Exam (elaborations)
PYC3705 EXAM PREP
- Institution
- University Of South Africa (Unisa)
Exam of 16 pages for the course PYC3705 - Transformative Counselling Encounters at Unisa (EXAM PREPARATION)
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Page 1 of 16What is counseling?
Counselling aims to help people achieve degrees of freedom and possibility that just were not
there before.
It is not a cure for physical disease but can have a positive impact on people living with or
suffering from a disease.
The main aim of counselling is to create an emotionally safe space and an accepting and
caring relationship in which the client can explore, discover and clarify ways of living
more satisfyingly and resourcefully.
The responsibility for growth and change remains with the client.
The counsellor provides the client with time and space that have the following characteristics:
o Permission to speak freely
o Respect for difference
o Confidentiality
o Affirmation
The counsellor makes use of whatever cultural resources come to hand such as -
o Algorithms
o Discourses
o Conversations
o Ideas
o Theories
o Altered states of consciousness
o Problem-solving
The potential outcomes of counselling falls into three broad categories:
o Resolution of the original problem – this may include:
Achieving an understanding or perspective of the problem
Arriving at a personal acceptance of the problem
Taking action to change the situation in which the problem arose
o Learning – may enable the person to acquire new understandings, skills and strategies that
enable them to better handle similar problems in future
o Social inclusion – it may stimulate the energy and capacity of the person as someone who
can contribute to the well-being of others and the social good.
The purpose of counseling for the client
Insight into the origins and development of emotional difficulties
Relating with others in order to be better able to form meaningful and satisfying relationships
Self-awareness of thoughts and feelings and development of sense of self
Self-acceptance
Self-actualisation or individuation – fulfilling one’s potential
A state of higher personal and spiritual awareness
Development of problem-solving skills
Psychological understanding and positive controlling of behaviour
Acquisition of social and interpersonal skills, anger management and assertiveness
Cognitive change of irrational beliefs or maladaptive thought patterns
Behaviour change of maladaptive of self-destructive patterns of behaviour
Introducing systemic changes to social systems
Empowerment via skills, awareness and knowledge
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Restitution and making amends
Generativity in the sense of caring of others
Personal qualities of a counsellor:
Personal qualities are the most important to perform effective counselling, rather than a specific
counselling recipe or formula. These qualities are:
o Self-awareness and self-acceptance
o The ability to form a connection with clients, individuals or groups
o Possession of a personal model of counselling
o A sufficient degree of consistency between the counsellors’ therapeutic approach and
who they are as a person
The counselling alliance refers to the interpersonal relationship of counselling.
The aim of counselling from a counsellors’ perspective:
o To gain a sense of personal ownership towards mental and emotional care in the context of
problems and solutions
o To explore accountability for health and positive change
o To find safe emotional expression in a context of an impartial witness
o To explore meaning by giving words and language to uncomfortable thoughts with regard to
adversity or a problem
o To gain an orientation to growth rather than deficit, illness and dysfunction
Presence: the general conditions for helping: (People centred approach)
Empathy
o Is seen as the key route towards quality helping and the building of a relationship.
o It is defined as the ability to sense the client’s private world as if it were your own.
o Is referred to as putting yourself in someone else’s shoes or seeing the world through another
person’s eyes
o It requires the counsellor to listen attentively and repeating what is said to ensure
understanding
o Empathy is a tool to help clients see themselves and their problem situations more clearly with
a view to managing them more affectively.
o Not to be confused with being sympathetic (feeling sorry for someone)
Realness, congruence and genuineness
o Means to be human and to be yourself
o It means you are an emotional and spontaneous human being but that you have limitations
o Genuineness refers to a genuine integration of our feelings, words and actions and
communicating this realness to the person.
o If empathy is about listening to the client, genuineness is about listening to oneself as a
counsellor
Non-possessive warmth and acceptance
o Acceptance is to be non-judgmental and to have a positive attitude or unconditional positive
regards towards clients, to view them as worthy and has the right to make their own decisions.
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o Counsellors who show acceptance do not indicate disapproval or approval of what clients
share – they try to accept the clients for who they are, with both strong and weak points.
o The atmosphere of acceptance facilitates trust and growth.
o Non-possessive warmth and caring are demonstrated by speech and tone of voice indicating
to the client that they can express feelings without fear of rejection.
The structure of the counseling process (Potential Phases)
Checking in
Context of engagement
Presence
Listening and sensing (Micro-skills)
Co-explore and dance
Shift
Checking out
Exit or next session
**************************************************************************************
Checking in -
o The intake: Dealing with risk and scope
Ascertain if you are in a position to accept working with the prospective client/s
o Contact with the client
Could take one of two forms – telephonic or walk-in
You have only one chance to form a first impression – let it count
o Assessing your client
Listen to:
How your client speaks about themselves
How your client speaks about others
How your client speaks about their problems
Observe:
Non-verbal communication
Discrepancies between what the client say and how they behave
o Opening up the space
Warmth, congruence, empathy, being non-judgemental and unconditionally accepting is of
the greatest importance (people centred approach)
Apply micro skills – SOLER MAP TC
o Preparing for the session
External preparation
Minimal distractions
Comfort
Privacy
Physical security – both for client and counsellor
Internal preparation
Self-knowledge – likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, values
Be emotionally prepared
o Counselling under a tree
Make the best of your situation!
o Dealing with boundary issues (contracting)
Describe the nature of the service
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