INTRODUCTION OF COUNSELLING

8/9/2019 INTRODUCTION OF COUNSELLING

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HBEF 2203

GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING

Topic 1

INTRODUCTION TO

COUNSELLING


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LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

Explain counselling concept and its importance

State the difference between counselling and psychotherapy

and the aims of counselling

Identify the roles of a counsellor and the characteristics of a

professional counsellor

State the difference between individual counselling and group

counselling and their usage.


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COUNSELLING

What is counselling concept and the tasks of a counsellor? Is counselling importantand useful? Why?

In this country, counselling service has reached an encouraging level especially in

schools and institutions of higher learning, in line with economic, social, cultural,

educational, science and technological development.

In the context of a developing nation gearing towards a developed nation with high

technology, counselling is useful to people in various situations.

Although counselling is regarded a new field compared to sociology, economics andpsychology, on the whole, the influence of counselling is felt by the society though not

that widely.

The number of individuals who seek counsellors help to solve their problems to

achieve a more peaceful and better quality of life has increased.

Among the problems that are regularly brought forward by the individuals are

personal problems to interpersonal ones at the workplace that affect their peace ofmind, difficulty in making decisions due to confusion and also learning problems.

Professional counsellors in modern society have important roles to play especially

when Malaysia is developing rapidly.


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This development is not merely in terms of economic, science and

technology but also nation unity and multi-racial peoples harmony. The

change in society is the basis of a countrys development.

Various social problems exist directly or indirectly as a result of rapidchanges in society. The changes are:

a- A big migration by young people searching for jobs in towns.

b- Big family system breaks into small families and smaller familiesbecoming the norm.

c- The existence of big organisations in private and corporate fields that

drives their people alienated when they pay less attention to these

individuals.

d- The influence of print and electronic media on humans thoughts and

attitude especially children and adolescents that is against traditional

society values.

e- Better way of life that destroys good values in individuals and society.


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The direct effect of these changes on a person is psychological reaction in the form of stress.

According to research stress can cause various illnesses such as heart disease, high blood pressure

and emotional disturbances.

Stress that may ariseat school levelis teacherexpectation, andparentswho areunrealistic

aboutacademic achievements, small living conditions, andpressure from peerstowards a

certain behaviour norm.

In an institution of higher learning stress occurs as an effect ofcompetition for academic

excellence, shortage of money and social pressure.

Reactionfromstress differsbetweenadolescents and children.

There are cases of adolescents and children who ran away from homes dues to stress when chaos

happens in the family. Some try to run away or forget the stress by resorting to drugs or involving

in crimes.

Counselling maynot be able to get rid of all social diseasescaused by economic developmentbut in orderto achieve harmonious state of mind amongst the communityit must be

prepared adequately in all institutions that have a role to play in the countrys development.

Counselling can no longer be regarded as knowledge to deal with insane people but it must be

offered widely so that its technology can benefit community members in solving their daily

problems


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DEFINITION OF COUNSELLING

The word counselling has different meaningsaccording to the

approaches that individuals practice.

One of the definitions that has many similarities is when it states that

counselling aims athelping a person learnstomake a decisionand

carry out that decision.

Some has defined counselling aslearning.

In these two definitions the similarity is the wordlearn.

A- First definition : teaches a person to make decision

B- Second definition : learning in general.

Understandingconceptandfunctions of learningin counselling ,according by some counselling definitions.

Krumboltz (1965)

Counselling is anyethical activityperformed by a counsellor inassisting

a clientdemonstrates a behaviour that motivates towards problem solving.


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Krumboltz (1965) has a definition that clearly showswhat a counsellorwants to achieve is his clients aimand this is a very important aim.

An approach or a counselling method that can be used to achieve the aimis not stated or suggested.

The American Guidance and Personnel Society(1980) defines;

Counselling asusing counselling proceduresand other fields related

to behavioural scienceto help learn how to solvecertain problem,

making decisions regarding career choices, personal growth, marriage,family or other interpersonal matters

Burks and Stefflre (1979),

Counselling refers toprofessional relationshipbetweena trained

counsellor and a client. This relationship is normally person-to-person, although sometimes it involves more than two persons. It is

designedto help clients understand and express their viewsabouttheir lives, and learn to achieve personal choice aim through a

meaningful and informative choice after they have solved their emotional

and interpersonal problems.


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Simply definition of counselling as follow :

Zainal Abidin (2002)

Counselling is adiscussionbetween atrained counsellor

and anindividualor asmall groupthatexperiences

confusion and needs help, andtogether they think and

analyse a few alternativesto overcome the chaotic

situation and implement the chosen alternative.

Understanding thegistof a professionalcounsellors duty

towards his client, whether the client is an individual or a

small group.

Counsellor hasto identify whethera client really needs

counselling or psychotherapy.

This is becausethere is a differencebetween a client who

needs counselling service and the one who needs

psychotherapy, a more serious service.


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THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COUNSELLING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY

What do you know about psychotherapy? In your opinion, do counselling and

psychotherapy have the same or different aim?

40 years ago, there is a prominent difference between counselling and

psychotherapy.

Psychotherapy :emphasises more on treating of mental illness, Counselling :

focuses more on helping individuals overcomedead ends ortroubled minds

so that they can continue their lives peacefully.

Now, it is very tedious to find the difference between counselling and psychotherapy.

Most counselling textbooks could not find the difference between the two.

In fact, books on counselling theories are no different than books on psychotherapy.

The difficulty is more obvious when we compare the definitions of counselling and

psychotherapy by a few writers. The definitions of counselling by a counselling

writer can be used by the psychotherapy writers. On the other hand, the definition of

psychotherapy by a psychotherapy writer can be used by a counselling writer.


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Thereare many similarities between the two fieldsthat involve special

relationship between an individual who wants to get help to solve his psychological

problem (client) and a trained person who gives that help (counsellor or therapist).

Thespecial relationshipis the same and in fact, thetechnique in helping

patients and clients is similar.

The difference between the two is the objective.

The counselling objective isto help at any timean individual overcome his or her

personal growth problemtowards achieving optimum strength development that

is in him or her.

This objective can be accepted as the aim of psychotherapy process.

Besides solving growth problem of an individual, psychotherapy also solves the

reconstructive change problem.

Normally, psychotherapy is carried out for a long period (1 month to 2 years) as

outpatient or inpatient.

On the contrary, counselling is usually for a short period (less than 6 months) as

outpatient only. However, counselling and psychotherapy have similar aim that is to

achieve the clients aim.


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COUNSELLING PSYCHOTHERAPY

Helps people identify problems and crises

and encourages them to take positive stepsto resolve these issues

Helps people with psychological problems

that have built up over the course of a longperiod of time.

It is the best course of therapeutic

treatment for anyone who already has an

understanding of wellbeing, and who is

also able to resolve problems

It will help you understand your feelings,

thoughts and actions more clearly

Counselling is a short-term process that

encourages the change of behaviour

Psychotherapy is a longer-term process of

treatment that identifies emotional issues

and the background to problems and

difficulties


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COUNSELLING AIM

What do we hope to achieve at the end of a counselling

session?

Generally,every individual has different hopes

according to his perspective of the counselling process that

has been carried out. For example, after an individual has

gone through the counselling process, he who sought helpfrom counsellor, parents, teachers or school principals has

different perception regarding the ending that he hopes for.

Difference in opinion will exist, but this will not bediscussed as the last choice that determines the

counselling aim dependson theagreement between

the client and his counsellor.Both of them willensure

the direction of their discussion.


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TO MAKE CLIENTS CHANGE IN BEHAVIOUR EASIER

Majority of theorists agree that counselling aim isto help client make some change

in behaviourthat enables him or her to have a more productive and satisfactory life.

Prior to visiting a counsellor, there must besomething that disturbshim or hisrelationship with someone is unsatisfactory (e.g. his employer).

Perhaps, its the routine way the client interacts with others so much so that it causes

a negative reaction from others. This negative effect causes the client to feel disturbed.

It is hoped that after completing a session theclient will understand and analyse

effectivelyandsatisfactorily ways to interactwith his or her employer or others

who have the tendency to create disturbing response.

Counselling aim is toencourageandmake it easierforclient to changehis or her

behaviour to a more effectiveone.

For example, Ali (a teacher)is unawarethat he alwaysgives a negative responsesuch

as giving cynical remarks to his students who give wrong answers in class. Alisbehaviour causes his students not to interact with him in class. This poses a problem

and disturbs effective teaching. With counselling session, Ali will be able toidentify

the real problemand a counsellor canassistAli inchanging his behaviour, where he

should have given support to his students when interacting with him and guide them

although the answers they gave is wrong.


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TO INCREASE CLIENTS ABILITY TO START AND CONTINUE A

RELATIONSHIP

A big part of our life is interacting with people. But, many clients are facing

problems due to their inability to interact with others correctly and appropriately.

This problem can be linked to clients not having communication skills or having

negative personal image.

In this case, the counsellorsaim is to find ways to increase effective

interaction with others.

Relationship problem can occur amongst adults in a family, from between

husbands and wives to school children and their peers.

In each case, a counsellor will try to find ways to help the client increase his

quality of life by improving the way he interacts with others.

For example, when Monas principal gave her comments she felt very angry and

refused to listen to what was said. This led to communication breakdown between

the two. Mona saw the comments as criticism. A counsellor can assist Mona in

having a better relationship with her principal. When commented, Mona could be

helped so that she would not react negatively but rationally by listening calmly to

every comment and taking the positive ones for her.


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HELPING CLIENT TO MANAGE ONESELF

Another important counselling aim is tohelp client manage himself in difficultsituations.

Each individual experiences difficulties in his life when he grows up. It is rare that a

person grows up by reaching and perfecting every significant persons claim in his

life, such as his mother and fathers

Parents expectation on their children has often given unpredictable effect.

A child for instance, will learn a less efficient and less effective behaviourorboth when he is unable to fulfil his parents hope.

He will bring this learning into adulthood. Unfortunately, in specific situation suchas at the workplace, the behaviour pattern that he learnt will not help him but

instead will cause him constant problems.

In this kind of situation, a counsellor will train his client to manage himself

effectively especially in new situations and new demands.

For example, Ahmad is always criticised when he fails in his subjects. The effect is

Ahmad becomes lazy and always play truant in school. He brings this attitude to the

working environment. He is always late and lazy to try something new. A counsellor

can help Ahmad manage himself effectively and increase his self-image.


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ENCOURAGING DECISION MAKING PROCESS

The process of making decision is very difficult to certain people.

They are scared of having to shoulder responsibilities due to wrong choices made and they

always make decisions without thinking of the existing alternatives.

The aim of counselling isto help them make important decisionsin their lives.

It is vital to note thatthe counsellors role is not to give the last say and to direct client

to choose certain decisions.

Thefinal decision is made by the clientand he must understand and know why and how to

achieve that decision.

The clientwill learn to make risk estimatesundertaken from that decision in terms of

time, money, decisions and others.

The client alsolearns to make a few explorationsabout his values in life that arerelevantto the present situation and condition, realising that these values are considered in the

decision making process.

To exemplify, Ah Kau feels dissatisfied and stressed with his job. He fears to make any changes.

A counsellor can help Ah Kau finds the cause of his dissatisfaction and search for his value inlife. A counsellor can also help Ah Kau finds and estimates the risk of various alternatives such

as changing departments, discussion with his employer or changing jobs


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COUNSELLORS ROLES

A counsellors role depends on the place and setting he contributes his service.

Over the years, the counsellors roles have gone through changes.

The roles have now spread to public counselling centres, hospitals, prisons, Islamicoffices, the Haj Fund, churches, some government departments and other places that

require counselling service instead of mainly helping students with problems at

schools and career choices.

Counselling is also found at a few places in cities such as Kuala Lumpur and Ipohwhere counsellors provide their services as private practice to the public.

Example of Counselling at Various PlacesPlace Example of Counselling Service

School Helping students make appropriate career choices.

Prison Helping inmates rehabilitate and the process of integrating them into

the community.

Hospital Helping families that lost their family members deal with the loss.

Islamic Office Helping spouses who are experiencing marriage problems.

Government Offices Helping stressed employees or ones with problems of being burnt out.

hurches Helping those with personal problems such as problems with their

parents.


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This new development took place due to the recognition that counsellors have the

required training to help in matters such as drug abuse at the Rehabilitation

Centre, rehabilitation works at prisons and at places where there is emotional

problems and tension.

In the West, there are counsellors who joined the professional mental health team

which includes psychiatrists, psychology experts and psychiatric nurses, where the

counsellor becomes the case manager of a patient giving treatment and main

service.

With the expansion of counsellors roles at specific places, so the focal point of

approaches will be towards the whole individual that includes his whole life. This

means the focus of counselling includes physical, social, mental and emotional

concerns as well as individual spiritual needs

Aspects that include the whole individual


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Physical Health

An individuals physical health is important in counselling process. Examples of counselling

that involves physical are:

Helping individual use the habit of taking care of health, such as avoiding obesity, and to quit

smoking;

Exploring emotional or psychological matters that hinder an individual from practicing positive

attitude of eating a lot due to negative self image;

Motivating individual to practice healthy lifestyle such as exercising; and

Teaching an individual to decrease his tension or stress.

Social Needs

An individuals social needs include family relationship, working environment, friendship and

other activities that tie him to other people in the community. This relationship gives that

individual strength and avoids him from experiencing feelings of alienation, down and low self

esteem.

Mental Health

A counsellor must always be aware of the relationship between his clients thoughts and

feelings to his doings or behaviour. The counsellors roles towards his clients thoughts are to

stimulate his thought process so that his ability to solve problems will increase and becomes

more creative. Creative mental activity is the guide to a persons quality of life.


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Emotional Needs

In many cases, human beings focus of aspects is linked to the aim of increasing an individuals

emotional contentment. This aim has become a tradition for all counsellors and will continue to

be the focus of counselling. Normally, an individual will meet a counsellor to obtain clarification

about certain feelings. Often, the expressed feelings are related to his life or certain event that

disturbs him in his life. So, the importance of emotional contentment is clear when a client talks

about things that affect his feelings physically, socially, mentally and spiritually.

Spiritual Needs

Pertaining to present situations, the subject of spirituality in counselling is getting more

attention as compared to the past.

Before the expansion of counselling such as now, every explanation of certain behaviour is

through the perspective of psychology. For instance, from the learning perspective, deviant

behaviour is explained where an individual has learnt characteristics, acts and thoughts that are

not normal for his community. This act is received reinforcement from his environment and so

deviant behaviour continues.

Why does the question of spirituality receive attention in counselling?

Basically, there isawareness that every persons behaviour,thoughtsandfeelingsare

related to his religious beliefs and teachings. For the majority, their values in life and the

ways they react in a community are influenced by religious teachings.


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Now, spirituality is thebasis for guidancethatdeterminestheir

behaviour pattern, lifestyle and values in life.

With this explanation, it is clear that the domain of a counsellors job

is in the form of growth facilitation and individual development from

the physical, mental, social and spiritual aspects. By providing

attention on the function of an individual as a whole, acounsellor

will beable to help that individual live his life more

productivelyandmeaningfully.

In a research, Myers (1992) found that if a strong bond exists

between physical health and mental in counselling, there will be a

positive impact on the clients emotional contentment and physical.He supports the idea of giving development, prevention and

contentment counselling throughout ones life to facilitate mental and

physical contentment. He believes that this approach will be a new

paradigm for all counsellors new roles, now and in the near future.

CHARACTERISTICSOFAPROFESSIONALCOUNSELLOR


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CHARACTERISTICS OF A PROFESSIONAL COUNSELLOR

Counselling must be understood asa unique interpersonal process.

Its effectivenessdependson attitudes, skills and knowledge shown by a counsellor when he deals

with his client.

A counsellors client must be able to feel that the counsellor is a helper with these characteristics

a- Believes that clients are unique and precious individuals;

b- Believes that his clients have abilities to change;

c- Understands and knows how effective individuals function;

d- Has knowledge and skills that are needed to help individuals with limited functions;

e- Is willing to be involved in interpersonal process; and

f- Knows himself and his skills and his limitation.Characteristics of a counsellor


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A CLIENT IS A UNIQUE INDIVIDUAL

One important characteristic that a counsellor must have is to trust thatevery human beingcreated by God isuseful, valuableandunique.

Sincere acceptance towards a client actually can be felt by the client, and to him it is notmerely an abstract explanation.

This doe not mean we must simply accept or not his behaviour or we like or dislike the

character he demonstrates.

In fact, we mustsow our sincerityandrespecttowards him as avaluable individualandauseful human being.

A counsellormust try to understandthat aclients selfandworld observations are his

realities.

Every belief, attitude, feeling and thoughts about himself and is environment greatly influencethe way he reacts.

As a counsellor, you mustfocus your attention on this perceptionbecause all these will

show the clients thoughts and will give meanings to us on why he reacts and behaves as

such.


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A counsellorwho can show that he accepts his clientin a counselling

processwithout any conditionwill motivate his client to have some hopeand feelings of trust in his counsellor.

How can the characteristic of accepting be communicated to clients? Can youdo it?

There are a few non-verbal ways that can communicate this characteristic such

as showing fail expression that is calm, posture while entertaining client,

seriousness in answering that is not stalling and unthreatening voiceintonation . We must cater to clients feelings of sensitivity when using our

voices.

The way a counsellor interacts with a client


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A CLIENT CAN CHANGE

A Counsellor must be optimistic.

They must believe that aclient can change, at leastdemonstrating changesinfeelings,

attitude, cognitive structureandbehaviour.

At the same time, a counsellor must alsoaccept the fact that helping someone to changeis a

difficultand time consuming task. At times this effort fails andsome people cannot be

helped at all. When this happens this does not mean that changes are impossible.

A counsellor must think that changes do not take place due to certain factors:

a-The Client is not ready to change

b-Changes can take place if there is the clients environment is changed;

c- A counsellor does not have the specific expertise or adequate experience to influence a change

in client.

As a counsellor, you must convince the client that you trust him to change.

Do not merely say it but show him with your actions and attitude.

Utterance like, I really believe you will solve this problem, will not on its own change the client

or influence your belief.

This utterance must be accompanied by relevant body movements, convincing facial expressions

and voice intonation that has positive quality. All these have therapeutic value to put across our

attitude and belief towards our client


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HOW EFFECTIVE INDIVIDUALS FUNCTION?

A counsellor mustunderstand the psychology principlesthat

influence human behaviourandrealisethat theenvironment

plays a part in creating that behaviour.

You are exposed to the principles of psychology in the previous

units that are related to principles of behaviourism and cognitive.

Thelearning theorythat is explained before this willalso helpin understandinghow effective individuals function.

In carrying out acounselling process, it is important to know

how an individual functionswhether our aim is to get our

clients trust or in the explorations of problems thathinder his

function and growth.

This knowledge is required when we make judgmentwhich way is

appropriateto beused to assistand to make a decision when

counselling should be stopped.


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KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS IN HELPING AN INDIVIDUAL

Counselling needs more than thewillingness to build a special

relationshipwith the client,appreciateandrespect the client,

believingthat theclient can change, andhaving knowledgehow

effective people function.

A counsellor also has to haveclinical skillsthat canhelp clients find

the source of the hindrancethatblock their ability to changeso

that they can function at a much desired level.

Clients can be assisted in various ways. What works at a place and time

may not be provide a much desired effect in another place and time.

There aremany approaches, methods and theories that can be

used. As a counsellor who is new to the field and is trying out you must

refrain from using approachesthat is taken a bit from theory A and B

and so on.

As a counsellor in training, you are encouraged to try a few approaches

that can be observed by your supervisor. Then, slowly you join the

approaches that you have tried with your own style that you practiced in

the training.


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While you are designing and expanding your counselling skills you should seize the

opportunity to conduct counselling session to clients from different cultural background,

for example clients from different ethnic in Malaysia.

In this way, you can see thedifference ways the ethnic groups perceivethemselves,their environmentandworlds. This will add on to your experience that

not all clients will give the same response though the problems appear to be similar.

This experience is useful so that you will understand when you ought to change your

strategy and to use a suitable technique in a relevant situation.

A counsellor must accept the fact thatlearning ways to help people takes a long

time.

Trainee counsellors normally start their counselling training process via a few

attempts, from one to another. They read and listen to ways counsellor conducts

counselling.

They also emulate skilled counsellors behaviour to obtain suitable actions that can be

used as part of their rituals or styles.

A counsellors development skill is a process that is always on going. A counsellor has to

increase his skills as long as he still carries out his professional role.


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WILLING TO BE INVOLVED

A counsellormust demonstrate his willingness to get involvedin thecounselling

process.

Commitment and the readiness to share experience are more meaningful to a client thanthe allocated time given and the effort needed to help a person.

This includes communication with a client in a client-counsellor relationship, and nothing is

more important at that time than his client and what is to be discussed in that meeting.

Commitment and the willingness to beinvolvedwith a client drive a counsellor to be

focused on his clients inner thoughts, such as how he sees his problems.

In this way, a counsellor can help his client understands his self, the change process and the

hindrance he has to face.

At the same time, the client is helped to take risk and a perspective that a counsellor is a

tool to help him change.

A counsellor who feels that he is sufficient, stable and disciplined will take away all his

weaknesses and focus on helping his client.

A counsellor will show his willingness to be involved with his client by being understanding,

accepting and showing sincerity towards his client.


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KNOWING ONE SELF

A counsellor must have apositive self conceptand feel at ease,

comfortable and safe about him. By demonstrating mental health a

counsellor can be arole model to his client.

As a counsellor you must besensitive to your own feelings,

attitudeandvaluesand how all these play a role in helping others.

Normally, a counsellor hashigh social interestandstrongmotivationtocooperate with others.

A counsellor also needs to havehigh toleranceinhandling

defensive, uncooperativeanddown clients.

A counsellormust know how to solve his own problemsand

handle conflictandstress that he experiences.

At the same time, a counsellor must alsoknow his own skillsand

his limitations.


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A counsellormust be open to improve himselfandhis self

developmentbyincreasing his knowledge, skills and experience.

A counsellormust realisethathe cannot help everybody who hasproblemsand in certain cases, he has torefer clients who demandmore than his ability to a relevant expert.

The process that requires a counsellorto know or to identify one

selfis actually to admit the limit to ones capabilities. This process is

important in counselling because:

a- The more sensitive a counsellor is to his own feelings, thoughts and

acts, the easier it is for him to understand others feelings, thoughts

and acts.

b- A counsellor who is comfortable with himself will communicate

sincerity to his client. A client will trust the person who wishes to help

him if he feels the sincerity of that person. Hence, the client will be

more open to discuss his problems and this enables the counsellor to

understand how his client perceives his problems.


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COUNSELLING AND GUIDANCE SERVICES

Traditionally, the counselling and guidance services at schools or higher education

institutions consist of three types of services.

a- Teaching and training services;b- Counselling services; and

c- Examination services.

Types of counselling and guidance services

TEACHINGANDTRAININGSERVICES


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TEACHING AND TRAINING SERVICES

The service of teaching and training is for thosein need of certain skills and practice. For

instance when it is important for studentsto get general informationabout smoking or drug

addiction and also the danger of certain contagious diseases e.g. HIV or AIDS, a guest speaker will

be invited to deliver a talk. This service is meant to spread information.

In other situations likecareer choice problems, the counsellor will invite people of specific posts

to deliver a talk about the available career opportunities or those in the future. It is common

among students at school to belack of informationandexposure about the job opportunity

as well as the necessary academic preparation. Information such as this will serve as an eye-opener

for school students and more importantly will trigger their interest to learn subjects related to

their dream jobs.

Other activities that can be held by the counsellor in the component of teaching and training are:

a- Effective revision strategies

b- Preparation for an important exam

c- Time management

d- Tips for attending an interview

e- Ways to prepare a good resume (curriculum vitae)

f- Practices to overcome nervousness and shyness

g- Practices to be assertive and to deliver a speech in public

The counsellors effort to spread information and provide teaching and training can be held in a big

group according to the suitability of the condition. However, to train certain behaviours such as toreduce shyness or to train someone to be assertive, it is best if it is held in a smaller group of less

than 10 individuals.


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Counselling Services

The counselling service is meant for those who need a

counsellors service to solve a problem. For instance, inorder to choose a career, a counsellor can play a roleto

help the clients brainstormanddiscuss their

interestandpreferenceandalso the ambition. The

counsellor can also show various options for the clients so

as to choose a perfect career for them.

Examination Services

This service is provided for those who need it or those

who simply wish tounderstand the real selfin a more

thorough way. For example in choosing a career, thecounsellor can prepare the clients with exams such as the

IQ test, personality and preference test so that the clients

can match their job with their respective personalities

and preferences.


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GROUP COUNSELLING

Other than the individual counselling, a counsellor may also

use his counselling skills to handle a small group ofcounselling. Those who wish to get psychological help or help

as they are in crisis have a choice of receiving a counselling

service in a small group. Group counselling is implemented to

develop self-awareness and to improve interpersonal skills.

When can you say a small group is a group? A group contains

three or more individuals (normally not more than ten

members) who mutually influence each other. If the group has

more members, the interaction is at stake as the group

members will be threatened by the presence of such a number

of people to share something private.

What is group counselling? By definition, it is an application

of group interaction to facilitate self-comprehension and

facilitate individual behavioural changes.


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TYPES OF GROUP

Generally there are two types of groups. They are the guidance groups

and counselling groups.

1-Guidance Groups

Normally, the guidance groups are used tospread information,particularly for the students at schools or higher education

institutions.

The topic delivered is the topicchosen by the counsellor.One of the characteristics of the information is the information of

prevention such as the danger of drugs, free sex that may lead to

AIDS or other sexually-transmitted diseases and elements that

precipitate moral deterioration.

Some of the popular topics discussed in guidance groups are:

a- Time management

b- Attending interviews

c- Study skills

d- Career selection

e- Exam preparation

C ll G


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2-Counselling Groups

The focus of counselling groups is on the individual, unlike the guidance groups where the

focus is on the topic to be delivered.

Counselling groups consist of 5 to 10 members with no specific structure.

The counsellor serves to create conducive condition for the members to discuss without feeling

depressed or threatened.

Things to be shared with the other members are things that they feel comfortable to talk in

public such as family problems, interpersonal relationship, problems regarding self concept

and personal problems faced.

The content of discussion involves the expression of feelings and each member has a chance to

be heard by everyone including the person facilitating the group the counsellor.

Students who are interested to further find out about other types of groups may refer to the

text books which will state the features and advantages of certain groups. For the purpose ofthis course, it will suffice to understand the two groups to help teachers in their tasks in

helping school students. Other types of groups are as follows:

A- Therapy groups

B- Sensitivity groups

C- T-Groups


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ADVANTAGES OF CLUSTER COUNSELLING

Group counselling has many advantages. Bear in mind that not all clients may benefit from

group counselling. Some individuals may feel depressed having to confront other people and

some may feel hard to talk something considered private in the presence of others.

The main advantage of group counselling is its practicality. A counsellor has so many jobs

with work burdens facing a lot of clients. This will not allow the counsellor to meet all clients

in the same day, but group counselling enables the counsellor to meet more clients in a short

time. In a group, a counsellor can meet seven to eight individuals within similar time

duration he uses to meet them individually.

Another benefit of group counsellingis related to the type of problems faced by the

clients.Most students problems arerelationshiporinterpersonal problems. In a group,

clients are given the chance to explore their interpersonal problems and feelings within a

social context. For instance, the feedback collected from the other members will give a

stronger influence than the counsellors since the feedback comes from the peers. The client

will experience psychological growth through the process of getting genuine feedback from

the peers. Group counselling will turn into a micro society where the client is able to feel

peer pressure, social influence and approval as part of the counselling experience.

In a small group, clients also stand a chance to experiment new behaviours with the support

from other team members through the given feedback. Say, if a client consistently feels

embarrassed to talk in public, for example in front of the class, the client can practice talking

in the counselling group with encouragement from the other members.


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Normally, theclient faces his problems aloneand it ishard for him to view them inthe right perspectives. In a smaller group and with the help of the counsellor, he will

feel less intimidated as he discovers that some other people have their problems too.

Group counsellingprovides the clients with chances to explore their problemsand

at thesame time share them with others.

When themembers of a team share their problems with each other, itleads to thefeeling of trust and respect for each otheras they exchange the information about

the related problems. The group experiencewill create a support system for the

members.This makes the group as the source of regaining a new spirit and a sense of

security among the members.

Another advantage of group counselling is that the client will not only benefit from thefeedback from the others, but also be able to offer feedback to help other team members.

This will help enhance the clients self concept.

Other elements that provide therapeutic value through group counselling are:

a- Promising hope to the clients

b- Feeling safe and getting support

c- Solidarity among the members

d- Learning something from other members

e- Interpersonal learning

A counsellor whoreally understands the therapeutic elementsexplainedwill be

able to conduct the group counsellingmore efficiently and effectively.


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CONFIDENTIALITY IN COUNSELLING

Counselling whether it be individually or in a small group,involves clients

self-disclosurethat may not be expressed outside a counselling session.

The more the trust of the client toward the counsellor is, the easier it would

be for the client to discuss his or her problems with the counsellor.

In theory, this helps the counsellor understand the way the client perceives

his or her problems. The client would also feel understood and secure as he

or she gets the counsellors support. This puts the counsellor as the mosttrusted person who will not leak his or her secrets to anyone.

From the aspect of professional ethics, it is the counsellors responsibilities

to preserve the confidentiality so that the good rapport built is not wasted.

If the client no longer trusts his or her counsellor, the good relationship will

be at stake and most likely he or she would refuse to meet the counsellor.

Here are some principles of confidentiality that may help the counsellor:


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a- The burden of maintaining the confidentiality is not definitive as there are some

situations that allow the counsellor to repeat the secrets.

b- Confidentiality is maintained if it does not threaten other individuals rights or

the public.

c- Confidentiality depends on the matters being kept confidential. If the issue

which is said to be confidential has been made public, the counsellor is no longer

attached to the question of confidentiality.

The counsellor alsoneeds to think about the safety of the clientandavoidmisusing the problems confided to him. To avoid the counsellor from being

charged at the court of fraudulence, theconfidentiality of the client is crucial.

However, the counsellor is subject to making a shrewd judgment and thinking

rationally when is the time confidentiality may be exempt. The situations in which

confidentiality may be violated are as follows:

a- The client is harming himself, herself or others.

b- The client demands that his or her particulars be revealed.

c- The court demands that the clients particulars be repeated.

d- The counsellor suspects that there has been a child abuse case involved.


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Thanks..

INTRODUCTION OF COUNSELLING

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