Characteristics and Behaviors of Effective Counseling
Characteristics and Behaviors of Effective Counseling In order for the counseling process to be effective for the client the characteristics and behaviors of the mental health counselor must be effective. To be an effective mental health counselor the process must include both the art and science of helping clients when they struggle. This paper will address both effective and ineffective characteristics of the given transcript along with an explanation of how a counselor’s characteristics or behaviors influence a session with a client.
Effective Characteristics This How a client perceives a counselor is very important in how they effective they feel they
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Reflecting with the client during a session is very important to make sure the counselor and client is both on the same thought.
Characteristic Two The second statement of the counselor that was a good characteristic was when he stated “Great. That is a good start. Let’s talk some more about where that frustration comes from.” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2012). The counselor used an open-ended question to allow the client to give an answer with a more elaborate answer than just yes or no. Also the counselor was supportive of the client’s choice to focus on himself at this point in his counseling. According to Cooper (2010) “open questions will allow for a more meaningful response and give more control to the client.” If a client is guarded in their responses open-ended questions will allow them to disclose what they feel comfortable disclosing without them feeling so pressured to give information.
Ineffective Characteristics Effective skills will help to improve the relationship between the counselor and the client. When these skills are ignored or not used the relationship will suffer. According to Healing Path Counseling (2013) some ineffective characteristics for communication include giving minimal responses, going blank, and being indirect. In order to overcome being ineffective a professional
effectively work with difficult clients, I believe it is important for counselors to also be patient,
As a counselor, I need to accept my client without being judgmental during a therapy session. I understand we have different values and we might not agree with each other and I should not make my client feel uncomfortable. I will not use my own personal values towards my clients. I will make sure to incorporate empathy because the client needs to feel that they are being understood and trust. Empathy helps build a strong relationship and helps clients feel comfortable and trust the counselor; I will make sure that I treat my clients with dignity and respect. Professional Identity can also be incorporated in my counseling relationship because I will make sure I used the code of ethics with my clients and stay professional at all times. I will make sure I provide a good supported treatment for my client. I will use my best practice to help my client achieve their
The most important thing a counselor can do to understand perception and worldview of a client is to maintain an acceptable and nonjudgement stance. At the same time, their
In the event a counselor encounters a client in a dysfunctional state of equilibrium, it is important that they approach the situation in such a way that the client will be open to the intervention. To do this a counselor should calmly approach the client and first get their names. From there offering a brief introduction of themselves as the counselor, conveying empathy and being authentic, this will immediately establish a connection between the client and the counselor. Another important key factor in this phase of the intervention is that the counselor has to clarify their intent. In other words, informing the client of what to expect this allows the client to view the counselor as a means of support (James & Gilliland,
Discuss the centrality of communication (verbal and non-verbal) in counseling with diverse clients. Briefly define proxemics, kinesics, paralanguage, and high-low context communication.
Counselors frequently collaborate with other stakeholders to maintain a professional and ethical practice. The process of building a collaborative partnership is multidimensional. This meaning that throughout all steps of a professional relationship, processing, effectiveness and communication is very important. Effective communication involves the establishment of a feedback process and includes appropriate use of verbal, non-verbal and written communication with the client and identified
1-Based on Corey’s reading, some of the personal characteristics of effective counselors that appear adequate in this case would be that an effective therapist have a sincere interest in the welfare of the client. It is very important to respect the values of people and to really care about their situation in order to help them improve their lives. Another personal characteristic is being authentic and honest so we can gain the client’s trust.
It’s important to evoke information from the client before moving on to the other process is because as the counselor you are able to focus and guide the client towards a particular goal that has been identified in the focusing process. As the counselor we evoke a person’s own internal motivations for change, and to reinforce it to help build their motivation for change around the focused
A clients initial appearance can make an initial impact on judgement at the instant of visual contact with any new client. The counsellor should start to form an opinion, create a mental image of who the client is, how they relate to the world. As they first enter the room and walk towards the therapist, senses will be feeding messages into the counsellors brain, which are categorised on the basis of their life and work, training, and education. Everything that makes the counsellor who they are will lead to an appraisal of the client. It is important for the counsellor to acquire a balanced outlook on life and rid them of any undue prejudices in order to form a more true and accurate opinion of the client. Questions to consider are:
1. Use of personality-According to the article (Dewane, 2005). It is important to have an awareness when engaging with clients. The use of own personality, but keeping boundaries, is important to make a connection with our clients. Being aware of how traumatic experiences have impacted in ways to address and find interventions to assist them.
As a counselor we need to gain trust from our clients, a client will not open up and go into any detail or area bothering them if they have no trust in the counselor.
In order to have a title of a therapist or counselor as a profession, it is important for the individual to have a profound knowledge of self before helping the lives of others. In addition, acknowledging the self-characteristics for those who go on to the profession is a helpful source to connect and have a better effect with others. Furthermore, to become an effective counselor, Corey listed fourteen personal characteristics of effective counselors. Out of the fourteen characteristics, the four that intrigued me are the effective therapists have an identity, effective therapists appreciate the influence of culture, effective therapists have an identity, and effective therapists, effective therapists are able to maintain healthy boundaries.
Effective counselors must recognize the limits of their power especially influential and convincing powers because they may compromise the effectiveness of a counseling program thus they should be able to tame their power (Whiston, 2009). However, effective counselors do not use their power for their own gain but to help and support the clients in the best reform procedures. On the other hand, Gladding (2008) confirm that effective counselors must always be in touch with themselves especially when dealing with clients who present the same experiences as those of the counselor. In such cases
Luckily, there is someone who can help, and that someone is trained to assess a client correctly in order to gain enough information to help a client turn their lives around. Having a solid understanding of the client’s background is a must if a counselor is to help that client with his/her issues. There are certain times in a person’s life when they need some help finding the pieces they may have lost along their personal journey. A good counselor who is well trained and understands the assessment role of mental health counseling can seek out information that is needed in order to help a client find a piece, or pieces of the puzzle, that the clients been missing.
Competent counselors should be aware of their own aptitude and be able to make judgment calls that are in the best interest of the client. One way to do this is for the counselor to make