BASICS OF GUIDANCE & COUNSELING COUNSELING PROCESS

STEPS IN COUNSELING PROCESS Step 1Establishing rapport and relationship Step 2Assessing or defining of the presenting problem Step 3Identifying and setting goals Step 4Choosing and initiating interventions Step 5Planning and introducing termination and follow-up

1. Establishing the Relationship Nature of client-counselor relationship includes such factors as respect, trust, psychological comfort, and mutual purpose Rapport – psychological climate that emerges from the interpersonal contact between counselor and client – Good rapport  positive psychological growth – Poor rapport  undesirable or counterproductive outcomes Mutual purpose – therapeutic alliance or working alliance – participatory involvement by both parties toward therapeutic goals and outcomes

Establishing the Relationship Determined by/ affected by – Counselor’s personal and professional qualifications – Client’s interpersonal history and anxiety state “I know I need help and will feel better when I get it.” or “I wish I weren’t here.” Influenced by client’s previous experience with sharing personal information or interacting with authority figures, with older persons, with the opposite sex, and with people of a different cultural background Interpersonal attraction, trustworthiness, competence, and sensitivity to and understanding of cultural factors in oneself and others

Establishing the Relationship Transference – client associates certain qualities with the counselor Counselor’s demeanor reminds the client of his nurturing mother, demanding boss, or prejudiced friend. The client may decide that the counselor is like this person, or in extreme cases of transference, is the person. – Positive transference – favorable comparison – Negative transference – unfavorable comparison Countertransference

Establishing the Relationship The relationship is living and evolving Early impressions are revisited and reexamined Not establish in a single contact. May require several sessions before client becomes comfortable and begins to accept the counselor into his private world of thoughts and feelings Consistency in counselor’s character is important Not the same as friendship even though the counseling relationship shares some qualities with good friendship.

2. Assessing the Problem Collection and classification of information related to the client’s life situation and reason for seeking counseling Also known as problem identification process The ways of assessing client’s situation – Assessment based on theoretical and philosophical view of human problems – Depending on the conditions present in the client’s situation and the counselor’s understanding of those conditions – Depending on client’s cultural frame of reference and how it imposes the client’s worldview

Assessing the Problem Classification of problems (Corsini & Wedding, 2000) – Affective – emotional sources – Behavioral – undesirable behavior – Cognitive – cognitive misrepresentations of reality – Systemic – systemic/ contextual contingencies

Assessing the Problem In actual practice, it is important to assess problems in more than one way to avoid the constraints of personal bias or theoretical encapsulation. – Thinking of the client’s problem from the client’s social context as well as from the theoretical context. Assessment is data-collecting time. – Initially, client’s story may not convey much meaning. However, patterns will emerge and counselor will begin to understand how the client perceives and tries to affect reality.

3. Setting Goals Goals – to know how well counseling is working and when counseling should be concluded Making a commitment to a set of conditions, of action, or an outcome. Mutually defined by counselor and client – Counselor’s inferential skills –’I don’t want to feel this way any longer’ rather than ‘I want to start feeling this way.’ – Differentiate between ultimate / intermediate / immediate goals – Teach client how to set goals that are attainable, to think realistically in intermediate and immediate terms

Setting Goals Setting goals – Ultimate goal “When I graduate from college …” “When I get that promotion …” – Intermediate goal “In the next three months I plan to ….” – Immediate goal “I will do the following things tomorrow …” Immediate and intermediate goals provide the strategies necessary to accomplish ultimate goals and are the real vehicle for change in counseling

4. Initiating Interventions Strategies to initiate and facilitate desirable change Before initiating intervention, ask client what solutions or remedies they have already tried Choosing the right intervention is often a process of adaptation. Not all intervention work with all clients, or as well as one might predict. Be prepared to change or modified intervention strategies when it is not working. Sometimes, need to reevaluate how the problem is defined.

Initiating Interventions Skills related to initiating intervention – Competency in using a specific intervention ‘empty chair,’ dream analysis – Knowledge of its effects Provide access to hidden and possibly frightening feelings – The ability to ‘read’ client reactions normal vs. abnormal reaction – unpredictable response

5. Planning Termination and Follow-Up Acknowledge the importance of relationship established between counselor and clients (and how much his actions affect them) – The most important relationship in client’s life Flattering Uncomfortable Incomprehensible Should be done with sensitivity, with intentionality and forethought, and by degree

Planning Termination and Follow-Up Termination by degree – gradual and progressive termination ‘I think we are soon going to be finished with our work.’ Possible reactions – denial (not yet ready to be independent); regress (create new crisis to induce dependency); accept new responsibility Follow-up session after 3 wks, one month or 6 months