The Effective

Counselor,Personality
characteristics, skills & self of
counselor
Unit 1:C
Essential Qualities of
a counselor
1. Intellectual Competence
2. Energy
3. Flexibility
4. Support
5. Good Will
6. Self-awareness
Career Case Study: Kiran grew up in a comfortable environment.

Decision She went to private schools, was extensively tutored, well-

regarded by her parents’ associates, and was on the path to
succeeding her father as CEO of a large corporation when
she realized she wanted to work with people in a therapeutic
way.She applied to a number of counseling programs and
was accepted. However, she decided that before she entered
a program she would take a year to work with poor people in
a developing country so she could “suffer” some and become
more empathetic.

What do you think of her idea? Do you think her plan

would help her?
 Why maintaining effectiveness as a counselor is crucial?
What is the significance of synchronicity?
The term synchronicity was coined by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung (1875-1961). Jung had a strong belief in a wide variety of
paranormal phenomenon, including psychic powers, astrology etc.

Jung's concept of synchronicity is complicated and poorly defined, but can be boiled down to describing "meaningful coincidences."
The concept of synchronicity came to Jung during a period of mental illness in the early 1900s. Jung became convinced that
everything in the universe is intimately connected, and that suggested to him that there must exist a collective unconscious of
humankind. This implied to him that events happening all over the world at the same time must be connected in some unknown way.

Synchronicity is an interesting philosophical idea; unfortunately there is no evidence that it actually exists. It is not surprising that
synchronicity — like many ideas of Jung and his colleague Sigmund Freud — have not been proven. Even the famous Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator personality test, which was based in part on Jung's work, has been widely challenged as invalid and unscientific

Now Why are we talking about synchronicity?

A critical issue is how counselors handle these life events.
Maintaining
effectiveness
counselors use for coping with crisis situations
include remaining objective, accepting and
confronting situations, asserting their own
wishes, participating in a wellness lifestyle,
and grieving (Shallcross,2011b; Witmer &
Young, 1996).
Counselors, and those who wish to enter the
profession, need to adapt to losses as well as
gains in life and remain relatively free from
destructive triangling patterns with persons,
especially parents,in their families of origin
(McGoldrick, Gerson, & Petry, 2008). Such a
stance enables them to foster and maintain
intimate yet autonomous relationships in the
present as desired (Gaushell & Lawson,
1994).
Problematic
behaviors
associated with
counseling
1. Compassion Fatigue:

It is characterized as an
inability to react
sympathetically or
empathetically to a
crisis or need situation.

Often characterized by emotional

and physical exhaustion leading to
a diminished ability to empathize
or feel compassion for others,
often described as the negative
cost of caring.
Burnout
The high levels of empathetic
demand and frequent exposure to
clients' trauma create perfect
conditions for compassion fatigue or
emotional exhaustion.

Three components of burnout:

1. Emotional Exhaustion
2. Physical Exhaustion
3. Decreased Perceived Efficacy
How can Counselors avoid problematic behaviors
Associate with healthy individuals
• Work with committed colleagues and organizations that have a sense of mission
• Be reasonably committed to a theory of counseling
• Use stress-reduction exercises
• Modify environmental stressors
• Engage in self-assessment (i.e., identify stressors and relaxers)
• Periodically examine and clarify counseling roles, expectations, and beliefs (i.e., work smarter, not
necessarily longer)
• Obtain personal therapy
• Set aside free and private time (i.e., balance one’s lifestyle)
• Maintain an attitude of detached concern when working with clients
• Retain an attitude of hope
Professional aspects of
Counseling