REPORT – 1

ACHIEVING EXCLLENCE IN COUNSELLING PRACTICES

Date – 1st April, 2024

Venue- Aadi Career Guidance and Counselling Centre, Sector 8-C, Chandigarh.

Expert Speaker- Dr. Guneet Inder Jit Kaur, Assistant Professor, Central University, Rajasthan.

Introduction

Aadi Career Guidance and Counselling Centre, Sector 8-C, Chandigarh organized a special lecture on
“Achieving Excellence in Counselling Practices” for their interns at the centre. The expert speaker for
the special lecture was Dr. Guneet Inder Jit Kaur, a leading Sports Psychologist, Coordinator and an
Assistant Professor at Central University of Rajasthan. Mr. Aadi Garg, founder, AADI – CGC
welcomed the expert speaker and extended floral greetings to her.

Establishing Rapport

Dr. Kaur endeavored to foster rapport with the interns by delineating shared attributes between herself
and the interns. She emphasized their mutual responsibility of engaging with clients within the field of
psychology, highlighting the noble nature of their profession, characterized by its demanding and
consuming nature of service.

Striving for Personal Excellence

The speaker elucidated on personal excellence as a pursuit of perfection or near-perfection. Personal

excellence is subjective and varies for each individual. Drawing from her research, she highlighted
gender differences in excellence levels, noting that women tend to exhibit higher standards. Striving
for personal excellence is crucial, it’s an ongoing process and if not managed properly, it can lead to
maladaptive behaviors and burnout.

Achieving Personal Excellence as a Counsellor

The significance of personal excellence for counsellors was explained. It was emphasized that
counsellors should uphold their value and offer empathy and warmth to their clients, thereby fostering
a supportive environment conducive for client’s growth and well-being.

Grid as a Determinant of Excellence

Grid is defined as a persistent determination to strive for one’s goals despite challenges. It was noted
that low levels of grit may stem from factors like lack of motivation, low self-esteem and will power.
The example of Pullela Gopichand’s discipline in sports was cited as a demonstration oh high levels
of great leading to success.

Interactive Exercises

A series of engaging exercises/activities were organized to enrich the session with both enjoyment
and educational value. These were:

 Exercise on Self Understanding – The task was timed to be completed in 3 minutes but
instructions involved only reading and completing the first two tasks. Majority of the interns
thus got engrossed in completing the tasks that they did not read the instructions carefully. It
suggested the need of one to be calm and follow the instructions carefully rather than blindly
following the rat race.
 Goal Setting Exercise – Interns engaged in a goal setting exercise aimed at the identifying
specific goals (destination) and the obstacles (barriers) hindering their achievement.
Emphasizes was placed on identifying controllable barriers to enable effective problem
solving and goal attainment. Goal Setting is personal and requires consistent performance.
 Concentration Grid Exercise – Interns were asked to sequentially mask numbers in ascending
order from 00 to 99 within a specified time frame. The duration of completion served as an
indicator of concentration ability. Research indicates that athletes complete this task within 4
minutes.
 Concentration Exercise in Groups – This exercise involved a concentrator who had to draw a
small circle on a page and draw a dot in the circle and concentrate on it, while the other group
members attempted to distract them with discouraging statements. This activity aims to
enhance concentration amidst distractions, promoting the ability to maintain focus on a task
or thought amid external influences.

Ending of the Session

The lecture concluded with a formal vote of thanks delivered by the organizer for the esteemed guest
speaker. It was followed by constructive feedbacks from the interns.