Introduction Understanding the counseling session from the client’s perspective is a very important aspect in the development of a therapeutic relationship. A clinician must be an excellent listener, while being to pay attention to the client’s body language, affect and tone. The dynamics in the counseling session that is beneficial to the client include the recognition of the pain that the client is feeling. The detrimental part of this includes a misunderstanding of the real issues, a lack of consideration of the cultural aspects of the client, and a lack of clinical experience or listening skills. In this presentation, we will discuss the positive and negative aspects of the counseling session from the client’s perspective which includes the client’s attitudes, feelings, and emotions of the counseling session. We will next examine the propensity of the client to reveal or not reveal information to the counselor, and how transference, and counter-transference can have an effect on the counselor-client relationship. Positive Aspects For clients who express their experiences for the first time in counseling, it can be a powerful force to help them heal. It is important for the counselor to pay close attention to the person’s body language, affect and tone. The counselor must consider the possible scenarios that may occur in the first session. Cultural aspects of the client must be considered. From the client’s perspective, the first session is an important session, even if the first session is mostly an information gathering session. The client may have experiences much trauma in their life, never being able to trust a person with their closest feelings. This is why it is very important to establish rapport and trust in... ... middle of paper ... ...confidential information is shared without their permission, this situation can be detrimental to the client. The client may stop treatment or be passive-aggressive towards the therapist by being late of cancelling appointments with the clinician. References State University (2011). Retrieved from Lecture Notes Online Web site: http://angel04.gcu.edu/section/default.asp?id=551591 Sherwood, T. (2001, September). Client experience in psychotherapy: What heals and what harms? Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology, 1(2), 1-16. Retrieved August 27, 2009, from http://www.ipjp.org/index.php?option=com_jdownloads&Itemid=25&task=view. download&cid=111 Transference and Countertransference, (2011). Kathi’s Mental Health Review. Retrieved May 7, 2011 from http://www.toddlertime.com/mh/terms/countertransference-transference-3.htm#Countertransference
Although doctor-patient confidentiality is standard today, a caveat about this privilege is that it does not protect all statements made to therapists and only applies to regularly scheduled appointments. Additionally, if a patient reveals that they intend to harm someone, it is the therapist’s duty to report this fact to the proper authorities.
I was really nervous about doing this first practice recording. While I knew how I wanted to start the conversation, I was stressed out about the unknown that comes along with these sessions. I am constantly listening to my friends talk, but how I had to respond for the counseling session was very different than what I am typically used to. I usually give my friends my opinions and advice on how I would handle the situation. It was hard for me to just sit back and let my classmate talk. I wanted to respond to many of her statements, but I had to take a step back and really just listen. In these types of counseling sessions my thoughts and opinions are not important. Rather, the focus should only be on the person you are counseling.
Research has shown that a strong therapeutic alliance is necessary for establishing a beneficial contact between the therapist and the client. If the therapist does not encourage the creation of a reliable therapeutic alliance from the beginning of the treatment, it will be hard to develop a constructive relationship with the client later. Establishing the therapeutic alliance will increase the chances of achieving the goal of the treatment because the clients will be willing to cooperate if they trust and respect the therapist. Clients are not likely to cooperate with therapists who impose their authority aggressively. Instead of imposing their authority on the patient, therapists should develop work with their patients by building a mutual relationship based on trust, understanding, and respect for the client.
As a counselor, the therapeutic relationship should be the main focus. It can be suggested that the most effective therapy begins with a warm and genuine relationship between the client and counselor. This relationship should be collaborative and based on respect, positive regard, acceptance, etc. Active listening skills, patience, empathy, and consistency represent some of the fundamental elements of establishing rapport.
The idea is to do so by expressing a willingness to learn more about, and showing respect for the client’s worldview, belief systems, and means of problem-solving while remaining empathetic to their emotional journey. Discovering and addressing the client’s personal stories and realities will enable the counselor to establish culturally appropriate interventions.
Counselor should never have a dual relationship with a client it can bring a lot of ethics issue that affect the client and counselor. According to ACA "A.6.b. Extending Counseling Boundaries Counselors consider the risks and bene ts of extending current counsel- ing relationships beyond conventional parameters. Examples include attend- ing a client’s formal ceremony (e.g., a wedding/commitment ceremony or graduation), purchasing a service or product provided by a client (excepting unrestricted bartering), and visiting a cli- ent’s ill family member in the hospital. In extending these boundaries, counselors take appropriate professional precau- tions such as informed consent, consul- tation, supervision, and documentation to ensure that judgment
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...
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.
Values, Morals, and Beliefs are components that play a role in an individual’s self-identity. The establishment of these components shape human nature, behavior, and the development of an individual’s purpose. The basis of these fundamentals has contributed to my desire to become a counselor. This paper will discuss my views of human nature, factors of behavior changes, goals of therapy, the roles of a therapist, and the counseling approaches that I chose to incorporate in a practice.
...f dual relationship there was also a possibility of the client becoming dependant on the therapist which could be seen as unethical by the BACP (2010).
The use of active listening is an essential skill to achieve this type of relationship as well as a sensitivity for clients who come from a culture different than the counselor’s culture. Great counseling also includes being honest with the client from the first session where informed consent is provided. It is important to discuss the limitations of confidentiality. Another important factor is to guide the client into setting realistic goals, so the counseling sessions can be more
The counseling session began with the introductions where I introduced myself as the counselor and later introduced my client. This stage is important in any counseling session since it is the time of exploration and focusing according to Gerard Egan as quoted by Wright (1998) in his essay on couselling skills. It is in this session that I was able to establish rapport and trust with my client in order to come up with a working and fruitful relationship with him. During this stage I made use of skills like questioning, where I would pose a question directly to my client, sometimes I would choose to just listen to what the client wanted to speak out while in some instances I would be forced to paraphrase the question if I felt the client did not understand the question I had asked previously. There were also other times when I would reflect through silence. During such a period, I got time to study the client and the information he had given. This being a difficult area, since some clients may not be able to volunteer information to you as the counselor, I decided to assure the client of confidentiality of any information he was willing to share with me with a few exceptions which I also told him about. Being open to him about the only times the information may not be confidential was part of my building rapport and establishing trust with him. I therefore, decided to ask the client what information he wanted to share with me and lucky enough he was ready to speak to me about different issues that he was going through.
My cultural background has provided me with my values, beliefs, and identity. Throughout my childhood I was taught to value family. Family was expressed as the most important relationships and family is meant to accept you and help you through whatever. This could influence the client-counselor relationship if the client does not value their family. Through making comments about family, asking the client if they have talked to family members about what they are going through, or suggesting it, can influence the relationship immensely.
Counselors need to be aware that they are able to work with particular issues and certain cultural groups. This is because conscious and unconscious meanings and assumptions, such as strongly held religious or political beliefs, will be communicated to the client. “It is desirable up to a point to know about a particulars clients background and therefore not to ask questions about it” due to the clients may be frustrated and impatient with this use of their time. (Bayne, Jinks, Collard, Horton, 2008). This is where cross-cultural training, supervision and personal development are
This paper will explore the concept of dual relationships between counselors and clients and the ethical implications of such relationships. In addition to presenting several examples of dual relationships, this paper will also explore how ethical decisions must be made to avoid potentially harmful or exploitive relationships in therapy as well understanding how different interactions between counselor and clients can be understood from an ethical standpoint, as well as how reviewing these ethical dilemmas may shape my future career as a counselor.