Chapter 3 - Settings for Counselors

Chapter 3

Settings For Counselors

© 2015. Cengage Learning.All rights reserved.

Individual Assessment and Counseling

• Individual assessment:– Observation, information seeking, and

interpretation of a person’s behavior in areas that include performance, achievement, aptitude, personality, and interests

– Results of assessment are valuable for screening, placement, diagnosis, evaluation, and planning of treatment approaches


Individual Assessment and Counseling

• Individual counseling:– One-to-one interactions with clients in which the

therapeutic process is applied to resolving personal concerns, career and educational decisions, and problems of human adjustment


Family and Couples Counseling

• Family counseling focuses on interaction patterns that lead to dysfunctional behavior– By thinking in terms of the family system to which

a client belongs, the counselor is able to intervene by understanding and changing communication patterns and coalitions of power


Family and Couples Counseling

• Couples counseling helps partners articulate vulnerable feelings to each other– Goals of enhancing intimacy, resolving conflicts, or

clarifying the decision to end the relationship– Counselors help couples have productive

conversations on topics that usually lead to fights– Interventions include blocking hurtful exchanges,

translating partners’ harshly-worded statements into softer language, and facilitating expression of underlying emotions


Group and Consultation Work

• Group work structures may be used to accomplish more efficiently the goals of individual counseling– Participants have added advantages of interaction– Counselors work in guidance groups in which they

serve a more active role• Designing educational exploration experiences,

providing information, and stimulating personal awareness and growth


Group and Consultation Work

• Consultation activities involve initiating changes on an organizational level, often by working on program development– Counselors consult with the human and

organizational components of systems to help individual parts make a more unified whole

– Counselors, as human relations specialists, will intervene to fix or prevent the problems that arise from interpersonal conflict


Coaching

• Coaching focuses on helping individual clients tap into existing skills or develop new skills in order to achieve specific objectives– Executive coaches help executives communicate

more effectively, improve team performance, increase productivity, and achieve greater professional–personal development

– Personal (or life) coaches work with individuals to help identify strengths and passions and to facilitate actualizing their personal goals


Mediation and Administration

• Mediation is used to help couples, business partners, or other parties settle differences in an expedient and respectful way– Often initiated at the recommendation of the

court during divorce, child custody, or civil disputes

– Other forms focus primarily on helping people understand one another and make compromises that are mutually acceptable


Mediation and Administration

• Administration plays a part in many counselors’ work– Involves directing the activities of a school,

agency, or organization– Public relations, quality control, fundraising, the

conducting of meetings, paperwork processing, and decision making are major components of this kind of work


Supervision and Technology

• Supervision gives experienced practitioners a significant role in helping those who are less capable– Counselor may conduct in-service workshops and

provide individual or group supervision sessions that may be either emotionally or behaviorally focused



• Computer technology is now a crucial aspect of the counselor’s daily life – E-mails with clients and colleagues– Searching for articles on diagnoses and treatments– Perusing e-book counseling texts– Writing reports and case notes– Invoicing clients– Conducting distance therapy with a webcam,

smartphone, or tablet



• Information sent via “the cloud” is not as secure as hard copies stored in a locked file cabinet– Encryption technology– Evolving ethical regulations regarding the use of

digital communication with clients


Research and Advocacy

• Research is an important part of measuring professional effectiveness– Counselors frequently required to justify their

existence and demonstrate effectiveness to funding agencies, regulatory commissions, citizens’ advisory groups, and boards of trustees

– Also crucial in communicating results of experimentation to other professionals so the field can continue to grow


Research and Advocacy

• Advocacy on behalf of marginalized, disadvantaged, and oppressed groups is mandated as part of ethical codes– Also a significant part of responsibility to the

greater good of local and global communities


Skills Achieved as a Clinician

• Diagnostic • Exploration • Relationship • Conceptualization • Action skills • Group process • Evaluation


Goals for the Clinician

• Work constructively toward life/career planning

• Anticipate, plan, and react constructively to developmental issues and transitions

• Integrate thinking, feeling, and behavior into a congruent expression of self

• Respond productively to stress and reduce its negative impact on their lives



• Develop effective interpersonal skills so relationships with peers, family, and colleagues can have constructive potential

• Assess strengths and identify weaknesses to develop more personal awareness

• Become aware of the holistic nature of life and integrate effective principles of living into psychological, physical, and social aspects of their lives



• Develop more choices in their lives, with accompanying skills to make constructive decisions

• Become independent of counseling in the shortest time possible


Developmental Aspects

• Human development proceeds in a series of progressive stages leading to increasingly complex behaviors– Stages are invariant and sequential– Both genetically determined and adaptive to

culture and environment– Alternate between periods of well-adjusted

equilibrium and periods of unstable disequilibrium


Developmental Aspects

• Growth may be encouraged by stimulating a person to restore equilibrium

• Wide differences in development are possible depending on the person’s gender and racial and cultural identity

• During adulthood, development becomes more cyclical rather than linear as people face life transitions and crises


Typical Day in a…

• High school– Scheduling of classes– Student physical conflicts– Individual appointments– Group session– Parental intervention


Typical Day in a…

• Private practice– Messages– Individual appointments– Insurance and billing– Follow-up tasks


Typical Day in a…

• Pre-school– Attend to behaviors– Play activities– Testing and evaluation– Parental contact


Typical Day in a…

• Mental health center– Paperwork/reports– Community needs assessment– Counseling individuals– Group sessions– Individual sessions– Supervision session


Typical Day in a…

• Crisis intervention center– Calls from those in need– 911 referrals– Community presentations


Typical Day in a…

• Street Ministry– Ordained minister or spiritual person– Intimately and effectively help disadvantaged

people in their natural habitats– The most impoverished and neglected population– Outreach is a staple


Typical Day in a…

• University– Individual sessions– Referral– Staff meetings– Group work


Typical Day in a…

• Industry– Individual, group, and family counseling– Crisis intervention and conflict management– Career guidance and job placement– Substance abuse prevention and treatment– Retirement planning and counseling– Quality-of-work-life seminars– Referral to specialized agencies in the community– Not human resources (HR) responsibilities


Typical Day in a…

• Internet– Rural area clients– Homebound clients– Anonymity may occur– Focus on problem• But…

– Legal issues?– Non-therapeutic relationship?– Unable to do crisis-intervention in person


How to Determine a Specialty

• Assess personal strengths and weaknesses• Explore motivations for becoming a counselor• Clarify values related to work• Visit many different specialty settings• Interview many counselors in the field• Maximize internship and practicum

experiences• Develop a future orientation


Education

Chapter 3 - Settings for Counselors