Module 01 - Counselling Overview- Concept, Characteristics, Goals, Principles & Areas

Introduction

Hello everybody. I am Dr. Mandeep Kaur, Associate Professor from Psychology Department of
Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab. Today in this lecture we will study about Counselling. This
lecture on counselling has been divided into four parts: Concept, Roles, Principles and Areas of
Counselling.

Counselling
1. Concept
2. Principles
3. Goals
4. Areas

First, I will start with the concept of counselling

Counselling has existed in societies for a long time. It is a process by means of which the helper
expresses care and concern towards the person with a problem, and facilitates that person's
personal growth and brings change through self-knowledge. It provides an opportunity to work
towards living more satisfactorily and resourcefully and to make the person capable to make
changes in their behaviour.

Counselling occurs usually in an interactive relationship and is often performed face to face in
confidential sessions between the counsellor and client to bring a better understanding of him
and others. This understanding enables the person to become an effective member of society.
This relationship is usually person-to-person, although sometimes it may involve more than two
people or groups.

The overall aim is to help individuals become self-sufficient, self-dependent, self-directed, and to
adjust themselves efficiently to the demands of a better and meaningful life. The counsellor’s
services are preventive, developmental and therapeutic in nature. Counselling as a profession is
relatively new. It grew out of the guidance movement, in opposition to traditional psychotherapy.
In order to understand what counselling is, it is important to understand how counselling is
similar to and different from Guidance and Psychotherapy.

Counselling and Guidance:

Guidance is a process of helping an individual to gain self-understanding and self-direction so

that he can adjust maximally to home, school or community environment. It comprises of
providing material or non-material assistance to solve a problem which an individual may be
facing at a given time, and to help an individual strive to develop a positive outlook. It helps
individuals to choose what they value most. Guidance in its psychological connotation is more
than the provision of help for the solution of the problem in hand. It promotes the utilization of
one’s own potential by bringing about the best possible use of the individual’s capacities and the
available environmental resources. Someone who provides guidance offers you suggestions how
to explore various alternatives. On the other hand

Counselling is not giving opinion, instruction or advice; it is facilitative listening which allows the
client to choose the best solution for a problem. Counselling is based on a wellness model.
Counsellors are concerned about the client’s environment with a more global view than other
professionals as well as a concern that goes beyond treating dysfunction or pathology and dealing
with the clients’ self-awareness, personal growth, and wellness (Hershenson & Strein, 1991; and
Palmo, Shosh & Weikel, 2001). Counselling is different from Psychotherapy.

Counselling and Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is an intentional interpersonal relationship used by trained psychotherapists to

aid a client or patient in problems of living. It focuses on serious problems associated with
intrapsychic disorders, internal conflicts and personality issues. Psychotherapy is associated
with the alleviation of human suffering. It looks more towards re-interpretation and re-
organization of malignant, conflictual elements within the personality through the relation with
the therapist. It emphasizes on four issues:
• The past more than the present
• Insight more than change
• The detachment of the therapist
• The therapist’s role as an expert

Psychotherapy is concerned with the reconstruction of the individual at both conscious and
unconscious levels and is provided in both outpatient and inpatient settings, whereas counselling
deals with minor problems of daily living, lays emphasis on rational planning to solve problems
of adjustment, and is usually provided in outpatient settings. Psychotherapy tends to be a longer
period of time and deals with more complex issues than counselling.

Counselling has been defined in a variety of ways suggesting that it could be from a problem
solving, directive, and rational approach to helping normal people. Robinson (1950) holds that
counselling is concerned with aiding normal people to achieve better adjustment skills which
manifest themselves in increased maturity, independence, an integrated personality and
responsibility. Rogers (1952) describes counselling as the process by which the structure of the
self is relaxed in the safety of the client’s relationship with the therapist, and previously defined
experiences are perceived and then integrated into an altered self. British Association for
Counselling and Psychotherapy (2002) stated that counselling takes place when a counsellor
sees a client in a private and confidential setting to explore a difficulty a client is having, distress
that the client may be experiencing or perhaps the client’s dissatisfaction with life or loss of a
sense of direction and purpose. There are certain characteristics of counselling.

Characteristics of Counselling
• It is a process.
• Counselling is usually for normal people with problems
• It is essentially a dynamic interaction between the client and the counsellor.
• Client is expected to be frank and forthright in his approach.
• It is the duty of the counsellor to keep confidentiality regarding the client.
• Counsellor is to show warmth and sympathy while listening to the client’s problems.
• Counsellor is expected to be non-judgmental and non-critical.
• The relationship between the client and the counsellor is expected to be genuine.
• Counselling usually works at the level of rapport and not at the level of transference.
• Client’s conscious motives are explored rather than the unconscious motives.

As there was no unified definition, so in 2005, the ACA and the American Association of State
Counselling Boards co-sponsored the 20/20: A Vision for the Future of Counselling initiative with
the aim of moving the profession forward, resulting in finding consensus in critical issues that
need strategic attention by the counselling profession (Kaplan & Gladding, 2011). The 20/20
summit was made up of 31 counselling related organizations and the delegates developed the
Principles for Unifying and Strengthening the Profession, comprised of seven central principles
and issues in the counselling profession. However, in 2010, a consensus definition of counselling
was agreed upon. “Counselling is a professional relationship that empowers individuals, families,
and groups to accomplish mental health, wellness, education, and career goals.”

The common Principles identified by 20:20 are

1. Sharing a common professional identity is critical for counsellors.
2. Presenting ourselves as a unified profession has multiple benefits.
3. Working together to improve the public perception of counselling and to advocate for
professional issues will strengthen the profession.
4. Creating a portability system for licensure will benefit counsellors and strengthen the
counselling profession.
5. Expanding and promoting our research base is essential to the efficacy of professional
counsellors and to the public perception of the profession.
6. Focusing on students and prospective students is necessary to ensure the ongoing health
of the counselling profession.
 7. Promoting client welfare and advocating for the populations we serve is a primary focus
of the counselling profession.

Goals for counselling

Counsellors may have different goals with different clients. They may assist clients, for instance,
to heal past emotional deprivations, manage current problems, handle transitions, make
decisions, manage crises, and develop specific life skills. Sometimes goals for counselling are
divided between remedial goals and developmental goals. Attaining both remedial and
developmental goals can have a preventive function in helping clients to avoid future difficulties.

Though much counselling is remedial, its main focus is likely to be on the life skills needed for
satisfactorily handling the developmental tasks which confront most ordinary people rather than
on the needs of the more severely disturbed minority. Developmental tasks are tasks which most
people inevitably face at various stages of their life: for instance, becoming independent,
achieving intimacy, raising children, and adjusting to old age. Developmental tasks often involve
both managing negative qualities and fostering positive qualities viz.
• To establish or restore healthy relationships such as with friends & family.
• To restore control, meaning, and direction to life
• To restore & energize the natural, normal growth processes that is inherent in human life.
• To maximize and channel one's energies into healthy behaviours, thought processes and
feelings and to take responsibility for choices and outcomes.
• To learn how to organize and structure one's personal characteristics for success and
efficiency.
• To gain the ability to respond in health ways to one's own needs as well as to the needs
of others and to balance self-differentiation in our human bonds with others.
The last part of today’s topic is areas/ fields of Counselling.

Fields of Counselling

A professional counsellor works in diverse settings with diverse clientele, including colleges,
hospitals, clinics, private practices, and schools. Regardless of the specialization within
counselling, all professional counsellors are concerned with working not only to treat but also to
prevent psychological problems, and to promote healthy human development through all stages
of life. Professional counsellors often work with clients to overcome developmental and
unexpected life changes, come to terms with their environment, adjust to foreign situations, and
find ways to improve the quality of clients’ lives. Counselling is majorly divided into six categories.

• Mental Health Counselling

• Marriage and family counselling
 • Guidance and career counselling
• Rehabilitation counselling
• Substance abuse counselling
• Educational Counselling

Mental Health Counselling: Mental health counsellors first surfaced in the 1940s & 1950s but did
not benefit from formal training or employment in significant numbers until the passing of the
Community Mental Health Act of 1963, which provided funding for the establishment of mental
health centres across the US to provide greater access to mental health care services.
• Clinical mental health counsellors work with individuals, groups, and families in many
different settings, including community organizations, hospitals, drug and alcohol
treatment centres, and private practices.
• Mental health counsellors are trained in assessment; diagnosis; treatment planning;
psychotherapy; substance abuse treatment, prevention, and intervention; crisis
counselling; and brief therapy (American Mental Health Counsellors Association).
• To become licensed as a mental health counsellor, individuals must earn a master’s
degree in a counselling field, pass their state’s required examination, and have at least
two years of work experience under supervision (AMHCA, 2014).
• Many mental health counsellors work toward the NCC credential and the CCMHC
specialty credential, both granted by NBCC, to forward their careers, become eligible
providers for certain insurance companies, or strengthen their professional reputation.
• AMHCA is the division under ACA that serves as the professional association for mental
health counsellors

Rehabilitation Counselling: People with disabilities face challenges that require creative
solutions. Whether a person has a physical, mental or emotional disability, rehabilitative
counselling helps them achieve personal and professional goals, and lead their lives more freely.
A certified rehabilitation counsellor seeks to help individuals with wide-ranging disabilities due
to either as a result of illness or to accidents, birth defects, or many other causes, by working
through personal and vocational issues they may encounter as a result of their impairment. CRCs
are employed in a wide range of settings, such as public vocational rehabilitation agencies,
hospitals, community centres, schools, and employee assistance programs.
• After conducting a thorough assessment of the client and gathering information on the
client’s condition and job skills from a variety of sources, CRCs begin to work with the
client to improve the quality of the client’s life and help him or her cope with disabilities,
find jobs that match skill levels and interests, and learn to live more independently. The
ultimate goal of a CRC’s work is to assist individuals with disabilities in either returning to
their place of employment or finding a different vocation.
 • To become a CRC, individuals must be granted certification from the CRCC. Certification
with CRCC is voluntary; however, some employers require rehabilitation counsellors to
become certified.

Educational Counselling: The term was first coined by Truman Kelley in 1914 (Makinde, 1988),
educational counselling is a process of rendering services to pupils who need assistance in
making decisions about important aspects of their education, such as the choice of courses and
studies, decisions regarding interests and ability, and choices of college and high school.
Educational counselling increases a pupil's knowledge of educational opportunities. Personal
counselling: It deals with emotional distress and behavioural difficulties, which arise when
individuals struggle to deal with developmental stages and tasks. Any aspect of development can
be turned into an adjustment problem, and it is inevitable that everyone encounters, at some
time, exceptional difficulty in meeting an ordinary challenge. For example: Anxiety over a career
decision; Lingering anger over an interpersonal conflict; Insecurities about getting older;
Depressive feelings when bored with work; Excessive guilt about a serious mistake; A lack of
assertion and confidence; Grief over the loss of a loved one; Disillusionment and loneliness after
parents' divorce. Vocational Counselling is defined as individual contacts with those counselled,
in order to facilitate career development. This definition and category encompass counselling
situations such as these: Helping students become aware of the many occupations to consider;
Interpreting an occupational interest inventory to a student; Assisting a teenager to decide what
to do after school; Helping a student apply to a college or university; Role-playing a job interview
in preparation for the real thing. The potential outcomes of counselling can be understood into
three broad categories
1. Resolution of the original problem in living: Resolution can include: achieving an
understanding or perspective on the problem, arriving at a personal acceptance of the
problem or dilemma and taking action to change the situation in which the problem
arose.
2. Learning: Engagement with counselling may enable the person to acquire new
understandings, skills and strategies that make them better able to handle similar
problems in future.
3. Social inclusion: Counselling stimulates the energy and capacity of the person as someone
who can contribute to the well-being of others and the social good.

Marriage and Family Counselling: Marriage and family therapists offer guidance to couples,
families and groups who are dealing with issues that affect their mental health and well-being.
Many therapists approach their work holistically, using a “wellness” model which highlights and
encourages client’s strengths. Couple therapists and marriage counsellors treat some of the same
issues as other psychologists, such as depression and anxiety, substance abuse, and PTSD. But
their work focuses on issues that are specific to their target group, the family. They observe how
people behave within the family and identify relationship problems. They then come up with
treatment plans so that each individual has his or her needs met and the family unit can work for
the benefit and happiness of all. Some common issues that family counsellors encounter are
marital conflicts, adolescent behaviour problems, domestic violence and issues related to
infertility, Grieving, Depression and anxiety.

Substance Abuse Counselling: Substance abuse counsellors diagnose & assess addiction
problems and treat clients in a variety of ways. Because every patient is an individual and is
struggling with addiction in different ways, substance abuse counsellors customize treatment
plans for each client. They may meet regularly with clients as they recover, or work intensely with
individuals in crisis. They teach clients how to alter their attitudes and false beliefs, and develop
strategies to overcome denial and rationalization in the hope of achieving full recovery. Because
clients are susceptible to relapse, many substance abuse counsellors work with clients on an on-
going basis.

To sum up, counselling typically leads to resolution of a living problem in which the counsellor
helps the counselee to work through his/her problems and become a whole person again. The
task of counselling is to give the clients an opportunity to explore, discover and clarify ways to
explore many aspects of their life and feelings and to reach out to a solution. The ultimate aim of
counselling is to enable the client to make their own choices, reach their own decisions and to
act upon them accordingly.