The Role of Counsellors in Guiding Individuals Through Difficult Situations

Discuss about the Counselling for Journal of Family Studies.

Counselling is considered to be a helping profession since it highlights the intellectual and the emotional experiences of people and give professional advice accordingly. A counsellor enables the client to explore different aspects of life and their feelings through talking freely and openly, this may involve carrying the conversations between the counsellor and the client in an open way and enabling the client to be emotionally involved (Worden, 2018). A counsellor does not judge but gives advice. This gives the client a chance for expression and the difficult feelings such as anger, guilt, fear in a confidential environment, and resentment.

The counsellor identity as a helping professional is also perceived when the counsellor encourages the client to examine the parts of their lives that they have found to be difficult and impossible to face before (McLeod & McLeod, 2011). Research carried out in the field of counselling have shown how some individuals usually react and responds to different situations they encounter.  This is usually followed by considering the ways in which the client changes the behaviors.  Counselling ensures there is no confusions and allows the client to make effective decisions which leads to positive change in their attitude and behaviors. Counselling also enables the client make their own choices and reach the best solution to the comfort of the client in order to act on them accordingly (Truax & Carkhuff, 2007).

Counsellors are also trained to help others to work through the difficult situations they might be undergoing. They help other people determine the major causes of certain problems such as addictions and social issues and then focus on the process of healing. They direct and guide people through different situations and help them to focus on what really matters most.  Additionally, the counsellors help people to find out which careers they are well suited to undertake and how to undertake their education and in their search for jobs (Prilleltensky & Prilleltensky, 2007).  The counsellors take the person through the education which is required and the testing processes and also the interview processes of landing a job. Other issues which counsellors are of great help includes issues which pertains guidance, how to deal with depression, anxiety issues, and employment.

Counselling also focus on the client’s growth, wellness, and development. Counselors are usually oriented positively and approach the clients with holistic and humanistic perspectives (Rowland & Goss, 2013). They then try and develop the necessary skills and competencies in order to help the clients to create a regimen in order to maintain their mental wellness and improve them. Counselling goals include making the clients be independent and do not need the counselling in having productive lives. In addition, counsellors may also specialize in counselling in certain areas such as schools, marriages, clinical mental health, and families. Some of the areas may appear to be similar to other professions but the core beliefs, training, and the perspectives of counselling make them unique in the helping professions (Blustein, 2013).

Identifying the Causes of Problems and Finding the Best Solutions

Counselling also helps those struggling in the world cope up with difficult situations. They ensure that they deal with personal problems such as divorce and loss of their jobs which can be stressful for anyone. A counsellor may also help the person to get back to their feet and feel rejuvenated. Counselling also ensure the person lets go of the past situations and start a new life without feeling guilty about what he has been undergoing. The counsellor also may ensure that an addict to any substance such as alcohol gives up their way of life in order to lead a normal life (Bemak, 2000). They also help the individuals through difficult transitions from being addicts to functional people in the community. Encouragements from the counsellor ensure they recover from their hard situations and come to normality. Counsellors also focus on personal treatments and group therapy in order to help people having similar problems (Patterson, Uhlin & Anderson, 2008). Counselling offers a lot of different opportunities which help others lead a happy, normal, and healthy lives.

While counselling itself may not solve all the issues that pertain the lives of people, it ensures that it brings about the social change. Counselling promotes well-being in the social change of the society and the mental health together with behavior making it feasible in utilizing it as the agent for the change in the society (Corey, 2015). Through the initiation of group therapy to manage stress, a large group of the community members in dealing with the problems with emotions consequently makes them become productive for the benefit of the whole society. Additionally, through assisting the families to deal with their problems helps in giving out the healthier and happy families. Through counselling, the disorders and the medical complexities that would have otherwise emanated given the conditions they have been undergoing are therefore prevented from occurring. Through the services of counselling, the clients are encouraged to make positive and healthier decisions and thus leading to optimal outcomes in their life and the society (Schiersmann, Ertelt, Katsarov, Mulvey & Weber, 2012).

The recurrent issues in the today’s world take a great toll in the helping professions particularly counsellors. The counselling skills allow the counsellor and the clients to address the issues and the misunderstandings very prompt and before they become bigger problems.  A counsellor identity is demonstrated by high levels of kindness, sincerity, and emotional maturity to others (Okun & Kantrowitz, 2014). These are some of the aspects describing the professional identity in the process of exercising as a helping professional. There has been an increasing awareness in coming up with a strong professional identity. Having a strong professional identity professional is important in increasing possibilities for ethical performances, the advanced cognizance of the counselling roles and also better chances for the profession to survive.

Helping Clients Overcome Addiction, Depression, and Anxiety

The professional identity of counsellors is also defined in terms of their roles. Their professional identity depends on their responsibilities, abilities of their profession, and who they are. Counsellor identity involves the professionals understanding their limits of competence, acquiring the subject knowledge, composure, and professionalism. The apparent self-efficacy in counsellors is felt as they have mastered their roles. The stance of the counsellors who are experienced is defined through their exemplary skills of competency and self-awareness.   Counsellors also play an important role in self-directed learning, professional development, and self-care. All the professionals have the attitudes of reflective awareness and the commitments of lifelong learning and developing as professionals (Sharf, 2016).   The activities for conferences, watching materials which are counselling-related, and sharing of professional experiences with other colleagues are valuable experiences in the professionals.

As a helping professional, the tasks of helping people as a counsellor always appear to be vast and they are normally not easy to be in positions to counselling groups, individuals, families, and couples in the quest of assisting them to attain the ideal health and also mental well-being. The responsibilities to help individuals on various issues such as addictions, substance abuse, stress management, parenting problems and self-esteem defines the professional identity (Sue & Sue, 2012).  At the end of the sessions of counselling, it is important for the clients to make positive choices and the changes which would be crucial in assisting them to realize their goals in the future. In order to deal with the issues comfortably, changes and also and maximum productivity in the profession, there must be a strong sense of professional identity. Additionally, there are some ethical principles which provide the unchanging ethical standards which often informs the professional identity as a helping professional and provides a great assistance in making rational decisions. This includes nonmaleficence autonomy, fidelity, justice, and beneficence.

 Autonomy in helping professionals involves the freedom in making open decisions which are consistent with the professional practice.  The clear understanding of the principle is imperative in helping to comprehend freedom possessed to the choices made in an action. With this principle, it is easier distinguishing and discern the choices which are wrong and the right ones for the client (Martin, 2009). This principle defines the responsibility of the helping professional in encouraging the patients to act upon their own convictions and the values they make on their own decisions. This also gives the councilor the reason to explain to the client the essence of being autonomous and also give some explanations on the decisions they may impose on other individual’s rights and how they may not be in line with societal values.

Career Guidance and Personal Growth

The beneficence principle reminds the professionals on the moral obligations they purposely act for the benefit they undertake on other people, acts of kindness, and promoting goodness. Beneficence reflects on the responsibilities to contribute meaningfully to the welfare of the client where possible (Pope & Vasquez, 2016). On the other hand, nonmaleficence involves refraining from what causes injury to other people and also furthering their welfare through the elimination of threats and removing those which causes them harm. Both concepts of nonmaleficence and beneficence concepts have thus been used extensively by helping professionals to weigh probable risks of the care solutions against the benefits which are possible before they are settled for different plans of action (Hugman, 2013).

Fidelity is another principle that informs the professional identity in helping professionals and involves the concepts of loyalty, commitments, and faithfulness. It includes promoting the goals of moral autonomy and the advocacy of the clients which includes care and responsibility instead of the profession itself. As a helping professional, honoring the contracts made with the clients, keeping up the promises within and telling the truth in all the situations in the attempt to provide best care solutions (O’Brien, 2011). Fidelity in the helping professional always needs to come first when addressing the client before undertaking on the personal interests, the services which are offered should be prioritized by the client and given solutions which are developed should be customized as per the needs required by the clients. Fidelity thus ensures the clients trusts the counsellor and also have faith in the application of therapeutic solutions which have been offered. This way ensures it is possible to get the optimum outcomes with each of the clients they encounter and implies that the practice as a professional is marked with lots of success and enhances the growth of the professional identity, reputation, and growth (Rowland & Goss, 2013).

The principle of justice as a form of professional identity involves fairness and the respect for the rights of individuals in helping professions. The principle necessitates the observing fairness and providing each client with equal opportunities for the quality of services and services outcome (Hegarty, O’Doherty, Gunn, Pierce & Taft, 2008). Client’s discrimination is not recommended pertaining their gender, race, age, social class, or religion.  The application of this principle ensures that the rights of the clients are curtailed in order to improve the society. The principle also enables one understand the situations where there is the need for the redistributive or the distributive interests.  As helping professionals understanding of the social controls imposed to individuals with certain problems is necessary in order to give out the perfect remedies of the situations.

The Importance of Personal Treatments and Group Therapy

Brian is a 36-year-old man who works as an accountant for a family business. He has been working as an accountant for the small business for the past ten years. In the last six years, he had been working in another business which forced him to shut it down. The family business has faced some shortcomings in the last few days and has made him begin the process of winding it up in the coming days. His commitments to his business, friends, and the business owners have intensified his level of stress and feels that it is as a result of the collapse of the business. Brian has decided to take a week off on a sick leave since he feels so stressed to return to his work. Mary, his wife, is worried for Brian has been deeply depressed and refused to go to work.

Brian has described his experience to be really distressful. He feels that the process has encompassed the loss of loyalty from the organizations which were associated with his business that he saw it as a personal attack against him. He also feels that he has been exposed to the individuals who do everything in their power to gain as much as they can in his company that has been crumbling. Brian has claimed a lessened motivation to carry on his work effectively, anxiety when he thinks about his work or when he gets to attend to his duties in the workplace. He has also faced difficulty in getting sleep as a result of the stress he has been through. The symptoms of his predicament began when he had realized the business he is undertaking is starting to fold and have increased to the point where he finds it difficult in completing his usual tasks and doesn’t require to go on with his usual duties. Brian also has been working for at least seventy hours every week and the whole of his life has revolved around the work.

 From the professional perspective, it would be necessary to reality-check on the feelings of failure that Brian has been feeling and the high levels of concern for letting himself, friends, family, and other business stakeholders down. In order to manage the levels of stress that Brian has been undergoing, he should take a temporary break from his current work for he had stated he was not able to cope up with the situations of returning to work and he should focus on the implementation of relaxation strategies. Different relaxation strategies he should apply includes, carrying out regular exercises, doing the things which he enjoys and finds relaxing (Noordman, Koopmans, Korevaar, van der Weijden & van Dulmen, 2012). He should also view some relaxation tapes every evening which may be offered by the professional.

Counselling as an Agent for Social Change

 Brian was also concerned about what he should do about his return to performing his work, he had stated he did not have the morale of return to work due to the stress he was involved into. From the professional perspective, Brian should try and not think about his return to work next three weeks where he should concentrate on the self-relaxation strategies and self-care in performing his duties. Brian should also keep any of his return to his workplace to brief periods over the next few days and use the relaxation tape before and at that time if it is possible. He should also come up with a written plan where he will be able to manage and balance all his aspects of life such as enjoyment, family relationships, relaxation, and also work which can be reviewed regularly. 

References 

Bemak, F. (2000). Transforming the role of the counselor to provide leadership in education reform through collaboration. Professional School Counseling, 3(5), 323.

Blustein, D. (2013). The psychology of working: A new perspective for career development, counseling, and public policy. Routledge.

Corey, G. (2015). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy. Nelson Education.

Hegarty, K. L., O’Doherty, L. J., Gunn, J., Pierce, D., & Taft, A. J. (2008). A brief counselling intervention by health professionals utilising the ‘readiness to change’concept for women experiencing intimate partner abuse: the weave project. Journal of Family Studies, 14(2-3), 376-388.

Hugman, R. (2013). AZ of Professional Ethics: Essential Ideas for the Caring Professions. Palgrave Macmillan.

Martin, N. (2009). Art therapy and autism: Overview and recommendations. Art Therapy, 26(4), 187-190.

McLeod, J., & McLeod, J. (2011). Counselling Skills: A Practical Guide For Counsellors And Helping Professionals: A practical guide for counsellors and helping professionals. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).

Noordman, J., Koopmans, B., Korevaar, J. C., van der Weijden, T., & van Dulmen, S. (2012). Exploring lifestyle counselling in routine primary care consultations: the professionals’ role. Family practice, 30(3), 332-340.

O’Brien, M. (2011). Equality and fairness: Linking social justice and social work practice. Journal of Social Work, 11(2), 143-158.

Okun, B., & Kantrowitz, R. (2014). Effective Helping: Interviewing and counseling techniques. Nelson Education.

Patterson, C. L., Uhlin, B., & Anderson, T. (2008). Clients’ pretreatment counseling expectations as predictors of the working alliance. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 55(4), 528.

Pope, K. S., & Vasquez, M. J. (2016). Ethics in psychotherapy and counseling: A practical guide. John Wiley & Sons.

Prilleltensky, I., & Prilleltensky, O. (2007). Promoting well-being: Linking personal, organizational, and community change. John Wiley & Sons.

Rowland, N., & Goss, S. (Eds.). (2013). Evidence based counselling and psychological therapies: Research and applications. Routledge.

Schiersmann, C., Ertelt, B. J., Katsarov, J., Mulvey, H., & Weber, P. (2012). NICE Handbook for the Academic Training of Career Guidance and Counselling Professionals–Common Points of Reference. Im Internet zugänglich: ue-career. org/download. php.

Sharf, R. S. (2016). Applying career development theory to counseling. Nelson Education.

Sue, D. W., & Sue, D. (2012). Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory and practice. John Wiley & Sons.

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