Hays And Erford: A Counseling Environment Analysis

When considering the different contexts in which counselling takes place, diversity appears to be the most distinguishing factor that is linked to client satisfaction Hankins (2007) and is aimed at providing a more ‘universal system of counselling’. (Patterson, 1996,

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the counseling profession and its ability to work on cases in multidisciplinary teams. A variety of scholarly journal articles were taken into account in order to gain insight into the field of counseling and some of its specializations. For this paper, the focus was, aside from general counseling, on marriage and family therapy as well as addiction counseling.

The responsibility a counselor must have to their client, is to help the person leave treatment in better frame of mind then when they arrived. Although, often the person will experience feelings and emotions they may have suppressed so it may get worse prior to getting better. Therefore, our primary goal is to cause no harm to the people we are working with. It is the counselor’s responsibility to provide a safe environment for the client and counselor can build a confidential therapeutic relationship. Therefore, allowing the person to have the trust and confidence in the counselor that they can disclose their innermost personal details of their live knowing they are in good hands. Although, there are numerous disorders people may be seeking help for, therefore, the counselor is required to know exactly what they are competent in treating, and have resources available for issues they are not qualified to

As a counselor we’re taught to put our own values and beliefs aside and provide services to our clients even if our values and beliefs do not coincide. When topics such as abortion and assisted suicide are brought up, I express my personal values about them. Abortion is a very sensitive topic for some individuals. My personal values towards abortion are I am for it and I’m speaking from my own personal experience. As a woman, it’s hard to decide to get an abortion but there are a lot of reasons as to why a woman may get the procedure done.

As I reflect on what I have learned over the last five weeks, I find my personal philosophy of counseling being based on one main theme that I repeatedly saw in different readings; it is our duty to do what is in the best interest of the child. When I think about my reasons for wanting to pursue this career, I naturally feel it is because of my love for children; but more than that, I want to help foster the feeling that each and every student can be anything they want to be if they put their mind to it.

Human diversity is one of the most important influences in the counseling profession. Without it, assisting others would make less of an impact. As I am learning more and more about diversity and its importance, three truths have been made more apparent. This diversity is unavoidable. It warrants a type of raw and genuine respect. It allows for the acceptance of others while harvesting an openness in ourselves.

Clinical mental health counselors have the ability to use their resources to gain knowledge about diverse societies. Examples of gaining knowledge might be consulting with a colleague, researching articles, attending educational workshops, incorporating specialized training, or other ways to educate themselves. Another important aspect of an effective counselor is the ability to understand each client and be able to address issues that arise from cultural differences. As Newsome and Gladding (2014) explained in chapter 4, clients from a different background may seek counseling for many reasons. Some of those reasons may be for their own personal growth and understanding, coping mechanisms to effectively express themselves to family members or friends, or adjusting to life events or transitions. Many clients from a diverse society manifest feelings of rejection, loneliness, confusion, and depression. Counselors are able to use strategies and skills to encourage

A mental health counselor’s role is unlike other roles in other counseling specializations. A mental health counselor will include a broader approach, than other counseling specializations, when treating clients (Smith & Robinson, 1995). Mental health counseling can occur in various settings, which include community centers and agencies, hospitals, and in private practices (Erford, 2014). Mental health counselors also focus on developmental, preventive, educational, as well as the traditional aspects of care for clients. Essentially, their role and function will be to assist the client with restoring their wellness and balance. The processes and approaches are holistic, interdisciplinary and multifaceted in nature. The client is viewed as a person who exists within familial, societal, and cultural contexts while also being an “emotional, physical, social, vocational, and spiritual being” (Pistole & Roberts, 2002, p.10).

Over the years counseling have grown with the help of more educating and training to be sure that counselors are equipped with the right tools to help other most importantly to help deal with cultural differences. With this in mind there was an underpinnings of counseling. Therefore, counseling involves approaches that emphasize wellness, normal development, empowerment, and prevention (Erford, 2014). This is because it became to the understanding that counseling is not just to relieve the client of problematic symptoms, but rather to strive for optimal functioning and health in life (Erford,

The ethical and professional that arise for a counselor are challenging each day in practice. However, in perspective to addressing these issues with families the viewpoints provide a complexity of adverse things to take into consideration such as family system, as they may include multicultural diversity when working, blended, same sex and other cultures. The ability to set attainable goals for everyone within the family may be influenced by other members within the family (Corey, Corey, Corey &Callahan, 2015).

The most important thing a counselor can do to understand perception and worldview of a client is to maintain an acceptable and nonjudgement stance. At the same time, their

Broadly defined, counseling is a process that facilitates and supports change. In the early stages of development, counseling was intended to help individuals of all ages make meaningful life choices to find direction and fulfillment in what they did. Today, counseling professionals continue to help clients avoid making bad life choices while promoting growth, wellness, development, change, and remediation of mental health disorders. Counseling services are available for individuals, couples, groups and families across varied cultural backgrounds and through the life span. To understand the counseling profession now, emerging counseling professionals first need to understand the history of the counseling process and the various changes it has undergone.

The counselor would be able to address what may be bothering her. Because of congruence, unconditional positive regard and empathetic understanding, Mary will enter a safe and caring environment where she can share what she is handeling. Further study of the client is needed to unviel the history, relationships, and other data that may be significant. The

Why would anyone go into counseling it is a job where we met people at their worst, and it takes a special person who is willing to meet a person at their lowest and pull them back to their best. In order to become a successful counselor, we must first be aware of our own self to ensure that our clients receive us at our best. There is no cookie cutter outline to counseling every case is different and everyone is unique so all we can do is follow a general guide line and shape it to meet our client’s specific needs. In the article by Petrocelli We learn that all major theories can be seen as having two similarities. According to Petrocelli Capuzzi and Gross believed that the theories “all draw attention to their respective process of change and their respective interventions (Petrocelli).” Theories are important because it allows counselors to follow the stages of development throughout the life span, and it provides an incite to what might be missing in our clients lives or what changes they are

The author has observed that a primary motivating factor that leads individuals to come to come to counseling involves a strong discomfort with the individual’s current life experiences. They are seeking something other than the current adverse experience. Furthermore, in understanding the individual, they may be avoiding certain consequences or seeking alternative consequences. In other cases, the basic needs of an individual are not being met.