DIASS_ Lesson 2 Handout: Goals, Scope and Principles of Counseling

Content Standard: The learners demonstrate a high level of understanding of the disciplines of counseling

Performance Standard: The learners should be able to demonstrate a high level of understanding of the basic concepts
of counseling through a group presentation of a situation in which practitioners of counseling work together to assist
individuals, groups, or communities involved in difficult situations (e.g., post disaster, court hearing about separation of
celebrity couple, cyber bullying)

Competencies:
Identify the goals and scope of counseling HUMSS_DIASS 12-Ia-2
Explain the principles of counseling HUMSS_DIASS 12-Ib-5

WHAT IS COUNSELING?

• Aimed at empowering a client. The general goal is to lead an individual client or group to self – emancipation in
relation to a felt problem.

• Relationship characterized by the application of one or more psychological theories and recognized set of
communication skills appropriate to a client’s intimate concerns, problems, or aspirations

• Counselee or Clients are individuals or groups in a demoralized, distressed, or in a negative state of mind about
their situation or context.

• Counsellors or Expert are professionally trained and certified to perform counselling. Their job is to provide
advice or guidance in decision making helping clients explore and understand their world.

• Process of guiding person during a stage of life when reassessments or decisions have to make about the client
life course. There are number of methods in counselling such as through face to face dialog, group work,
telephone, email or other written materials. It also utilizes appraisal and assessment to aid counselling by
gathering information about clients through the use of psychological tests and non-psychometric device.

Psychometrics – branch of psychology that deals with the design, administration and interpretation of
quantitative test for measurement of psychological variables such as intelligence, aptitude, interests and
personality traits.

• As a discipline it is allied to psychology and deals with normal responses to normal life events, which sometimes
create stress for some people who, in turn choose to ask for help and support. Counseling is not to be confused
with psychiatry, which is branch of general medicine that deals with the treatment of mentally ill by medically-
trained professionals using clinical interventions including drugs and surgical procedures.
•
• Is generally a non-clinical intervention designed to facilitate positive change in one’s behavior, feeling and
attitude. It involves two sides: individual or group who needs help and a mature professionally trained
counselor/expert.

Goals and Scope of Counseling

Counseling is aimed of empowering a client. The general goal is to lead an individual client or group to self – emancipation
in relation to a felt problem. At some stage in the process, the client should attain insight and understanding of oneself,
achieve better self – awareness and look at oneself with increased self – acceptance and appreciation, and be able to
manage oneself positively. Client empowerment means that they develop skill and abilities that require self - management
and improved motivation toward actions that are good for one’s self and develop a positive outlook toward the past
leading to some sense of closure and attainment of relative inner and outer harmony resulting to improvement in
relationships with family, friends, colleagues, and others.
Goals of Counseling
Different individuals have different perceptions of what can be expected of counseling individuals preparing to become
counselors, and those who seek counseling, as well as parents, teachers, school administrators and governmental
agencies, all differ in their expectations of the counseling experience.

According to Gibson and Mitchell (2003), the following are the goals of counseling:

1. Development Goals - assist in meeting and advancing the client’s human growth and development including social,
personal, emotional, cognitive and physical wellness.
2. Preventive Goals - help the client to avoid some undesired outcomes.
3. Enhancement Goals – develop special skill and abilities.
4. Remedial Goals – assist the client to overcome and treat an undesirable development.
5. Exploratory Goals – examine the options, test the skills and try new and different activities.
6. Reinforcement Goals – help the client in recognizing that what they are doing, thinking, and feeling is fine.
7. Cognitive Goals – contain acquiring the basic understanding and habits for good health.
8. Physiological Goals – facilitate behavioral changes towards the society.
9. Psychological Goals – aid in developing good social interaction skills, learning emotional control and developing positive
self – concept.

Scope of Counseling
Clients are encouraged to meet with a counselor even if they are not sure that they need counseling. Any client facing
problems are encouraged to see a counselor.

The scope of counseling covers various aspects of human life including:

1. Personal – includes motivation, self –esteem, interest, career choice, etc.

2. Social – pertains to relationship conflicts, socialization, peer relationships, etc.
3. Cognitive – relates to the study habits, academic performance, irrational thoughts, etc.
4. Behavioral – contains absenteeism, bullying, restlessness, misbehavior, etc.
5. Psychological – comprises of personality development, stress, etc.
6. Emotional –embraces to anger management issues, phobias, mild anxiety, etc.
7. Spiritual – covers spiritual beliefs, guidance, confusions, etc.
8. Health - - includes wellness, life and work balance, leisure, etc.
9. Occupational –indicates work and career decisions, etc.

However, counseling does not deal with the clinical cases such as mental illness, requiring medication and psychotherapy.
There are many approaches to help clients move towards growth and problem-resolution. Often counselors will provide
them with opportunities to learn new skills and coping mechanisms while also increasing their self-understanding and
insight. Counselors may also examine past patterns to help them assess in a healthier way their current/ past relationships,
decision-making, and family dynamics. With the help of their counselors, clients will better understand their strengths and
abilities to manage life challenges which can be very important in achieving their therapeutic goals.

Principles of Counseling
The principles of counseling can be found in the basic process of counseling since they govern each and every step:
developing trust; exploring problem areas; helping to set goals; empowering into action; helping to maintain change; and
agreeing when to end. (Velleman, 2001)

1. Advice Counseling may involve advice-giving as one of the several functions that counselors perform. When this is done,
the requirement is that a counselor makes judgments about a counselee’s problems and lays out options for a course of
action.

2. Reassurance Counseling involves providing clients with reassurance, which is a way of giving them courage to face a
problem or confidence that they are pursuing a suitable course of action. Reassurance is a valuable principle because it
can bring about a sense of relief that may empower a client to function normally again.

3. Release of emotional tension Counseling provides clients the opportunity to get emotional release from their pent-up
frustrations and other personal issues. Counseling experience shows that as persons begin to explain their concerns to a
sympathetic listener, their tensions begin to subside. They become more relaxed and the release of tensions helps remove
mental blocks by providing a solution to the problem.
4. Clarified thinking It tends to take place while the counselor and counselee are talking and therefore becomes a logical
emotional release. As this relationship goes on, other self-empowering results may take place later as a result of
developments during the counseling relationship. Clarified thinking encourages a client to accept responsibility for
problems and to be more realistic in solving them.

5. Reorientation It involves a change in the client’s emotional self through a change in basic goals and aspirations. This
requires a revision of the client’s level of aspiration to bring it more in line with actual and realistic attainment. It enables
clients to recognize and accept their own limitations. The counselor’s job is to recognize those in need of reorientation
and facilitate appropriate interventions.

6. Listening skills Listening attentively to clients is the counselor’s attempt to understand both the content of the clients’
problem as they see it, and the emotions they are experiencing related to the problem. Good listening helps counselors
to understand the concerns being presented.

7. Respect In all circumstances, clients must be treated with respect, no matter how peculiar, strange, disturbed, weird,
or utterly different from the counselor. Without this basic element, successful counseling is impossible. Counselors do not
have to like the client, or their values, or their behavior, but they have to put their personal feelings aside and treat the
client with respect.

8. Empathy and positive regard Carl Rogers combined empathy and positive regard as two principles that should go along
with respect and effective listening skills. Empathy requires the counselor to listen and understand the feelings and
perspective of the client and positive regard is an aspect of respect. For Rogers, clients have to be given both
“unconditional positive regard” and be treated with respect.

9. Clarification, confrontation, and interpretation Clarification is an attempt by the counselor to restate what the client is
either saying or feeling, so the client may learn something or understand the issue better. Confrontation and
interpretation are other more advanced principles used by counselors in their interventions.

10. Transference and countertransference When clients are helped to understand transference reactions, they are
empowered to gain understanding of important aspects of their emotional life. Countertransference helps both clients
and counselors to understand the emotional and perceptional reactions and how to effectively manage them.