Effective Counselling and the Objectivity Challenge

Most people tend to be compassionate. Perhaps it is atraining was required.
human evolutionary trait, or simply the manner in whichBecoming an Effective Counsellor
we have been trained to understand and act upon ourAccording to Meier & Davis (1997) "in no other
emotions. Or it could stem from the need to helpprofession does the personality and behavior of the
others in order to achieve a sense of belonging. Inprofessional make such difference as it does in
modern society - represented by large conglomeratescounseling. Beginning counselors need to work at
of human beings living collectively - people have dailyincreasing their self awareness as well as their
opportunities to help others, and also varied motives toknowledge of counseling procedures. Your willingness
do so. These motives can be a response to socialto be open to supervision, to accept clients' failures and
pressure, redemption, responsibility or simply thecriticisms, to participate in counseling yourself when
adrenalin rush of helping someone. Does that soundappropriate, and to acknowledge your limits will
familiar? Many individuals become professionalcontribute to your eventual success and satisfaction".
counsellors with that foundation - the determination toAcknowledging Values
help others. But is that enough?The client-counsellor relationship is fundamentally a
A Differential Supportrelationship between two human beings. Obviously
There is a strong ethical component in anythere are two different roles in the relationship but both
health-related profession, particularly the ones whichcounsellor and client have a history of experiences
deal directly with consumers - in the case ofthat have shaped who they are, how they view the
counselling, the client. One of the most prominentworld and what are their values.
aspects of becoming a professional counsellor lies inAn effective client-counsellor relationship does not
understanding the ethical guidelines of the profession,ignore the "human" side of the professional. To
which in turn requires prospective counsellors to beestablish trust, a client needs to sense that the
able to differentiate between 'friendly advice' andcounsellor is genuine and sincere in their
professional assistance. This is a challengingcommunications. But when a counsellor begins to
proficiency as it not only involves the process ofsuspect their own biases, conflicting values or
learning which is intrinsic to any professionaljudgements are influencing their work with a client, it is
development (or training), but also remodelling thecritical that they reflect upon this behaviour and seek
manner in which people naturally respond to a call forto rectify it.
help: emotional and inevitably subjective feedback.Critically reflecting in supervision, through journaling or
In order to cater for those needs, counsellor trainingpersonal inner work is required to establish an
involves a great deal of ethical background theory andappropriate plan of action.
practice which aims to develop the objective 'eye' - aRecognising Limitations
demanded skill for counselling sessions. Such aIt is easy for inexperienced counsellors to fall into the
methodical approach to interpreting human behaviourtrap of feeling solely responsible for their client's
and individual needs is rooted in the development ofprogress. Counsellors do not possess a magic wand
early behavioural sciences.to solve all of life's problems and it is important to
Method in Counsellingremember that ultimately it is the client that makes
What is 'method'? Method (from Greek methodos orchoices in their own life.
met hodos meaning "way across") is a word whichCounsellors can assist clients to think through options,
entered English in 1541 via French and Latin, and isexplore motivators and hurdles, set goals, formulate
defined as 'a series of steps taken to complete aplans of action and so on. A client, however, must
certain task or to reach a certain objective'. Theassume the responsibility for taking actions in order to
methodical approach was induced by the need toaccomplish progress in his/her life.
share common guidelines in the observation andThere are many moments in the counselling
analysis of events, laying grounds for the advent ofrelationship in which it is important to recognise the
the scientific method - the central component of anylimitations of counselling. When progress seems "stuck",
modern science.some of the best plans involve tolerating ambiguity,
In the 19th century, the scientific method served tosharing responsibility with the client, re-establishing the
'unleash' psychology from its bonds with philosophyrole of the counsellor and/or sharing information with a
and medicine - and the consequence was the adventsupervisor.
of the original behavioural science. Counselling movedDrawing the Line
away from psychology and Freudian psychoanalysis inMaintaining a critical perspective towards the
the early 1950s with the intent of enhancing thecounsellor-client relationship is essential in order to avoid
relationship between counsellor and client. The helpingemotional burnout, misjudgement and unproductive
nature of the counselling approach set the standardsdistribution of power. "A common mistake for
for this newly adopted discipline - and increased focusbeginners is to worry too much about clients. There is
was placed in nurturing the relationship with the client,a danger of incorporating clients' neuroses into our
encouraging client's responsiveness, and developing aown personality. We lose sleep wondering what
bond which would lay grounds for the client'sdecisions they are making. We sometimes identify so
progressive development.closely with clients that we lose our own sense of
From that point, the last group (the ones that deriveidentity and assume their identity. Empathy becomes
the adrenalin rush from helping people) was deemeddistorted and militates against a therapeutic
to undertake a series of particular events in order tointervention" (Corey 2001).
become their vision: compassion was not sufficient,Subscribe to our FREE eZine.