INTRODUCTION TO COUNSELLING

Alethea Byers MSW; BSC; CAD; CSS

Clinical Social Worker
Specialization in Trauma and Violence
E-mail: alethea.byers@yahoo.com
Tel: 1-268-464-3824
 GETTING ACQUAINTED

 Brief description of self, how you are feeling and why you choose
this course
 Your expectation/contract
 My expectation
 Go through the course outline
 Explain format in which assignment will take place
 Journal (learning journal)
 Skills practice
 Assignments ( individual & Group)
DEFINITION OF COUNSELLING
 DEFINITIONS

Counselling consist of a definite, structured and

permissive relationship which allows the client to gain
an understanding of himself to a degree which enables
him to take positive action in light of his new
orientation and insight (Rogers, 1942]
 COUNSELLING CAN ALSO BE DEFINED AS:

 Providing help and support to as an understanding listener for someone who is

concerned or perplexed.

 Creating a climate so that the client feels accepted, non-defensive and able to talk
freely about himself and his feelings (begins to build a trusting relationship)

 Helping the client to gain clearer insight into himself and his situation so that he is
better able to help himself and draw on his resources.
 COUNSELLING IS NOT:
 Being a friend

 Caring in a parental way

 Treating or ‘healing’ someone like a doctor

 Instructing or teaching

 Advising

 Giving guidance

 Just using counselling skills

 Brief
History of Counselling
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ASPECTS OF
COUNSELLING
 THEORIES OF COUNSELLING

 Humanistic

 Cognitive

 Behavioral

 Psychoanalytic

 Constructionist

 Systemic.
THEORIES
By understanding the origins of distress, we are better able to deal with distress
Counseling Theories assert that problems stem from ineffective relationships or thoughts
in adulthood
Personality Theories speculate that distress stems from more innate, long-standing
problems often starting in childhood
Learning Theories emphasize the fact that distress and behavior is learned from exposure
to rewards and punishments
Person Centered suggest that Humans are good and forward moving unless they are
blocked
Blockages often occur from a lack of unconditional positive regard which leads to low self-
esteem and low self-efficacy
By creating a nurturing, positive environment, people will naturally move in the right
direction.
 THEORIES
Person Centered suggest that there are six (6) necessary conditions required for
change:
1.Therapist-Client Psychological Contact: a relationship between client and
therapist in which each person’s perception of the other is important must exist.
2. Client incongruence, or Vulnerability: incongruence exists between the client’s
experience and awareness causing vulnerability/anxiety increasing motivation.
3. Therapist Congruence, or Genuineness
4. Therapist Unconditional Positive Regard (UPR)
5. Therapist Empathic understanding
6. Client Perception of the therapist’s UPR and empathic understanding.
 THEORIES
REBT/CBT….Focuses on changing the current evaluations and/or reactions
Distress is caused by a combination of the event and the person’s perception of the event. By using
the A-B-Cs, people can evaluate their beliefs and reactions (consequences) to events.
A-B-C
A= Activating Event
B= Beliefs/assumptions about/interpretations of an event
C= Consequences
D= Dispute irrational beliefs: What is the evidence for my beliefs? What are other possible
explanations for what happened?
E= Evaluate reactions/consequences for effectiveness: What are the implications of my believing this
way, and do they make it worth holding on to my beliefs? How useful are my beliefs? Do I or others
get any benefits from holding on to them, or would we benefit more if we held other beliefs?
 THEORIES
CBT/REBT: Irrational Thoughts
Irrational Idea 1 - It is a dire necessity to be loved or approved by almost everyone for
virtually everything he or she does.
Irrational Idea 2 - One should be thoroughly competent, adequate, and achieving in all
possible respects.
Irrational Idea 3 - Certain people are bad or wicked and should be severely blamed and
punished.
Irrational Idea 4 - It is terrible, horrible, and catastrophic when things are not going the
way one would like them to go.
Irrational Idea 5 - Happiness is externally caused and people have little or no ability to
control their emotions.
 THEORIES IRRATIONAL THOUGHTS CONT ’D.…

Irrational Idea 6 - If something is dangerous or fearsome, one should dwell on it

Irrational Idea 7 - It is easier to avoid facing many life difficulties and self-
responsibilities than to undertake more rewarding forms of self-discipline.
Irrational Idea 8 - The past is all-important and because something once strongly
affected one’s life, it should indefinitely do so.
Irrational Idea 9 - People and things should be different, and it is catastrophic if
things do not immediately change.
Irrational Idea 10 -Maximum human happiness can be achieved by inertia and
inaction or by passively enjoying oneself.
 Emotional perfectionism: I should always feel happy, confident, and in control of my
emotions.
 Performance perfectionism: I must never fail/make a mistake.
 Perceived perfectionism: People will not love and accept me as a flawed and vulnerable
human being.
 Fear of disapproval or criticism: I need everybody’s approval
 Fear of rejection: If I’m not loved, then life is not worth living.
 Fear of being alone: If I’m alone, then I’m miserable
CBT/REBT:
 IRRATIONAL
Fear of failure: My worth THOUGHTS,
depends on my achievements
 Conflict phobia: People who love each other shouldn’t fight.
 Emotophobia: I should not feel angry, anxious, jealous etc.
 Entitlement: People should always be how I expect
CBT/REBT: IRRATIONAL THOUGHTS
 all or nothing thinking

 Overgeneralization: mental filter – dwell on the bad and let it discolor everything,
discount the positives, jumping to conclusions/overgeneralization, magnification
emotional reasoning –we FEEL bad, so we believe we are, should, labeling – we label
ourselves negatively instead of trying to learn from the situation or thinking about the
best way to overcome it
 blame – we hold other people responsible for our pain or blame ourselves entirely for
every problem
 mind reading , catastrophizing - we expect disaster.
 personalizing - we think that everything people do or say is some kind of reaction to
use.
 THEORIES: REALITY THERAPY

 Focus on the present

 Avoid discussing symptoms and complaints. These are the ineffective ways that

counselees choose to deal with problems.

 Focus on what counselees can do directly-act and think.

 Spend less time on what they cannot do directly: changing their feelings and

physiology.
 Avoid criticizing, blaming and/or complaining

 Remain non-judgmental, but encourage people to ask: Is what I am doing getting me

closer to the people I need?

 Teach that excuses stand in the way of making needed connections.
 REALITY THERAPY CONT’D
 Focus on specifics

 Who are counselees disconnected from

 Help them make specific, workable plans to reconnect with the people they

need.

 Follow through on what was planned by helping them evaluate their progress.

 Be patient and supportive but keep focusing on the source of the problem,

disconnectedness.
 THEORIES
Personality Theories:
 Psychoanalysis: The conscious mind is what you are aware of at any particular moment, your present
perceptions, memories, thoughts, fantasies, feelings.
 Working closely with the conscious mind is what Freud called the preconscious, what we might today call
available memory. "The largest part by far is the unconscious. It includes all the things that are not easily
available to awareness, including many things that have their origins there, such as our drives or instincts,
and things that are put there because we can’t bear to look at them the unconscious is the source of our
motivations.
 Psychoanalysis con’t: The id, the ego, and the superego
 The id (instinct)works with the pleasure principle to take care of needs immediately
 The ego helps the person searches for objects to satisfy the id’s wishes, as the ego struggles to keep the id
happy, it meets with obstacles in the world. It keeps a record of consequences. This record of things to avoid
and strategies to take becomes the superego.
 There are two aspects to the superego: conscience, which is an internalization of punishments and warnings.
 The other is called the ego ideal. It derives from rewards and positive models presented to the child.
CHOOSING A HELPING
MODEL
 MODALITY OF HELPING
Psychotherapy

Counselling

Guidance

Advising

 Skilled helper
 THE SKILLED HELPER MODEL

Stage 1: Exploring Concerns: In stage 1 the focus is to help the client break down the specific
concerns that are bothering them currently

 Task A. The Story: Problem Situations

 Task B. The Real Story: New Perspectives
 Task C. The Right Story: Key Issues to Work on.
Stage 1: Exploring Concerns
In stage 1 the focus is to help the client break down the specific concerns that are bothering them
currently Task A. The Story: Problem Situations
Task B. The Real Story: New Perspectives
Task C. The Right Story: Key Issues to Work on.
Stage 1: Continued
Task A. Figuring out what the problems or concerns are: Questions to ask in this task; What is
currently going on? What am I mainly concerned out?
Stage 1: Continued Task B. Finding new perspectives. Questions to ask; If I look deeper into my
THE SKILLED HELPER MODEL
concerns, what am I missing? What are new ways I can deal with these concerns?
Stage 1: Continued Task C. Figuring out what to work on. Questions to ask; What should I really be
working on? What positive issues did I handle well that made a big difference in my life?
 THE SKILLED HELPER MODEL

Stage 1: Continued Task A.

Figuring out what the problems or concerns are: Questions to ask in this task; What is currently
going on? What am I mainly concerned out?
Stage 1: Continued Task B.
Finding new perspectives Questions to ask; If I look deeper into my concerns, what am I missing?
What are new ways I can deal with these concerns?
Stage 1: Continued Task C.
Figuring out what to work on Questions to ask; What should I really be working on? What positive
issues did I handle well that made a big difference in my life?
 THE SKILLED HELPER MODEL
Stage 2: Problem Managing and Setting Goals
In Stage 2 the focus is about figuring out the alternatives to problems, how to help find positive outcomes
and setting goals
Task A. Possibilities
Task B. Goals/Outcomes
Task C. Commitment
Stage 2: Continued Task A. Possibilities for a better future. Questions to ask; What would I like my future
to look like? What possibilities do I have for a better future? What would problem managing outcomes
look like?
Stage 2: Continued Task B. Setting goals. Questions to ask; What do I really want or need for a better
future? What would be the best way for me to reach these wants or needs?
Stage 2: Continued Task C. Committing to goals. Questions to ask; Am I ready to commit to the goals I
set? Am I willing to pay for what I want?
 THE SKILLED HELPER MODEL
Stage 3: Drawing Up Plans to Accomplish Goals.
Stage 3: focuses on ways to accomplish the goals set to overcome current concerns
 Task A. Possible Strategies
 Task B. Best-fit Strategies
 Task C. Plans to Accomplish Goals
Stage 3: Continued Task A. Possible paths to take Questions to ask; What are the
possible paths to reach my goals? How will I get to where I want to be?
Stage 3: Continued. Task B. Best path to take Questions to ask; Which path sounds
like the best one to take? Which path fits the resources I have available?
Stage 3: Continued Task C. A set plan to take Questions to ask; What do I need to
do to accomplish my goals? What are the steps I need to take?
Board (1983), Gladding (2010) • Board (1983) highlighted counselling from the
dimension of helping styles. • As a helping process and is one of the major styles in
addition to telling, advising and manipulating
Excludes client TELLING MANIPULATING Client centered Problem centered
ADVISING COUNSELLING Includes client (STYLES OF HELPING, Board,
1983)
Advising • enables the client to solve problems and make decisions by offering
accurate, current and appropriate information. • It seeks to widen the client’s choice
by informing them of their rights, options and possible action programmes (Russell,
Dexter, Bond, 1992)
WHO SHOULD BE A PROFESSIONAL
COUNSELLOR
PORTRAIT OF A HELPER
THE ART OF TAKING NOTES AND
PSYCHOLOGICAL HISTORY
 THE COUNSELLING
RELATIONSHIP- CONTRACTS
 WHAT IS A CONTRACT IN COUNSELLING?

It is an agreement between the counsellor and client, which can be

verbal or written, and establishes from the beginning of the counselling
relationship what is involved, and what the counsellor can offer the
client.
 THE CONTRACT

There are two parts to a counselling contract.

Firstly, the business aspect is discussed with the client including cost,
duration, confidentiality etc.
Secondly, the therapeutic aspect in which the counsellor outlines the
approach that will be used in the counselling process
1.The cost/fees charged and how these can be paid.
2. How the counsellor and client can be contacted
3. How many sessions are on offer when/where/duration
etc? Is the contact open-ended or time limited?
4. What happens if the client does not attend a session? Is there a
charge for missed sessions? How many sessions can be missed before
the place will be given to someone else?
THE BUSINESS CONTRACT
 THE BUSINESS CONTRACT CONT’D

5. The Confidentiality Agreement and its limitations.

It is vital that this is discussed at the beginning of the contract to clarify what
confidentiality you are able to offer the client.
6. Note keeping - Clients have the right under the Data Protection Act (1998) to have
access to their notes (written or taped). have access to their notes (written or taped).
This is where an approach used is discussed with the client
for example.
Cognitive behavioral therapy,
Transactional Analysis,
Psychodynamic,
THE
Humanistic
THERAPEUTIC
CONTRACT
 THE COUNSELLORS :
Counsellors:

 Need to be working within their level of competence and be

qualified and working under supervision.

 Need to be committed to receiving continual professional

development, as well as looking after their own physical and
emotional wellbeing.
 WEEK 2
TYPES OF COUNSELLING
 TYPES OF COUNSELLING
 Crisis counselling

 Facilitative counselling

 Preventative counselling

 Developmental counselling

 Confrontational counselling

 Supportive counselling

 Educative counselling

 Referral Counselling
What is counselling?
Wide range of expressions and many approaches to counselling.
The common theme across these approaches is a focus on facilitating change while supporting
people through life’s challenges
Counsellors work in the fields of counselling, human services/ community work, psychology,
WHAT IS COUNSELLING? PURPOSE OF
education, health medicine, law.(Pelling, Bowers & Armstrong

COUNSELLING
People seek “help” when they:
Are involved in complex problem situations that they are unable to manage/cope with
Feel they are not living as fully as they might… missed opportunities and unused potential
Goals – Mature/Optimal Functioning (Ideal)Life enhancing Outcomes… managing problems and
developing personal resources for more effective living
Learning self-help… assist clients to become better at supporting themselves
Prevention mentality… assist clients to develop action oriented prevention mentality in their lives
Egan, G. (2010)
PURPOSE OF COUNSELLING
The counselling relationship involves applying principles, methods and procedures based on
professional standards and workplace policies….
to assist clients, develop understandings of personal problems, define goals and plan action….
that reflects the clients' interests, abilities, aptitudes and needs
This can require consulting, referral and research.
American Counseling Association

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF
COUNSELLING
 BRIEF OVERVIEW OF COUNSELLING

The counselling process :

Counselors listen without imposing their own values and beliefs
They provide space to explore your thoughts, feelings and behavior… it is helpful and therapeutic
to have your concerns heard
Counselors' employ a variety of techniques to help you understand your feelings
The counselor may ask questions that reflect back to you what your thought processes are, and
help you make sense of your feelings
You may explore and implement changes in the way you do things, which can enhance life and
relationships.
 We may all have at times ,informally counselled someone – friend, family, colleague
 Formal counselling is different to just talking to someone we know.
 Some of the differences are:
Supportive environment for client to reflect and explore and identify their own solutions as
against advising the client what to do
Counselling is a formal process that should conform to accepted practices...

INFORMAL VS FORMAL
Giving advice is not the goal; helping the client to find their own solutions is the counsellor’s goal

COUNSELLING
Appropriate models/frameworks are used to facilitate change and help the
counsellor assist clients tell their stories
Progress can be achieved, maintained and assessed by setting clear and
realistic goals and action plans
Counselling includes self care for the client & the counsellor.
It may include individualized programs, stress management techniques and
referrals to other professionals or agencies that can provide alternative
services to the client
(Examples for referrals: Alcohol and other drugs, suicide prevention, domestic violence,
mental health issues)Egan, G. (2010)

INFORMAL VERSUS FORMAL

COUNSELLING
Counsellors use a combination of techniques when working with clients.
The most commonly used are communication including listening skills.
These help the client to feel heard and allow the counsellor to develop a solid understanding of
what is going on in the life of the client
Egan, G. (2010

INFORMAL VERSUS FORMAL

COUNSELLING
Learning Process for Counselling
Integrating KNOWLEDGE, professional VALUES, and SKILLSREFLEXIVITY
– On-going self reflection...
A mindset that shows an ongoing ability to challenge our pre-conceptions, be
responsive to new ideas and is flexible, or reflexive.
Challenges
– Maintaining openness, flexibility, and a critical mind... Exposure to difficult
situations and emotions
Pelling, Bowers, & Armstrong, 2006, p. 4

LEARNING PROCESS FOR

COUNSELLING
 1
“Being a good counsellor involves more than skills and theory, and is about being a
thoughtful and considerate human being whose maturity and insight draws people
to seek them out for consultation and assistance.” (Pelling, Bowers, & Armstrong,
2007, p. 4)

An important personal journey with self care paramountYoutube video: Counselling

Skills: a Five Minute Training Course from Richard Barton
IMPORTANT... Take the opportunity to ask students to discuss any fears, uncertainties...
Ask some students to share these feelings either pairs/groups/class... Good for
students to hear the range of difference... And reflect back to the class that the range
of feelings is what clients will feel when embarking on counselling

LEARNING PROCESS FOR

COUNSELLING