Preview

role of a counsellor

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1500 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
role of a counsellor
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/counsellor_job_description.htm

Counsellor:Job description

Counsellors help people to explore feelings and emotions that are often related to their experiences. This allows their clients to reflect on what is happening to them and consider alternative ways of doing things.
Counsellors work in a confidential setting and listen attentively to their clients. They offer them the time, empathy and respect they need to express their feelings and perhaps understand themselves from a different perspective. The aim is reduce their confusion and enable them to cope with challenges or to make positive changes in their life where necessary.
Counsellors do not give advice, but help clients to make their own choices within the framework of an agreed counselling contract.
There is also no clear distinction between the terms counselling and psychotherapy, and both can encompass a range of talking therapies.
Typical work activities
There are various models of counselling, each with its own theoretical basis. Differences in approach can relate to the individual practitioner's interests and training, the setting in which the counselling consultation takes place, or the predominant client group. Counsellors working in particular fields (e.g. relationship guidance, addiction, sexual abuse or health) tend to specialise in the models most used in those areas.
Work carried out across most areas of counselling includes: establishing a relationship of trust and respect with clients; agreeing a counselling contract to determine what will be covered in sessions (including confidentiality issues); encouraging clients to talk about issues they feel they cannot normally share with others; actively listening to client concerns and empathising with their position; accepting without bias the issues raised by clients; helping clients towards a deeper understanding of their concerns; challenging any inconsistencies in what clients say or do;
helping

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Make an Ethical Referral

    • 1069 Words
    • 5 Pages

    2.1 Quite often, a counsellor’s role is to assess and refer clients on to more appropriate help. Sometimes a client needs specialist counselling or a different approach and it is up to the counsellor to make this transition as smooth as possible for the client and to manage the process as sensitively as possible. The counsellor needs to take responsibility for making all arrangements but the client should also be empowered.…

    • 1069 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    as a counsellor you need to be able to communicate well and have the following you need to be a…

    • 1274 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Many counselling psychologists are trained in a number of therapeutic modalities and are able to…

    • 311 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    A counsellor’s approach is unique and is based as much on their own belief system and personal values as the theories they have studied. A good counsellor will be able to use these to help promote a good positive working relationship with their clients.…

    • 778 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    There is a wide range of professions and areas of work which focus on helping people where the use of Counselling skills is demonstrated. Essentially, counselling skills can be evident in any area of work which requires a caring or supportive dialogue between the speaker and listener, focused on intently listening to the speaker to explore and determine the problems they may be experiencing. Examples of which being the doctor who listens attentively to his patient without…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Best Essays

    Coun 501

    • 4924 Words
    • 20 Pages

    To be a professional, effective counselor it is important to first know who you are, what your motivations are and morals. A counselor has many roles; they provide guidance, structure, spiritual guidance and counseling. A major component of counseling deals with the thinking patterns of the mind that directly leads to behavioral, emotional, spiritual, and relationship changes. A counselor must attempt to become familiar with a client to solve their problems while demonstrating a…

    • 4924 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Within the contract such things as the type of counselling being offered, number of sessions, the frequency of sessions, timing of sessions, length of sessions, payment and confidentiality should be discussed and agreed to by both the counsellor and client.…

    • 796 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Counselling skills are a set of tools that can be used by the Counsellor to help a client see or think in a different way. There are many different methods, theories and skills all with the same goal of helping the Client. When a Client first comes into contact with the Counsellor a verbal contract is established for the protection of the Counsellor and the Client. This contract is the first part of counselling skills, as this makes the client feel that he has come into a safe non-judgemental and confidential space. This is what I would call grounding. The next stage of the session is asking the Client “what you would like to talk about today”. The Counsellor’s job is then to listen and try and feel what the other person is feeling by putting themselves in the client’s shoes. This is called Empathy the most important tool a Counsellor has in my opinion. In my research Carl Rogers stated that the best counsellors are Empathic people.…

    • 480 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    It also requires that at the start of every new counselling relationship a clear contract is set up between the counsellor and the client. Confidentiality must be discussed within this contract, there should be a clear agreement between client and counsellor as to the type of counselling offered, the number of sessions, the frequency, timing and length of the session. There should be clarity on payment and the terms of payment. Counsellors must remain professional at all times and should have boundaries in place to help differentiate the client and counsellor’s relationship from any other relationships that the client may have. Good clear boundaries will also help protect the client from any kind of exploitation. The counsellor’s role and that of the client should be very clear, the counsellor is there to counsel and the client is there to be counselled, the counsellor and client are not friends and there should be no attraction between counsellor and client. The BACP also states that “Good Practice” involves clarifying and agreeing to the rights and responsibilities of both the counsellor and the client at appropriate points in their relationship.…

    • 1307 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Ethical Framework is designed to regulate the work of the counselling practitioner in order to safeguard the needs of the client and to ensure that they are being treated with respect and dignity.…

    • 1918 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oftentimes, counselors will encounter a talkative client. Talking usually helps anyone to get whatever burdens that they are dealing with off of their chest without having to keep it bottled up inside. Counseling is definitely a listening profession. Counselors should be helping hands. They offer lots of advice daily to all different type of clients with different cultural backgrounds. Sometimes the counselor is all a person might have to go to let off steam or to vent to. I consider myself a good listener, but not qualified to give advice. However, I can still offer my opinion depending on what the subject might be. I always try to put myself in that person shoes and try to be empathetic about whatever their situation might be. I have an admiration for counselors as they have a big role to play in helping shape people’s lives and making sure they are giving good sound advice to improve their situations. They should be paid highly for the work they do and they all should have a passion for the job.…

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Counsellors look at what is possible, but do not tell clients what they should do. That would be the counsellor taking control rather than the client gaining control. The primary difference between counselling and other forms of helping is the way in which the counsellor listens. A counsellor should always be factual within their notes, you should always take notes after a session while fresh on your mind, taking notes in a session can cause clients to maybe feel worried or nervous on what you’re putting down and also keep you interested and proven to be…

    • 2523 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Counselling skills are necessary tools used by trained counsellors to help clients through issues. At some point in their lives, people will find themselves in situations where they take on the role of counsellor without having had any training or understanding of the concept of counselling. This is quite common when a friend or family member needs some guidance.…

    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lay counsellors provide support to individuals experiencing emotional issues and problems. The level of training acquired will provide the lay counsellor with an understanding of how…

    • 1065 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Counsellors are also human beings with needs, values, feelings and biases. Unless he knows himself, he will not understand his clients. Unless his own bias’s, prejudices, personal interests and emotional vulnerability, are understood, he will not be able to understand why his clients behave or react as they do. To effectively assist clients, he needs to know himself well and continually work for self-assessment and personal development. (Prince, 2010)…

    • 337 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics