To Be Effective As A Counsellor Sociology Essay

To Be Effective As A Counsellor Sociology leavenThis essay leave al matchless look into what it meaning to be useful as a advocator. The characteristics that could be stayed to be found in an efficient counselor volition be discussed. Specific reference will be made as well as to the elbow rooms in which a lymph gland should life when they argon in the presence of an rough-and-ready advocate.Before a direction can be classified as either efficient or ineffective, it should be noned that a comprehensive translation of a direction, and since a counsellor can best be defined in impairment of counselling , then a clear-cut definition of counselling is necessary. consort to the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, a counsellor is a psyche who has been trained to declare adeptself people with problems, specially personal problems(p.332). This definition already gives one an estimation of how to define counselling- this can be defined as master copy advice to t he highest degree a problem. (p. 332). An approximately other way in which counselling can be defined is accordance with the Merriam-Webster Online dictionary , which says counselling is passkey guidance of the psyche by utilizing psychological methods especially in collecting case tarradiddle data, using various technique of the personal interview, and testing interests and attitudes (accessed 04/04/2012).These definitions are kinda informative, especially in terms of giving one an idea of what to expect a counsellor to be and what to expect from a counsellor or a counselling session. They offer insight into the type of setting a counsellor would work in, the field of study that a counsellor may have undertaken and such like. But one thing the aforementioned definitions overleap is the capacity to broaden ones prospects roughly counselling and the role of a counsellor in society. rede is merely limited to individual therapy and is taken no further. But a person who is dire ctly composite in counselling- be it a counsellor, a scholar of counselling or even a lymph gland who consults with a counsellor can agree that counselling is more than than just a professional advice or guidance its a professional affinity(counselling.org) because the counsellors engages in some form of interaction with his nodes , which he relates to each lymph gland differently from the next. This relationship is multidimensional, it is not only between the counsellor and client (well at to the lowest degree not in all cases), but is one that can lead a client to meet and relate with other professionals whether it be health professionals or otherwise. The counsellor as well, in some instances, would get to know more people than initially plannedthese people would be those that the counsellor would need to work with (referring clients to such people). These would be occupational therapists, psychiatrists, fiscal advisers, etc. This makes counselling a professional dynamic relationship which schools to avail the client who comes needing help of one kind or the other. Counselling involves a process, the aim of which is to help others to help themselves by fashioning better choices and befitting better choosers of options (iona-k-lister.suite101.com). So this relationship is not one that should be absor move back to personal matters only, because it is such a broad relationship that it has the capacity to indue diverse individuals, families, and groups to accomplish mental health, wellness, education and career goals(counselling.org).What can a counsellor do to make a client nip galosh?As it has already been established, a counsellor must find that what he has with the client is more than just fee-for-serviceit is a special relationship (sci.csuhayward.edu). With this in drumhead, it becomes easier for the helper to make his client odor sound. Even if the client does not understand the nature of the relationship, the helper does and so shoul d guide the client to a knowledge of such information. Like in e genuinely relationship, both parties involved have a part to play a part which is especially meant to be played by the specific counterpart so it is with the professional relationship between the counsellor and the client.So if the client is not accepted of the relationship that is there between them, it is the counsellors duty to enlighten the client. And this will in fact be what can initiate the process of making the client feel safe. If a client does not know that he is in a relationship with the counsellor, the counsellors every effort to make the client feel safe will be virtually futile.One thing that a counsellor can do to make his client feel safe especially in individual therapy is try by all means necessary to eliminate feelings of humbleity on the part of the client. As was mentioned earlier, individuals are all different and unique. So a counsellor might detect that employing Alfred Adlers Individual Psychology in his counselling style might be ministrant in eliminating the aforementioned feelings. Inferiority takes normal feelings of incompetence and exaggerates them, making the individual feel as if it is impossible to achieve goals and therefore despondent to try(Friedman Schustack, 2012, p.115). A counsellor can also change his terminology, never trading his clients patients as some other health professionals do but grasp calling them clients, since this sounds more egalitarian and less pejorative(sci.csuhayward.edu).Making a client feel safe in the counselling setting is not lax, so if a counsellor can do that, this says a lot about his posture as a counsellor. They should be sufficient to show a client that they recognize the limits of their consume power(sci.csuhayward.edu) to help clients prevent feeling inferior show a unforcedness to learn about their culture, background, etc. Confidentiality is another(prenominal)(prenominal) work out in making a client feel safe not only in that, but as well in establishing and maintaining a strong therapeutic relationship(sci.csuhayward.edu). Whenever necessary, the counsellor should inform the client of the limits to confidentiality in the least threatening way possible. There is also the issue of multiple relationships an effective counsellor knows better than to form a relationship with a clients family fraction or any(prenominal)one else that is close to the client. He also does not form a non-professional relationship with people who already have a professional relationship formed with him, because this is destructive it can make it difficult for the client to feel safe in the counselling sessions.What Characteristics Should Effective Counsellors Possess?The main aim of this essay is to show what it means to be an effective as a counsellor, so it should be no surprise that throughout the essay, this question seems to be answered through the various answers to the previous questions that t he assignment raises. Qualities such as confidentiality, the might to guide clients toward productive goals, and the ability to establish and maintain relationships are seen already in previous sections of the essay.Other qualities, like empathy, two-dimensional controlling union and congruence are essential to beingness effective as a counsellor these will be discussed at a later stage. An principal(prenominal) aspect of an effective counsellor is the ability to facilitate fullexpression of the clients feelings, without diverting any attention to their own feelings(iona-k-lister.suite101.com). An effective counsellor must be adequate to listen to a client and have no prejudice. Although counsellors have their own judges, these should not be imposed on the client(iona-k-lister.suite101.com).According to iona-k-lister.suite101.com a proper counsellor is someone who can learn not to make judgements on behalf of the person being helped. Other traits that one might expect to dumbfound in an effective counsellor are patience and acceptance, which help the counsellor to refrain from showing contempt toward those clients that are not likeable. Education is another factor to consider people tend to think that since they have a Degree and are registered with the counsel, they know everything there is to know. Effective counsellors are willing to learn more about themselves, other counsellor, and even their clients. Social skills should also be looked into by a counsellor that wants to be effective as a counsellor, one meets many different people from different backgrounds and cultures so one has to know how to perceive all aspects of verbal and non-verbal communication. Another very important quality to possess is discretion, never revealing what others say or do within the counselling context. Because even if a counsellor does not say the other clients name the fact that he reveals a certain clients situation to another without the consent of that client, h e is perceived as unprofessional by the current client.(iona-k-lister.suite101.com www.sci.csuhayward.edu)How Important are Carl Rogers Core Conditions in Counselling?In browse to appreciate fully the importance of something, one should inaugural know what exactly the thing is. If that knowledge is not given, the acknowledgement will be but a task carried out to pass the time. Therefore, onwards the importance of the core conditions can be discussed, a clear definition of these will be given.According to Cormier Hackney(2012) empathy is the ability to identify with or understand the feelings and emotions of a client as if you were feeling that way, just without losing the as if quality(p.23). monotonic decreed regard is expressing to a client the qualities that make him feel that he is special and appreciated as a human being. Congruence is seen as the helpers ability to remain true to himself in the presence of the client. The act of being genuine and not allowing conformity to influence him in any way, especially when conforming to please a client.As defined by simplypsychololgy.org peremptory positive regard is where parents, significant others(and the humanist therapist) accept and love the person for what he or she is. Therefore, to be effective as a counsellor, one needs to be fortified with such a quality. Now it should be noted that unconditional positive regard works best when attended by empathy and congruence.Imagine a homosexual client comes for therapy he got unify to some man not long ago, and tells of how he met the man in university. He recently found out that the man is cheating with another man, whom he met on their honeymoon while they were away. The client says he does not know whether to divorce this husband or to separate with him for a while, since hes determination it so difficult to forgive him.The best response for an effective counsellor in a such a situation is expressing genuineness acknowledging to himself, perhaps, that he is uncomfortable with the whole gay thing, and that his opinion is just one way of looking at things so that he can more right away accept the clients lifestyle choice. This can help him develop unconditional positive regard, coupled with empathy towards the client. This is because if he is able to acknowledge that his discomfort with the clients attributes, it becomes easier to get into the clients domain and try to see things through the clients eyes(empathy). It is through this same empathy that unconditional positive regard will come about as he begins to shot what the client might be going through.How Important is Self-Care for the Counsellor? musical composition an enhanced regimen of self-care may sound like a healthy idea, most people are fuzzy on what self-care is and how to practice it(www.psychologytoday.com). And for this reason, it is invariably best to define something before attempting to describe it. It is as in warfare, a soldier has to have a well-rounded definition of his enemy, so that he should not wage war against soldiers that actually came to the assistance of his own country, intellection that they are the opposition.One way to look at self-care is to see it as something one does to improve (their) sense of subjective well-being(www.thefreelibrary.com). From to this definition, one can already see how important it is to exercise self-care as a counsellor. Imagine(bearing in mind the above definition) the counsellor who does not consider self-care to be of much value would this counsellor not be judgemental towards his clients? How will he be able to exercise empathy, positive regard and congruence with all his clients? Thus, self-care is important for the counsellor that seeks to be effective in his occupation.Contrary to popular belief, self-care is not an easy thing to practice. This belief springs from advertisers deception and their inability to define self-care clearly(psychologytoday.com). Many of us think that getting pedicures, choosing hand-dipped dark chocolates and buying thread count bed linens equal self-care. This, in actual fact, is self-pampering(www.psychologytoday.com). Self-pampering cannot improve ones sense of subjective well-being, neither can it equip one to practice congruence/genuineness, empathy or unconditional positive regard.According to psychologytoday.com the way to practice self-care is to choose behaviours that balance the make of emotional and physical stressors exercising, eating healthy foods, getting enough sleep, practicing yoga or meditation or relaxation techniques and the like. Another important factor that contributes to the effectiveness of self-care is learning to depend less on other people for healing, be it healing from emotional or even physical pain. Once a counsellor learns to be independent in these areas of his own life, then it will become very difficult for him to keep using his clients problems as a means of helping him deal with his own. So in es sence, self-care is necessary and helpful to the development of an effective counsellor.ConclusionThis essay has discussed and examined the meaning of an effective counsellor. It has looked into the basal meaning or definition of a counsellor in order to properly differentiate between just a counsellor and an effective one. The qualities that are important for helping a counsellor become effective in his expertise have been outlined. It has also been seen throughout this essay that being a counsellor especially an effective one is not as easy a task as it might appear a lifetime of commitment is necessary for this to be achieved.