Counselling and Guidance eNotes For Sem II
Unit 1: Introduction to Counseling
Guidance and counseling are needed in society because of many reasons. It helps in developing students’ potential, shaping their behaviors and instilling discipline in them
Definition of counseling :- Counseling is a form of ‘talk therapy’. It is a process where an individual, couple or family meet with a trained professional counselor to talk about issues and problems that they are facing in their lives. Professional counseling is confidential and non-judgmental.
Definition of Guidance :- The guidance refers to advice or information provided by a person of experience, to solve a problem or improve something. The guidance refers to the process of helping individuals to discover and develop their potential. The need for guidance is something that cannot be ignored by anyone.
Difference between guidance and counseling :-Guidance refers to advice or a relevant piece of information provided by a superior, to resolve a problem or overcome difficulty. Counseling refers to professional advice given by a counselor to an individual to help him in overcoming personal or psychological problems.
Relationship :-
The similarity between guidance and counseling is that both approaches aim to help you. Guidance is giving you information to make the decision or take the next step, while counseling is helping you to access your own wisdom.
These are the five most commonly named goals of counseling:-
1. Facilitating behavior change.
2. Improving the client’s ability to establish and maintain relationships.
3. Enhancing the client’s effectiveness and ability to cope.
4. Promoting the decision-making process and facilitating client potential.
5. Development.
these are the five most commonly named goals of counseling:
Facilitating behavior change.
Improving the client’s ability to establish and maintain relationships.
Enhancing the client’s effectiveness and ability to cope.
Promoting the decision-making process and facilitating client potential.
Development.
The Qualities of a Good Counselor :-
- Communication skills. Communication skills will play a key role in your relationship with your clients. …
- Patience. Patience will become a critical trait as a counselor. …
- Confidence. …
- Non-judgmental. …
- Observant. …
- Listening Skills. …
- Trust. …
- Respectful.
Empathy: Counselors must be able to display empathy,the ability to feel what another person is feeling.
Empathy means that you are truly able to imagine what it’s like to stand in someone else’s shoes.
warmth in counseling?
This term is used to describe sensitivity, friendliness and consideration on the part of the counselor. Showing personal warmth is basic in an effective counseling relationship. Carl Rogers prefers to call this quality “unconditional positive regard”
How does a Counselor show unconditional positive regard?
the therapist can display unconditional acceptance by asking the client about their feelings and what they believe drove the thought or behavior rather than focusing on how the client’s actions would hurt someone else or on the illegality or immorality of the action
STEPS IN THE COUNSELING PROCESS –
The ten steps for counseling are to establish basic ground rules in what you do and how you operate. These ten steps are –
1. Encourage the client to talk about the feeling
2. Validate the feeling with reflective listening
3. Let the client have the chance to speak
4. Provide missing information where needed
5. Talk about the clientís views and goals
6. Communicate what it takes to get to the point needed
7. Observe signs of trouble and prepare for possible violence and threats
8. Encourage client to develop positive energy towards devising a solution
9. Establish a regular schedule for follow-up discussions and give feedback
10. Agree on what steps are needed to be taken by the client to change the current situation.
Unit ||: Foundation Skills
What are counseling skills?
Counseling skills are interpersonal and technical traits that a counselor uses to better understand and listen to their clients. Using these skills, a counselor helps a client overcome obstacles that are preventing them from leading a happy life. These skills help you build rapport, establish trust and ensure that your clients feel heard and understood.
Eye contact:- Maintaining eye contact with a client showcases that you are listening to them and they have your undivided attention.
Facial expression:– Your facial expressions can help you create a warm, friendly and supportive environment for your client. So, avoid sitting with a frowning face and have a warm smile to build trusting relationships.
Seating arrangement:-when a person is counseling someone closely or is teaching something, it is advised to sit in an L shaped position, with you sitting at right angles to the other person.
Listening:-It is one of the most important skills for a counselor to have. Listening is not only about aural attention because it encompasses observation of what your client is speaking.
Listening is the ability to accurately receive and interpret messages in the communication process.
ï Listening is key to all effective communication, without. the ability to listen effectively to messages are easily misunderstood.
Listening to Silence and your Reaction :-The silence that may occur when actively listening allows you to hear the other person’s thoughts instead of your own: When you engage in active listening, you can hear more of what the other person is saying and understand their thoughts, instead of forcing your thoughts immediately into the situation and experiencing .
Interrupting silence:- Silence in counseling allows the client to speak about their issues without interruption (sometimes a new experience for them)
Listening filter:-When we listen through a filter, we are “listening”, but we’re not “hearing.” When our filters are engaged, we miss what is being said and when we miss the meaning, the energy underneath the words and the emotional content of the message, we’re likely to react unconsciously rather than respond meaningfully.
What are reflecting skills?
Reflection means analyzing your own experiences to improve the way you learn or work. It’s a valuable skill that can help learners and professionals gain experience, confidence and self-awareness.
Restating:-
- Saying what you understand
- So client will know you understand , if you donít you are willing to be corrected
Summarizing
- At the end of a session, After listening to the statements of the client , the counselor summarizes the content presented by the client.
- Through summarizing, the counselor tries to find out if s/he has properly understood the frame of reference of the client
Probing skills:-Probing skills usually express your perspective. When you probe, you are responding from your frame of reference, and is usually done when seeking information or wanting to influence the direction of a session. Probes state your perception of what is important to deal with.
What is skill of probing questions?
The skill of Probing Questioning involves going deep into a pupil’s response by asking a series of subsequent questions. It helps the pupils to give a correct and complete answer.
Probing skills Responding to client’s questions :-
- receive the question respectfully,
- promote the clientís curiosity about the question,
- answer the question sufficiently, and
- explore possible underlying or idiosyncratic meanings of the question.
- Respond to a specific question with a general answer.
Unit ||| : Group Counseling
Individual and Group Counseling-Similarities and Differences.
In individual counseling, there is one client and counselor. In group counseling there are multiple clients, and sometimes multiple counselors. Group counseling is roughly defined as at least five clients, and as high as 15. Sometimes in those higher reaches two or more counselors are employed to direct the session.
Assumptions and Limitations of Group Counseling.
- Not everyone feels safe in a group situation
- Some people prefer a one-to-one relationship to explore personal issues
- Individuals may be too hostile to benefit from the group
Process of group Counseling:-
A professional counselor is a highly trained individual who is able to use a different range of counseling approaches with their clients.
Counseling as a profession involves:-
1 – Dedicated time set aside to explore difficulties, stressful situations, or emotional upset faced by a client.
2 – Helping that client see their situation and feelings from a different viewpoint, potentially to facilitate change.
3- Building a relationship based on trust and confidentiality.
What are the advantages of group counseling?
Students can discuss issues with their peers, who may better understand student issues. Students can learn from others who have similar problems. Another student in the group may have gone through a similar situation and can offer support. Students can gain multiple perspectives from other group members.
Unit IV: Special areas in Counseling
What are the main areas of counseling?
Educational, vocational and personal growth are three major areas of counseling under which you have different types of counseling including relationship, trauma, PTSD, eating disorder, stress, anxiety, substance abuse and more.
Counseling with parents:-
Continuous counseling of the parents is crucial as they learn to cope with their personal inadequacies and their feelings of guilt and stress. Psychologists have found that parents become disunited and fail to communicate properly with one another, thereby sending confusing messages to an already disturbed child.
