Introduction

Counseling is a significantly important tool in terms of aiding an individual in the course of overcoming problematic situations and circumstances. It is a process that needs effective dialogue between two individuals among whom one is skilled in the process of providing effective advice that has the potential to direct the other towards the right direction. Counseling, in this respect, can be defined as a skilled and principled use of relationship between two individuals for the purpose of facilitating self-knowledge along with encouraging acceptance that can pave the way for growth and development of personal resources of the person who has been counseled (Gladding, 2004). The ultimate objective of the counseling process is to provide the client (the person needing counseling) with the opportunity to improve the way of leading life in such a way that in the long-run a quality life could be led with satisfaction and in a resourceful way (Gladding, 2004). The process of counseling, as discussed earlier, is often relationship based and hence, the counseling process may vary according to the need of the clients but it also entails the concerns with developmental issues, problem addressing and problem mitigation, evidence based decision making, crisis coping, personal insight developing, knowledge dispersing, and collaboratively working through ascertaining feelings of inner conflict that are targeted at improving the client’s relation with the self and the others (Gladding, 2004).

Different Stages of Counseling Process

There are seven stages in the overall counseling process, viz. relationship building, identification of the problem and its nature, formulation of counseling goals, categorizing the counseling goals, intervention and problem solving, termination and follow up, and research and evaluation (Gelso & Fretz, 2001). The first stage of the counseling process entails strategies needed to establish a strong relationship between the counselor and the client. At this particular stage the counselor must strive for laying the foundations for trust because client’s trust in the counselor is the key to success in the counseling process (Gladding, 2004). The counselor during the first stage must determine the structure and of the relationship and then proceed to consciously establish it through adhering to the informed consent process which acts as the basis of articulation of roles of the counselor and the client (Gladding, 2004). The first stage of counseling is all about developing a collaborative process based on mutual working alliance (Gelso & Fretz, 2001).

The second stage of the counseling process is about identifying the problem and ascertaining the nature of the problem. At this stage the counselor strives for understanding the purpose of the client’s visit and what needs to be changed (Rønnestad & Skovholt, 2003). At the second stage of the counseling process the counselor must try to see the problem from the client’s perspective and must strive for relating the client’s perspectives with larger worldly perspectives, and this should be done simultaneously with keeping an eye on the strengths and weaknesses of the client and on the resources that the client already has (Rønnestad & Skovholt, 2003). During the second stage the counselor develops the hypothesis on which the edifice of the entire future counseling process rests (Rønnestad & Skovholt, 2003).

At the third stage of the counseling process the counselor strives for formulating the goals of the counseling process. During the concerned stage the counselor ensures that the client knows what he or she might expect from the counseling process and what changes he or she need to experience after the closure of the process of counseling. The counselor, at this stage of the counseling process, should encourage and motivate the client to be the captain of his or her own ship and this can be done through encouraging client’s accountability. At the concerned stage of the counseling process the counselor must enhance the sense of ownership of the counseling process within the client and this is essential for steering the process towards the direction of success. The stage is also characterized by formulation of specific and achievable goals that create a roadmap as a means for evaluation of the efficacy of the counseling process. But it is noteworthy that in the course of the counseling process the goals set at this stage might change and have to be revamped.

The next stage in the counseling process entails the step of categorizing the counseling goals. This stage is important primarily because at this stage the counselor, through categorizing the goals, determines those unwanted or unwelcome behaviors on the part of the client that have to be addressed and eradicated. This is done for helping the client to cope with the changes triggered by the counseling process in a better way. The stage is also essential to empower the client to make decisions and to ensure that the client-counselor relationship gets enhanced (Skovholt & McCarthy, 1988). This stage is substantially important in terms of helping the client to accomplish his or her true potentials (Skovholt & McCarthy, 1988).

The next stage of intervention and problem solving follows immediately after the goals of the counseling process are finally set after deliberations and revisions. The goal identification and development plan entails perspectives on the basis of which the counselor determines the actions and the intervention strategies. At this stage the counselor strives for collaboratively work with the client on the execution of the plan and to determine which strategy seems the best fit for accomplishing the goals and objectives of the counseling process. Moreover, at this stage, the client is informed about the options and the advantages and disadvantages related to each option. This is done purposely to empower the client with the decision making capabilities.

The sixth stage of the counseling process is of termination and follow-up and at this stage the counselor and the client collaborative work on determining a date in advance for closing the counseling process and for arranging for a follow up. During this stage the client is empowered and the client cautiously implements strategies to strengthen the client in a way that in the long-run no dependency on the counselor develops at the client’s end (Gelso & Fretz, 2001). The client is made aware of his or her own needs and his or her capabilities for meeting those needs effectively.

Finally, at the research and evaluation stage, the counselor analyzes the feedback received from the client after the termination and closure of the counseling process and this analysis is reviewed to generate hypotheses that help in the development of future intervention strategies. This stage adds to the future research studies on different aspects of counseling and provides scope to counselors to determine what best could be done to make the process of counseling more effective in the future.

Communication

The effectiveness of a counseling process relies largely on the efficacy of the communication process. In this respect, it has to be noted that the counselor, in the course of counseling, must demonstrate communication skills like active listening and understanding (Weger et al., 2014). The counselor must also demonstrate empathy to understand to understand the perspectives of the client in a better way. Moreover, gestures and kinesics should also be practiced effectively by the counselor in order to make the counseling process more engaging and effective (Finset & Ørnes, 2017). Besides, the counselor must also demonstrate effective questioning and interviewing skills for the purpose of enhancing the communication process constituting the overall process of counseling (Finset & Ørnes, 201)).

Conclusion

Counseling is an important tool in terms of helping an individual in the course of overcoming problematic situations and circumstances. It is a process that needs effective dialogue between two individuals – the counselor and the client. Moreover, the effectiveness of a counseling process relies largely on the efficacy of the communication process.

References

Finset, A., & Ørnes, K. (2017). Empathy in the Clinician–Patient Relationship. Journal Of Patient Experience, 4(2), 64-68. https://doi.org/10.1177/2374373517699271
Gelso, C.J., & Fretz, B. (2001). Counseling Psychology (2nd Ed.). Brooks Cole.
Gladding, S.T. ( 2004). Counseling: A Comprehensive Profession (5th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall. P 6-7.
Rønnestad, M., & Skovholt, T. (2003). Journal Of Career Development, 30(1), 5-44. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1025173508081
Skovholt, T. M. & McCarthy, P. M. (1988). Critical incidents in counselor development. Journal of Counseling and Development, 67, 69–72.
Weger, H., Castle Bell, G., Minei, E., & Robinson, M. (2014). The Relative Effectiveness of Active Listening in Initial Interactions. International Journal Of Listening, 28(1), 13-31. https://doi.org/10.1080/10904018.2013.813234