Effective Helping Relationship Requires Four Necessary Components Of An Effective Counselor

A helping relationship is a relationship between the professional and the patient/client which aims to help the client get through difficult situations and encourage the client to overcome their issues.

and felt her distress as she became emotional telling her story. Carl Rogers ( 1980 ) felt very passionately about empathic listening. He states: ''Empathic listening means entering the private perceptual world of the other. It involves being sensitive moment by moment to the changing felt meanings which flow in the other person and temporarily living the others life without making judgements''. ( Rogers, 1980. p.142 ). In being empathic towards the client during the session I also was able to reassure her, particularly when during the session she questioned her own capabilities.

According to the American Counseling Association (ACA) website the organization’s mission is to help society by offering well trained professional counselors. In the process, assisting counselors develop into the contingent professional’s in which society can depend upon, at the same time stimulating human self-worth and diversity. When counselors are trained in graduate school the aspects that goes into becoming a professional counselor, is they equipped with a vast amount of knowledge. Some of the basics include how to work with diverse populations, acknowledging their own biases, how to advocate for the client who is among an oppressed population, congruency with their clients, empathic listening and communication skills, knowing when to refer a client to the appropriately trained counselor and many more. All of these elements and more are just some of the tools, professional counselors are required in order maintain the standards the American Counseling Association’s mission statement entails.

Is Empathy a prerequisite for a good Therapeutic relationship? If so, what is the optimal degree of Empathy required for a positive Therapeutic outcome? In the recent years, much emphasis is placed on understanding what "ingredients" in Therapeutic relationship contribute to a positive outcome. Many researchers have attempted to separate essential aspects of the Therapeutic relationship. Rogers (1957) quoted three essential aspects that were vital to attain a "psychological climate" in where a client could reorganize himself. These aspects were characterized as genuineness in the relationship, acceptance of the client (warmth), and accurate empathic understanding of the clients’ phenomenal world. Findings of previous studies shows that these three aspects are separate and can be measured independently (Bergin, 1967; Truax, Wargo, Frank, Imbe, Battle, Hoehn-Saric, & Stone 1966).

Flynn-Piercy (2002) conducted a heuristic study examining the impact of Relate counsellors training on their relationships with their partners. It was found that there was a significant impact on these relationships, which trainees had been unprepared for. The advantages of their training included improved communication, a disadvantage was that partners became “personally de-stablised” (Flynn-Piercy, 2002: 55). Despite the advantages, there was an overall threat to the relationships. This study is, however, not generalisable to all trainee counsellors since it only examined those training as Relate counsellors who specifically work in the area of relationships.

The process involved in establishing a counselling relationships includes many factors to ensure that a client feels safe and comfortable with a counsellor to explore his or her feelings with them.

This paper will discuss the following 4 Core Functions of a Counselor: Case Management, Client Education, Crisis Intervention, Referral and their primary purposes.

Empathy is a two way process, its about trying to fully understand what your client is saying and feeling and also showing your understanding to your client.

When assessing clients a specific skill that I identify with is empathy. Empathy is the ability to understand and share feelings of others. To effectively display empathy requires certain characteristics. Some of the characteristics of empathy that I employ are; having the innate ability to put myself in the other people’s shoes. This allows for a better understand toward the experiences the family has gone through. For empathy to be displayed accurately, effective communication is essential. Effective communication is asking the right questions and providing reflective listening so the family knows the professional truly understands their circumstances. Effective communication allows for an accurate assessment of the family. Effective communication is a vitally important component of empathy. Empathy can be displayed though effective communication, such as, effectively

As a counseling student, it is very important to formulate a counseling theory tailored to ones’ own personality and beliefs. A counselor may choose a single theory to model when practicing therapy or pick and choose components and techniques from various theories, otherwise known as eclecticism. No theory is considered right or wrong. Understanding the different therapeutic approaches are important to effective counseling, however, counselors must also understand their own personal value, view of human nature, human behavior, counseling techniques and the purpose and goals of counseling. Understanding these components along with the different theoretical approaches will provide the counselor with a 9 knowledge of their own counseling, orientation and is essential to not only the productivity of counseling but the growth of the counselor as well.

'Reflecting on the content of the module and drawing on your personal experiences, identify and discuss what is essential in the helping relationship’.

By being aware of the essential communication skills, I believe it does not only make me a better helper but also a better friend and listener. In this paper I will discuss about my personal experience as a helper during a counselling session and also reflect on what I have learnt during the previous 10 weeks in the classroom.

Counseling skills has provided me with a valuable insight into the helping relationship and how it is both created and maintained in order to encourage growth and development in the client. The factors involved within the helping relationship include considering Roger’s core conditions, congruence, unconditional positive regard and empathy as the three main characteristics necessary in a helping relationship. In order to fully incorporate all three of Roger’s core conditions, I as the counselor must be self-aware, as a lack of self-awareness may inhibit truly listening and understanding the client; self-awareness can be enhanced through exercises such as Johari’s window. Counseling skills such as body language and active listening also

This essay intends to introduce the reader to the most important skills involved within developing and maintaining a therapeutic relationship between a client and the therapist or counsellor. The onus will be on Humanistic counselling but many of these skills are central to all counselling types.

stories, we may get caught up in our own emotional reactions, how we would feel if we were in a similar situation. To listen empathically, you have to set aside as much as you can of your own "stuff" and enter the world of the client.