Research on the aims and purposes of counselling

Research on the bewilders and purposes of managementCounselling is an synergistic knowledge process contracted between the discuss and the invitee. The all over wholly aim is to provide the thickening with the opportunity to work in self defined ways, towards living in to a greater extent satisfying and capable ways as individuals and as members of the broader society Hough 1998.Clients need to feel unspoilt and secure for them to search and develop an insight to their issues and concerns. For the thickenings to research and resolve their issues with the proponent a operose therapeutic whollyiance based on dedicate, empathy, congruence and unlearned confirming regard needs to be arrive ated. The advocate environment needs to be comfortable and well suited to a range of leaf node types so that the lymph gland ordure feel steady-going. Making a therapeutic contract, tantrum goals and targets, hold forthing confidentiality issues layabout abet the client feel safe. This essay go awaying discuss the aims purposes of focus in some detail, followed by the importance and benefits of a safe counselling environment for the client in his or her exploration. Some limitations of the guidance will be discussed and finally, referral issues will be considered.The European Association for counselling in Hough 1998 defines counselling and its aims and purposes in the following wayCounselling is an interactive learning process contracted between the proponent and the client, be they individuals, families, groups or institutions, which go about in a ho swayic way, social, cultural economic and / or aroused issues. Counselling whitethorn be concerned with addressing and resolving special(prenominal) problems, qualification decisions, coping with crisis, improving human relationships, developmental issues, promoting and developing soulfulnessalised aw areness, functional with feelings, thoughts, perceptions and internecine or exte rnal conflict. The overall aim is to provide clients with the opportunities to work in self defined ways, towards living in more satisfying and resourceful ways as individuals and as members of the broader societyFurther detailed aims and purposes of counselling as defined by McLeod 2003 areInsight, relating with opposites, self awareness, self consumeance, self actualization, enlightenment, problem solving, psychological command, acquisition of social skills, cognitive and systematic change, empowerment, restitution, Generativity and social action.Insight refers the acquisition of an understanding of the origins and development of stirred up difficulties, leading to an change magnitude capacity to take rational control over feelings and actions. Relating with others sum worthy better able to form and maintain meaningful and satisfying relationships with other people for example, within the family or workplace. Self-awareness allows a person to be more aware of thoughts and f eelings that had been blocked off or denied, or developing a more accurate sense of how self is perceived by others. Self-acceptance is of the essence(p) for the development of a positive attitude towards self, marked by an energy to acknowledge areas of survive that had been the subject of self-criticism and rejection. Self-actualization or individuation, a core momentum of the person centred theory allows the client to move in the direction of fulfilling emf or achieving an integration of previously conflicting parts of self skill is ministrant in assisting the client to arrive at a higher(prenominal) state of spiritual awakening. Problem-solving implies finding a solution to a specific problem that the client had non been able to resolve alone. Psychological education will enable the client to acquire ideas and techniques with which to understand and control behaviour. getting social skills is connect to learning and mastering social and inter personalized skills much( prenominal) as maintenance of nitty-gritty contact, turn-taking in conversations, assertiveness or ira control. Cognitive change is excessively one of the aims of counselling. Cognitive change refers to the allowance or replacement of irrational beliefs or nonadaptive thought patterns associated with unsafe behaviour and Behaviour change which is the modification or replacement of maladaptive or self destructive patterns of behaviour McLeod 2003. Person centred counselling focuses on the client. In person centred counselling, the proponent does not direct or in any way manipulate the counselling it is all about empowering the client to find and choose the best way forwardCreating a impassioned and safe physical environment is an essential stepping- lapidate to building a laborious therapeutic alliance. Paying attention to meeting, greeting and seating are all athletic hold inerful in financial aiding the client to feel safe. For counselling to be effective, the counsello r needs to work at building a relationship. This is precise important especially in the early stages when the client whitethorn be feeling vulnerable and insecure, and bearing in mind that it is usual for the client to meet the counsellor on unfamiliar territory for example the counsellors consulting room. attempt to keep the room neutral, in other words free from personal be ampleings such as books, ornaments and family photographs, is a positive step that counsellors elicit take to reduce the equality gap Sutton Stewart 2002. Sutton Stewart 2002 writes that barriers such as desks should also be avoided, and chairs should be uniform and primed(p) approximately three to intravenous feeding feet apart and slightly at an angle. Being in direct eye contact with the counsellor can leave some clients feeling actually uncomfortable or embarrassed. Sutton Stewart 2002 mentions other dilate of the room for example, a vitiated clock needs to be positioned where the counsellor ca n glance at it, and attention should be paid to the lighting, and room temperature. A box of tissues placed where the client can easily reach them is a must, and a vase of angelic flowers or a potted plant can add a touch of warmth and colour to the range, and reflect something of your personality. With the clients permission, the counsellor may immortalise the sessions and this should be set up ready to use. However, it should be pointed out that emotional barriers are far more potent that physical ones. Even if all the physical surroundings are perfect, the client still might not feel at ease if the counsellor and client are not in rapport.Sutton Stewart 2002 argue that addressing clients by their first name can go a vast way towards help oneselfing them feel comfortable and accepted. Introducing yourself by your first name can help to break down the barriers of inequality. However, do not assume that because you are feel comfortable universe on first name scathe that all people are. Ask the client how they want you to address them. The counsellors opening sentence should be empathic and your office should demonstrate to the client that you are ready to listen Some clients who assay counselling extradite been badly let down, hurt or step by other people, and trust may in that locationfore be a major issue. Trust is something that has to be earned by the counsellor and it can be hard work. However, developing the skills of active listening accurate, sensitive responding reflecting feelings empathy authenticity and demonstrating that you are fully present for the client can help to establish a solid foundation of trust. Indeed, the more the counsellor invests in the relationship, the stronger the trust and bond grows between client and counsellor. Trusting the counsellor will help the client feel safe and will aid him or her in self exploration and insight.Establishing clear boundaries the ground rules for counselling is another important stepping stone to building the therapeutic alliance and helping the client feel safe. Boundaries may include agreement over such things such as the time of counselling, length of counselling sessions, limits of confidentiality, take away touching, number and duration of phone calls, direct and responding to emails, or strategies for managing episodes of self-harm or suicidal thoughts. The wrong on which counselling is being offered should be made clear to clients before counselling commences These may be concord verbally, or they may be set out in a formal written contract between counsellor and client, and subscribe by both parties. Subsequent revision of these terms should be agreed in advance of any change. Clear contracting enhances, and shows respect for, the clients self-reliance Sutton Stewart 2002. A contract helps to ensure the professional nature of the relationship and may, in addition to the ground rules already mentioned, includeVenue, fees, frequency of sessions, how c ounselling will be evaluated, process of referral, if and when necessary, broad details of the counselling relationship, duties and responsibilities of each party, details of the counsellors supervision, goals of counselling, means by which the goals will be achieved, the provision and completion of homework, the setting of boundaries and expectations, the terms of the therapeutic relationship, provision for renegotiation of contract Sutton Stewart 2002.It is important to end sessions on time. This helps the client feel safe. When a session is nearing an end, it can be helpful to say something likeWe cast about 10 minutes go forth of this session. Perhaps it would be helpful to summarise what we have talked about today. It can often prove beneficial to let your client summarise what has been discussed during the session. Something like, What will you take away with you from today? helps the client to summarise. Your closing sentences need to be clear, and should indicate that its time to end the session Sutton Stewart 2002.Just as a safe environment is important for the client to explore and share his or her issues, a strong therapeutic relationship based on trust, empathy and unconditional positive regard is as important. The counsellor must unconditionally accept the clients as whom they are in order for a trusting relationship to establish. Empathy and understanding is shown through with(predicate) careful listening. Egan 1986 explains the importance of empathic listening and says that a helper cannot communicate an understanding of a clients world without getting in touch with that world through empathetic listening. therefore empathy centres on the engaging of attending, observing and listening. Rogers defines empathic listening in the following wayIt means entering the private perceptual world of the other and becoming thoroughly at home in it. It involves being sensitive, moment by moment, to the ever-changing felt meanings which flow in this ot her person, to the fear or heat or tenderness or confusion or whatever he or she is experiencing. It means temporarily living in the others life locomote about in it delicately without making judgments Rogers p142 in Egan 1986 p88.Limitations to the counsellorCounsellors example limitations in their profession as well as during the therapeutic process. Some propagation, the practitioner may feel a strong urge to help the person, by listening to their story and perhaps trying to help them to come to terms with what has happened. This is a very caring response, but there are times when it may not represent the best course of action. If a person has been assaulted in childhood, the resulting sense of lack of trust, and perhaps self-hatred, may permeate some aspects of the persons life. Talking through all of that may take a long time, may involve strong emotions, and requires a great deal of patience and consistency on the part of the counsellor. Any practitioner faced with such a situation needs to consider whether they are capable, in terms of the time they can give, and their confidence and competence as a counsellor, to succeed their client on such a journey. Starting on such a journey, and then pulling back, clearly has the potential for hurt. At the resembling time, ignoring what the client has said about their abuse, for fear of getting in over my head also has the potential for hurt or harm McLeod 2007. other set of issues around counsellor competence arises from what might be exposit as temporary impairment. For example, a counsellor who has recently experienced the passage of a close family member is unlikely to be much help to someone with a bereavement issue. A counsellor who is burnt out, emphasize or tired is unlikely to be in a better position to offer ongoing help to someone. Being aware of ones limits as a counsellor is very important in these regards McLeod 2007. Counsellor competence, qualification and experience are clearly some main limitations. A counsellor will be trained and experienced in psychodynamic or touch counselling but may not be able to help with a client suffering from recurrent depression or any other psychological problem, which is wherefore counsellors need to have a list of contact to refer the clients should they need to.Referral issuesThere are specialist agencies working in the areas of mental health, marital distress, eating disorders, sexual abuse, and many others. If the counsellor cannot help a particular individual, he may refer them on. There may be various reasons for referring on. It may emerge that someones problem would be better addressed through couple counselling or in group therapy.It may become very clear that the client wants a particular affable of therapy. The counsellor may think of a chap whose experience and/or orientation closely matches the needs of the client. The counsellor may feel that a counsellor of the opposite sex, or someone older, or someone who can speak another language may be more appropriate for the client. For example, the client may have clear signs of an psychoneurotic disorder, and the counsellor may realize that medication and behaviour therapy may be appropriate for the client than psychodynamic counselling. A woman client may name the counsellor that she is being beaten by her husband and the counsellor may suggest that she seeks a refuge. Since some people perceive counselling as a kind of befriending the counsellor may have to refer this kind of person on to a befriending scheme. Some people, on the other hand, may be afraid of doctors and believe that counselling is what they need. The counsellor may have to encourage them gently to see a doctor perhaps helping them to explore their fears but without trying to substitute for medical attention. A client may not be able to afford services for very long and the counsellor may not offer a free counselling service Dryden 2006. In all of the mentioned circumstances, the client may be referred to an appropriate agencyBeing willing and able to refer individuals to other sources of help is an essential competence for any practitioner who is offering counselling. McLeod 2007 mentions some reasons why referral would be importantthe client may be referred if he or she needs more time than the counsellor is able to give or more frequent meetings is primarily looking for practical information and advice, sooner than an opportunity to talk things through describes problems in living that the counsellor believes are beyond his or her capacity to work with might gain a lot from making use of a specialist agency where there are practitioners functional who have a wealth of knowledge and experience in relation to the type of problem the person has described is twisty in a prior relationship with the counsellor that would be irreconcilable with the creation of a secure and confidential counselling space McLeod 2007.When the counsellor is aware of his or h er own particular strong feelings in the counselling situation, this may indicate feelings that the client has difficulty recognizing or dealing with, or the feelings may belong to the counsellor. The counsellor may need to work through his or her own issues and may need to refer the client on. some other reason why the client may be referred is because of avoiding dual roles and relationships. twofold relationships occur when counsellors assume two or more relationships simultaneously or sequentially with a client. Dual relations can be exploitative and do unspoiled harm both to the client and to the professional. For example, becoming emotionally or sexually involved with a current client is unethical, unprofessional, and illegal. Forming dual roles and relationship is libellous as there is a potential for misusing power, exploiting the client and impairing objectivity. Therefore if the practising counsellor is in another relationship with the client, the counsellor will refer the client to another counsellor Corey G 2009McLeod 2007 also mentions the important aspects of referral. The key stairs in the referral process, for a counsellor, are 1 knowing what alternative resources are available 2 engaging the person in a discussion around the opening move of seeing someone else and 3 making the referral and managing the passing over stage.This essay has essay to discuss some important issues in counselling and psychotherapy. The aims and purposes of counselling have been discussed including empathetic listening and its importance. The counselling environment must be safe for the client to feel comfortable in exploring and reflecting on his or her personal issues. Not only physical caoutchouc is important, psychological and emotional safety is also very important. For example, the counsellor must strive to develop a therapeutic relationship with the client based on trust, empathy, warmth and support conveying the core conditions. Limitations to the counsel lor or indeed to its process is related to counsellor competence, how much is the counsellor is experienced, emotionally and educationally, to help and assist the client is a major issue. If circumstances occur when the counsellor is not competent, or the type of psychotherapy the counsellor is offering is not suited for the client the counsellor needs to refer the client to an appropriate agency.