Developing Ideas on How To Counsel Children Introduction This article identifies several special characteristics of children that require adaptations of adult effective counseling skills. This article also offers modifications of basic skills to make them more applicable to the needs of children. Next, addressing children’s special characteristics on counseling is discussed. Building trust in the relationship, maintaining a facilitative counselor, and using questions appropriately is discussed in full detail. This article is targeting counselors, parents, and children. Professional Revelence This article enhances issues related to the counseling profession by giving counselors and counselors in training encouragement to adopt basic skills when working with needs of children. According to Erdman and Lampe (1996) children often lack control over many important aspects of their existence. Pouting, remaining silent, crying, laughing, fidgeting, and fighting are some of the natural means children use to express their needs. Erdman and Lampe (1996) state: Counselors working with children need to be aware of their level of understanding, being careful to present information that is congruent with their development. (p.374) Erdman and Lampe (1996) state “small group activities in which children are encouraged to provide peer feedback and interaction, should be considered to help children assimilate and accommodate others’ point of view'; (p.374). The implications for me as a developing counselor would be to respond to children with concrete examples, hands on activities, clearer interpretations of rules, and explanations of consequences. Furthermore give special consideration to clarification of the counselor role and responsibility. Personal Reaction I enjoyed reading this article. I wanted to gain an insight on how counselors should handle children with special needs.
Counselors are very dependent on the research of others. Counselors are among many who are responsible for producing evidence based practice. Counselors have a responsibility to be eager and capable of locating and using evidence based interventions. Research reports are used to help summarize the findings of different types of research in the counseling profession. The results of a research report should summarize the findings of the research. According to Sheperis, Young, and Daniels 2010, “it should be easy for the reader to connect the findings with the stated research questions and to determine whether the finding support or refute your hypothesis” (p.239). The following are two challenges that the counseling profession is faced with when it comes to outcome research: (1) producing sufficient volumes of evidence and (2) being able to find, interpret, and use the evidence from previous research. These challenges place a limit on the variety of interventions that are available to the counseling profession. One intervention that works for one child, might not produce the same results for another child. So it is very important that research provides information that is useful and effective. The lack of studies makes it more challenging to determine whether or not an intervention is an effective solution that will improve a student’s behavior or academics. “Ultimately, regardless of how effective a counselor may be, if the problems are not properly measured and assessed, intervention is disadvantaged and treatment is comprised” (Sheperis, Young, & Daniels, 2010, p. 3). In order to best serve clients we have to complete comprehensive research and use the results to the advantage of the client.
This paper will provide a brief historical view of the counseling profession. In addition, it will focus on the importance of the philosophies of wellness, resilience, and prevention. Furthermore, it will identify the preferred counseling specialization and give a concise detail of how the profession was formed. Moreover, it will also discuss another counseling specialization that will go hand in hand with the preferred counseling specialization analyzing the case of a 12 year old female name Ashley. Hence, a brief discussion of the roles and functions of each professional will be given in details on how it would benefit Ashley and her family. Lastly, I will provide a brief example of how we would work as a team so that the end result will benefit each member of the family.
Counselors are open-minded and do not pass judgment verbally or physically at anytime while assisting students. Prejudging minimizes responses from distressed or problematic students. Giving advice and assistance should not be based on counselors’ personal opinion. Good counselors will refrain from bias and therefore communicate effective skills to empower students. Counselor should become listeners, observers, and advisers.
This paper will discuss the following 4 Core Functions of a Counselor: Case Management, Client Education, Crisis Intervention, Referral and their primary purposes.
The counselor accomplishes the above by expressing empathy, developing discrepancies, going along with resistance and supporting self-efficacy. Moreover, the counselor guides the client toward a solution that will lead to permanent posi...
It is my goal to become a school counselor in a local high school. As a school counselor, it is also important to try and understand the different experiences that children go through in order to get through to them. After studying the different counseling theories, I have discovered that each theory is valid and there are ideas and techniques that I would use out of each of them. However, there are some theories more than others that I would use to guide me daily as a school counselor. Modern day counseling is equipped with a wide variety of therapies, techniques and approaches. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast three approaches of therapy. Also in this essay the views of the person and the Therapeutic process will be discussed. The three models that are going to be compared are Adlerian, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Solution Focused Brief therapy (SFBT). This essay is going to highlight the similarities and differences of the models and their main focus, and how the three models will help the clients choose goals that best fit their environment and resources. The main goal of using these models is to help people.
Counseling skills has provided me with a valuable insight into the helping relationship and how it is both created and maintained in order to encourage growth and development in the client. The factors involved within the helping relationship include considering Roger’s core conditions, congruence, unconditional positive regard and empathy as the three main characteristics necessary in a helping relationship. In order to fully incorporate all three of Roger’s core conditions, I as the counselor must be self-aware, as a lack of self-awareness may inhibit truly listening and understanding the client; self-awareness can be enhanced through exercises such as Johari’s window. Counseling skills such as body language and active listening also plays a role within encouraging the client to open up and can help me as the counselor convey empathy.
McLeod, J. and McLeod, J. (2011) Counselling skills: A practical guide for counsellors and helping professionals, 2nd editions, New York: McGraw Hill
Children should be encouraged as much as possible and given reassurance as they learn to manage their own emotions. Practitioners must always remain approachable to the children and young people in their care. Whenever a child or young person needs assistance or guidance in how to face a difficult situation it is important that they know that they have somebody to turn to. If adults facilitate opportunities for discussion, children will know that their problems are important and they can always seek advice from adults that they
Thesis: offer children confronting adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one mentor relationships that adjustment their lives for the better, and forever.
Approach: The counselor may use a systems approach to counseling. (White, J.& Mullis F. 1998).This appr...
Grades. Paper Presented at the Southeastern Conference of Counseling Personnel, Jekyll Island, GA. ERIC Document ED391134.
Super and John Holland. Journal of Counseling and Development : JCD, 75(1), 5-16. doi: 10560445.
In counseling, there are many processes used by a counselor in his sessions with a client. These may be done in a specific order or however which way the counselor sees them to be appropriate. Listed below are the different processes that may be undertaken during a counseling session. 1. Before meeting a counselee, the counselor tries to find out as much as he can about the former. This is done so that he may discern what will help the client most. Also, he has to fathom the counselee's past so that he will know beforehand how he can help him. 2. The counselor and the counselee take some time to get to know each other. This is a process that works both ways, as does the entire counseling process upon which they are about to embark. In the process, the counselee's needs are assessed and appropriate therapy may be chosen. 3. Questionnaires or tests may be given to the counselee to prove or disprove the counselor's initial findings. It may be too early to judge the counselee right away but this may help the counselor in the totality of the sessions. 4. The counselor needs to determine, with greater accuracy, the nature of the emotion and experience that is behind the counselee's current difficulties by further detailed examination of the latter's history. Some of the issues and patterns raised in the questionnaires or tests may be raised and any relationships that may be analogous to initial observations may be noted with the behaviors and feelings involved. 5. The counselor ...
The elementary school guidance counselor works with parents through individual consultation, joint consultation with the children’s teachers, and parents discussion groups. In these ways the counselor assist parents to: understand their children’s progress in school, select strategies to motivate their children, develop realistic goals with their children, become actively involved in their children’s school life, and understand the educational program K-12 (Byrd, 1988, p. 29). The counselor may lead parent education and discussion groups and serves as a resource when parents study or discuss child-related issues. The counselor consults with parents to identify students with special abilities and/or needs. In this capacity the counselor helps parents understand the services available from other school staff such as the school psychologists, social worker, and resource teachers.