Proccess of Counselling

HBEF 2203
GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING
TOPIC 2
THE PROCCESS OF COUNSELLING
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
Recognise all five stages of counselling;
Identify some obvious characteristics that
occur in each stage;

List some solutions to handle uncooperative
clients; and
Select the sources where the counsellor can
collect some information about the client.
INTRODUCTION
Topic 2 will discuss five counselling stages
that must be experienced and understood by

each and every counsellor. You will be
exposed with types of activities that occur in
each stage in counselling. Then, this topic will
explain the characteristics of stubborn clients.
Ways on how to handle this problem will also
be discussed so that the counsellor will be
ready and will not hesitate when facing such a
situation. Lastly, students will be informed
with sources of information to get information
about clients
STAGES IN COUNSELLING
In your opinion, what does the process of counselling mean?
Counselling is a process that develops and changes from one stage to
another. There must be a start, a change to another stage and also an

ending. Figure 2.1 shows the development of the process through five
stages:
Building a relationship the stage to develop a strong basis to
create a cooperative sharing.
Starting an exploration the stage to understand how clients
perceive their problems or to understand their frame of reference.
Making a decision the stage to develop an aim for the client which
means the direction that the counsellor plans to guide the client. At
this stage, the counsellor tries to think of the strategies to help his
clients.
Taking action the stage where a counsellor attempts to reduce the
level of anxiety or solve her problems.
Ending a session the stage where the counsellor sums up what
has been going in the counselling session and its effects.
According to the theorists in the field of counselling and
psychotherapy, there has been no consensus on several stages to

be gone through in a counselling process or the distinctive
behaviour for each stage. What remains definite among them is
the fact that the process of counselling moves according to the
orderly sequence at each stage. They also feel that the aspect of
building relationship is constantly present throughout the process
at each stage.
The stages in the process of counselling are not exclusive, but rather
continuous and sometimes overlap with each other. When a counsellor

reaches a stage and starts to handle the theme of discussion for that
specific stage, several elements from different stages are also present. For
example, after welcoming a new member (first stage), the counsellor may
have many questions such as: who is person? Can we work together? Can
we help this person solve her problem? How long will it take to spend time
discussing with this client?
At this level emphasis is given to the various questions that should be
discussed in a certain stage. However, this is not supposed to happen since

the issue that needs attention is related to the first stage about getting to
know the client (Figure 2.2). Time should also be under consideration to
handle each stage according to how far the counsellor thinks whether he
should move on to the next stage.
Figure 2.2: Counsellors questions regarding his/her

client
Since these stages must develop from the beginning to an end, the theme of discussion at each level
needs to be perfected before moving on to the next round. If the theme is not met satisfactorily at the
early level, it will put the process of counselling at a stake. In other words, the more succinct and
complete the discussion based on the theme is, the more productive is the result of the counselling.
Another important thing to be remembered by the counsellor regarding the thematic discussion at certain
stages is the fact that the counsellor may divert the focus of discussion to any stage to help stimulate the
ongoing discussion. In addition, the counsellor may also check the clients feeling and thinking whether
the client is consistent or not. Other benefits that the counsellor may get by changing the focus of
discussion to certain stages:
Increasing the counsellors comprehension;
Avoiding dead-ends;
Needed to improve relationship;
Studying clients problems more comprehensively;
Possibility to change strategies; and
Changing the topic of discussion.
As a general rule, the process of counselling will not flow as smoothly and rapidly as expected. Even
determining the time range from the start until the end of the counselling is hard to tell. There are
differences in terms of handling the process of counselling from one stage to another.
The time taken to focus at a certain stage also varies. Some may take longer, some sooner. In some
cases, you may need a longer time for each stage in order to get a significant ending; while in others, all
the five stages may be covered in just one session. Anyway, in essence it will last up to several sessions
the very least. There are also cases where a longer time is given to one or two stages and the remaining
stages take less time.
The counsellor is responsible to handle specific tasks according to the stages he faces. He is expected to
master the skills to surmount the clients problem according to the needs of stages undergone and
eventually produces a significant counselling process. Some specific counselling tasks related to the
stages in the process of counselling will be elaborated in the next section.
Figure 2.3: The four stages of building relationship
Building a Relationship
At the beginning of the counselling process, the counsellor normally does
not know the client. Thus to seek cooperation from the client, there is a
need to form a good client-counsellor relationship so that it can lead the
two individuals to build mutual trust. This task of building a special bonding
is the first theme and becomes the focus of discussion. The counsellor is
considered successfu for this level if he manages to complete four
correlated tasks namely (refer to Figure 2.3):
Figure 2.3: The four stages of

building relationship
a.
Creating
an Ambience Conducive for Interactions
Starting
off the counselling process, the client usually doubts himself or herself, the counsellor and the effectiveness of counselling. Worse than that, some clients are not
even sure what their problem really is. This state of carefulness can only mean that the client will not be able to openly respond to the counsellor. The client needs a
sense of security, a sense of trust in other people (counsellor) with the presence of sincerity and respect. As a counsellor, you are responsible to create the situation that
will encourage openness, sincerity and the feeling that promotes communication. The client normally needs to feel that he or she can easily communicate with the
counsellor, to feel that he or she is accepted and understood in the right way. The counsellor has to communicate with interest with the client, understand and respect his
or her feelings, attitudes and problem. This can be achieved by:
Showing that you are always there to give your full attention and treat him or her as someone worth to be respected and appreciated.
Listening attentively and trying to feel what he or she is feeling and to think of his or her problem.
Responding to the client thoroughly.
b.
Deciding on the Early Aim
Clients come to meet a counsellor for various reasons. Part of it is to seek assistance to be enlightened with ways to become a person who can function more effectively.
There are clients who are aware of their problems, but for some this is not the case. They are confused with the problem, unsure of the reasons for their feelings and even
of the motives of seeing a counsellor.
Clients may express an early problem to the counsellor which is not the actual problems playing around their mind. The tendency to solve their problems may vary from
being at the poor, moderate or high level. Whatever it is, the counsellor together with the client needs to decide the actual aim to be achieved by the end of the session.
An early aim may be on agreeing to solve the problem stated at the time. Apart from that, the counsellor has to listen to the problem and help the client see himself so as
to help him understand about himself that he would be aware of the counselling aim.
c.
Structuring Relationship
All client-counsellor relationships must be structured so that the client will have a better view of the way he is going and understand the process of counselling. At first it
is hard for the client to picture what has happened, how changes can happen and doubt that all of these may actually be able to help him. As a counsellor, you and the
client must both agree on several things before the session. Figure 2.4 shows the relationship structure between a counsellor and his client.

Proccess of Counselling

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Proccess of Counselling

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Proccess of Counselling

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

HBEF 2203

GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING

occur in each stage;

that must be experienced and understood by

another. There must be a start, a change to another stage and also an

According to the theorists in the field of counselling and

psychotherapy, there has been no consensus on several stages to

continuous and sometimes overlap with each other. When a counsellor

discussed in a certain stage. However, this is not supposed to happen since

Figure 2.2: Counsellors questions regarding his/her

Figure 2.3: The four stages of building relationship

Figure 2.3: The four stages of

an Ambience Conducive for Interactions

Deciding on the Early Aim

You might also like