https://cbtpsychology.

com/personal-development-counselling/
Personal Development Counselling

Personal Development Counselling

The personal development of individuals has various ways of manifesting. It takes a different meaning
depending on each individual’s life circumstances. Working towards personal development involves
overcoming psychological, emotional and/or background obstacles. It makes us grow and leave behind
past attitudes that were keeping us stuck in a place instead of getting ahead in our lives. It makes us feel
alive and vibrant, willing to try new things and increase our self-confidence.

When you start to discover how to see things from a different perspective, it becomes possible to grow
and move forward. From time to time we all get stuck in chronic situations and viewpoints that create
suffering. We can’t see other perspectives, consider new ideas or create movement from it. We cannot
see a solution for a problem that seems to be existential. However, there is always a way. Through finding
new meanings and changing our behaviour, we change the way we feel about others, the future and
ourselves. There are various ways to achieve this. In this blog, we will focus on a specific way of achieving
personal change.

How Does It Look Like To Work Towards Personal Development

Counselling?
You can choose the areas of your life you want to focus for your development. You may choose these
areas because you are not satisfied where you are and you want to do better. The goals for personal
development are usually related to:

 Mental health (i.e.: depression, anxiety, anger)

 Career: a sense of dissatisfaction related to current status in one’s own career
 Personal Relationships: friendships and romantic
 Family relationships
 Self-esteem/Self-confidence
 Education: desire to get a degree or change program
 Health/Exercise/Nutrition
What Is A Personal Development Counselling Plan?
For a busy working person, personal development may involve spending time doing activities to refresh
and replenish their energy, to feel alive again instead of feeling the sense of doom that comes from
rushing to meet deadlines and demands. For example, it could mean to start spending time in nature,
doing exercise, meditation and finding time to see friends.

For a grieving individual, it could be to be able to find new meaning to the loss, internalize the good
memories of the loved one and be able establish relationships with others and feel they have the right to
be excited and happy again after the loss.
For a an individual with a mental health disorder, it could be to live their life based on his/her values rather
than on the impulses of their mood swings and dysfunctional behaviour. In terms of goals this could be to
replace the yelling at family members with going for a walk or to be compassionate to others instead of
aggressive.

A plan for personal development consists of 5 steps.

1. What is your goal? What would you like to achieve?

For example: I want to have more time to stop living in automatic pilot and enjoy my life. I want to be
present in the midst of my busy schedule and daily responsibilities.

1. Where are you now in terms of your goal?

What are you currently doing or not doing in this area?

In our example: I spend most time working, get home tired with no energy to play with my kids.
Don’t see my friends much and feel a bit isolated. Feel anxious with all the workload.

1. Where would you like to be? What things would you like to be doing instead, how frequently, with
who, when, how?
o Play with my children 30 minutes a day
o Walk 30 minutes a day
o Meet with friends twice a week, for coffee or lunch
o Do 20 minutes of meditation daily
Identify some of the small steps you can take in order to advance towards your goal.
Example:

Steps towards goal: Play 30 min a day with my children Date to take action:

1. Think about an activity we will both enjoy doing together Monday

2. Get the elements to play (arts and crafts supplies, ball, etc.) Tuesday

3. Tell them you are going to play for 5 minutes today Wednesday

4. Set aside 5 minutes to play with them Thursday

5. Leave work 10 minutes earlier Friday

6. Play with children 10 minutes Saturday

7. Play with them 15 minutes Sunday

 8. Think of another activity that will take longer and plan for 20
minutes play time with children Monday

9. Play 20 minutes with children Tuesday

10. Make it a routine to play with children after dinner and before bath Wednesday

11. Play 25 minutes Thursday

12. Play 30 minutes after dinner Friday

Example 2:

Steps towards goal: Meditate 20 minutes a day Date to take action:

1.     Get up 1 minute earlier and meditate for 1 minute in bed Monday

2.     Get up 2 minutes earlier and meditate for 2 minutes in bed Tuesday

3.     Meditate for 3 minutes in a seated position Wednesday

4.  Meditate for 4 minutes first thing in the morning Thursday

5.  Meditate for 5 minutes first thing in the morning Friday

6.   Try to meditate for 10 minutes and see what happens Saturday

Start Sunday and

7. Meditate for 10 minutes first thing in the morning for 2 weeks continue 2 weeks

Start Sunday and

8. Meditate 15 minutes first thing in the morning for 2 weeks continue 2 weeks

Start Sunday and

9. Meditate 20 minutes in the morning continue

You can plan to increase your steps daily, weekly, biweekly or with the frequency that you feel is realistic
for you. If you are planning to introduce a new habit into your life, it’s easier to start with a short period of
time but do it daily and increase time as the days go by. Each new day of practice will usually feel easier
to do the new activity than the day before. You can use this method for studying, exercising, working and
any activity you would like to start doing.
GOALS: Goals have to be SMART.

Smart stands for:

SPECIFIC: one at a time (play 30 minutes a day with my children)

MEASURABLE: 30 minutes a day by the end of the month
ACHIEVABLE: Can you accomplish this change in 2 weeks or do you need a month to adjust your
schedule? Plan for success. Better slower but sure.
REALISTIC: Can you make 30 minutes a day to devote completely to your children? If the answer is no,
go for 10 minutes.
TIME LIMITED: Want to try this for a month and see how it goes? Maybe after a month, you want to try a
different way of bonding with your children and take them out twice a week or create a special family
tradition to do over dinner such as talking about what made them happy during the day.
If you feel excited about working towards your personal development, go for it! Start by identifying the
areas in your life that you could do better by your own standards and values. Then define your goal. You
can have goals for different areas of your life such as family relationships, career, free time, etc.

Then go through the SMART goals plan to define them. Plan a series of steps to get from where you are
now to where you want to be.

Start taking the steps one at a time. Enjoy your personal development!

CBT Psychology For Personal Development has an experienced Vaughan Psychologists who work with
of Child Therapy.

https://counsellingtutor.com/personal-development-in-counselling/

Personal Development in Counselling

Definition of ‘Personal Development’ in Counselling
Personal development is ‘an essential aspect of training in person-centred psychology and
person-centred therapy and, generally, takes place and is fostered in the training group (as
distinct from individual personal therapy away from training)’ (Tudor and  Merry, 2002: 97–
98).
In counselling, personal development is a way of enhancing self-awareness.

Importance of Self-Awareness in Counselling

In counselling, we use ourselves as the main tool with which to help clients. If we have not
looked at ourselves in depth, it will be very difficult to offer high-quality counselling to clients.
We need self-awareness in order to help clients: accepting ourselves more fully allows us to
offer the same acceptance to them.
To be able to deal with personal triggers in the counselling room, we must understand our
own process, and so be able to spot and avoid parallel process. Sometimes, it may be
necessary to take a break from counselling if we are dealing with a tough personal situation
(e.g. bereavement or divorce). Not facing up to our own process risks damaging both
ourselves and our clients.
If our personal development identifies that there are types of issues or clients that we cannot
work ethically with (e.g. because of something in our own background or experience), then we
must make a referral to a practitioner who is able to help.

Personal Development Linked to Theory

Self-awareness – gained through personal development – is perhaps especially important in
person-centred counselling, which is all about relating to the client in a way that embodies the
three core conditions of empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard. Areas of
incongruence within ourselves may prevent us from offering these conditions. Some
examples would be as follows:

 If we had suffered a difficult loss that we had not addressed fully, and then a client’s
story reminded us of our own experience, we might find it impossible to stay within
their frame of reference, instead flipping back into our own feelings about our own
loss. This would prevent us from providing the client with empathy (i.e. putting
ourselves in their shoes, and accompanying them as they explore their emotions).

In counselling, we use ourselves as the main tool with which to help clients ... We need
self-awareness in order to help clients: accepting ourselves more fully allows us to offer
the same acceptance to them.

 If we had been brought up with the condition of worth that it was rude to challenge
people in authority, we might then find it hard to be congruent with a client we
perceived as more powerful than us in some way. This would stop us using the skill of
challenge with the person, and so would undermine the therapeutic relationship, and
fail to fulfil the six necessary and sufficient conditions of therapeutic personality change.
 If we had an unexplored prejudice against, say, people of a particular sexuality, then
found ourselves with such a client in the counselling room, we may not be able to offer
them unconditional positive regard. This would adversely affect the quality of service
that we were able to provide to the client. It could even be harmful to them (for
example, if their self-esteem has already been affected by such prejudice outside the
counselling room) – so breaching the important ethical standard of non-maleficence (a
commitment to avoiding harm to the client), as embodied in the Ethical Framework for
the Counselling Professions.

Methods of Personal Development

Counselling students are encouraged to use a range of different methods and tools to
increase their self-awareness – for example, writing a reflective journal, using the Johari
window, and participating in personal development groups.  Personal counselling and
supervision are also important in developing self-awareness, but are (as noted in the
definition above) not always seen formally as part of personal development.
Johari Window
Devised in the USA by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingram in 1955, the Johari window (named by
combining the two men’s names) is a tool to help people gain self-awareness and achieve
personal growth. This comprises four ‘panes’, as shown in the picture. The idea is to expand
the open area, for example by eliciting feedback from others.

Personal Development Groups

These groups (sometimes known as ‘process groups’) are a core part of counselling training,
complementing the input on theory and skills by providing a safe space for developing self-
awareness. There, we can look at changes we are going through, find the courage to explore
them, and get others’ views.
They can be very challenging, but also very enriching. They offer an opportunity both to
increase self-awareness and to practise empathic listening.
https://www.skillsyouneed.com/personal-skills.html
https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ps/personal-development.html

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/improve-your-personal-
development-skills
9 Ways To Improve Your Personal Development Skills
March 13, 2021
Share
By: Indeed Editorial Team

Key takeaways:

 Personal development skills can be soft or technical skills.

 Select which skills to develop by performing a self-analysis on your areas for improvement and
necessary skills to advance in your career or industry.
 Focus on transferable skills that make you a competitive candidate in any job.

Personal development is the ongoing act of assessing your life goals and values and building your
skills and qualities to reach your potential. They can contribute to your maturity, success and
satisfaction. Many people strengthen their personal development skills throughout their lives to better
themselves and reach their goals. They can do this through education, advice from a mentor, self-
help and more.

In this article, we will describe some of the most important personal development skills that can help
in your journey to becoming more capable and confident.

What are personal development skills?

Personal development skills are qualities and abilities that help you grow both personally and professionally. In
other words, they are skills that help you nurture your personal development. Understanding and improving
these skills can help you maximize your potential. This process is also known as self-development or personal
growth.

Why are personal development skills important?

Personal development skills are important because they allow you to create strategic and tactical
plans for personal and professional growth towards your goals. It can be helpful to hone personal
development skills so that you can naturally work them into your daily routines and use them to:

 Achieve personal and career goals

 Advance in your career
  Improve your strengths and talents
 Better yourself
 Find fulfillment and satisfaction

Examples of personal development skills

Personal development skills can be traits or qualities you already have or ones you can gain through education
and training. Individuals will value different personal development skills depending on their goals, but here are
some examples of skills people commonly practice to facilitate personal growth :

 Communication
 Interpersonal
 Organization
 Problem-solving
 Self-confidence
 Adaptability
 Integrity
 Work ethic
 Leadership

Communication
Communication includes your ability to speak, write and listen. With these skills, you can understand what
others are saying and feeling and also convey your own ideas and feelings. Good communicators can speak
clearly and confidently, using a tone that is positive and appropriate for the situation.

Interpersonal
Also called people skills or social skills, interpersonal skills are the verbal and nonverbal behaviors and
reactions to interactions with other people. They affect your ability to build relationships and make impressions
on others in social situations.

Organization
Organization skills include the tidiness of your physical and digital spaces as well as your ability to plan,
schedule and prioritize. Good organization can help save time, prevent miscommunications and improve
efficiency.

Problem-solving
Problem-solving is your ability to handle challenging or surprising situations. Good problem-solvers can stay
calm when they encounter obstacles and assess all their options to find the best solution.

Self-confidence
Self-confidence is the belief in your abilities, actions and decisions. If you have confidence in yourself, you
might be more likely to pursue ambitious goals, try new things and believe you can succeed.

Adaptability
Adaptability is your ability to adjust quickly and easily to new things. People who handle change well often get
along with a variety of personalities and thrive in any environment. They can also remain calm in surprising
situations.

Integrity
People tend to trust those who are honest and stand by their values. Integrity means doing what is right and
telling the truth, even if doing so presents challenges. Having integrity can lead to a good reputation and
opportunities for advancement.
Work ethic
Work ethic includes not only hard work but also reliability, responsibility, quality, determination and discipline.
People with good work ethic tend to be productive and have a positive attitude.

Leadership
Leadership is the ability to guide people. Good leaders can motivate others and help them reach a shared
goal. They build confidence and improve morale.

How to improve your personal development skills

You can enhance your personal development skills by taking classes, learning from the people around you,
gaining new talents and improving upon existing ones. Follow these guidelines to develop yourself personally:

1. Overcome your fears. Fear can prevent you from growing and progressing. If you are afraid of public
speaking, for instance, take a class or join a group that helps people become better public speakers. If
you are afraid of taking risks, find a mentor who can help you make good decisions and build your
confidence. Grow and learn by trying things you might not be comfortable doing. If you are shy, try
starting a conversation or introducing yourself to new people at a reception or workshop.

2. Read. Reading can expand your knowledge and vocabulary and keep you informed. It can also
stimulate your mind and can improve your critical thinking skills. Try setting a goal to read at least one
educational or motivational article a day, or one book a month.

3. Learn something new. Learn a new skill or topic, whether you do it yourself or sign up for a class. You
might, for instance, take courses to learn another language, a new software program or how to write
creatively. Consider watching a webinar on professional development topics such as entrepreneurship
or social media marketing.

4. Ask for feedback. Approach a family member, friend, colleague or manager, and ask them to give you
feedback on a recent project or accomplishment. Use their positive comments as well as their
constructive criticism to find ways to improve. Sometimes you need an outside, unbiased opinion to get
a different perspective.

5. Observe others. Watch and learn from the people who inspire you. This could be someone you know,
such as a supervisor, family member or public figure. Identify the qualities you admire in them, and try to
replicate those in yourself.

6. Network. By interacting with many types of people, you can learn new ideas and understand how to
communicate and work with different personality types. You can also meet people and develop
relationships that might help you in the future. Network through industry organizations and shared
interest groups, or attend conferences and events on topics that interest you.

7. Keep a journal. Writing in a journal every day or week can help you gain self-awareness and reflect on
recent events, decisions and conversations. You might keep a hand-written, private journal, or you might
choose to share your thoughts and experiences by blogging. Use it to set and assess goals and
progress.
 8. Meditate. Many people meditate to gain clarity and awareness and to reduce stress and anxiety.
Meditation can help you focus on your self-development and goals in a healthy, positive and calm way.
Even scheduling a break from work or quiet time to yourself can help you relax and focus.

9. Get a mentor. If you need help identifying ways to build your self-development skills, talk to a mentor.
This individual could be a manager, professor, someone you admire or a professional personal growth
mentor.

Personal development skills in the workplace

While personal development skills can benefit all parts of your life, these particular practices may be useful in
the workplace and help you advance your career:

 Be an active listener. Part of being a good communicator is paying attention to what other people say.
Concentrate on understanding what your coworkers and clients are saying so you can remember that
information and respond well. Use effective and professional listening and communication skills in
everything from phone conversations to job interviews.

 Work well with others. Good people skills make you a valued team member. You should be able
to collaborate with and motivate others. Cultivate your social skills to build relationships with colleagues,
clients, customers and acquaintances of all types and backgrounds.

 Organize your time, work and materials. Plan out tasks so you can complete them quickly and easily.
Know what projects to prioritize if you are handling more than one. If you are well-organized, you may be
better able to meet your deadlines and collaborate effectively with others..

 Work through challenging situations. When dealing with a problem, assess your options and
determine the best solution. Know when to ask for advice or research different scenarios. People who
can think critically and work through complex problems are more likely to make good decisions both in
life and work.

 Believe in yourself. If you have confidence in your decisions, others may be more likely to believe in
you as well. This positive energy can help motivate and instill confidence in those around you. You are
better able to handle challenges and reach goals if you approach them with confidence rather than
doubt.

 Adapt to change. Be flexible so you can deal with changes in work and life easily. Adaptable people
can work well both alone and on a team, manage multiple projects, work under a variety of conditions,
accept new ideas and more. Being able to respond well to change can also make these situations less
stressful for everyone involved.

 Be truthful. Honesty is the foundation of a positive relationship with colleagues and supervisors.

Practice good ethics and stand by your values. Integrity can bring you respect, satisfaction and a good
reputation at work.

 Be committed to and passionate about your job. People with good work ethic tend to be productive,
reliable and determined to do quality work. This dedication can help you complete tasks on time and
 motivate your peers.

 Guide those around you. Being a good leader requires confidence, vision and communication. People
who build these leadership skills can help their team progress and be productive without being
controlling.

How to highlight personal development skills

Convey your personal development skills on your resume and when interviewing for a job to show employers
you can succeed in that position.

1. Highlight personal development skills in your resume

Create a section in your resume titled “Skills” that includes both hard and soft skills. List only the personal
development skills that apply to that job. If you have many skill types, you might group them by category within
your resume’s skills section.
Example:
Relevant Skills

 Time management: Consistently handled upward of six projects at a time and met 100% of deadlines
 Organization: Created an efficient online filing system for a large group of clients using color-coded
folders and documents as well as tags
 Adaptability: Adjusted workflow to accommodate additional responsibilities, including refined task
scheduling and time tracking

2. Highlight personal development skills in your cover letter

Choose a couple of personal development skills that you feel are strong and most relevant to the job. Within
the body of your cover letter, describe briefly how you would apply each one to that job’s responsibilities, or
give an example of how that skill has benefited you in the past.
Example: As an effective problem-solver, I helped customers quickly troubleshoot their programming issues.
The clients I worked with reported a 92% success rate at resolving computer problems under my guidance.

3. Highlight personal development skills during your job interview

List your strongest personal development skills when answering interview questions, such as “What are your
strengths and weaknesses?” or “What are your goals?” Describe your top skills, your plan for further
development and where you have room for improvement. You can also use examples to show off your
personal development skills.
Example: “During a period of tension in the workplace, my interpersonal skills and ability to form relationships
helped unify our department. We became a far more cohesive and productive team.”
These are just a few of the personal development skills that can benefit your life and your work. Self-
development is a lifelong process upon which you can continue to improve. Focus on developing the skills that
will best help you reach your goals.
Personal and professional development are seen by most professional organizations as essential to continued good
practice in therapy. This book explores just what is meant by personal and professional development and why it is
so important for therapists to continually assess and fulfill their own needs both for their own well-being and in order
to provide a better service for their clients. Author Paul Wilkins describes how therapists can identify and address
gaps in their training; assesses the range, value and availability of short and advanced training courses; and
encourages therapists to expand their skills into areas they might not previously have considered. The book shows
how therapists can best prepare for the accreditation process, and stresses the importance of keeping up to date
with major issues such as ethics and the law, as well as addressing their own attitudes to race, culture, gender, and
age. Important chapters consider the value and effectiveness of personal therapy and highlight other ways in which
therapists can look after, refresh, and maintain themselves in a state fit to practice. Wilkins stresses the importance
of supervision and considers how therapists can contribute to the advancement of understanding counseling theory
and practice. His emphasis throughout is that continuing development need not necessarily be expensive, and that
therapists can make, monitor, and evaluate their own programs for self-development. Eminently practical and highly
readable, this book will be an invaluable resource for newly qualifying and practicing therapists who are seeking a
pathway through the maze of professional development and wishing to establish a program for their own self-
development.
https://www.pdhpe.net/better-health-for-individuals/what-strategies-help-to-promote-the-health-of-individuals/the-
ottawa-charter-as-an-effective-health-promotion-framework/developing-personal-skills/

Developing personal skills is about health promotion “providing information, education for health, and enhancing life
skills.”

[1] The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion identifies developing personal skills as one of the five (5) key action
areas for health promotion that will empower the individual and give them more control over health.

Developing personal skills includes the development of health literacy, foundational motor skills, and gaining an
understanding of the links between risk behaviours and lifestyle diseases. It promotes protective behaviours and
provides the individual with the skills to be able to navigate the health system and critically analyse health
information. It includes aspects such as, what is a healthy diet?, how to read nutritional information on food
packaging, road safety, social and sexual health knowledge and skills.

But, developing personal skills is not just about skills and knowledge specific to physical health, though it does
include these. It encompasses a wider perspective and seeks to encourage lifelong learning that helps people to be
active in all the dimensions of health in order to achieve better health. This means knowledge and skills in social
settings, family contexts, spiritual matters, having a purpose to life, mental and emotional stability are all part of the
development of personal skills.

In order to develop personal skills, health promotion must include the actions of educational organisations and
institutions. The World Health Organisation states:

This has to be facilitated in school, home, work and community settings. Action is required through educational,
professional, commercial and voluntary bodies, and within the institutions themselves.[1]
In other words, the development of personal skills requires a multi-sectoral approach to health promotion. Schools,
General Practitioners, organisations, businesses, companies, governments and more, must all contribute to
developing personal skills in order to improve health. They all have a role in health promotion.

Developing personal skills example – Road Safety

For example, in order to ensure safety on our roads and to reduce road incidents a multi-sectoral approach has been
used. Students are educated in school and through media advertisements about the dangers of road use and how to be
safe on the road. RYDA provide educational services to schools to help students to further develop their road safety
skills.
The Roads and Maritime Service provides education around road rules and has tests that need to be passed in
order for you to be able to drive and to progress to the next level of licence. We have Driving Instructors who make
money teaching road skills.

Parents teach their children to be safe when crossing the road and the council puts up signs that indicate to people
that it is a school zone or to watch for pedestrians. All of which are developing personal skills around road safety.

Resources

Develop

Health promotion supports personal and social development through providing information, education
for health, and enhancing life skills. By so doing, it increases the options available to people to
exercise more control over their own health and over their environments, and to make choices
conducive to health.

Enabling people to learn, throughout life, to prepare themselves for all of its stages and to cope with
chronic illness and injuries is essential. This has to be facilitated in school, home, work and
community settings. Action is required through educational, professional, commercial and voluntary
bodies, and within the institutions themselves.

[1] http://www.who.int/healthpromotion/conferences/previous/ottawa/en/index1.html