Open to Discover

Introduction

Ben is a senior high school student who is confused on what course to take in college. He wants to tale up Computer Science because he is interested in computers and computer games His parents and relative, however, want him to pursue a course that would lead him to a medical degree. His family’s fervent desire for him to be a doctor stems from the fact that his parents siblings, and relatives are mostly, doctors. Ben is torn between his family’s wishes and his interests. He then decided to see the school guidance counselor.

During the sessions, the counselor explored Ben’s motive in choosing what course to take in college. The counselor then assisted him in determining his aptitude tests and career interests for both medical and computer science courses by taking aptitude and career interest inventories. It was during ben’s session with the counselor that he decided to pursue a course in Computer Science. He was also helped into devising a plan on how to explain his decision to his family.

Ben’s case is one of the many stories of clients who have decided to undergo counseling if you were in Ben’s position, would you have gone to a counselor, too?

EC1- Define counseling.

What is counseling?

Counseling can be defined in various ways. Over years, several conceptual models have been used to define counseling, which prove its dynamic and complex nature. No single definition is enough to explain what counseling is. Hence, this lesson presents counseling as a process, a relationship, an art, a science, and an emerging profession.

Counseling as a process

Counseling is “a process in which individuals learn about themselves and their interpersonal relationships, and enact behaviors that advance their personal development.” As a process, counseling includes a sequence of steps or actions which are geared toward a particular end these various activities can lead clients to a journey of self-exploration, self-discovery, and in some cases, to behavior or attitude change. During the sessions, clients can learn more about themselves, the people around them, and their respective environments. The knowledge and awareness that clients gain from these sessions would help them make informed choices. The number of sessions between counselors and clients vary for some, it might take just one session; for others, it may take several.

Counseling as a relationship

Counseling is “a professional relationship between a trained counselor and a client. This relationship is usually person-to-person, although it may sometimes involve more than two people.”

According to the Guidance and Counseling Act of 2004 (R.A. No. 9758) counseling as “a face-to-face helping relationship. It is a mission of service.”

Based in the descriptions mentioned, it is clear that counseling is personal relationship between counselors and clients. The first important characteristic of a counseling relationship is that it is egalitarian in nature. It means that power between counselors and clients should be consciously shared by the two parties. While is true that counseling is a power laden relationship because of the position it gives counselors, it must be remembered that the clients are solely responsible for their lives and that they alone must be able to navigate through it. Counselors are there to assist clients to take responsibility in making choices a solving problems for themselves.

The second characteristic of the counseling relationship is that it is built on trust and confidentiality. Clients place their trust and confidentiality. Clients place their trust on their counselors and will set t share personal information about themselves that they are not even comfortable sharing with others. Counselors then would have to make sure that this trust is not broken. Confidentiality means that what has transpired I the counseling sessions will be kept secret. Violation of confidentiality may have unfavorable repercussions on the counseling relationship.

Counseling as an Art

Nystul (1999, 3) described counseling as “a flexible and creative process whereby the counselor adjusts the approach to the unique and emerging needs of the clients”

No counseling session is alike and is approached in the same way by counselors by counselors. Counselors deal with different types of clients with different types of counseling needs. They also need to constantly think of new ways to address clients’ concerns

In counseling, there is also the concept of giving of oneself. This process is considered to be very delicate as this can be very challenging and exhausting on the part of the counselor. For some counselors, this act of giving of oneself is an art that has to be developed over time. Nystul (1997) explains that the giving of oneself can be manifested by providing concern and support as they “put their selves in the client’s shoes” and by “going beyond the self and feels at one with the client.”

In the process where counselors become flexible, creative, and are able to give of themselves, the subjective realm of counseling is then explored.

Counseling as a Science

As a science, counseling delves into the objective realm of the counseling process. Counselors are encouraged to be “counselor-scientists” where they are “required to have the skills to formulate objective observations and inferences, test hypotheses, build theories, use psychological tests, and use research methods”

Addressing client’s needs are done through careful study of the client’s world. Dimensions such as physical, emotional/psychological, social, economic and spiritual are taken into consideration by counselors. The different environments where clients are situated are also examined. To be able to do this, counselors should be knowledgeable about the different theoretical frameworks of human development, personality and counseling.

Counselor-scientists are not born but are developed overtime they undergo academic preparation and attend so that they will be equipped with the knowledge, skills, and attitude they need to help clients with their concerns.

Counseling as an Emerging Profession

Counseling as an helping profession, has flourished in the 2o0th century it is “an emerging profession…a service sought by people in distress or in some degree of confusion who wish to discuss and resolve these in a relationship which is more disciplined and confidential then friendship, and perhaps less stigmatizing than helping relationships offered in traditional or psychiatric settings.”

As professionals, counselors have the opportunity ti assist their clients to make choices and solve their problems in various setting such as schools, community, offices and clinical settings.

EC2 - identify the goals and scope of counseling.

Goals of Counseling

According to George and Cristiani (1986), counseling has five major goals. These goals are the following:

1. Facilitating behavior change

One major goal in counseling is to foster behavior change on the part of clients. This change in behavior aims to have clients “live more productive and satisfying lives. “ (George and Cristiani (1986,6). For example, a teenager boy, who spends most of his time playing video games and surfing the internet may undergo counseling to help him learn how to manage his time better and improve his study habits.

2. Improving the client’s ability to establish and maintain relationships

Counseling helps client’s overcome difficulties in their interpersonal relationships and improve how clients relate with the people around them. For instance, an eleven-year-old girl who feels isolated and has troubles expressing herself to others may seek a counselor to help her be confident in dealing with people.

3. Enhancing client’s effectiveness and ability to cope

Clients may turn to counseling to help them learn how to cope and adapt to change. For example, a transfer student who finds adjusting to a new environment difficult with its new set of rules, teachers, and classmates may seek the help of a school counselor.

4. Promoting the decision-making process

Counseling helps clients make decisions. Counselors assist clients in exploring the different aspects if the self (namely physical, social, emotional, mental, moral, and spiritual) which can influence decision-making. Clients are also guided in identifying potions and their respective consequences to help them make informed decisions. A high school student from a poor family, for example, may consult with a counselor to explore the possibility of supporting his family without having to drop out of school.

5. Facilitating client potential and development

Counseling aims to maximize clients’ potentials and ensure client’s growth. Counseling helps clients discover what they are capable what they are capable of doing and helps them actualize their goals. For instance, a junior high school student who is intelligent but is not performing well in class may undergo counseling to help him determine reasons of his low performance and discover ways of overcoming perceived obstacles.

Specific goal in counseling (McLeod,2003)

It is important to note that while goals are important elements of the counseling process, the question of who sets the goals is crucial. Krumboltz maintained that a counseling goal should meet the following criteria:

a. It must be a goal shared by the client;

b. The counselor must be willing to help the client achieve this goal; and

c. It must be possible to assess the extent to which the client achieves the goal.

Goal setting in counseling is a shared responsibility of both counselors and clients. In this way, clients can stake ownership of their counseling goals and would not feel that the counselors themselves decided on what the goal should be.

As mentioned in the introduction, the rest of the lesson is focus on three representative fields under applied social sciences counseling, social work, and communication. The selection of these three is appropriate considering that they are all disciplinary and deals with the practical application of theories. Counseling, social work, and communication’s roots straddle the various disciplines of psychology, sociology, anthropology, even political science and linguistics. All three fields focus on the improvement and empowerment of an individual, a group, even and institution. Further, these three also seek to put the various theories from social sciences into practice. However, each area is also aware that general theorizations may not be enough to explain a certain phenomenon, and they will not try to, but instead, will adjust, modify, and re-conceptualize existing knowledge in order to meet the needs of their disciplines.