Counselling Assessment in Counselling and Guidance

 3.2.1 Counselling Assessment in Counselling and Guidance

Counselling is a process that focuses on enhancing the psychological well-being of the client, such that the client is then able to reach their full potential. This is achieved by the counsellor facilitating your personal growth, development, and self-understanding, which in turn empowers you to adopt more constructive life practices. In simple terms, counselling involves one person (the counsellor) helping another person (the client) to work through some difficult or painful emotional, behavioural or relationship problem or difficulty.  That is the form of individual counselling. Counselling may be helpful in a number of ways. It can enable you to develop a clearer understanding of your concerns and help you acquire new skills to better manage personal and educational issues. The counsellor can offer a different perspective and help you think of creative solutions to problems. Sharing your thoughts and feelings with someone not personally involved in your life can be most helpful. 1) Confidentiality The counsellor treats all the information shared by the client as confidential material. The counsellors are involved in case consultations and supervision for the purposes of best practice. These meetings involve discussion of clients concerns with the aim of formulating the best possible assessment and intervention plan. Where possible, the identifying personal information is removed from the discussion. Counselling takes place in a confidential meeting, in a quiet room, and is subject to a code of ethics which specifies what the counsellor can and cannot morally do in that context. 2) Restrictions on the Release of Information Information that client share with the counsellor will not be released to anyone outside without their prior written permission, except under certain unusual and rare circumstances where the well being of client matters. Client is free to discuss any concerns regarding confidentiality with the counsellor. 3) The Counselling Process The counselling process depends upon the individual counsellor, the individual client and the specific issue. However, there is a general counselling process that the counsellors will follow: • Background information collection • Identification of core issues • Case formulation • Goal setting for the therapeutic process • Implementation of intervention • Evaluation of intervention 

No further counselling is required at this time, if during the initial interview you have been able to clarify your concerns and plan an appropriate course of action. Further appointments are needed to continue to explore the issues before reaching a decision. A second appointment will be made with client by the counselor. Alternative services are appropriate and the counsellor will assist the client to identify specific resources to consider and pursue. 4) Differing Counselling Approaches Counsellors work from differing theoretical approaches. Different counsellors will place varying levels of emphasis on behaviour, on thinking and/or on emotional aspects. All counsellors have the central goal to assist the client in increasing your sense of well-being. 5) Length of Counseling Change does not happen quickly for most of us. The length of treatment depends on a number of variables. Variables include: the severity of the problem, the motivation of the client, the type of problem and the age of the client. The more focused and limited the problem being addressed, the shorter treatment can be. The more the treatment addresses healing emotional injuries, the longer it is likely to take.

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