The Discipline of Counseling

– is a relationship characterized by the application of one or more psychological theories and a

recognized set of communication skills appropriate to a client’s intimate concerns, problems, or
aspirations.

Who are these clients?

These clients include those who are demoralized, distressed or in a negative state of mind
about their situation or context. Counseling can be delivered through face-to-face dialogue,group
work, telephone or email, or other written materials.
Counseling
– “the process of guiding a person during a stage of life when reassessments or decisions
have to be made about himself or herself in his/her life course” (Collins Dictionary of
Sociology)
o As a discipline, it is allied to psychology and deals with normal responses to normal life
events, which may sometimes create stress for some people who, in turn, choose to ask
for help and support.
o It is generally a non-clinical intervention.
o It is not to be confused with psychiatry.
o is widely considered the heart of the guidance services in schools
o also utilizes appraisal and assessment to aid counseling by gathering information about
clients through the use of psychological tests non-psychometric devices.
o Psychometrics- is a branch of psychology that deals with the design, administration, and
interpretation of quantitative tests for the measurement of psychological variables such
as intelligence, aptitude, interests, and personality traits.
Counselors
-are professionally trained and certified to perform counseling

-their job is to provide advice or guidance in decision-making in emotionally significant situations by

helping clients explore and understand their worlds and discover better ways and well-informed
choices in resolving an emotional or interpersonal problem

Counselors exist in a wide range of areas of expertise; marriage, family, youth, student and other life
transitions dealing with managing of issues of loss and death, retirement, divorce, parenting, and
bankruptcy.

Contexts of Counseling
Counseling is affected by the context and the surrounding g factors. They are explored here as part
of the basic concepts of counseling that are very important to consider.
 o Peers as Context – friends’ attitudes, norms, and behaviors have a strong influence on
adolescents. Many personal issues are often introduced to the individual by their peers.
o Neighborhood as Context – the interactions between the family and its neighborhood
as immediate context are also important to consider. A family functions within a
particular neighborhood. The behavioral problems in this particular neighborhood
require that families work against crime and social isolation that may impact them.
o Culture as Context – culture provided meaning and coherence of life to any orderly
life such as community or organization. It is the source of norms, values, symbols, and
language which provide the basis for the normal functioning of an individual.
Understanding the cultural context of a client makes it easier for a counselor to
appreciate the nature of their struggles as well as their cultural conditioning that
informs certain personal characteristics.
o Counseling as Context – regardless of a therapeutic approach in use, the counseling
situation in itself is a context. There is a deliberate specific focus, a set of procedures,
rules,expectations, experiences, and a way of monitoring progress and determining
results. Counseling can therefore be affected by the counseling context.
From the counseling context, other success factors should be managed well so as to contribute
toward the success of engagement.

o Client Factors – The client factors are everything that a client brings to the counseling
context. They bring so much to counseling context and therefore it remains imperative
that they are considered as an active part of the process. Very often, the expectations
and attitude of the client define the result of a counseling process and experience.
o Counselor Factors – The personality, skills, and personal qualities of a counselor can
significantly impact the outcomes of the counseling relationship. The counselor’s
personal style and qualities can make the interventions successful.
o Contextual Factors – The context in which counseling takes place can define the
outcomes. Counselors are therefore concerned with the environment and atmosphere
where to conduct the sessions. Ideally, counseling should take place in a quiet, warm,
and comfortable place away from any distraction.
o Process Factors – The process factors constitute the actual counseling undertaking.
Goals and Scope of Counseling
o Counseling is aimed at empowering a client.
o The general goal is to lead an individual client or group to self-emancipation in relation
to a felt problem.
o In the process, the client should: attain insight and understanding of oneself; achieve
better self-awareness; look at oneself with increased self-acceptance and appreciation;
and be able to manage oneself positively.
Client empowerment means that they develop skills and abilities that they 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.
The scope of counseling is wide. Essentially, it involves application of some psychological theories
and recognized communication skills. It does not deal with clinical cases such as mental illness. It is a
professional relationship that requires an eventual closure and termination of the counselee-
counselor relationship.

Defining the Roles, Functions, and Competencies of Counselors

Roles of Counselors

Counseling is a process and a relationship between the client(s) and counselor. The role of the
counselor is to assist the person/s (client/s) in realizing a change in behavior or attitude, to assist
them to seek achievement of goals, assist them to find help, and in some cases, the role of counselors
includes the teaching of social skills, effective communication, spiritual guidance, decision-making,
and career choices. A counselor’s role may sometimes include aiding one in coping with a crisis.
Functions of Counselors
o helping a client develop potentials to the fullest
o helping a client plan to utilize his or her potentials to the fullest
o helping a client plan his or her future in accordance with his or her abilities, interests,
and needs
o sharing and applying knowledge related to counseling such as counseling theories,
tools, and techniques
o administering a wide range of human development services
Competencies of Guidance Counselors
o Counselors have the ability to administer and maintain career guidance and counseling
programs.
o They are capable of properly guiding the students toward becoming productive and
contributing individuals through informed career choices with reference to appropriate
stakeholders.
 o They are capable of designing and implementing programs that expose students to the
world and value of work and guide, provide, and equip the students with the necessary
life skills and values.
o They can administer career advocacy activities.
o Guidance counselors are capable career advocates.
o Guidance counselors can facilitate conduct of career advocacy in collaboration with
career advocates and peer facilitators.
Other Competencies that Apply to the Broader Counseling Work
There are set of skills and a body of knowledge to study to be an effective helper in counseling. Culley
and Bond (2004) have described all these as foundation skills. They have grouped these foundation
skills around three headings: attending and listening, reflective skills, and probing skills.

o Attending and listening – attending and listening skills refer to active listening, which
means listening with purpose and responding in such a way that clients are aware that
they have both been heard and understood.
o Reflective skills – these skills are concerned with the other person’s frame of reference.
For Culley and Bond (2004), reflective skills ‘capture’ what the client is saying and plays
it back to them – but in the counselor’s own words. The key skills are restating,
paraphrasing, and summarizing.
o Probing skills – these skills facilitate going deeper, asking more directed or leading
questions.
Areas of Specialization where Counselors Work
Counselors are practically found in all spheres of human development, transitions, and caregiving.
Peterson and Nesenholz (1987) identified 11 major areas:

o Child development and counseling – includes parent education, preschool

counseling, early childhood education, child counseling in mental health agencies, and
counseling with battered and abused children and their families.
o Adolescent development and counseling – covers middle and high school
counseling, psychological education, career development specialist, adolescent
counseling in mental health agencies, youth work in a residential facility, and youth
probation officer.
o Gerontology – includes counseling of older citizens: pre-retirement counseling,
community centers, nursing home counseling, and hospice work.
o Marital relationship counseling – includes premarital counseling, marriage
counseling, family counseling, divorce mediation.
o Health – offers possibility for nutrition counseling, exercise and health education,
rehabilitation counseling, stress management counseling, holistic health counseling, and
genetic counseling.
 o Career/lifestyle – includes guidance on choices and decision-making pertaining to
career or lifestyle; guidance on career development; provision of educational and
occupational information to clients; provision of various forms of educational and
occupational information to clients, and may also include provision of needed skills in
managing or going through job interviews.
o College and university – college student counseling, student personnel work,
residential hall or dormitory counselor, and counselor educator.
o Drugs – covers substance abuse counseling, alcohol counseling, drug counseling, stop
smoking program manager, and crisis intervention counseling.
o Consultation – covers agency and corporate consulting, organizational development
director, industrial psychology specialist, and training manager.
o Business and industry – include training and development personnel, quality and
work-life or quality circles manager, employee assistance programs manager, employee
career development officer, or equal opportunity specialist.
o Other specialties – may include phobia counseling, self-management, intrapersonal
management, intrapersonal management, and grief counseling.
In all specialties, the counselor could be self-employed as private practitioner or may be employed by
the agency, which may be a government or a non-government organization (NGO). In any specialty
area, additional education and trainings beyond graudate and post-graduate education are required.

Career Opportunities for Counselors

o Educational and school counselors – they offer personal, educational, social, and
academic counseling services. The professionals often work in elementary school, high
school, or university settings to help students assess their abilities and resolve personal
or social problems, and do so in tandem with teachers and school administrators.
o Vocational or career counselors – These professionals facilitate career decision-
making. They aid individuals or groups in determining jobs that are best suited to their
needs, skills, and interests. In some cases, they may also help clients who are already
employed to improve their skills, including how to manage work-related stress. This can
also stretch to providing support to individuals who have lost their jobs. For those
seeking jobs, they also provide skills such as practicing for an interview and developing
a meaningful and acceptable resume.

o Marriage and family counselors – these professionals offer a wide range of services
for couples and families. They help couples and families deal with social issues,
emotional problems, and in some cases, mental health treatment. They do conduct
counseling sessions with couples or the entire family unit.
o Addictions and behavioral counselors – these professionals work with people
suffering from addictions. These may range from drugs, alcohol, eating disorder, to
gambling.
o Mental health counselors – these professionals work with people suffering from
mental or psychological distress such as anxiety, phobias, depression, grief, esteem
issues, trauma, substance abuse, and related issues. They aim at promoting mental
health. In treatment centers or facilities, counselors have physicians, psychologists,
social workers, and other health care professionals as their treatment team.
o Rehabilitation counselors – these professionals are engaged with individuals
suffering from physical or emotional disabilities. Rehabilitation counselors provide
services such as evaluation of the strengths and limitations of clients. The goal is to
facilitate the rehabilitation process and prevent relapse.
 o Genetics counselors – these professionals operate in a very specialized context of
dealing with genetic information for individuals and the decisions that come with it. The
common area here is counseling parents who are concerned with determining if their
potential offspring might be at risk for being born with an inherited disorder, or
individual adults themselves who may be at risk of developing a genetic disease such as
heart disease and breast cancer. They help individuals and families to make informed
decisions about their health and to assist them in finding the services that best meet
their needs.
Rights, Responsibilities, and Accountabilities of Counselors
As registered and licensed professionals, counselors are protected. They are governed by scientific
theories, practices, and processes as well as professional standards and ethics.

o They are responsible for the practice of their profession in accordance with their
mandates and professional guidelines and ethics.
o They are accountable to their clients, the professional body, and the government.
o It is critical that the counselor and the client fully understand the nature of the concerns,
which leads to a contract to take action on a mutually agreed upon problem.
Code of Ethics of Counselors

o As in all professional practices in applied social sciences, counselors must observe

confidentiality at all times. Without confidentiality, clients cannot trust the counselors
and therefore make the profession impossible to practice.
o The code of ethics also states that counselors live and work in accordance with the
professional standards of conduct set forth for the practice of guidance and counseling.
They should be people of high moral standing.
Four Overall Ethical Principles that Subsume a Number of Specific Ethical Standards:
Principle 1: Respect for the rights and dignity of the client
o Guidance counselors honor and promote the fundamental rights, moral and cultural
values, dignity, and worth of clients. They respect clients’ rights to privacy,
confidentiality, self-determination and autonomy, consistent with the law.
Principle 2: Competence
o Guidance counselors maintain and update their professional skills. They recognize the
limits of their expertise, engage in self-care, and seek support and supervision to
maintain the standard of their work. They offer only those services for which they are
qualified by education, training, and experience.
Principle 3: Responsibility
o Guidance counselors are aware of their professional responsibility to act in a
trustworthy, reputable, and accountable manner toward clients, colleagues, and the
community in which they work and live. They avoid doing harm, take responsibility for
their professional actions; and adopt a systematic approach to resolving ethical
dilemmas.
Principle 4: Integrity
o Guidance counselors seek to promote integrity in their practice. They represent
themselves accurately and treat others with honesty, straightforwardness, and fairness.
They deal actively with conflicts of interest,avoid exploiting others, and are alert to
inappropriate behavior on the part of colleagues.
The Code of Ethics goes into specifics to detail professional behavior from respect for fundamental
rights, moral and cultural values, dignity and worth of clients to respect for rights to privacy,
confidentiality, self-determination and autonomy, consistent with the law, and ensuring that the client
understands and consents to whatever professional action they propose. Hence, Codes define
parameters for general respect, privacy and confidentiality, informed consent and freedom of
consent, and recognition of limits of competence.

The Clientele and Audiences of Counseling

Individuals and groups of people who receive service from various counseling professions constitute
the clientele and audience. These individuals and groups vary in their needs and context where they
avail of counseling services.

Characteristics of the Clientele and Audiences of Counseling

The clientele and audiences of counseling are normal people. They are not in need of clinical or
mental help. They may be the youth in need of guidance at critical moments of their
growth, anyone in need of assistance in realizing a change in behavior or attitude,
or simply seeking to achieve a goal. What the audience normally calls for in counseling is
application or development of social skills, effective communication, spiritual direction, decision-
making, and career choices. Sometimes, people need to cope with crisis. Other clientele and
audiences of counseling may be people in need of premarital and marital counseling, grief and
loss, domestic violence and other types of abuse, or coping with terminal illness, death,
and dying.
Needs of Various Types of Clientele and Audiences of Counseling
The needs vary for each type of clientele and audience of counseling. As school guidance counselors,
these professionals provide the need for personal guidance by helping students seek more options
and find better and more appropriate ones in dealing with situations of stress or simply decision-
making. This may include career options. Sometimes, they bridge between family and the school in
resolving conflicts that affect students and their families to the extent of becoming a threat to student
development and learning.

As job-hunting coaches, counselors provide avenues for people to find necessary information and get
employment that is suitable to them. As conflict management providers, these professionals provide
the need for principles and theory-based approaches to deal with conflict and deescalate it, if not
revolve it positively. They provide ways to manage conflict constructively.
As human resource personnel, these professionals provide the needs common to all workplaces and
they are employed in almost all workplaces to deal with various employee needs that aspects of
remunerations, social services, compensations, conflict resolution, and discipline. They are designed
to keep workers happy and cared for as humans.

As marriage counselors, these professionals provide the need for conflict-resolution skills to parties,
couples, and children to deal with various stresses and issues that threaten their unity or peaceful
coexistence. Sometimes, their work is to reconcile couples, while at other times, they work to help
them part ways in the best possible through available legal instruments such as separation, divorce,
or annulment.
As drug abuse and rehabilitation counselors, these professionals meet the need to help people
overcome their problems or mitigate some of the most negative effects of drug abuse. Their goal is to
facilitate client rehabilitation.

As bereavement counselors, these professionals respond to the need to be helped through loss, such
as death in the family, in a way that will help prevent depression and other unhealthy ways of dealing
or coping with loss such as committing suicide or giving up on life.

The Individual as Client of Counseling

The most common type of counseling is the individualized type. The individual who needs to be
helped to manage well a life-changing situation or personal problem or crisis and other support needs
may undergo counseling as an individual. Problems like alcoholism, loss of job, divorce,
imprisonment, and rehabilitation can cause of shame and embarrassment. Without acquiring enough
strength ad ability to go through such life experience, people are vulnerable and may come out
worse.

The Group and Organization as Client of Counseling

Groups exist in communities, organizations, students in schools, teachers in school, and departments
in workplaces, and such entity can undergo group counseling to meet counseling needs on that level.
The needs can range from desire to reduce conflict or manage it, become more productive as a team
or work better together. Some of the group processes and procedures resemble those that are
applied to individuals. However, some are very unique to group and organizational context.

The Community as Client of Counseling

When people experience something collectively, which may be socially troubling and constitute the
danger of blocking their collective capacity to move on, counseling is necessary to be undertaken on
a community level.
The Settings, Processes, Methods, and Tools in Counseling
Counselors work in various settings- from government to private sectors, to civil society to school
setting. Drawing on a wide range of processes, methods, and tools, counselors are trained to use
what is appropriate for the setting and relative to their specialty. There are classical approaches
informed by theories to counseling that scaffold their process and selection of methods and tools.

Counseling Approaches
Psychoanalysis
 o represented by Sigmund Freud
o a theory of personality, an approach to psychotherapy, and method of investigation
founded by Sigmund Freud
o the assumption is that there are inner battles that are waged in a client that are directly
responsible for the appearance of symptoms and behavioral problems
o emphasizes the role of early childhood experiences
o early childhood experiences: dictate us of who we are as an adult
Behaviorism
o behavior and mental processes are determined by our environment
o all psychological disorders are a result of maladaptive learning that all behavior is learnt
from our environment and symptoms are acquired through classical and operant
conditioning
o Classical conditioning – involves learning by association; introduced by Ivan Pavlov
o Operant conditioning – involves learning by reinforcement; introduced by B.F. Skinner
The therapeutic techniques used in this type of treatment are action-based and rooted in the theories
of classical conditioning and operant conditioning and utilize the same learning strategies that led to
the formation of unwanted behaviors. Behavioral therapy tends to be highly focused on teaching
clients new behaviors to minimize or eliminate the issue.

Humanistic Perspective
o behavior and mental processes are determined by our need to fulfill our potential

o attempted to understand the conscious mind, free will, human dignity, and the capacity
for self-reflection and growth
o the human potential for change requires only exercise of the distinctively human
capacities for choice, creativity, and drive toward self-actualization
o humanistic therapeutic models are rooted in insight and focus on self-development,
growth, and responsibilities
o they seek to gain self-empowerment by recognizing their strengths, creativity and
choice in the given circumstances
Review. Let’s see how far have you learned from this lesson by identifying the counseling
approaches used by the counselors in the following situations.
1. As a counselor, Alyana always believes in the capacity of her client to determine his own
destiny and give meaning to his life.
 2. In dealing with his clients, Cardo always applies the talk therapy and actively listens to
whatever his client is telling him.
3. Flora, an adolescent counselor, explores the early experiences of her client in order to
identify the underlying causes of the manifested behavior.
4. Agatha coordinates with dream experts to examine the dreams and its relation to her
client’s experiences.
5. As a school counselor, Ericka uses reinforcements to modify the unwanted behaviors of
her student-clients.
The Settings in Counseling
o Government Setting – Work with the various government agencies that have
counseling services such as social welfare, correctional department, the court system,
child and women affairs services, military, police, hospitals, foster homes, and
rehabilitation centers.
o Private Sectors Setting – Counselors range from independent providers of services or
work for NGOs, or specialized for profit centers and organizations that render a variety
of counseling services.
o Civil Society Setting – The context of civil society is generally charities or non-profit
and issue-based centers or organizations such as for abused women, abandoned
children and elderly, veterans, teachers, professionals or religious groups.
o Community Setting – Has the greatest and widest application of counseling services
considering the diversity of people. There are people who are in conflict with the law,
socially marginalized, people who suffer loss of all kind, those living in institutional
homes, and those experiencing different life transitions.
o School Setting – In the school setting, the role of school counselor is more complex
since the needs of students can vary widely.
Tara! Let’s Review! Identify the setting where counselors work based from the following situations.
1. Romina is a licensed professional counselor and works with the various government
agencies that provide counseling services especially to correctional departments and
child and women affairs services.
2. Cassie works in a charitable institution for abandoned children and abused women.
3. Savannah works in a non-profit-oriented/non-government organization that renders a
variety of counseling services.
4. Daniella is working in a public educational institution as a counselor. She provides
various services to students and assumes many different responsibilities and tasks
based on the particular needs of their clients.
5. Marga provides counseling services to people who are in conflict with the law and
socially marginalized individuals and groups.