Counselling

The most important thing in communication is to

hear what isn't being said.

Peter Drucker
Nature and Scope

• Commonly misunderstood as a process where counsellors give

solutions and suggestions to people’s problems by telling them what
to do and what not to do.
• It has to do with listening, empathizing, accepting and understanding.
• It is a process where the counsellor is able to identify the issues
related to the person’s problems to give a clarity of thought which
leads to understanding oneself better and to handle situation in a
better way.
• Counselling helps to people to gain confidence to understand their
inner conflicts and pressing problems.
• It is a process by which one could help people to find a new direction
in life and to experience and witness a purposeful and meaningful
new life rather than leading a disputed life at his workplace or at
home.
Nature and Scope ……. Contd.
• Counselling is defined as the discussion of an emotional problem of
an individual (employee) with a counsellor with the general objective
of decreasing it. This definition has several implications:
• Counselling deals with emotional problems. It does not include job
inconveniences which have no emotional involvement. Nor does it
include legal advice, advice on technical aspects of one's job and
similar matters which are primarily non- emotional in content.
• Counselling involves discussion, meaning thereby an act of
communication. Proper counselling depends on communication skills.
• The general objective of counselling is to understand and decrease an
employee's emotional disorder.
• This definition in no way implies that counselling can be given only by
professionally-trained people.
Development of Counselling Services
• Even during Mahabharata period, Lord Krishna counselled
Arjuna. When Arjuna was in dilemma how to fight with his
relatives.
• After word war – II, acute shortage of supplied lead to
joining of unskilled labours in the industry to meet out the
demand of the industrial productions for army.
• Problems related to
• Relocation
• Small kids look after
• Kids schooling
• Poor knowledge / No knowledge to procedures and processes
• Transportation
• Food
• And many more ……..
Five Steps of Effective Listening
1. Be attentive
• Listen silently and patiently, be receptive
• Counselee doesn’t get interrupted
2. Make an eye contact
• Have eye contact to make sure that the counsellor is interested in
listening and not involved in other work.
3. Avoid distracting gestures
• Don’t play with your pen, pencil, shuffling papers, watching time.
4. Exhibit affirmative body gestures
• Affirmative head nod, appropriate facial expressions, words, ‘Oh’,
‘see’, ‘my goodness’
5. Seek clarification
• If required
Types of Counselling
• Directive Counselling
• Non-directive Counselling
• Cooperative Counselling
Directive Counselling
In this counselling the counsellor plays an active role as it is
regarded as a means of helping people how to learn to solve their
own problems. This type of counselling is also known as counsellor-
centred counselling. Because in this counselling the counsellor does
everything himself i.e. analysis, synthesis, diagnosis,
prognosis, prescription and follow-up.
Features of Directive Counselling:
• During the interview attention is focused upon a particular
problem and possibilities for its solution.
• During the interview the counsellor plays a more active role than
the client or pupil.
• The pupil or client makes the decision, but the counsellor does all
that he can to get the counselee or client makes a decision in
keeping with his diagnosis.
• The counsellor tries to direct the thinking of the counsellee or
client by informing, explaining, interpreting and advising him.
Non Directive Counselling
In this type of counselling the counselee or client or
pupil, not the counsellor is the pivot of the
counselling process. He plays an active role and this
type of counselling is a growing process. In this
counselling the goal is the independence and
integration of the client rather than the solution of
the problem. In this counselling process the
counsellee comes to the counsellor with a problem.
The counsellor establishes rapport with the
counsellee based on mutual trust, acceptance and
understanding.
Cooperative Counselling
It starts by using listening technique of non-directive
but as the interview progress, the counsellor plays a
more positive role than the non-directive counsellor.
The counsellor may offer bits of knowledge and
insights which he has, thus giving the counsellee a
different and broader perspective for comparison.
What Counselling Techniques Does?
• Releasing emotional tensions
• Effective Communication
• Positive Thinking
Functions of Counselling
• Advice
• Reassurance
• Communication
• Release of emotions
• Clarified thinking
• Reorientation