Counseling Service

NATURE Counseling is a specialized service that requires training in personality development and handling groups of individuals. It is a service offered to the individual who is undergoing a problem and needs professional help to overcome it; a problem that hinders the individuals development unless solved. Meant to: a. help someone understand their problems and concerns from a psychological stand-point process thoughts and feelings from past experiences that impact the present understand how life context and external stressors impact current functioning connect with their personal strengths and intuition develop a plan for healing / change assist with developing more effective methods of coping and managing life on a daily basis help someone learn to use effective strategies to prevent return to unhealthy behaviours or ineffective coping strategies individuals have different backgrounds will handicap their client interaction. Some theories and techniques a. Psychoanalytic Theory proposed by Sigmund Freud holds that human behavior is primarily the function of reactions to internal (thus mostly unconscious) stimuli instincts, urges, thoughts b. Individual Psychology is a psychological method or science founded by the Viennese psychologist Alfred Adler. The concept of this was formulated in the process in which Adler broke away from the psychoanalytic school of Sigmund Freud. c. Person Centered Therapy is a form of talk-psychotherapy developed by psychologist Carl Rogers in the 1940s and 1950s. It is also known as personcentered psychotherapy, client-centered therapy and Rogerian psychotherapy d. Behavioural Theory It's perspective psychopathology is defined as behavior that is disadvantageous or dangerous to the individual and/ or to other people. Certain environmental circumstances shape the development of maladaptive behavior. e. Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy is a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy developed by psychologist Albert Ellis. REBT is focused on helping clients change irrational beliefs. f. Reality Therapy was proposed by William Glasser. The underlying problem of all clients is the same: they are either involved in a present unsatisfying relationship or lack what could even be called a relationship. Primary need is to be love, belong, and feel worthwhile "WDEP" W= wants and needs D= direction and doing E= evaluation P = planning and Commitment Transactional Analysis is an integrative approach to the theory of psychology and psychotherapy. Integrative because it has elements of psychoanalytic, humanist and cognitive approaches. It was developed by Canadian-born US psychiatrist Eric Berne during the late 1950s. Gestalt Counseling is an existential/experiential form of psychotherapy that emphasizes personal responsibility, and that focuses upon the individual's experience in the present moment, the therapist-client relationship, the environmental and social contexts of a person's life, and the self-regulating adjustments people make as a result of their overall situation; developed by Fritz Perls, Laura Perls and Paul Goodman in the 1940s and 1950s

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A Collaborative Process For counseling service to be effective, with the counselor as the helper, the client must assume some responsibility to participate fully, cooperatively, and willingly. Theories serve as guidelines and provide framework to analysis . Traditional Theories usually came from Western cultures. These theorists did not put into account multicultural perspectives in their work. A counselor who fails to consider that

Some types of counselors a. b. c. d. e. f. g. Marriage and family counselor Guidance and career counselor Rehabilitation counselor Mental health counselor Educational Counselor Drug and substance abuse counsellors Grief counselors

What if I'm not comfortable with him/her? If talking about yourself is hard, let your counselor know this. It might be possible to find ways to make you more comfortable. Sometimes a shift in the emphasis of the sessions can be helpful It also may help as you get to know your counselor as a kind and caring person. There may come a time when a change in counselor is necessary

Stage Five: Planning and Taking Action defining the steps and skills needed to accomplish the goal/desire of the client Stage Six: Collecting Data and the Interim the action plan is implemented and progress is monitored with adjustments as needed Stage Seven: Follow-up and Evaluation a review of accomplishments, assessment of progress, and whether there are new goals Stage Eight: Closing and Separation Basically a time to say good bye and review what has been learned COUNSELING SKILLS a. Empathic Reflective Statement To take what the client has said and reflect it back to him. The reflective statement is also the key skill for helping the client gain insight and to feel supported and validated when done with sincere empathy. Close and Open-Ended Questions - This is to avoid one-word answers. These questions allow the client to elaborate at length and to lead the session. Perception Check - Asking the questions "Is that what you're feeling?" or, "Do I understand you?" or, "Is that what you're saying?" after the counselor repeats what he/she understands about what the client is saying. b. Building Safety It is important for the counselor to gain the trust of the client. Also, the counselee may have an experience with having no one to talk to, which hinders him/her to share. The couselor must take this into consideration. c . Validating Interventions Questions like "Is it okay to feel sad?" or "I think it is okay for you to feel that." will help the client to tell more about

his/her problems. Saying "It is okay to feel like that" or "It is okay to cry" are also examples. d. Insight Interventions This is asking for other similar things that might have happened to the client in order to compare with the current problem. e. Change Interventions Asking a person to think what he/she might do about the situation. This will help him/her to decide what to do next. GROUP COUNSELING form of therapy, which posits that people benefit from shared experiences psychotherapy that usually involves four to ten clients and one or two experienced group therapists provides a safe environment in which you can experiment with new behaviours, improve communication skills, and receive feedback from other students with similar concerns and interests focused on a particular issue, like obsessive-compulsive disorder or anger management Benefits a. b. c. d. allows you to be less isolated as you work on your issues helps you to realize you're not alone in your struggles provides multiple perspectives on issues and how you are seen by others provides an ideal means for practicing and learning new interpersonal behaviours helping others helps you to see your own issues differently and to feel you have something to offer others

STAGES OF COUNSELING Stage One: Beginning and Orientation characterized by getting acquainted, collecting background data, establishing rapport, defining roles and expectations, initial assessments, and setting counseling goals Stage Two: Building the Relationship and Assessment Formal assessments (Standardized evaluation measures) Informal assessment (Counselor's observations and the counselor's impressions of the client) Informal assessment includes observations in the following areas: 1. Physical 2. Social 3. Cognitive 4. Cultural 5. History 6. Future Perspective 7. Presenting Problem

Stage Three: Exploring and Discovery (the working stage) Stage Four: Centering and Setting Goals a time to determine and establish the a clear picture of what the client wishes

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Activities a. Icebreakers Funny Intro - The 'funny intro' is a great idea to get people to introduce themselves to the group. You ask the participants to tell their first names and tell 3 funny things about themselves. Mimicry - The 'funny intro' is a great idea to get people to introduce themselves to the group. You ask the participants to tell their first names and tell 3 funny things about themselves. b. Bulding trust Blind Artist - Divide the participants in pairs, blindfold one member and give a diagram to the other. The blindfolded teammate has to draw the diagram on the board by listening to the instructions of the other teammate. After the diagram is finished, give another diagram, this time reversing the roles. Walk ing Back wards - Clutter the floor with obstacles and arrange pieces of furniture in a haphazard manner. Divide the group in pairs. One member from each team would be the 'navigator' and the other will navigate the course. The person navigating the course has to do it walking backwards without looking behind. It is the responsibility of the other team member to give correct directions to help the team member successfully navigate the course c. Self-Discovery Ask -it Bask et - Ask the participants to write their strongest negative emotions. When they are done writing, ask them to fold the piece of paper and put it in a hat/bowl. Randomly call members from

the group and ask them to pick a chit from the hat and share their experience on that emotion Spin the Bottle - Get a bottle and paste a (+) sign on the cap and a (-) sign on the bottom. Ask the participants to form a circle and then spin the bottle in the middle, just like any popular variation of the game. Whoever is directly in line with the (+) sign of the bottle will have to talk about their strengths and the one in line with the (-) sign has to talk about their traits that need to be worked on.

Sources: http://www.beyerpsychological.com/cou nseling.htm http://teachereducationguidanceandcou nsellin.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-iscounselling-meaning-need-and.html http://www.nou.edu.ng/noun/NOUN_OC L/pdf/edited_pdf3/CHS%20214%20HEA LTH%20COUNSELLING.pdf http://www.atc2u.com/downloads/eddy/ CounselingSkillsArticle.pdf http://blogs.education.unlv.edu/csi/files/2 010/02/nce-study-guide-theories-andhelping-relationships.pdf