VALUES CLARIFICATION TECHNIQUES FOR GROUP COUNSELING

PRESENTED BY :

QURAT UL AIN NAEEMDepartment of education, UOK

OUTLINE:INTRODUCTION.GROUP COUNSELING.VALUES.TYPES OF VALUES.VALUE CLARIFICATION.VALUES CLARIFICATION TECHNIQUES.COUNSELOR’S AND CLIENT’S VALUESSIMILARITIES BETWEEN GROUP CONSELING

AND VALUE CLARIFICATION.ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES.CONCLUSION.

INTRODUCTION Counseling is derived from the word “counsel”

which literally means “to give advice” Dictionary meaning of the word “counseling” is

that [it is kind of a] help with personal or psychological matters usually given by a professional”

(Encarta Dictionary, 2009) Counselor is someone who gives counseling. Counselee is the person receiving counseling.

GROUP COUNSELING: WHAT IS A GROUP?

A collection of individuals who have regular contact and frequent interaction, mutual influence, common feeling of camaraderie, and who work together to achieve a common set of goals.

GROUP COUNSELING: Group counseling is a form of therapy, which posits that

people benefit from shared experiences. Usually group counseling is focused on a particular issue.

For Example: Anger management. While a therapist usually manages group counseling, contributions from other members in the group are considered valuable since all in the group share similar issues.

CONT…. One of the main principals behind group counseling is

the idea that dealing with specific issues may cause isolation, and a feeling that one is alone in facing one’s problems. Group counseling attempts to counteract this isolation by assembling people with similar issues to enforce that difficulties are not singular to one person. Additionally, knowing other people with similar troubles can be comforting to each individual, who may not have access in their own family and friends to people with the same problem.

VALUES:

VALUES: Values are the things that you believe are

important in the way you live and work. Values exert major influence on the behavior of an individual and serve as broad guidelines in all situations.

Examples of values are: success, honesty, belonging and health, equal rights etc.

FAMILY VALUES

RELIGIOUS VALUES

SOCIETAL VALUES

PERSONAL VALUES

TYPES OF VALUES

PERSONAL VALUES : Those things you think are important (e.g.

Friendships)

SOCIETAL VALUES : Those things everyone in general agree are

important.

RELIGIOUS VALUES: Those values that have an ultimate foundation in the

Islam, Bible or in a particular religious system of beliefs.

FAMILY VALUES: These are valued in a family and are considered either

good or bad. These derive from the fundamental beliefs of the parents, who use them to educate their children. They are the basic principles and guidelines of our initial behavior in society, and are conveyed through our behaviors in the family, from the simplest to the most complex.

VALUES CLARIFICATION

Value =what we believe to be important

Clarification =to identify and make clear what is important

VALUES CLARIFICATION :Values clarification is a technique for

encouraging students to relate their thoughts and their feelings and thus enrich their awareness of their own values.

Purpose Of Value Clarification Technique: Assist individual become more clear about their values.

Help students realize that others may hold different

but equally acceptable values.

Central Focus Of Values Clarification: Rational thinking

Emotional awareness

Examine personal behavior pattern

Clarify and actualize their values

PROCESS OF VALUE CLARIFICATION INVOLVE: Different forms of questioning

Sentence completion type

A set of activities or exercises

Examples of Values Clarification Exercises:

1) Twenty Things Love To Do:(Students are asked to write the 20 things in life that they love to do)

2) The Values Grid:

3) Values Voting:(how many of you are honest all the time?)(how many of you are in favor of war?)

VALUES CLARIFICATION TECHNIQUE : Have great potential in-group counseling, it facilitate self-

knowledge and support the clients’ adequate behaviors by

group exercises.

Allow clients to compare, examine, and bring arguments in

favor of their own values, interest, and behaviors, despite the

rules imposed on them at any time by others.

Relies on internal cognitive and affective decision making

process.

This technique allows one to choose one out of the two,

reflect on what is chosen and what is valued by the person

IN 1966, RATHS, HARMIN AND SIMON PROPOSED A THEORY OF VALUES CLARIFICATION AS:

oCHOOSING (COGNITIVE)Freely

From alternatives

After thoughtful consideration of each alternative

oPRIZING (AFFECTIVE)Cherishing, being happy with the choice

Willing to affirm the choice publically

oACTING (BEHAVIORAL)Doing something with the choice

Repeatedly, in some pattern of life

THE COUNSELOR’S AND CLIENT’S VALUES:

The counselor understanding the client’s values support the unraveling of behavior, purposes, and what is significant in the client’s life.

The counselor's responsibilities in case of values clarification techniques are to understand his/her own values and the way they differ from those of colleagues and clients;

Accepting the clients’ right to have different values; Giving up the moralizing tone or the tendency to

get involved in actions that Might discourage clients from examining and meditating on their own values;

CONT.. Avoiding judging clients, and creating a climate of

acceptance and openness that should facilitate the values clarification techniques.

Awareness of the impact his or her implicit values may have on the client.

If a counselor enters into a discussion of another’s point of view with the implicit assumption that he is “right” and the other is “wrong,” failure is assured.

GIBSON and MITCHELL (1981) find similarities Between the Values Clarification Technique and the Group Counseling:

GROUP COUNSELING VALUES CLARIFICATION

1. Establishing the relationship: developing a relation of support that should facilitate communication by the clients of the reasons for seeking counseling.

1. Familiarization: creating an atmosphere of trust, acceptance, and open communication.

2. Identifying and exploring the clients’concerns.

2. Developing the self-image

3. Awareness and examination of possibleoptions for the clients.

3. Awareness of individual values.

4. Decision-making by the clients, on having Analyzed the alternatives of each option.

4. Assisting individuals to choose betweenalternatives and freely affirm their values,having weighed the consequences

5. Implementing the decision: the aims are set and the clients move on to action.

5. Supporting individuals in setting aims and actions according to their values.

ADVANTAGES: Values clarification techniques favor self-knowledge; Allow maximum use of the decision-making good

potential, and a smooth adaptation to the requirements of daily life;

Contribute to elaborating personal and professional projects;

Help identify the reasons of professional dissatisfaction; Determine the causes for low self-motivation and role

conflict (e.g. between profession and family); Values clarification techniques are perceived as less

threatening than traditional methods (standardized tests);

Clients answer and get involved spontaneously in values clarification exercises

DISADVANTAGES:Informal values clarification instruments

do not always provide relevant information;

Identifying with the help of the counselor some correlation between the Client’s values, interests, and aptitudes and the requirements of certain professions takes much work and time.

CONCLUSION: Values clarification helps you to get a clear picture

of where you are going, what choices to make, what friends to have or avoid, what to look for in relationships and what career to choose and how to get there.

Values are closely related to motivation. Counselors avoid the danger of passing on a his/her own values on to their clients when teaching the values clarification program - clients discover their own values.

“Values clarification helps a person to fulfill his needs and find true happiness.”