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Describe Some Aspects of Your Learning About Helping in a Counselling Way and What This Has Taught You About Yourself

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Birbeck University: Introduction to Counselling Course Term 1, Coursework essay: 19th February 2013 (submission date) Author: Monica Malkani Describe some aspects of your learning about helping in a counselling way and what this has taught you about yourself This essay aims to address a number of aspects of counselling that I have found particularly interesting since starting the introductory course in Counselling in October 2012. This will include a brief history of counselling; what it means to help in a “counselling way” from both a client and counsellor’s perspective and what the course has taught me as an individual. Reflecting on the history of counselling and considering today’s society and culture, I believe there is …show more content…

Mearnes and Thorne (1999) in Nelson-Jones (2006, p107) who have extended Carl Roger’s person-centred theory state that counselling is based upon three key elements: trust; intimacy and mutuality. “Developing trust is important not only at the start of therapy relationships, but as they continue”. Another key aspect of any counseling relationship is that a helper be self-aware and non-judgemental when using counselling skills. It is imperative that one’s own views on race, class, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation and so forth are put aside and not translated into prejudices. This can be quite a challenge given some of these views can be deeply-rooted. Saunders (2011, 36-38) argues the importance of acknowledging differences between people, which gives them their identity. Understanding an individual’s identity and behaviour, which is ultimately a manifestation of values, beliefs and attitudes, can help counsellors to develop strategies in how they can best support them (Aldridge, S., Rigby, S. 2011, 63-82). When some counsellors offer their clients a couch to lie down on during their therapy sessions, it can often provide an extreme way of behaving in a non-judgmental way: the client does not have a view of the counsellor’s face and therefore cannot interpret changes to the counsellor’s facial expression as any kind of judgement. Providing a safe and secure environment for an individual to be themselves

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