LESSON 3: PROFESSIONALS AND PRACTITIONARS OF COUNSELING

The Professional Counselor

            Counseling is a profession that allows you to help others manage their responses to life’s challenges. Professional counselors are expected to maintain a high degree of objectivity in doing their job. To do this, they must not have personal involvement with their client. Second, counselors are guided by rules and regulations or what is called the Code of Ethics. Third, counselors use strategies and techniques to promote the client’s personal growth and development.

            To differentiate professional counselors from informal helpers, they must have the following characteristics: (1) they have acquired body knowledge, skills, or competencies through formal and specialized training. (2) They are guided by standards of professional practice and laws. And, (3) they are formally identified as members of the helping profession, competent in promoting growth and personal change in their clients.

Roles and Functions of Professional Counselors

            Erford (2014) emphasized that professional school counselors do not take a rigid and static set of functions in the educational system. Therefore, professional counselors function as follows:

1.       Providers of individual and group counseling services.

2.       Developmental classroom guidance specialists.

3.       Leaders and advocates of academic success.

4.       Career development specialists.

5.       Agents of diversity and multiculturalism.

6.       Advocates for students with special needs and students at risk.

7.       Advocates for a safe school environment.

8.       School and community collaboration specialists.

Counselors also collaborate with mental health practitioners when a student needs a referral. To provide a proper response to the circumstance, the professional help of a psychiatrist or a clinical psychologist is needed.

Allied Mental Health Professionals

Psychologists - provide counseling and psychotherapy to promote mental health state.

Psychiatrists – specialize in the treatment of mental health disorders and believe that this may be resolved by the use of pharmacological interventions.

Neurologist – is a branch of medicine that deals with the study and treatment of disorders of the nervous system. When a client’s performance is affected by neurological problems, such as speech and language disorders, brain seizures, or movement disorders.

Social Worker – specific concerns related to housing emergencies or crisis situations may be attended to by a social worker, upon referral of the professional counselor

Characteristics of a Professional Counselor

           Professional counselors possess distinctive traits that make them unique from other helping professionals. Effective counselors must develop and exhibit personal traits or characteristics that distinguish the uniqueness of their profession. These traits include the following:

1.       Empathy – the ability to accurately sense the feelings and understand the counselee’s experience

2.   Acceptance – ability to demonstrate an attitude that is accepting of the client’s insights as expressed during the counseling session. Also known as unconditional positive regard.

3.       Genuineness – authentic, open, and in touch with his thoughts and feelings.

4.       Self-Awareness – conscious about his professional motivations, values, world views, and biases

5.       Cultural Competence – culturally competent in order t facilitate change in diverse populations

6.  Open-Mindedness – open about improving themselves-new possibilities, knowledge, or suggestions they may obtain from colleagues and other professionals.

7.  Integrity – must demonstrate personal values expressed in the ethical practice of their profession.

8.   Competence – highly skillful and knowledgeable in applying theories and strategies to effectively help people.

9.   Problem-solving Skills and Creativity – see the problem not as mere difficulties, but also as opportunities for psychological growth

10.   Embracing a Perspective of Wellness – a wellness perspective is the counselor’s ability to see the importance of taking care of himself the way he takes care of others.

Competencies of a Transformative Counselor

·   Establishing Rapport means creating and fostering a warm and accepting relationship with the counselee.

·   Basic Attending Skills refer to the nonverbal behaviors which are important in the counseling process. According to Egan (1975, 2009) and Guindon (2011), these basic attending skills can be easily recalled by the acronym SOLER:

o   S – sitting across from the counselee;

o   O – adopting an open posture during the counseling session;

o   L – leaning at times toward the counselee;

o   E – maintaining eye contact, but not necessarily staring at the counselee; and

o   R – relaxed or the ability to be composed and confident during the session.

·   Observational Skills are the ability to observe verbal and nonverbal messages conveyed by the counselee.

o   Nonverbal Messages according to Guindon (2011)

1.    Physical Appearance – ability to adapt and take care of himself

2.    Personal Space – refers to the proximity or distance between two persons

3.    Voice – fluctuation from the original pattern of speech must be noted

4.    Facial Expression – individual’s face often reflects genuine feelings and emotions

5.    Body Language – suggests unconveyed emotions

6.    Sudden behavior change – sudden changes in behavior during the counseling sessions, are indicative of possible emotional stress or resistance.

·   Basic Responding Skills also called listening skills, are competencies that indicate a counselor’s ability to accurately hear and understand the counselee.

1.       Use of Minimal Encouragers – express interest in the client’s story

2.       Restatement and Paraphrasing – allows the counselor to deeply understand the client’s experience by using his own words to approximate what the counselee has shared.

3.       Reflection of Feelings – capacity to reflect on what emotions or feelings the counselee has about a particular event or experience.

4.       Summarization – attempts to bring together all the important parts of the discussion.

Areas of Specialization

·         School Counseling is typical in the academe. Guidance counselors usually ensure students’ academic success and assist those with various career, social and personal development needs.

·         Mental Health or Clinical Counseling focuses on mental health counseling by providing programs and services specifically designed to address the needs of individuals with mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and substance or chemical dependency.

·         Rehabilitation Counseling is responsible for helping patients with physical, mental, or emotional issues.

·         Industrial Counseling provides workplace counseling to respond to the concerns of the employees.

·         Marriage and Family Counseling explore issues and concerns that affect the relationship of husband and wife and their roles as parents.

·         Private Practice wherein counselors may have their own wellness center or private clinic. The clinic can accommodate children and/or adults, depending on the counselor’s specialization.

·         Community Counseling is provided to members of the society who encounter difficulties in the community setting.

Career Opportunities for Professional Counselors

·         Elementary and High School Counselors deal with preschool pupils in grades 1 to 12 students. Provides group counseling as well as homeroom guidance sessions to support the academic, social-emotional, and personal development of school children.

·         College Counselors focus not only on the academics, social, emotional, and personal development of students, but they also address the career-related needs of the students.

·         Teaching in the Academe, professional counselors can also opt to teach at the college and high school levels as long as they meet the necessary academic requirements.

·         Workshop facilitators are equipped with competencies that address the needs of diverse groups through the facilitation of seminars and workshops.

·         Career Counselor through career counseling and career coaching prepares students and other clients on how to perform well in job applications. They also provide activities to explore their interests, personality traits, attitudes, and aptitudes.

·         Community Counselors provide help to members of certain communities by identifying how certain factors contribute to the well-being of its members (Peterson & Nisenholz, 1995)

·         Marriage and Family Counselors are trained to address family issues and concerns through therapeutic interventions.

·         Substance Abuse Counselors usually work in drug rehabilitation centers. They are trained to help people understand how substance abuse affected their way of life and how they can overcome and prevent the same problem.

·         Rehabilitation Counselors deal with clients who suffer from physical disabilities and psychological problems. They provide assessments and activities that will lead the client to accept that his condition has to be changed and fixed.

·         Researcher Guidance Counselors are trained to conduct evidence-based research ad identify the most effective activities that will improve the conditions of certain individuals.

Professional Ethical Principles in Guidance and Counseling

            Professional ethics pertain to values that determine counselors’ behaviors. Professional counselors stick to ethical principles that serve as an overall guide in their practice.

The confidentiality principle states that counselees have the right to privacy in working with their counselor (Hutchinson, 2014). And all the information shared by the counselee must be kept secret.

Client Welfare is the counselor’s primary responsibility to protect the welfare of the clients.

Informed Consent wherein professional counselors are required to provide their clients an overview of what counseling is all about and what the counseling process entails.

Relationship with Clients,   professional counselors must establish and maintain boundaries in their relationship with their clients. Within and outside the counseling session, the counselor must be aware of and be bound by the ethics of professional relationships with clients. Counselors should not engage in any personal relationship with clients.

Professionalism, a professional counselor should clarify with the client the types of activities other than counseling that will be utilized to address the presenting concerns, the techniques and counseling procedures that will be employed, and the sort of payment that is expected to be paid if working in a private setting.

Valuing Tights of Individuals, Professional Responsibilities, and Accountabilities of Counselors

1.       Respect the rights and dignity of every human person.

2.       Respect the client’s right as a self-governing individual.

3.       Being committed to the client’s well-being.

4.       Being fair to all clients by providing equal opportunity to all who availed of the counseling service.

5.       Enhancing the quality of their professional knowledge and application.

6.       Being responsive to society.

Reference:

Cleofe, M., Liquigan, B., Madrigal, C., 2016, DIWA Senior High School Series: Discipline and Ideas in the Applied Social Sciences, DIWA Learning Systems Inc.