Part II

Professionals and Practitioners in Counseling

Roles/Functions

1. Individual assessment- seeks to identify the characteristics and potential of every client;
promotes the client’s self-understanding
2. Individual Counseling- a client-centered process that demand confidentiality
3. Group Counseling and Guidance- groups are means of providing organized and planned
assistance to individuals for an array of needs
4. Career Assistance- counselors are called on to provide career planning and adjustment
assistance to clients
5. Placement and Follow-up- a service of school counseling programs with emphasis on
educational placements in course and programs
6. Referral- the practice of helping clients find needed expert assistance that the referring
counselor cannot provide
7. Consultation- it is a process of helping a client through a third party or helping system improve
its services to its clientele.
8. Research- it is necessary to advance the profession of counseling; it can provide empirically
based data relevant to the ultimate goal of implementing effective counseling
9. Evaluation and Accountability- means of assessing the effectiveness of counselor’s activities
10. Prevention- promotion of mental health through primary intervention using social-psychological
perspective

Competencies of Counselors
1. Interpersonal Skills- display ability to listen, communicate, empathize, be present, aware of
nonverbal communication
2. Personal Beliefs and Attitudes- capacity to accept others, belief in potential for change,
awareness of ethical and moral choices and sensitive to values held by client and self
3. Conceptual Ability- ability to understand and assess the client’s problems; anticipate future
problems; remember info. About the client
4. Personal Soundness- must have no irrational beliefs that are destructive to counseling
relationships; capacity to tolerate strong or uncomfortable
5. Mastery of Techniques- counselors must have a knowledge of when and how to carry out
specific interventions
6. Ability to understand and work within social systems- this would comprise of awareness of
family and work relationships of the client
7. Openness to learning and inquiry- capacity to be curious about client’s backgrounds and
problems; being open to new knowledge

Career Opportunities and Areas of Specialization of Counselors

1. Marriage and Family Counseling- refers to efforts to establish an encouraging relationship with a
couple or family and appreciate the complications in the family system
 2. Child and Adolescent Counseling- common problems include child abuse and neglect; focus on
helping the children and adolescents acquire coping skills through promotion of resiliency,
positive attachment relationship, emotional and intellectual intelligence
3. Group Counseling- offers members opportunities to learn from observing other group members;
members are encouraged to offer help for others; enhance interpersonal skills
4. Career Counseling- aids individuals on decision and planning concerning their career
5. School Counseling- process of reaching out to students with concerns on drugs, family and peers
or gang involvement
6. Mental Health Counseling- manifested in the challenges posed by its clientele with mental
disorders

Rights, Responsibilities and Accountabilities of Counselors

Code of Ethics of Counselors

1. Counseling Relationship
2. Confidentiality
3. Professional Responsibility
4. Relationships with Other Professionals
5. Evaluation, Assessment and Interpretation
6. Teaching, training and supervision
7. Research and Publication

Counseling Relationships

a. Client Welfare- respect the dignity and promote the welfare of clients
b. Respecting Diversity- do not engage in discrimination based on age, color, culture, disability,
ethnic group, gender, race etc.
c. Client Rights- counselors shall disclose the purposes, goals, techniques, procedures, limitations,
potential risks, benefits of the services
d. Clients served by others- in cases where the client is receiving services from another mental
health professional, with client’s consent, inform the professional person already involved to
develop an agreement
e. Personal needs and values- maintain respect for clients and avoid actions that seek to meet their
personal needs at the expense of the clients
f. Dual relationships- avoid exploiting the trust and dependency of the clients. Counselors should
not accept as superiors or subordinates clients.
g. Sexual intimacies with clients- counselors should not have any type of sexual intimacies with
clients and do not counsel persons with whom they have sexual relationship. Counselors should
not engage in sexual intimacies with former clients within a minimum of two years
h. Multiple clients- in cases where counselors agree to provide counseling services to two or more
persons who have a relationship, counselors clarify at the outset which person or persons are
clients and the nature of relationship they will have with each involved person
i. Group work- determine clients with compatible needs. Counselors take reasonable precautions
to protect clients from physical or psychological trauma
 j. Fees- counselors must clearly explain the clients that all financial arrangements related to
professional fees

Confidentiality

a. Right to privacy- counselors respect a client’s right to privacy and avoid illegal and unwarranted
disclosures of unwarranted information
- May be waived by the clients or their legally recognized representative
- Does not apply when disclosure is required to prevent clear and imminent danger to the
client or others or when legal requirements demand that confidential info. Be revealed
- Counselors who receive information confirming that a client has a disease commonly known
to be communicable and fatal is justified in disclosing information to an identifiable third
party, who by his/her relationship with the client is at high risk of contracting the disease
- When court orders counselors to release confidential information without a client’s permit,
counselors request to the court that the disclosure should not be required due to potential
harm to client or counseling relationship
b. Groups and Families-
c. Minor Incompetent Clients
d. Records
e. Research and training
f. Consultation

Professional Responsibility

1. Standards Knowledge
2. Professional Competence

Counseling and Its Clientele and Audience

 People who abuse drugs

 People who use tobacco
 Women
 Older adults
 People with aids
 Victims of abuse
 Gay men and lesbian women

Counseling and Its Work Settings

 Counselors in Schools
 Counselors in Community Setting
 Counselors in the Private Sector
 Counselors in the Government

Processes in Counseling

1. Stage #1 Relationship Building

 2. Stage #2 Assessment and Diagnosis
3. Formulation of counseling goals
4. Intervention and problem-solving
5. Termination and Follow-up
6. Research and Evaluation

Methods in Counseling

1. Classic Theories
a. Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory
 Free Association
 Dream Analysis
 Confrontation and clarification
 Interpretation
b. Adler’s Individual Psychology
 First Phase- Establishing the relationship
 Second Phase- Performing analysis and assessment
 Third Phase- Promoting Insight
 Fourth Phase- Reorientation
c. Jung’s Analytic Psychology

2. Experiential Theories
a. Roger’s Person-Centered Counseling
b. Perl’s Gestalt Therapy
3. Cognitive- Behavioral Theories: Rational Emotive Behavior and Transaction Analysis
a. Elli’s Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
b. Beck’s Cognitive Therapy
c. Berne’s Transactional Analysis