Counseling Services

PROCESS AND METHODS

Counseling
Counseling is the heart of guidance services. It is the core
activity provided by counselors.

Individual Counseling – helpful in dealing with the client’s

personal concerns, which involves monitoring and evaluating his
or her personal progress.

Group Counseling – is given to a group of two or more students

with similar concerns.
Orientation and Information Service
The clients must be informed of the services provided by the
counselors. They must also informed how they may avail of
these services.

In some schools, part of the Orientation and Information

Service is the so-called group guidance, which focuses on
providing information and developmental experiences such as
coping with stress, developing effective study habit, and
managing anger.
Psychological Testing Service
This includes the administration, scoring, and interpretation
of standardized tests. This is usually provided to assess the
client’s cognitive aspects, interest, socioemotional being, or
behavioral tendencies.

For example, the 16 Personality Factors (16PF) is a personality

test which aims to identify the strength and weaknesses of the
individual and how certain factors are affecting his or her
performance.
Follow-up Services

This is to determine if the counseling goals

were achieved. It also aims to determine whether
appropriate behaviors and decisions were
accomplished.
Career Development and Placement Services
Professional counselors provide career assistance to
help the clients in job-related concerns.
Individual Inventory Services (Student’s Appraisal)
This service is primarily given to obtain pertinent
information from the client, which is helpful to the
counselor when the client seeks for counseling.
Referral Service
This is the process of supporting the clients to find
the professional expert, who may provide specific
assistance to an identified problems or concern.
Research and Evaluation
Research and evaluation are systematically process of
collecting, analyzing, and using the gathered data to determine
the impact and effectiveness of the guidance program. This
service is provided to strengthen the quality of programs and
services given to the clients.
Counseling Processes
SIX STAGES OF COUNSELING PROCESS
Stage I: Establishing rapport with the
client
Stage II: Assessment
Stage III: Treatment planning
Stage IV: Intervention and problem-solving
Stage V: Evaluation
Stage VI: Termination
Counseling Methods
METHODS OR TECHNIQUES AND APPROACHES
Brief Counseling Methods

This is popularly known as solution-focused brief

counseling (SFBC). Instead of focusing on the client’s
problems, this approaches focuses on the solution that
works best for the client. This approaches proposes that:
1.When the clients concentrate on success, it will lead to positive
change;
2.By determining moments or occasions when symptoms do not
occur, clients are given the opportunity to generate solution;
3.Clients must trust that small positive change can facilitate bigger
changes;
4.All clients have the capacity to solve their problems, particularly
during the absence of emotional distress; and
5.Clients must identify goals that are positive and measurable.
 Techniques utilized in SFBC:
1.Scaling – Scaling quickly assesses or gauges the client’s progress. It
simply presents the client a 10-point (or 100-point) continuum where
he or she asked to rate a particular concern.
2.Exceptions – A counselor explores situations or moments when the
problem was not occurring.
3.Miracle question – this technique shifts from a problem-focused way
of dealing with difficulties to a solution-focused one.
- “If one night, there was a miracle and this problem was
solved, how would you know? How would you take place? What
would be different?”
Adlerian or Psychodynamic Approaches
The primary goal of this approaches is to recognize and
understand the objective reasons for one’s experience. The
reasons may be different from the perspective of the client or
how the client’s view their lives. These techniques below aims
to improve interpersonal relationships and self-awareness:
1.I-message – this technique, sometimes called responsibility
messages, prods the client to take responsibility for his or her
feelings, behaviors, or attitudes.
“I feel_________________(feeling) when
you___________________(behavior)
because_____________________(conseque
nces).”

2. Acting as if – this technique facilitates changes not

only in the client’s perception about a particular
experience but also in improving his or her actions or
behaviors.
Gestalt Approach

Gestalt is a German word that means “a structured,

meaningful, unity that stands out against a
background in the organism/environment field.” This
approaches focuses on present moment experiences, existential
meaning, interpersonal relationships, and integration of the
whole person. Here are the techniques used in this approach:
1.Empty chair – This technique aims to help the counselee to
work out intrapersonal conflicts and gains a different
perspective by taking the vantage point of someone else.

2.Body movement and exaggeration – this technique is used to

increase the client’s self-awareness regarding the nonverbal
messages that he or she is sending to others.

3.Role reversal – this technique is used when the counselor

believes that the behavior the client displays is the opposite of
what he or she actually truly feels.
Social Learning Approach
This approach suggest that clients learn to do their tasks and exhibit
behaviors by simply observing and imitating others. Here are some techniques:

1. Modeling – This technique is also known as imitation, identification,

observational learning, and vicarious learning. It emphasizes that an
individual’s behaviors are learned from observing a model and imitating his or
her actions and behaviors.
2. Behavioral rehearsal – It is a form of role play wherein the client learns a new
type of behavior- a manner of speaking, for example- that he or she can use in
response to certain situations and to people around him or her. It aims to
decrease the clients’ anxiety-provoking situations.
3. Role play – This technique is used by counselors to
facilitate the clients’ understanding of, or a change
within, themselves. In most role plays, the clients
reenacts oneself, another person, a set of circumstances,
or one’s reactions.
Cognitive Approach
This approach believes that the clients improve their
situations by perceiving and thinking about problems
and solutions through different lenses. It contends that
the clients’ thoughts affect their feelings and behaviors.

1.Self-talk – This technique is like a pep talk by the

client to himself or herself.
2.Visual/guided imagery – This is used to help clients work through
conflicts and ease anxiety. The counselor can make use of vivid
mental picture of a real or imagined experience, a pleasant scent, or a
visualization of the person successfully solving a problem.

3.Cognitive restructuring – This technique is based on two basic

assumption that self-defeating behaviors come from irrational or
defective thoughts or self-statement. This can be altered by changing
these negative thought into positive thoughts.
1. become aware of their thoughts;
2. alter their negative thought process; and
3. think about and change their ideas about themselves and the world.
Behavioral Approach
This approach contends that learning happens when a particular
behavior is reinforced by the presence of a reward or discourage by
either giving a punishment or removing potential reward.

1.Token economy – This one technique that you can use yourself.
2.Time-out technique – This technique is a form of negative
punishment. This means that all positive reinforcements are
removed when an individual demonstrate negative or deterrent
behavior.
3. Response cost – This involves removing positive stimulus
to decrease occurrences of an unwanted behavior.

Steps:

a. Identify the specific behavior that you will target.

b. Decide the penalty or cost for the behavior.
c. Inform the client of the cost or price of this behavior.