TYPES OF COUNSELLING

 

TYPES OF COUNSELLING

1. DIRECTIVE COUNSELLING APPROACH
(Prescriptive or Counsellor-centered Counselling)

Ø  Counseling during which a professional play an active role in a client's or patient's decision making by offering advice, guidance, and/or recommendations. 

Ø   Directive counselling is the process of listening to a member’s problem, deciding with the member what should be done, and then encouraging and motivating the person to do it.

Ø  It is also known as prescriptive counselling or counsellor-centered approach of counselling.

Ø  In directive counselling, the counsellor plays a leading role and uses a variety of techniques to suggest appropriate solutions to the counselee’s problem.

Ø  This approach also known as authoritarian or psychoanalytic approach.

Ø  The counsellor is active and help individual in making decisions and finding solution to their problems.

Ø  The counsellor believes in the limited capacity of the patient.

Steps of Counselling

1.Analysis:

Ø  Collection from a variety of sources the data needed for an adequate understanding of the student.

2. Synthesis:

Ø  Summarizing and organizing the data so that they reveal the students’ assets, liabilities, adjustments and maladjustments.

3. Diagnosis:

Ø  Formulating conclusions regarding the nature and the cause of the problems exhibited by the student.

4. Prognosis:

Ø  Predicting the future development of the student’s problems.

5. Counselling:

Ø  The counsellor’s taking steps with the student to bring about adjustment and readjustment for the student.

6. Follow-up:

Ø  Helping the student with new problems or with recurrence of the original problem and determining the effectiveness of the counselling provided to him.

Features of Directive Counselling

1. In directive counselling, the attention is focused upon a particular problem and possibilities for its solution.
2. Client make the decision and counsellor see whether the decision keeping with diagnosis.
3. It is also called the prescriptive counselling.
4. The counselee work under the counsellor not with him.

Advantages of Directive counseling

1. Time Saving:

Ø  Since the task of the counselor is only giving suggestion/advice, pressures, therefore it consumes less time.

2. Economic:

Ø  Time is not wasted so it is economic.

 

3. Organized:

Ø  Systematic approach. Involves an organized set of steps.

4. Active participation of counselor:

Ø  Counselor is active participant and directs the individual in decision making.

 

Limitations of the directive counselling approach.

1. The patient does not gain any liability for self-analysis or solve new problems of adjustment by counselling.
2. It makes the counselee over dependent on the counsellor.
3. Problems regarding emotional maladjustment may be better solved by nondirective counselling.
4. Sometimes the counselee lacks information regarding the counselee, leads wrong counselling.
5. It does not guarantee that the counselee will able to solve the same problem on his own in future.

 

2.NON-DIRECTIVE COUNSELLING

»         The counselee (Student) is the pivot.

»         He takes an active part in the process of counselling. He gains insight into his problem with the help of the counsellor.

»         The role of the counsellor is passive. The counsellor provides a place where the client works out the solution with the assistance of the counsellor.

»         Counsellor’s attitude is friendly, interested and receptive. The counselee has adequate freedom to express his feelings.

»         The goal is on the individual rather than the solution of a particular problem.

»         The main function of the counsellor is to create proper environment. The emotional elements rather than the intellectual elements are stressed.

Characteristics of Non-directive Counselling

1. Non-directive counselling is to listen, support and advise, without a client’s course of action.
2. It has been influenced by humanistic theories in the tradition of Carl Rogers, but techniques used in nondirective counselling are common in many forms of psychological counselling and treatment today.

Steps of Non-Directive Counselling

1. Defining the problematic situation:

»              First of all, the counselor should define the problematic situation.

 2. Free expression of feelings:

»            After the first step, the client is made aware of the fact that he can express his feelings freely and the counselor approves this.

 3. Development of Insight:

Ø  The counselor goes on thinking regarding the client’s new feelings along with the development of client’s insight and he goes on classifying all those new feelings.

4. Classification of positive and negative feelings:

»              After the free expressions of feelings by the client, the counselor identifies his negative and positive feelings and he classifies them.

   5. Termination of counseling situation:

»             The counselor looks for a point where he can terminate the counselling situation after all the above steps.

»          According to this school of thought, either the client or the counselor can suggest for such termination of counseling situation.

Advantages of Non-Directive Counselling

1. It is slow but sure process to make an individual capable of making adjustments.

2.No tests are used so one avoids all that is laborious and difficult.

3.It removes emotional block and helps an individual bring repressed thoughts on a conscious level   

    thereby reducing tension.

4. Independence of Counselee:

»         Counselee is independent of making decisions for himself to   Solve his own problems. It removes emotional blocks.

5. Freedom:

»         It feels free in talking about his problem and possible causes.

 6. Knowledge:

»         Knowledge based approach. Without knowledge counselor cannot be a Competent part of this approach.

Limitations/Disadvantages of Non-directive Counselling

1. More suitable to sort out emotional/personal

     problems.

 2. Time consuming:

»         Free flow of view of counselee needs time.

  3. Not Economic:

»         Many sessions may be required to develop insight in the counselee.

  4. Require special Training:

»         Cannot be used effectively without training.

  5. Emergence of Non-Acceptable solutions:

»         Sometime the counselee may drive out non- acceptable non-suitable readjustment solutions which are impractical in life.

3.ECLECTIC COUNSELLING

»              Here the counsellor first studies the personality and needs of the individual.

»          He then selects the technique that would be most helpful for the individual.

»         He can start with the directive one but when the situation demands, the counsellor may switch over to the non-directive and vice-versa.

»         The attempt is made to adjust the techniques to the requirements of the situation and the individual.

»         The chief advocate of Eclectic counseling is F.C.Thorne. 

»         Eclectic counseling is defined as the combination of the two extremes that is directive and non-directive counseling.

»         In eclectic counseling, the counselor is neither too active as in the directive counseling nor too passive as in the non-directive counseling.

»         He just follows the middle path between these two.  That is, it is neither counselor-centered nor client-centered.

Characteristics of Eclectic Counselling

1.Methods of counselling may change from client to client or even with the same client from time to time.

2.It is highly flexible.

3.Freedom of choice and expression is open to both the counsellor and the counselee.

4.Experience of mutual confidence and faith in the relationship are basic.

5.The client and the philosophical framework are adjusted to save the purpose of the relationship.

Steps in Eclectic counseling

q  Thorne, suggested the following steps,

1. Diagnosis of the cause.
2.  Analysis of the problem.
3.  Securing effective conditions for counseling.
4. Interviewing and stimulating the client to develop his own resources and to assume its responsibility  

    for trying new modes of adjustment.
5.  Proper handling of any related problems which may   contribute to adjustment.

According to R.C Thorne following are the main steps involved in eclectic counselling;

1.Counselling may be preceded by an intake interview.

2.During the opening phase of counselling the counselor tries to establish rapport and may have to do structuring so that the client understands what to expect of counselling.

3.Often a tentative diagnosis is made which may include the collection of a case history and a plan for counselling if formulated.

4.To enhance the client’s self-understanding about him.

5.Educational, occupational and social information if needed by the client may be supplied to him.

6.During the closing face the client makes decisions and plans and modifies behaviour and solves his problems.

7.There may be follow up contacts.

Advantages of an Eclectic Counselling

1. Safety: The use of variety of ideas and procedure from different existing approaches and methods will increase the chance of learning taking place.

2.Interest: Teachers need to use different techniques to hold the learners’ attention.

3. Diversity: Different learning/teaching contexts require different methodologies.

4. Flexibility: Awareness of range of available techniques will help teachers exploit materials better and manage unexpected situations. Informed teaching is bound to be eclectic.

5.It doesn’t restrict one perspective so allows new ideas to be formed.

6.Combination method is a useful way of validating ideas.

7. Strength of one method can be used to offset the weakness.

8.Individual needs are better matched to treatment when more option is available.

9.Therapeutic method treat the entire disorder and not just one symptom.

Disadvantages of Eclectic Counselling

1) Some people are of the view that eclectic counseling is vague, opportunistic and superficial.
2) Both directive and non-directive counseling cannot be mixed together.
3) In this, the question arises how much freedom should be given to the client? For this there is

 non-definite rule.
4) The problem with an eclectic orientation is that counselors often do more harm than good if they

  have little or no understanding about what is helping   the client.

5) It does not lend itself to prediction and control of   behaviour.

6) It difficult to identify the relative contributions of   each approach.

7) There is a practical difficulty in investigating the   integration of approach.

8) There are practical difficulties when providing   eclectic therapy. It may be too complex for one              

  clinician to manage.