Just like guidance, counselling
is defined in various ways by different experts in the field. The American
Psychological Association (APA) defined counselling as helping individuals
towards overcoming obstacles for personal growth. Jones on the other hand,
considered counselling as an enabling process designed to help an individual
come to terms with his life as it is and ultimately to grow to greater maturity
through learning to take responsibility and to make decision for him.
Arbuckle, defined it as an
interview or conference between a student and some members of the school staff
for the purpose of considering some problems of the student and endeavoring to
decide on some desirable courses of actions. While Gombs viewed it as an
attempt to aid the individual by assisting him to reorganization of attitudes,
feelings and emotion such that he can make optimal use of his abilities and
physical endowments.
Finally, Rogers looked at it
as a definitely structured relationship which allows the client to gain an
understanding of himself to a degree which enables him to take positive steps
in the light of his new orientation.
There is no
question as to who defined in a comprehensive and meaningful way, because from
their definitions they all agree that counseling is an activity in which all
facts are gathered together and all the experiences of the student are focused
on the particular problem to be solved by him, and he is given a direct and
personal help in solving the problem.
Purposes of Counseling (Dusmoor
and Miller)
The primary
purpose of counseling is to assist the individual in self-realization.
This involves helping to
understand what he can do and what he should do to strengthen his best
qualities, to handle his difficulties rationally rather than to be driven by
unconscious forces, to find suitable channels for his emotions and to move
toward his more adaptable self.
• Give students information on matters important to his success.
• Get information about the student which will be of help in solving his problem.
• Establish a feeling of mutual understanding between the student and the teacher
• Help student work out a plan for solving his difficulties.
• Help student know himself better, his interest, abilities, aptitudes and opportunities
• Assist
the student in planning for his educational and vocational choices.
Goals of Counseling (Blackman and
Silberman)
Specific
steps to be followed in establishing counseling goals and methods to be used to
bring about changes.
1. Problem definition. Take the initial statement of the client and determine where when, and with whom the inappropriate behavior occurs. The behavior of the client may be observed in the actual situation
2. Development and social history. Used in identifying areas of success and failure competencies and deficiencies, interpersonal relationship patterns, adjective behaviors, and problem areas.
3. Establishing specific goals of counseling. Goals of counseling must be stated in specific terms, that is, in terms of particular behavior that need to be changed, which may be different for each client. The counselor and the client must agree on the goal that they want to achieve and concur that through counseling, there us a possibility of achieving it.
4.
Determine methods to be used to bring out
desired change. The methods used may be different depending upon the client and
the problem brought to the counseling situation.
Basic Principles of Counseling (Ordonez)
1. Counseling decisions are not compromises
2. The responsibility for these decisions must rest with the counselee.
3. Counseling with inadequate information can result in dangerous decisions
4. Counseling techniques must not be confused with administrative technique.
5. When the case warrants it, the services of psychologist must be sought.
6. Counseling is basically a learning function, subject in a large measure to the same laws of learning applicable in the classroom.
General Situations that Demand Counseling (Jones)
1. When the student needs:
1.1 Not only information but also an interested interpretation of such information which meets his own personal difficulties.
1.2 A
wiser listener with broader experience than his own, to whom he can recount his
difficulties
2. When the student is unaware that he has a certain problem but unable to cope with it intelligently.
3. When the student is suffering from a major maladjustment or handicap and which demands careful diagnosis.
4.
When the counselor has access to facilities to
which the student does not have any access.
Essentials of the Counseling Process (Strang)
Relationship. The
counselee has a deep sense of responsibility for taking initiative and using
available resources within himself to help himself. The counselor must project
warmth, responsiveness, and acceptance of the person as he is and as he can
become.
Basic features of relationship:
a. Empathy – the power or state of imagining oneself to be another and so of his ideas and feelings or the ability to experience another person’s world as if it were his own without even losing that “as if” quality.
b. Warmth – an unconditional regard-to prize the person-respect for people for what they are; a relationship in which both you and the other person are to learn from each other.
c.
Genuineness
– regarded as open communication. The counsellor must communicate with
directness and openness. He must present himself as he genuinely feels at the
time of contact. Encourage the client to stop pretending, denying, hiding,
concealing his thoughts and feelings.
Atmosphere. Counselor creates atmosphere of freedom and acceptance
so that the client feels free to be himself and will have the courage to face
his feelings.
Facilitation of counselee’s efforts. With the psychological climate already created, the counselor through his facial expressions and bodily actions, can start the interview which will facilitate freedom of expression on the part of the counselee.
Attention to adjustment in life situation. Effect a desirable program in carrying out the client’s plan within the context of the environment where the client is.
Follow-Up. Individuals who have been counselee must be followed up
in order to find out if new problems occur or the old problem has recurred.
Classification of Counseling Methods
Directive counseling or Clinical counseling (Woolf) – Permit the
counselor to give the client information about himself, his opportunities and
the general situation.
May take the lead in conversation, point out inconsistencies or suggest action. Steps include: analysis, synthesis, diagnosis, prognosis, counseling and follow up.
Non-directive or client centered technique- Puts responsibility on the client for exploring his problems, his potential environment, and his alternatives. The emphasis is on the individual, not on the problem, thus, the client does his own thinking and choosing.
Eclectic approach (Warten) – Incorporate the best features of
directive and non- directive methods.
Other Strategies Used in Counseling (Hansen)
Prescriptive. Giving advice, being judgmental, seeks to direct the behavior of the helped or person.
Informative. Being didactic, interpreting or giving instruction, imparting new information intended to shape subsequent behavior, thoughts or feelings.
Confronting. Giving direct feedback, challenging the person in need by using a variety of techniques to challenge the restrictive attitudes, values, behavior, thoughts, feelings in order to help the person recognize and change these features in themselves.
Cathartic. Encouraging emotional discharge intended to enable the person to release emotion (sadness, joy, tension, pain, sorrow, etc.) which has been kept “locked” from within.
Catalytic. Being reflective, enabling self-direction, the counselor encourages the person to take control of the program me of action by directing the attention to the needs thru a contract in which rights, duties and tasks are clearly defined so that the person can make use of his own skills.
Supportive. By approving and suggesting, the counselor assist the person in their own development for mutual support.
These six strategies can be grouped to form two major styles of helping or counseling. These are: a). prescriptive or directive, where the helper directs, instructs, or guides the person in need to an appropriate action and b) facilitative or developmental, where the helper is less directive and seeks to encourage the person in need to discharge emotion and reach their own realization of appropriate action.
Transactional Analysis (TA)
Transactional Analysis is another
technique used in counseling. This is a contractual system for treating
individuals within the group context. The goal is “social control” in which the
adult or counselor retains the role of an executive in dealing with other
people. The objectives of the client are established on a contractual basis.
The requirements are as
follows: the Counselor and client must mutually agree on the objectives;
contract must call for some considerations; from the counselor, professional
skills and time and from the client, either money or time and effort; contract
must define the competencies of both parties; contract must be legal and within
the ethical limits of the counselor.
Eight Counseling Techniques under Transactional Analysis
Transactional Analysis is effective to all types of clients and problems but each type listed below must be used for a specific purpose or objectives.
1. Interrogation – Counselor must question the client until the latter produces an adult response.
2. Specification – This take place when the counselor and the client agree on where a particular client behavior comes from.
3. Confrontation – The counselor points out the discrepancies or inconsistencies in behavior or statements.
4. Explanation – Counselor explains why the client is behaving in a certain way.
5. Illustration – Includes breaking tension and instructing. It serves to indicate to the client that both adult and child behaviors are appropriate.
6. Confirmation – Pointing out to the client the reappearance of behavior that had ceased when first confronted by the counselor.
7. Interpretation – Counselor tries to help the client see the reasons behind a given behavior.
8.
Crystallization
– Counselor tells the client that the latter is now ready to give up the “game”
he had been using to receive strokes.
Interview: The Heart of Counseling Process (Hansen) Goals of Initial
Interview
• Lady the foundation for the counseling relationship.
• Begin opening all the psychological realities in the Clients
situations that is, helping the client to explore more deeply the problem or
feelings.
• Structure the situation for the Client, that is, giving idea of
what counseling is like, what is expected of the client and how to make plans
for further work.
Clusters of Client’s Purposes
• Desire
for greater understanding of feelings and behavior.
• Desire
for help in talking, in controlling moods, thought, and actions, desire to work
on a persons to person basis.
• Catharsis, that is, a wish to unburden the problem.
• Gain
relief from tension and get to know the counselor as a person
• Seeking
support.
• Show
the counselor the client’s knowledge of improvement.
• Desire
for a more response from the counselor
Kinds of Interview (Aquino)
1. According to major emphasis
a.
Educational guidance
b.
Religious counseling
c.
Health counseling
2. According to purpose
a.
Introductory interview
b.
Fact-finding interview
c.
Informative
d.
Therapeutic
Essentials of the Interview
Process (Aquino)
• Setting – Free from distractions and
constant interruptions.
• Background information – Adequate
information about the client.
• Gaining rapport – Make the client feel
at ease by establishing an atmosphere of friendliness and security.
• Developing insights and putting insights
into work – Ability to verbalize ideas, suppressed impulses, feelings and
conflicts.
• Terminating the contact – Both
counselor and client should recognize that independence is attained. It should
not be abrupt but should be planned.
• Keeping records of the interview –
Record salient points accurately and immediately after the interview.
Rules for Conducting Interview
1. Interviewer listens in a patient and friendly but intelligently critical manner.
2. Should not display any kind of authority
3. Should not give advice or moral admonition.
4. Should not argue with the client.
5. Should talk or ask questions only under certain conditions.
6. Accept the client’s attitudes and feelings.
7. Do not fire questions like a Machinegun.
8. Should not turn aside from the negative feeling that is emerging
9. Should admit ignorance about certain topics
10. Must keep control of the interview
11. Must set limits on the interview.
12. Interview must be terminated.
13. If possible, client must do summarizing
Roger’s Conditions for Counseling (Hansen)
1. Two persons must be in psychological contact.
2. The client must be in a state of incongruence. There must at least be a feeling of vulnerability and/or anxiety.
3. The counselor must be genuine or congruent in the relationship.
4. The counselor must experience unconditional positive regard, that is, respect for the client regardless of anything.
5. Counselor must experience emphatic understanding especially of the client’s internal frame of reference.
6.
Client must perceive that conditions three and
four exist and that they are actual feelings on the part of the counselor
VOCATIONAL COUNSELING
Vocational Counseling is designed to aid people in understanding themselves in learning about the world of work, in making decisions about jobs and careers, and in making use of their jobs for their own personal lives.
Developmental Stages of Vocational Counseling
Stage one – Young children – Offered between the ages of five and twelve by exposing children to information about jobs in the community.
Stage two – Adolescence – From 13 to 17 – Assist adolescents in understanding the importance of work as well as making decisions, selecting courses or considering the future.
Stage Three – Entering the world of work – Counselor with such topics as exploration and trial, establishment, work satisfaction, work styles, and some special problems.
Stage Four – Working – Counselor provides assistance in personal crises associated with work or help the worker move toward better efficiency while in the job.
Stage Five – Leaving work – Counselor provides data docused on
retirement plans of the client.
Vocational Development Factors
• Abilities – People need to know what their abilities are.
• Interests – Client’s interest must match with occupational choice.
• Values – The relationship between values, especially work values, and reward system, is a critical area for the counselor and the client to discuss.
• Decision making – Involves defining the
problem, developing alternative solutions, finding appropriate information,
using the information, developing plans and objectives, following through and
evaluation.
ETHICAL AND MORAL PRINCIPLES OF GUIDANCE DATA (Hansen)
Principle 1 – The school has no right to elicit information from the students unless that information will be used with reasonable speed to the direct or indirect benefits of the student.
Principle 2 – All
assessment data must be kept confidential by the counselor unless the client’s
approval is sought.
Guidelines to Counselor Confidentiality (Tennyson)
1. The counselor can justify the invasion of another’s property only if the information is to be used in the school in a way which is beneficial and helpful to the student.
2. When the counselor either elicits or allows the client or parent to divulge personal information in the course of interviewing, testing, or other contract, the client or parent must be aware of the purpose for which the information is desired and the way in which it will be used.
3. The counselor must distinguish between appraisal data and those that describe his behavior and personality.
4. When a student requests that certain information be held in confidence.
5.
Score’s on psychometric tests and other
information be revealed if it is necessary to do so.
Providing Assistance in Value Situations (Hansen)
Helping clients in the area of values may well be the most difficult task most counselor undertake. One thing the counselor can and should do is to promote an environment in the counseling relationship that allows the client the freedom to explore, in some detail or depth, the value concerns he has.
Strategies
1. Choosing from alternative – identifies the decision-making process. Client becomes aware that there is usually a process to be undertaken before making final decision.
Questions: Have you considered alternative to that? How long did you look around before you decided?
2. Choosing after considering consequences – client is helped to see that various alternatives may have more positive values than others.
Questions: What is the best thing you like about that idea? What would happen if everyone had your belief?
3. Choosing freely
– Client looks at the degree to which outside influences may affect decisions.
Questions: Is that really your own choice? Where do you suppose you
got that idea?
4. Prizing and cherishing – Client learns that people frequently behave on the basis of how important an activity and behavior may be, that is all right to have some beliefs that are important even though they may be seen by others as selfish.
Questions: Is that something that is important to you? Are you so
proud of how you handled that?
5. Public Affirming – Involves sharing the client’s values and understanding with others, which may be done a direct manner or through actions and behaviors that reflect values.
Questions: Is this something that you like to share with others?
Who would you be willing to tell that to you?
6. Acting – this leads the client to change his behavior or attitude or at least a better understanding and acceptance of behavior.
Questions: Is that something you’d be willing to try?
What would your next step be
if you choose to pursue that direction?
7. Acting repeatedly – the counselor insures that the new behavior become a part of the client lifestyles and that the behavior works.
Questions: Is this typical of you? Will you do it again?