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.
Children have a way of not being able to express themselves fully so being able to help them understand their emotions. Vision My vision as a practitioner scholar in the field of psychology lies in clinical counseling. As a clinical counselor I observe people around me and try to as well understand their actions and why they react the way they do in certain situations. The more I realized that I like to help people with their problems, the more I realized that I was in the right field to help people understand their own life better.
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...
I cannot recall a more rewarding experience than helping facilitate a child’s education while enabling parent participation alike. These experiences have drawn me to my current position as an Educational Assistant where I am constantly interacting and establishing relationships with students, learning about their goals and aspirations. It is that same desire to empower our future students that has steered me towards a career as a school counselor. By enrolling in the Masters in counseling program, I aspire to develop methods and experience to become an effective, experienced, and adaptable school counselor that promotes self-awareness, allowing students to realize their full potential and impetus them towards a promising future. I want to learn skills that facilitate personal and career development, ensuring that our students grow accomplishing their goals and ambitions. To discover techniques that help students improve in all areas of academic achievement, establishing relationships with students and parents alike. By becoming a school counselor, I am determined to become an advocate for underserved youth. I aim to become an effective agent educational reform, providing support for students in the various institutions that may disempower
The authors presented different counseling tenets that not just counselors, but also, we, as teachers can use to address the concerns of our gifted learners. We can incorporate these tenets in our lessons so that others students can benefit with it as well. The counseling tenets discussed the book Socio-Emotional Curriculum with Gifted and Talented Students (2009) include the following: nonjudgmental, focusing on strengths, respecting and fostering autonomy, active listening, open-ended questioning, avoiding teacher/facilitator self-disclosure, respecting privacy and processing.
This paper will discuss the following 4 Core Functions of a Counselor: Case Management, Client Education, Crisis Intervention, Referral and their primary purposes.
As seen with the case study of James, the levels of development within the profession of family-based counseling are very important to the developmental of oneself within the profession. Systematic Developmental Supervision allows for personal growth with a supervisor in case of need. As a counselor moves through the levels of development, there will be less anxiety and more self-confidence, along with the decrease need of a supervisor.
Rankin, Baji. "The Importance of Intentional Socialization among children in small groups: A conversation with Loris Malaguzzi." Early Childhood Education Journal 32.2 (2004):81-85.
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
Approach: The counselor may use a systems approach to counseling. (White, J.& Mullis F. 1998).This appr...
Within the individual psychology relationship the counselor has several roles that they hold. The counselor establishes an egalitarian relationship, working as teachers in their relationships. They model, teach, and assess areas of the client’s life such as how Ana grew up the middle child and her ways of responding and functioning. The counselor’s role is also to direct and encourage Ana, being warm and human, and admitting their own mistakes when necessary (Gladding, 2005; Murdock, 2013).
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 ...
Grades. Paper Presented at the Southeastern Conference of Counseling Personnel, Jekyll Island, GA. ERIC Document ED391134.
The purpose of counseling with students, parents, and teachers is to help students maximize their potential. The elementary school counselor also conducts guidance lessons; consults with parents, teachers, and other professionals; and coordinates student services in the school (Gartner, Larson, & Allen, 1995). Counseling and guidance programs provide elementary students with assistance in: understanding self and developing a positive self-image, showing respect for the feelings of others, understanding the decision-making process, developing effective study skills, being prepared to make the transition to the intermediate school, and gaining an understanding of the world of work (Finney & Maloney, 1985; McCullough, 1995; Paloma & Pendelton, 1991). Counseling is conducted with students and parents individually and in small groups when requested and determined appropriate. It is short-term, voluntary, and confidential.