situational factors. These can include physical health decline as well as
depression.

The process of stress management is named as one of the keys to a happy and successful life
in modern society. Although life provides numerous demands that can prove difficult to
handle, stress management provides a number of ways to manage anxiety and maintain
overall well-being.
COUNSELLING

11 WAYS TO STOP STRESS

1.Put Stress in Its Place

How you handle stress makes a big difference in how you feel. It might even help your
blood pressure, blood sugar level, and the rest of you. Use these calming strategies to stop
stress ASAP.

2.Break Out the Bubble Gum

Next time you’re at the end of your rope, unwrap a stick of gum. According to studies,
chewing gum lowers anxiety and eases stress. Some researchers think the rhythmic act of
chewing may improve blood flow to your brain, while others believe the smell and taste help
you relax.

3.Get Outside
Spending time outdoors, even close to home, is linked to better well-being. You're in a
natural setting, and you're usually doing something active, like walking or hiking. Even a few
minutes can make a difference in how you feel.

4.Smile Like You Mean It

Don’t roll your eyes the next time someone advises you to “grin and bear it.” In times of
tension, keeping a smile on your face – especially a genuine smile that’s formed by the
muscles around your eyes as well as your mouth – reduces your body’s stress responses, even
if you don’t feel happy. Smiling also helps lower heart rates faster once your stressful
situation ends.

5.Sniff Some Lavender

Certain scents like lavender may soothe. In one study, nurses who pinned small vials of
lavender oil to their clothes felt their stress ease, while nurses who didn’t felt more stressed.
Lavender may intensify the effect of some painkillers and anti-anxiety medications, so if
you’re taking either, check with your doctor before use.

6.Tune In
Heading into a stressful situation? Music can help you calm down. In one study, people
had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol when they listened to a recording of Latin
choral music before doing something stressful (like doing math out loud or giving a speech)
than when they listened to a recording of rippling water. (Wondering what that choral piece
was, music fans? Try Miserere by Gregorio Allegri.)

7.Reboot Your Breath

Feeling less stressed is as close as your next breath. Focusing on your breath curbs your
body’s “fight or flight” reaction to pressure or fear, and it pulls your attention away from
negative thoughts. Sit comfortably in a quiet place. Breathe in slowly through your nose,
COUNSELLING

letting your chest and lower belly rise and your abdomen expand. Breathe out just as slowly,
repeating a word or phrase that helps you relax. To reap the most benefit, repeat for at least
10 minutes.

8.Be Kind to Yourself

We all have a constant stream of thoughts running through our heads, and sometimes
what we tell ourselves isn’t so nice. Staying positive and using compassionate self-talk will
help you calm down and get a better grip on the situation. Talk to yourself in the same gentle,
encouraging way you’d help a friend in need. “Everything will be OK,” for instance, or "I'll
figure out how to handle this."

9.Write Your Stress Away

Jotting down your thoughts can be a great emotional outlet. Once they're on paper, you
can start working out a plan to resolve them. It doesn’t matter whether you prefer pen
andnotebook, a phone app, or a file on your laptop. The important thing is that you’re honest
about yourfeelings.

10.Tell a Friend
When you’re feeling overwhelmed, seek out the company of a friend or loved one. Have
a friend who’s dealing with the same worries as you? Even more reason to open up. You'll
both feel less alone.

11.Get Moving
When you work up a sweat, you improve your mood, clear your head, and take a break from
whatever is stressing you out. Whether you like a long walk or an intense workout at the
gym, you’ll feel uplifted afterward.
COUNSELLING

COUNSELLING IN THE CONTEXT OF

HIV/AIDS

WHAT IS HIV COUNSELLING ?

Counselling in HIV and AIDS has become a core element in a holistic model of health care,
in which psychological issues are recognised as integral to patient management.

HIV and AIDS counselling has two general aims:

(1) the prevention of HIV transmission and

(2) the support of those affected directly and indirectly by HIV.

It is vital that HIV counselling should have these dual aims because the spread of HIV can be
prevented by changes in behaviour. One to one prevention counselling has a particular
contribution in that it enables frank discussion of sensitive aspects of a patient's life—such
discussion may be hampered in other settings by the patient's concern for confidentiality or
anxiety about a judgmental response.

Also, when patients know that they have HIV infection or disease, they may suffer great
psychosocial and psychological stresses through a fear of rejection, social stigma, disease
progression, and the uncertainties associated with future management of HIV.

Good clinical management requires that such issues be managed with consistency and
professionalism, and counselling can both minimize morbidity and reduce its occurrence. All
counsellors in this field should have formal counselling training and receive regular clinical
supervision as part of adherence to good standards of clinical practice.

Aims of counselling in HIV infection

 Prevention
 Determining whether the lifestyle of an individual places him or her at risk.
 Working with an individual so that he or she understands the risks.
 Helping to identify the meaning of high risk behaviour
 Helping to define the true potential for behavior change.
 Support
 Individuals, relationship, and family conselling to prevent and reduce psychological
morbility associated with HIV infection and disease.
COUNSELLING

Different HIV counselling programmes and services

 Counselling before the test is done.
 Counselling after the test for those who are HIV positive and HIV negative.
 Risk reduction assessment to help and prevent transmission.
 Counselling after a diagnosis of HIV disease has been made.
 Family and relationship counselling
 Bereavement counselling
 Telephone “hotline” counselling
 Outreach counselling
 Crisis intervention
 Structured psychological support for those affected by HIV
 Support groups.

WHEN IS HIV COUNSELLING NECESSARY?

 PRE-TEST DISCUSSION

 For patients at minimal risk of HIV infection, pre-test discussion provides a

valuable opportunity for health education and for safer sex messages to be made
relevant to the individual.
 face-to-face counselling before you have the test. This is know as pre-test
counselling and is aimed at ensuring that you make a well-informed decision
about whether to have the HIV test or not, and encourages you to explore the
possible impact that having the test may have on your life.

 POST TEST DISCUSSION

This is the kind of counselling you get after you have had the test. During this
session the counsellor will: Give you your result. Let you express your feelings about
being HIV positive or negative.

 PATIENT AND FAMILY

HIV/AIDS can also affect children's normal childhood. Children

from families living with HIV/AIDS often have to deal with psychosocial stress, an ill
caregiver, reduced parenting capacity, a shift in family structure, financial
deprivation, and stigma and discrimination.
COUNSELLING

 THE WORRIED WELL

Patients known as the “worried well” present with multiple physical complaintswhich
they interpret as sure evidence of their HIV infection. Typically, fears of infection
reachobsessive proportions and frank obsessive and hypochondriacally states are often
seen.

This group shows a variety of characteristic features, and they are rarely reassured for
more than a brief period after clinical or laboratory confirmation of the absence of HIV
infection. A further referral for behavioral psychotherapy or psychiatric intervention may
be indicated, rather than frequent repetition of HIV testing.

 COPYING STRATEGIES
The importance of encouraging and working towards coping strategies involving active
participation (to the extent the patient can manage) in planning of care and in seeking
appropriate social support has been demonstrated clinically and empirically.
Approach includes encouraging problem solving, participation in decisions about their
treatment and care, and emphasizing self worth and the potential for personal control over
manageable issues in life.
Many patients diagnosed with HIV some years ago are now feeling well enough to return
to work and to study and are, paradoxically, learning to readjust to living, as they had
formally adjusted to the possibility of dying. Even with the significant medical advances in
patient management, counselling remains an integral part of the management of patients with
HIV, and their partners and family

ROLE OF SOCIAL WORKER

On an individual level social workers provide a broad range of services and supports to those
living with AIDS/HIV.they also provide education to reduce the incidence of HIV through
harm reduction and health promotion. Social workers understand that health care is more
than medical care. Social workers help the patients in:-

 Counselling, testing, and referral services

 Partner counseling and referral services
 Prevention for high risk populations
 Health education and risk reduction activities
 Perinatal transmission prevention
 Public information programs
COUNSELLING

COUNSELLING SERVICES FOR

CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

COUNSELLING SERVICES FOR CHILDREN AND

ADOLESCENTS
 Child and adolescent counselling is a process between a child or adolescent and a
counsellor in a trusting relationship to help that child or adolescent explore about a
traumatic experience that has happened to them (e.g. death of a parent, abusive
situations).
 Counselling focuses on supporting the behavioral, emotional and social growth of
children and adolescents.
 Counselling aims to assist children and adolescents recover their self-esteem and
confidence. It helps them understand that the trauma was not their fault.
 Adolescents with some of these conflicts: acceptance/rejection conflicts, identity
crisis, the search for security, and the need for approval. Because of the stressors of
the adolescent period, these years can be lonely, and it is not unusual for an
adolescent to feel that there is no-one who can help. Group counselling can be useful
in dealing with these feelings of isolation.
 Advice services can make a positive difference to their lives. The range of advice
services for children and young people includes face-to-face counselling, one-to-one
phone calls, webchat, email, forums and face-to-face sessions.
 Counselling could be recommended for young people who are struggling with a
mental health disorder such as depression or eating disorders; it can address problems
with anxiety, bereavement, bullying, anger, low self-esteem. The counsellor will help
explore the problem, and advice strategies for coping.

SCHOOL AND EDUCATIONAL COUNSELLING

 School counsellors provide counselling programs in three critical areas: academic,
personal/social, and career.
 Their services help students resolve emotional, social or behavioral problems and
help them develop a clearer focus or sense of direction. Effective counselling
programs are important to the school climate and a crucial element in improving
student achievement
COUNSELLING

THE OBJECTIVES OF COUNSELLING IN SCHOOLS

 To develop in students an awareness of opportunities in social and vocational areas by

providing them with appropriate, useful information.
 To help students develop the skills of self-study and self- understanding.
 To help all students in making appropriate and satisfactory personal, social
educational choices.
 To help students develop positive attitudes to self, to others, to appropriate national
issues, to work and to learning.
 To help students acquire the skills of collecting and using information.
 To help students who are underachieving, use their potentials to the maximum.
 To assist students in the process of developing and acquiring skills in problem
solving and decision making.
 To help build up/or sharpen the child’s perception of reality.
 To identify students with learning problems, so that different individualized methods
can be used for effective teaching and learning.
 To work with significant others in the life of the child, helping them by understanding
the child’s needs, problems and goals so that the child could be optimally helped to
attain those goals, handle those problems and meet those needs.
COUNSELLING

COUNSELLING FOR ELDERLY

TYPES OF COUNSELLING
 Individual Counselling : provides older clients the time and privacy to discuss
thoughts and feelings they may be experiencing.
 Group Counselling: and it provides an additional benefit of decreased isolation
through interaction among members

COMMON THEMES AND ISSUES IN ELDERLY PERSONS

 Restoration of a Positive Self-Concept and Self-Esteem in the Elderly
Patient
Self esteem is often a major theme during psychotherapy with elderly patients.

The therapist's job is to try to understand how the patient attempts to maintain self esteem in
the wake of bio-psycho-social losses associated with aging, and support or build upon these
coping strategies.

It is important for the psychiatrist or other mental health professional to realize that elderly
patients often seek approval and support from their (sometimes much younger) therapists.

They benefit from this approval because it helps them restore a more positive view of
themselves as competent and masterful and helps them reestablish continuity with their
positive view of themselves.

The therapist is used by the patient for validation of competency and normalcy and for
restoration of feelings of mastery and self-esteem.

 Dealing with Loss

The elderly suffer multiple actual losses of spouses, friends, relatives, roles, functions, and
independence, which may occur alongside fear of anticipated future losses. Survivor guilt
should also be acknowledged and worked through in therapy as most of these elderly patients
have witnessed the sufferings and deaths of many of their loved ones.

 Dealing with Aging, Illness, and Possible Dependence

COUNSELLING

For elderly patients facing the many changes and narcissistic losses of aging, including
increased dependency and anticipation and fear of dependency and physical illnesses, the
process of psychotherapy can offer a safe and trusting relationship in which to examine those
most frightening feelings. These fears may be of being hated by or disgusting to the
caretaker, or perhaps it is intolerable to be “in someone else's hands.” The experience of
therapy offers the elderly person a chance to respond to these frightening feelings in a manner
that is life-enhancing rather than stagnating.

 Dealing with Death and Dying

In old age, impending death becomes a reality that can no longer be denied, and facing this
can be a challenge. For an old person with a poor ego function, this task can be quite
overwhelming. However, death-related anxiety is more a part of early adult life than of old
age because, for elderly individuals, pain and suffering related to death are more of a concern
than the fear of death itself.

 Transference and Countertransference

Transference: the redirection of feelings about a specific person onto someone else (in
therapy, this refers to a client’s projection of their feelings about someone else onto their
therapist).
Grunes described a transference phenomenon unique to psychotherapy with the elderly in
which the therapist is viewed as the child of the patient, and he termed it reverse transference.
Countertransference: the redirection of a therapist’s feelings toward the client. The therapist
needs to pay special attention to any positive or negative feelings he or she has toward the
patient.
Sigmund Freud described countertransference as a largely unconscious phenomenon in which
the psychologist’s emotions are influenced by a person in therapy, and the psychologist reacts
with countertransference.

MENTAL ILLNESS ISSUES FOR ELDERLY PERSONS

 Memory Issues
Memory issues are incorrectly considered a normal part of the aging process by many, which
causes mental illnesses to often go unrecognized until they have advanced significantly.
Memory problems can be a warning sign of mental illnesses such as Alzheimer’s and
dementia in older adults. Signs of this memory loss may include misplacing belongings,
repeatedly asking for the same information or forgetting important dates.

 Changes In Personal Care

COUNSELLING

Often times, a person with mental health issues will stop adhering to their regular personal
care routines. A noticeable change in appearance might signify that a person is unable to
successfully adhere to their former routines related to personal appearance. While this will
look different for everyone, changes in personal appearance that may be a sign of a mental
illness include forgoing bathing or skipping previously standard personal care tasks, such as
applying makeup.

 Social Withdrawal
Individuals suffering from mental illness often become socially withdrawn. Losing interest in
activities that they used to be excited about or avoiding regular social engagements, it may be
because they are suffering from a mental health issue that makes these things difficult.

 Changes in Mood
A change in disposition often accompanies mental illnesses, such as depression and
Alzheimer’s. For e.g.. From carefree to anxious, upbeat to depressed, or confident to
confused. If these mood changes last more than a couple of weeks, there may be a more
serious cause driving their altered personality.

GERIATRIC COUNSELOR’S ROLE

 Care Management
Geriatric counselors arrange frequent visits with clients to ensure that their needs are met,
identifying any changes that necessitate an individual’s need for new programs or services.
They should also be prepared for providing support in transportation and other activities in
case of sudden fall or stroke as their needs change thereafter.

 As a Liaison
Geriatric counselor also acts as a liaison between older adults and their physicians. Older
adults with dementia might have difficulty explaining their needs and problems to a
physician, and geriatric counselors often facilitate communication.

 Caregiver Stress
Geriatric counselors are not only aware of the needs of older adults, but also ensure that
caregivers know how to effectively manage stress, offering a number of suggestions for stress
management.

BENEFITS OF COUNSELING FOR ELDERLY

COUNSELLING

 Increased skills in interpersonal communication.

 Improved interpersonal relationships.
 Decreased depressive symptoms.
 Decreased anxiety symptoms.
 Reduction in pharmaceutical interventions.
 Improved qualityq of life.
 Clarity of behavioral contribution to wellbeing.
 Reduction of suicidal ideation.
 Improvement in emotional self regulation.
 Reduction in substance misuse.
COUNSELLING

COUNSELING IN WORKPLACE

WHY WORKPLACE COUNSELING?

Illness and productivity do not go together. Every employer has an idea about the work
involved and the resultant pressure and stress. They are now beginning to realise that it is
wise to anticipate stress, and the risk involved and keep counseling support services handy.

Counseling helps and improves mental health and personal effectiveness. The growth and
long-term sustainability of any organization is firmly rooted in its human resources.
Counseling highlights the value of people as organizational assets. Employee happiness and
satisfaction lead to a sense of ownership and belonging toward their organization. When
employees feel that they are well taken care of, the drive to work and perform will be very
high.

Apart from their personal problems, there are various reasons that can create stress for the
employees at the workplace like unrealistic targets of work load, constant pressure to meet
the deadlines, career problems, responsibility and accountability, conflicts or bad
interpersonal relations with superiors and subordinates, problem in adjusting to the
organizational culture. Counseling help the employee to share and look at his problems from
a new perspective, help himself and to face and deal with problems in a better way.

A very important duty of the workplace counselor, as with any other counselor is
appropriate referrals after assessment. Every problem cannot be solved at the workplace
during work time. And the counselor may not have time for long term therapy. Some
employees may not feel comfortable dealing with their personal problems in their work
environment. These are some of the good reason for workplace counselor to refer to an
outside counselor.

BENEFITS OF A PSYCHOLOGICALY HEALTHY

WORKPLACE
Benefits to employees
 Increased job satisfaction
 Higher morale
 Better physical and mental health
 Enhanced motivation
COUNSELLING

 Improved ability to managed stress

 Helping the individual to understand and help himself
 Understand the situations and look at them with a new perspective and positive
outlook
 Helping in better decision making
 Alternative solution to problems
 Coping with the situation and the stress.

Benefits to the organization

 Improved quality, performance, and productivity
 Reduced absenteeism and turnover
 Fewer accidence and injuries
 Better able attract and retain top-quality employees
 Improved customer service and satisfaction
 Lower health care costs

PROBLEMS OF WOMEN AT WORKPLACE

• There is a lot of gender bias dictating what careers women are good at, what role theymust
play, where they are better suited, etc. thus, women find employment easily in
theroutinesubmissive or caring nurturing sectors as nurses, doctors, teachers, secretaries orin
assembling jobs.

• Family responsibilities, pregnancy, and preferred work timings are stacked up

againstwomen’s smooth upward movement in their chosen career path.

• Most of the top managers are men and they also prefer to talk with their subordinateswho
are men. The sexual harassment claims have to helped either. Men are very carefulto not be
too casual over friendly with their female co-workers. This leads to a sense ofdiscomfort,
suspicion,and therefore distance between the sexes, which effect the womenmore negatively.

• In many places, the inbuild conviction that women are capable of less work than men orless
efficient than men governed this injustice of unequal salaries and wages for the samejob.

•Counselors at the workplaces can help by conducting awareness programmes, life

skillstraining workshops, personal group effectiveness modules, support groups, etc. women
canreceive extra help in ways such as following:

∙ Performance counseling: it should cover all the aspects related to the women’sperformance
like the targets, responsibilities, problems faced, aspirations, inter personalrelationships at
workplace, etc.

∙ Personal and family wellbeing: families and friends are an important and in separablepart of
women’s life. Many a time woman carry the baggage of personal problems to
theirworkplaces, which in turn affects their performance adversely. There for the
COUNSELLING

counsellorneed to strike a comfort level with the women and counselling sessions involving
theirfamilies can helps to resolve their problem and getting them back to work.

∙ Other problems: ranging from work-life balance to health problems. Counselling helps
toidentify the problem and help her to deal with the situation in a better way.

MODELS OF WORKPLACE COUNSELING

Author Michael Carroll has presented nine models of workplace counseling in his
bookWorkplace Counseling- A Systematic Approach to Employee Care. They are as follows:

1. Counseling-orientation models: They are characterized by the use of a counseling

approachas the key factor in employee counseling. Several authors have taken particular
counselingorientations and reviewed how they might apply these in the workplace
counseling, forexample, cognitive-behavioural therapy (web,1990), neuro-linguistic
programming (sanders,1990);psychodynamic (Gray,1984), rational-emotive therapy
(Morris,1993).

2.Brief therapy models: Brief therapy or focused counseling may not be suited for all clients
orall problems. The of brief therapy in the workplace may be guided more by economics of
thesituation rather than by client need. Occasionally an impression is given in
workplacecounseling by the authorities who are anxious that employees will abuse the
counselingprovision, shirk duties and responsibilities.

3.Problem-focused model: This model sees the counselors role as helping with
theimmediate problems that the employee brings in.

4.Work-oriented model: this model is centered solely on issues blocking am individual inhis
or her work. They pinpoint the immediate problem as workplace issue and work withit. Not
much attention is paid to the underlying issue, the root cause of the problem, andhow to go
about solving that. The aim is to resolve the symptom and get the employeeback on track as
regard work.

5. Manager-based model: it involves viewing managers as quasicounsellors.

Whenmanaging people, they use basic communication skills, which then double up
COUNSELLING

ascounseling skills. As they are well-informed about the role, responsibilities,

ambience,constraints, and complaints of the employee counseling.

6. Externally based model: The counseling resources are outsourced. This form
ofcounseling need not necessarily be face to face, but can be through telephone or
onlinecounseling.

7. Internally based model requires in-house provisions for a counselor.

8. Welfare based model: It is based being sociable, which means combining a number
ofroles with the employee: befriending, orienting, information giving, and counseling.

9. Organisational- change model: This model is not very clear according to Carroll. He
saysit is perhaps the process of integrating counseling into organisational
growth,development and, in particular, transition so that the employee is directly and
thep00pporganization is indirectly benefited.
COUNSELLING

COUNSELLING FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE

AND ADDICTION

MEANING
Substance abuse : The term substance is used in reference to any drug, medication or toxin
that shares the potential for abuse

Addiction : Addiction is a psychological and physiological dependence on alcohol or other

drugs of abuse that effects the central nervous system in such a way that withdrawal
symptoms are experienced when the substance is discontinued

Drug addiction, also called substance use disorder, is a disease that affects a person's brain
and behavior and leads to an inability to control the use of a legal or illegal drug or
medication. Substances such as alcohol, marijuana and nicotine also are considered drugs.
When you're addicted, you may continue using the drug despite the harm it causes.

Drug addiction can start with experimental use of a recreational drug in social situations, and,
for some people, the drug use becomes more frequent. For others, particularly with opioids,
drug addiction begins with exposure to prescribed medications, or receiving medications
from a friend or relative who has been prescribed the medication.

The risk of addiction and how fast you become addicted varies by drug. Some drugs, such as
opioid painkillers, have a higher risk and cause addiction more quickly than others.

As time passes, you may need larger doses of the drug to get high. Soon you may need the
drug just to feel good. As your drug use increases, you may find that it's increasingly difficult
to go without the drug. Attempts to stop drug use may cause intense cravings and make you
feel physically ill (withdrawal symptoms).

You may need help from your doctor, family, friends, support groups or an organized
treatment program to overcome your drug addiction and stay drug-free.

Symptoms

Drug addiction symptoms or behaviors include, among others:

COUNSELLING

 Feeling that you have to use the drug regularly — daily or even several times a
day
 Having intense urges for the drug that block out any other thoughts
 Over time, needing more of the drug to get the same effect
 Taking larger amounts of the drug over a longer period of time than you intended
 Making certain that you maintain a supply of the drug
 Spending money on the drug, even though you can't afford it
 Not meeting obligations and work responsibilities, or cutting back on social or
recreational activities because of drug use
 Continuing to use the drug, even though you know it's causing problems in your
life or causing you physical or psychological harm
 Doing things to get the drug that you normally wouldn't do, such as stealing
 Driving or doing other risky activities when you're under the influence of the drug
 Spending a good deal of time getting the drug, using the drug or recovering from
the effects of the drug
 Failing in your attempts to stop using the drug
 Experiencing withdrawal symptoms when you attempt to stop taking the drug

Recognizing unhealthy drug use in family members

Sometimes it's difficult to distinguish normal teenage moodiness or angst from signs of drug
use. Possible indications that your teenager or other family member is using drugs include:

 Problems at school or work — frequently missing school or work, a sudden

disinterest in school activities or work, or a drop in grades or work performance
 Physical health issues — lack of energy and motivation, weight loss or gain, or red
eyes
 Neglected appearance — lack of interest in clothing, grooming or looks
 Changes in behavior — exaggerated efforts to bar family members from entering his
or her room or being secretive about where he or she goes with friends; or drastic
changes in behavior and in relationships with family and friends
 Money issues — sudden requests for money without a reasonable explanation; or
your discovery that money is missing or has been stolen or that items have
disappeared from your home, indicating maybe they're being sold to support drug use.

Substance abuse counselling process

 Client with substance abuse issues often do not believe that they have a problem.
 Simply confronting the client has been shown to be ineffective in counselling.
 Having other individuals in the client’s life share their feelings has been shown to be
instrumental in starting the client to change their behaviors.
 A large part of the counselling profession believes that abstinence should be the
primary goal of counselling.
COUNSELLING

 Counselling should not just focus on substance use but also reasons and triggers for
substance use.

Different types of substance abuse counselling include :

 Individual counselling
 Group counselling
 Family counselling
 Relapse prevention

De-addiction
 De-addiction is defined as process of overcoming addiction, alcohol marihuana,
grass, cocaine and psychotropic substances.
 The general intent is to enable the patient to cease substance abuse, in order to avoid
the psychological, legal, financial, social, and physical consequences that can be
caused , especially by extreme abuse.

Consequences of substance abuse

 Physical dependence, psychological dependence

 Unhealthy lifestyles and behaviours such as poor diet
 Impairs social and occupational functioning, creating personal, professional,
financial, and legal problems
 In early adolescence may lead to emotional and behavioural problems.
“Counselors are an important part of addiction therapy and their role and involvement in the
treatment process is instrumental to recovery”.

Addiction counselors can help support you throughout the treatment process and create
an individualized plan for recovery, relapse prevention, and after-care. There are various
types of therapy available while in treatment that will provide an array of benefits and allow
you to sustain your sobriety while in recovery.

With the help of an addiction counselor, you can explore what caused you to use drugs
or alcohol, share and process feelings, increase awareness of negative though and behavior
patterns, learn healthy coping skills, identify potential triggers, and create a long-term plan to
sustain your sobriety. Both inpatient and outpatient treatment programs rely heavily on the
use of addiction counseling and these take place in individual or group formats.
COUNSELLING

An addiction counselor’s role is to:

 Conduct substance abuse evaluations and general assessments
 Provide unbiased emotional support for individuals throughout a treatment program
 Conduct one-on-one, couples, and family therapy sessions to get to the root of the
addiction
 Provide psycho education
 Facilitate process groups and group exercises
 Administer periodic drug and alcohol tests
 Develop a specialized plan for treatment based on your individual needs and goals
 Help you create an aftercare plan based on care available in your area.
Addiction counselors will also conduct group therapy sessions that often incorporate family
members or other patients in addiction treatment. Group therapy can lead to discussions about
family dynamics and unhealthy relationships can create or feed into addictive behaviours.
Once these dysfunctions are identified, the patient can begin making important post-treatment
plans.