Stages of counselling process

Four stages of counselling process

There is a natural progression that takes place within the context of helping a relationship. This process enables you and the person you are working with to build a relationship, assess the situation, set goals and come up with a plan to bring about the desired results. This progression is known as the counseling process. There are four stages to the counseling process.
They are:
Developing a relationship,
Making an informed assessment,
Establishing mutually agreed upon goals and
Objectives and developing an implementation plan.

Phase 1. Developing A Relationship

In order to develop a positive relationships with the youth, you’ need to be able to connect with them. This can only happen when youth ,is made to feel that you genuinely care about his/her well-being and understand their problems It’s about behaving in a way that demonstrates the core conditions of genuineness, respect and empathy.

To develop solid relationships with youth, you need to create a safe environment where young people , feel comfortable enough to open up and talk to you about anything and everything that going on in their minds. You also need to help the youth see that despite having many problems, they are also blessed with lot of strengths that they are not awareof . In short, you should begin from a position of strength- wherein their drawbacks are corrected ..

Questions to Consider When Trying to Develop A Relationship

· In what ways can you build better relationships with the youth in via a program?

· If the youth are not actively engaged, what can be done different so as to engage them?

· If a youth is resistant, what steps can you take to reduce resistance?

· What are their problems from the past in case of resistant youth that can be bettered and improved upon?

· How do we judege that the relationship bond with the youth is solid and strong.? Could these indicators be used to help strengthen relationships
        with other youth?

Phase 2. Making An Informed Assessment

An informed assessment happens when the discussion and interactions with the youth - gives you a insight into his/her thinking process and mental framework .Once this state of mind is known,assessed,studied and understood -then only can any remedial steps be devised that can work towards their improvment.

Hence the first step in making a valued assessment - to find out if change is necessary, and what needs to be done for the change to take place.
If change is necessary is determined , then the next step is to find out what changes need to done - Is it upbringing/education/behavior/attitude/situation?

A good assessment helps the young person to understand the factors that will help in his/her growth and remove all negative thinking that has been part of his/her mindset Assessment is an ongoing and continous process.Regular interactions and check in with the youth will help to analyse and understand whether really change is taking place or whether its stagnant or whether no improvement is there. Reassessments enables both the counsellor and the youth move forward in the right direction.

How does a counsellor gather information to make an informed assessment?
You can gather information in a number of ways: talking with youth, observing the youth’s behavior and interactions, discussions with other people who are part and pracel young person’s growing process ,reading any documented information on the young person.
A rider is here is -Always keep in mind that when utilizing someone else’s verbal or written report as a source of background information, the counselor runs the risk of subjecting their opionions and ideas to their biases and assumptions.

Points tonoted while making an Assessment

· Be aware of your biases and how they impact on the assessments you make.

· Involve youth in the assessment process.

· Don’t rely on one single source to make an assessment, gather as much information as you can from a variety of sources.

· Don’t automatically label a behavior as dysfunctional because you don’t understand it, or it is not germane to your culture.

· Make sure to point out a young person’s strengths even when addressing problematic behavior.

Phase 3. Establishing Mutually Agreed Upon Goals and Objectives

Why is it important to establish “mutually agreed” upon goals and objectives? Because if a young person is in agreement with the goals then he/she is more likely to follow through on them. When a youth is actively involved in the goal setting process and is in agreement with the goals, then he/she is more inclined to take ownership of the goals. What are goals? Goals are broad statements that identify what you want to accomplish. Think of goals as the end result that you are trying to achieve. While goals are broad statements that identify what you want to accomplish overall, objectives are the measurable steps that you take to achieve your goals. For example if you have a goal that states, “youth will be better able to manage her anger.” One of your objectives might be, “youth will recognize emotional triggers that lead to angry outbursts and use positive, self-talk to calm herself down.” Your objectives should always be concrete and measurable. They should also be derived from the overall goal.

Questions to Consider When Developing

Goals and Objectives

· What do you and the young person want to achieve?

· How are you going to achieve it?

· When do you want to achieve your stated goal?

· What obstacles do you anticipate?

· How will you address these obstacles?

· How will you use to measure and monitor progress?

· Are your goals realistic?

Phase 4. Implementation Plan

The implementation plan is a plan that you and the youth work on together. It is designed to prevent, intervene, or address unhealthy behaviors and practices. The implementation plan identifies who will perform the activities, where the activities will occur, how frequently they will occur, how they will be carried out and when they will be carried out. Implementation activities are designed to help individuals re-think risky behavior, work through problematic issues, address unhealthy lifestyles practices, learn new skills and build strengths. Implementation activities can include: counseling, crisis intervention, training and education, supportive services, concrete services and constructive use of free time.

As you can see, each stage of the counseling process builds upon the former. As you move through each stage, you will come to realize that it takes patience and practice to counsel youth effectively, but if you are committed to the goal you’ll do just fine. You may not feel completely confident in your ability as a counselor, but as you expand your knowledge base, gain more experience and strengthen your helping skills, you will become a more effective counselor.