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What are the characteristics of good qualities of an effective counselor
Elements of effective counseling
What are the characteristics of good qualities of an effective counselor
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As the field of counseling continues to progress numerous theoretical orientations have been developed. One theoretical approach to counseling has been coined as person centered counseling or client centered therapy. This type of approach is commonly referred to as Rogerian psychotherapy. Rogerian therapy focuses on the empowerment of individuals with the inner self. These constructs are vital to ensuring and promoting a transparent and honest atmosphere which subsequently results in effective counseling. The behaviors that are found in client centered counseling are valuable as they motivate the client to explore their "hidden feelings" and become aware of where their feelings derive from. Being afforded the rare opportunity to see Rogers …show more content…
This segment was well received largely because this can be viewed as a universal concept. A highlight of the counseling session was seen in Gloria 's persistent attitude and her reluctancy to make her own decisions. Oftentimes in our human nature our decisions are derived from a combination of our values, morals, and standards. But sometimes we face situations when our values and the decisions that we are making are contradictory to one another (this is the dilemma that Gloria faced). What Dr. Rogers identified was the fact that we know what decision we want to make however we seek validation/acceptance from others. This what is known as prizing: seeking quality acceptance from others. As a result, we begin to contemplate and debate over every little decision in our lives therefore decreasing our confidence to make decisions on our own. Rogers practices enables his clients the ability to empower and uplift themselves in order to increase their self awareness. This is the type of influence that teachers, mentors, and parents can have over individuals by positive reassurance and not just telling people what to do. Gloria expressed to Dr. Rogers on several occasions that what she wanted was for him to tell her exactly what she should do; but instead he implemented counseling behaviors such as influencing her to be confident in her own …show more content…
Carl Rogers and Gloria 's session was a learning lesson and evidence that the developments in life overtime can have a direct impact on how we evolve as human beings. Various aspects, topics and behaviors that were viewed in this clip reminded me of scenarios that I see on a weekly basis. I myself have struggled with the fear of making the "wrong" decisions, I have seen relationships go astray due to inadequate trust, honesty, and transparency, and I have witnessed immature disagreements turn into full blown arguments and rage simply due to the absence of active listening and the list can go on. This session enabled the viewers the opportunity to see themselves from the client 's perspective which would involve seeing things through her eyes and trying to understand why she feels the way she does based off of signs such as both verbal and non-verbal communication, her diction, body language,
...ed. In fact, they responded with exclamations like, “I guess that could be true.” The interpretation seemed like a stretch by the therapist even in a training video about psychodynamic therapy! I had to wonder what it might look like in real life. Overall, I felt like this therapy might work on clients like the ones portrayed, i.e. clingy self-doubting ones. The techniques seemed to huddle in the arena of suggestibility. In the end I couldn’t help but wonder how such techniques would work on more self-aware strong-willed people like myself.
While CBT has many advantages, it alone does not encompass all of the concepts I believe are necessary to tackle a client’s needs. Therefore, I draw upon concepts from various theories to assist clients in achieving their goals. Pulling from Reality therapy, a key concept I utilize is focusing on what the client is doing and how to get them to evaluate whether they’re present actions are working for them. CBT does use some form of this in the sense that one must examine and establish their cognitive misconceptions; however, I prefer to extract this concept from Reality therapy because CBT tends to do so by focusing on the past. I am a firm believer that while the past can shape who you are, it does little good to remain focused on it. Focusing on overt behavior, precision in specifying the goals of treatment, development of specific treatment plans, and objective evaluation of therapy outcomes all come from Behavior therapy (Corey, 2013, p. 474). Behavior therapy is highly structured much like that of CBT. By utilizing this aspect of Behavior therapy, I am better able to closely observe where a client is currently and where they are headed. Lastly, I pull from Person-Centered therapy as the final key concept of my counseling approach. PCT focuses on the fact that client’s have the potential to become aware of their problems and resolve them (Corey, 2013). This Person-Centered therapy concept has overlap with CBT as
I was really nervous about doing this first practice recording. While I knew how I wanted to start the conversation, I was stressed out about the unknown that comes along with these sessions. I am constantly listening to my friends talk, but how I had to respond for the counseling session was very different than what I am typically used to. I usually give my friends my opinions and advice on how I would handle the situation. It was hard for me to just sit back and let my classmate talk. I wanted to respond to many of her statements, but I had to take a step back and really just listen. In these types of counseling sessions my thoughts and opinions are not important. Rather, the focus should only be on the person you are counseling.
In the second part of the book Rogers speaks of his ideas of his theory of the person-centered approach to therapy. This is the part of the book that I felt really spoke to me. Person-centered theory is a lot of what I would like to do. I enjoy the ideas and concepts that Rogers presents in his theory. I think that it is extremely important to be able to take into consideration not only the diagnosis of the patient/client with whom you are working, but that it is more important to be able to take the time to sit back and to listen to them. I have realized in the year that I have been working in the psychiatric hospital how important it is for the patient/client to just sit back and listen to what it is they're saying to you. This however does not mean I am only hearing their words, but that I am listening at a much deeper level and actually he...
To explain, the client should not be inferior to the counselor; the environment should be two people discussing an issue and ways to make a difference. A therapist should occasionally share similar experiences; therefore, sessions should make clients feel comfortable. To add, the client should feel safe due to the positive atmosphere the therapist brings to the session. The goal is to finally give the client a chance to be heard, regularly people are muted and feel like they are insignificant to society. Similarly, to Person-centered therapy where communication with the client is unconditionally positive. The therapist needs to genuinely care about the client needs for them to fully express themselves successfully. Furthermore, clients should be encouraging to make their own choices which model how to identify and use power responsibly. Hence, this will help the client feel more confident in everyday life when making a meaningful
Corey, G. (2013). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy (9th Edition). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing.
Although, this session ended with amazing results, I feel as though I need more practice with this type of therapy. I have to continue to practice on allowing the patient to come up with their own solutions. I found it hard not giving advice to my client, because I already knew the situation. However, in the end I found myself very proud, because even though this was not a real therapy session, but the client was able to find a real solution to her problem. This experience is one that teaches the therapist restraint, it allows one to step back and listen. It also gives the client the opportunity to reach a solution themselves without someone giving them the answer to their
The counselor accomplishes the above by expressing empathy, developing discrepancies, going along with resistance and supporting self-efficacy. Moreover, the counselor guides the client toward a solution that will lead to permanent posi...
Motivational interviewing is a counseling method that helps people decide ambivalent feelings and insecurities to find the internal motivation they need to change their behavior. It is a practical, empathetic, and short-term process that takes into consideration how difficult it is to make life changes in a person’s life. Motivational Interviewing is a collaborative, goal oriented method of communication with particular attention to the language of change. The examples of the lower risk and higher risk from the videos showcased the difference in working with different types of clients. This technique can be active in any conversation, the videos that were watched for motivational interviewing showed the casual conversation being between the therapist and the client, it was in a not judgmental way which assisted the client in the opening about their life and struggles they are currently facing. In a therapy session, the client often appears “caught” and unable to
...entation, or several, in which they choose to practice in their professional career. Psychoanalysis and Person-Centered Therapy are just two, out of over four hundred types, of counseling approaches in use today. The constructs and theories are extremely different, however, neither can be considered right nor wrong. They are simply based on different beliefs, assumptions and viewpoints of human development and their behavior. Although, however different and unique, there are still similarities between the two types of therapy approaches. Through case examples, such as the case of D and the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder, the techniques and outcomes of different treatment approaches can be see in real life examples. Past research and writing support brings about contradictions, criticism and treatment outcomes to the theories and those who developed them.
Counseling skills has provided me with a valuable insight into the helping relationship and how it is both created and maintained in order to encourage growth and development in the client. The factors involved within the helping relationship include considering Roger’s core conditions, congruence, unconditional positive regard and empathy as the three main characteristics necessary in a helping relationship. In order to fully incorporate all three of Roger’s core conditions, I as the counselor must be self-aware, as a lack of self-awareness may inhibit truly listening and understanding the client; self-awareness can be enhanced through exercises such as Johari’s window. Counseling skills such as body language and active listening also plays a role within encouraging the client to open up and can help me as the counselor convey empathy.
Clients are encouraged to face the facts about oneself, and learn that in order for others to accept them, they must learn to love and appreciate themselves. Gestalt therapy would help Joan realize that she needs to focus on the now and her current relationship with Hal, as her disapproving relationships in the past are not an important factor in the mending of her current relationship. Furthermore, Gestalt Therapy is a strong form of counseling in how it is personally tailored to each individual, making it applicable across cultures. However, this could cause difficulties in Joan. She seems to contribute much of her self worth as a human to the acceptance she receives from her relationships. It could be a strength, by teaching her how to become more self reliant and self accepting, but it could also be difficult to start with as she is so reliant on others opinions. It’s level of creativity can emphasize nonverbal behaviors, such as with the exaggeration exercise. By exaggerating movements or gestures, it intensifies the feelings the client associates with that gesture. Gestalt Therapy also has its limitations. It can be hard for clients that are not able to think abstractly to do some of the exercises of Gestalt. Such as empty chair or role playing. Therapists can also, if not careful, abuse their power. Some of the techniques used can be forceful and therapists that have not been
Corey, G. (2011). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy. (ninth ed., pp. 291-301). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Carl Rogers was a founder of this movement that emphasizes personal growth, and he suggested that the personality only contains one paradigm- the self-concept. The self-concept is a collection of beliefs about one’s nature, qualities unique to them, and their typical behavior. If a person’s self-concept matched reality, then they are considered congruent. If they do not match reality, then they are considered incongruent, and this has an effect on the person’s well being. Rogers believed that a parent’s unconditional love for their child could help foster congruence in that person. (Weiten, Dunn, & Hammer, 2012) He based these humanistic theories off of the interactions that he had with his clients, as he observed them during their sessions. His theories help to explain a person’s defensive behavior among other things, but most importantly, he stressed that psychological health is extremely important. (Weiten, Dunn, & Hammer,
One aspect I found striking was the role of advice giving in counseling. Prior to this class, I knew that counselors did not typically give opinions or advice to lead a client in a certain direction. What I did not know was the entire reasoning behind this. A counselor might avoid giving advice so that a client learns to make his/her own decisions, does not become dependent on the counselor, and to ensure that a client will not later blame the counselor if the counselor’s advice did not turn out well. In this context, I have a better appreciation and understanding of why therapists refrain from telling the client what to do.