SEMINAR 1 FUNDAMENTALS OF COUNSELING STAGES OF COUNSELING Medikonda Nirupama Das 23PHD004 1st PG Human Development COUNSELING Counseling can help client learn to make better decisions it can help improve personal skills develop greater confidence in the person s academic or work performance define career directions and acquire a keener awareness and appreciation of the client s needs and those of other people With counseling clients can improve their communication with a special person establish more meaningful relationships or cope more effectively with feelings of depression or anxiety any personal academic or career concern may be explored in counseling There are different models of counseling differing routes or tools to enable the client to change Transactional Analysis TA is a model for understanding personality relationships and communication In TA counseling people talk about their Parent Adult and Child These are distinctive parts of us all available and necessary for living as a whole integrated person TA holds that everyone has intrinsic dignity and worth they are OK Everyone has the capacity to think There is a commitment to change to making decisions and taking personal responsibility for personal outcome STEPS IN COUNSELING PROCESS The basic steps of counseling involve people in gaining recognition for their skills and experience being confronted from a caring position by the ways they used to discount themselves and others re experiencing in the present any relevant events from the past this can help them to obtain emotional release from feelings or beliefs to which they may be clinging that are stopping them from meeting their immediate needs STAGES OF COUNSELLING Stage 1 Relationship Building Stage 2 Problem Assessment Stage 3 Goal Setting Stage 4 Counselling Intervention Stage 5 Evaluation Termination or Referral STAGE 1 RELATIONSHIP BUILDING The counseling process begins with relationship building this stage focuses on the counselor engaging with the client to explore the issues that directly affect them The vital first interview can set the scene for what is to come with the client reading the counselor s verbal and nonverbal signals to draw inferences about the counselor and the process the counselor focuses on using good listening skills and building a positive relationship When successful it ensures a strong foundation for future dialogue and the continuing counseling process STAGE 2 PROBLEM ASSESSMENT While the counselor and client continue to build a beneficial collaborative relationship another process is underway problem assessment The counselor carefully listens and draws out information regarding the client s situation life work home education etc and the reason they have engaged in counseling Information crucial to subsequent stages of counseling includes identifying triggers timing environmental factors stress levels and other contributing factors STAGE 3 GOAL SETTING Effective counseling relies on setting appropriate and realistic goals building on the previous stages the goals must be identified and developed collaboratively with the client committing to a set of steps leading to a particular outcome STAGE 4 COUNSELING INTERVENTION This stage varies depending on the counselor and the theories they are familiar with as well as the situation the client faces For example a behavioral approach may suggest engaging in activities designed to help the client alter their behavior in comparison a person centered approach seeks to engage the client s self actualizing tendency STAGE 5 EVALUATION TERMINATION OR REFERRAL Termination may not seem like a stage but the art of ending the counseling is critical Drawing counseling to a close must be planned well in advance to ensure a positive conclusion is reached while avoiding anger sadness or anxiety Fragkiadaki Strauss 2012 Part of the process is to reach an early agreement on how the therapy will end and what success looks like this may lead to a referral if required While there are clear stages to the typical counseling process other than termination each may be ongoing for example while setting goals new information or understanding may surface that requires additional assessment of the problem
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