As I sit here reflecting on what to write this months blogs about, I thought I would write a blog regarding the counselling process and its potentials. Every time a client sits down in the initial session I always like to understand their perception of what they signed up for – that is a counselling session. Interestingly enough most do not have an answer, or others reply with the classic phrase ‘to open up with someone’. Sure in counselling we use both verbal and non-verbal communication as our primary tools, however it’s so much more than that.
To start off with counselling is a collaborative process in which the counsellor is not the all knowing expert, the counsellor acts as a facilitator in which the practitioner is trained to contain the client, relate empathically, prompt in certain ways in order to help the client achieve their goals. The roots of counselling lay in what is called the person centered approach which has three main pillars; empathy, genuineness and unconditional positive regard
– Empathy is when one person wears the other person’s shoes in which they can understand what the other person is experiencing.
– Genuineness is when a person is transparent in how they act and what they say. In simple terms – the person is transparent in what they would like and what they expect, in which there is no room for doubting the individuals motives or actions.
– Unconditional positive regard is when a person accepts another person irrespective of their similarities or differences.
During the initial sessions the tendency is that the main focus is between – the relationship between the professional and the client. This is done in order to lay the foundations for more meaningful work to develop.
Interested in reading more about the potential of counselling? Check out part 2 of this series of blogs!
Karl Grech is a counsellor. He offers counselling to both individuals and couples within Willingness. He can be contacted on karl@willingness.com.mt.