UNIT I: COUNSELING

LESSON 4: SETTINGS, PROCESSES,

METHODS AND TOOLS IN
COUNSELING
 LEARNING OUTCOMES
• The learners are expected to:
1.Demonstrate a high level of understanding of the
settings, processes, methods and tools in counseling;
2.Identify the settings in which counselors are found; and
3.Illustrate the different methods and processes involved
in undertaking counseling.
SETTINGS IN COUNSELING
 1. GOVERNMENT
• Since all counselors help patients or clients cope with the problems in
their lives, including mental or emotional disorders and stressful life
changes, you might think their employment options are limited.
However, counseling is a diverse field, encompassing several specialties.
The workplaces where counselors find jobs are equally wide-ranging.
• Depending on your level of education, relevant work experience and
specialty, you may work in hospitals, government agencies, private
practices or any number of healthcare or other professional
environments.
 2. PRIVATE SECTOR
• Many private individuals and groups provide a rich source of
counseling opportunities.
• The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to
as the citizen sector, which is run by private individuals or groups,
usually as a means of enterprise for profit, and is not controlled by
the government, as compared to the areas of the economy controlled
by the government being referred to as the public sector.
 3. CIVIL SOCIETY
• Like the private sector, the civil society serves as a vast workplace for
professional counselors. The civil society is the aggregate of non-
governmental organizations and institutions that manifest interests and
will of citizens. Civil society includes the family and the private sphere,
referred to as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and
business.
• By other authors, "civil society" is used in the sense of 1) the aggregate
of non-governmental organizations and institutions that manifest
interests and will of citizens or 2) individuals and organizations in a
society which are independent of the government.
 4. SCHOOLS
• The Philippines mandates school counseling in middle and high
school. The Congress of the Philippines passed the Guidance and
Counseling Act of 2004, with a specific focus on Professional Practice,
Ethics, National Certification, and the creation of a Regulatory Body,
and specialists in school counseling are subject to this law.
• This law is created because legislators believe that schools need
counselors as co-partners of educators in the delivery of quality and
value-oriented education. The significant role of school counselors
cannot be over-emphasized.
 5. COMMUNITY
• Much like its inherent multiculturalism, counseling in the Philippines has
evolved from multiple influences.
• Counseling encompasses a broad spectrum of disciplines (e.g., guidance
and counseling, counseling/clinical psychology) and an acknowledgment
of the societal context in which it occurs (e.g., poverty, physical
disasters, overseas working, graft and corruption, and economic and
political instability).
• Counselors must navigate societal stigmas regarding the need for mental
health assistance and widespread ignorance of the field; they also
advocate for mental health and resilience in difficult life circumstances.
PROCESSES OF
COUNSELING
STAGES IN COUNSELING
 STAGE 1: EXPLORING
• This is getting the client to start to talk. It may
involve many false starts but the client begins to
explore the presenting problem.
• The presenting problem might not be the
underlying problem, but this first stage is
essential.
 STAGE 2: UNDERSTANDING
• The revelation for the client that the client is
responsible for the client’s life can be traumatic.

• As the counseling series proceeds it should

become clearer that there are themes that run
throughout the life of the client, e.g. inability to
make decisions, inability to sustain relationships,
 STAGE 2: UNDERSTANDING
• As the counseling series proceeds it should become clearer that there
are themes that run throughout the life of the client, e.g. inability to
make decisions, inability to sustain relationships, inability to accept
responsibility for their own actions, a desire to blame external events
or people etc.
• Acceptance of these themes by the client is largely dependent upon
their willingness to engage in the process and the skill of the
counsellor in presenting challenge with the right level of support.
 STAGE 2: UNDERSTANDING
• The pace of understanding needs to be set by the client
so the client feels in control.
• Although many challenges are set by the counsellor,
the counsellor needs to be extremely aware of the
ability of the client to accept them, consolidate the
incremental progress and integrate the whole in the
unfolding revelation.
 STAGE 3: DECIDING AND
PLANNING
• Many counselors never get to this stage. They leave it
to the client to decide and act in their own way and
time.
• Indeed, in an ideal case, once the client understands the
need for action, he or she goes out and acts on their
own initiative.
 STAGE 3: DECIDING AND
PLANNING
• In most cases the client and counselor need to
collaborate, both forming the ideal solution to the
present problem.
• Conversely, some counselors try to start with this stage
and wonder why their clients are not cooperative!
• Failures are then blamed on the client!
 STAGE 4: ACTING
• This is the stage that might never end! The relationship often
needs to be gently loosened, but ultimately there is no
substitute for action –even if that is to accept the situation
with no apparent change!
• Remember that life is usually not so clear cut as these notes
suggest, so part of the third and fourth stages for some issues
might overlap with the second stage of an ongoing or greater
issue.
METHODS/TECHNIQUES
IN COUNSELING
COUNSELING TECHNIQUES USED
BY COUNSELORS
 SPHERES OF INFLUENCE
• This assessment tool will get the individual to look at areas of
their life and see which areas may be impacting and
influencing them. The person’s job is to figure out which
systems in their life give them strength, and which ones give
them stress.
• Some spheres of influence to consider are: themselves,
immediate family, friends, husband or wife, extended family,
job or school, community, culture or religion, and any
external influences.
 CLARIFICATION
• Counselors should often ask their clients to clarify
what they are telling them to make sure they
understand the situation correctly.
• This will help the counselors avoid any misconceptions
or avoid them having to make any assumptions that
could hinder their feedback.
 CLIENT EXPECTATIONS
• When persons enter therapy, they should voice their
opinions about counseling and their beliefs about
treatment.
• In the beginning, they should be able to communicate
with their counselor as to what they expect to get out of
counseling.
• This can help the counselor guide and direct his
counseling accordingly.
 CONFRONTATION
• We do not mean the client confronting the therapist, or
vice versa. The confrontation that should happen here
is within the client. The client should be able to self-
examine themselves during counseling.
• However, the speed at which they do this should be
discussed between the counselor and the client.
 CONGRUENCE
• This has to do with the counselors being genuine with
their feedback and beliefs about their client’s situation
and progress.
• The more authentic and true they are with their
counseling, the more that their client and work to grow
and benefit from their help.
 CORE CONDITIONS
•This technique in counseling goes over some
essential traits that the counselor needs to
integrate for effective counseling, which are:
positive regard, empathy, congruence or
genuineness, and warmth.
 ENCOURAGING
• Being an encouraging counselor for your client is an
essential technique that will help facilitate confidence
and respect between both parties.
• This technique asks that the counselors focus on the
client’s strengths and assets to help them see
themselves in a positive light. This will help with the
client’s progression.
 ENGAGEMENT
• As a therapist, having a good, yet professional
relationship with your client is essential.
• However, there are bound to be difficult moments in
counseling sessions, which will require influential
engagement on the counselor’s behalf.
 FOCUSING
• This technique involves the counselor demonstrating
that he understands what his client is experiencing by
using non-judgmental attention without any words.
• Focusing can help the counselor determine what the
client needs to obtain next from their services.
 IMMEDIACY
• This is a technique of the counselor by speaking openly
about something that is occurring in the present
moment.
• This helps the client learn from his real life experiences
and apply this to his reactions for other past situations.
 LISTENING SKILLS
• With any relationship, listening skills are needed to
show that the counselor understands and interprets the
information that his client gives him correctly.
• The counselor should do this by showing attentiveness
in non-verbal ways, such as: summarizing, capping, or
matching the body language of his clients.
 OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS
• Open ended questions encourage people in a
counseling session to give more details on their
discussion.
• Therefore, these types of questions are used as a
technique by counselors to help their clients answer
how, why, and what.
 PARAPHRASING
• This technique will show clients that the counselor is
listening to their information and processing what they
have been telling them.
• Paraphrasing is also good to reiterate or clarify any
misinformation that might have occurred.
 POSITIVE ASSET SEARCH
•A positive technique used by counselors helps
clients think up their positive strengths and
attributes to get them into a strong mindset
about themselves.
 REFLECTION OF FEELING
•Counselors use this technique to show their
clients that they are fully aware of the feelings
that their client is experiencing.
•They can do this by using exact words and
phrases that their client is expressing to them.
 MIRACLE QUESTION
• The technique of asking a question of this sort will
help the client see the world in a different way or
perspective.
• A miracle question could be something along the lines
of: “What would your world look like if a miracle
occurred? What would that miracle be and how would
it change things?”
 STAGES OF CHANGE
• By assessing clients’ needs, counselors can determine
the changes that need to occur for their client, and
when they should take place.
• This can be determined by what they believe to be
most important.
 TRUSTWORTHINESS
• The counselor must create an environment for his
client as such that his client feels that he has the
capacity to trust his counselor.
• A therapist must be: congruent, warm, empathetic, and
speak with positive regard to his client.
 CAPPING
• A lot of counselors use the technique of capping during
their sessions.
• Capping involves changing a conversation’s direction
from emotional to cognitive if the counselor feels the
client’s emotions need to be calmed or regulated.
 WORKING ALLIANCE
• Creating a working alliance between a counselor and
his client is essential for a successful counseling
environment that will work to achieve the client’s
needs.
• This technique involves the client and therapist being
active collaborators during counseling and agreeing
upon goals of treatment that are necessary, as well as
how to achieve those goals.
 PROXEMICS
• This technique has the counselor study the spatial
movements and conditions of communication that his
client exhibits.
• By studying his client’s body orientation, the counselor
can determine mood, feelings, and reactions.
 SELF-DISCLOSURE
• The counselor will make note when personal
information is disclosed at certain points of therapy.
• This technique will help the counselor learn more
about the client and use this information only to benefit
him/her.
 STRUCTURING
• When the individual enters counseling, the counselor should discuss
the agenda for the day with his client, the activities, and the
processes that he will go through.
• This technique in counseling will help the client understand his
counselor’s train of thought into determining how this routine will
work for him.
• Soon enough, the client will get used to the routine, and this
establishes comfort and trust in counseling.
 HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
• This technique involves the counselor assessing his client’s
level of needs as based on the progress that he is making.
• The needs that he will factor in are: physiological needs,
safety needs, love and belongingness needs, self-esteem
needs, and self-actualization needs. All these will determine
if change needs to take place in counseling.
 TOOLS USED BY
COUNSELORS
• ‘THE EMPTY CHAIR’
–used in psychodrama –
spontaneous reaction to
fictional confrontation –
subsequently often
thought of as an example
of Gestalt.
 TOOLS USED BY
COUNSELORS
•‘THE LETTER’ –thought
out consideration of what to
say to recipient without
necessarily sending it.
Gives time to examine
response.
 TOOLS USED BY
COUNSELORS
•‘IDENTIFICATION
WITH CHARACTERS
FROM LITERATURE’ –
examine qualities of
fictional character to
evaluate desired qualities in
client.
 TOOLS USED BY
COUNSELORS
•‘FANTASY’
extrapolation of
previous
technique.
 TOOLS USED BY
COUNSELORS
•‘PERSONAL CONSTRUCT
THEORY’ – thought out
consideration and description
of client by client in the third
person. More objective by
slight distancing from self and
immediate emotional content.
 TOOLS USED BY
COUNSELORS
•‘SCULPTING’ – describing
relationships using cards,
stones, people etc. in a tableau
or diagram. It can be examined
by altering arrangement or
participants’ viewpoint.
 TOOLS USED BY
COUNSELORS
•‘GILMORE’S SQUARE’ –
thought out consideration using ACTIVITY • I ought…
spreadsheet of Gilmore’s three
areas of concern –activity,
relationship and aloneness in the RELATIONSH •I
IP want…
advancing approach of ‘I ought..’
‘I want...’ ‘I can...’ ‘I will...’.
ALONENESS • I can…
 TOOLS USED BY
COUNSELORS
• ‘VISUAL METAPHORS
SUCH AS “THE SHIELD”’ –
spontaneous
symbols of
important aspects of
client.
 TOOLS USED BY
COUNSELORS
•‘VISUALIZATIONS OR
GUIDED IMAGERY’ –
detailed symbolism that can be
used in a diagnostic and
therapeutic capacity. Needs
specialist knowledge.