Reflective Practice for Counselling Concepts Assignment

Where did I come from?

I remember taking my dad to the doctors as he had complained of feeling unwell for a couple of months with nothing specific, some neck tension and difficulty in sleeping. His wife, my stepmother was at a loss on how to treat him as he appeared to be getting anxious over little things. I accompanied my dad into the surgery and listened as the doctor asked him a few questions regarding his general health. He reassured him, that all his blood tests and recent minor investigations were within normal limits. She asked him if he was getting anxious and worrying about things more than normal and he said yes. Luckily the surgery had a referral system in place for counselling and this was a suggestion made by the doctor and agreed to by my dad. My dad had 10 counselling sessions and said it was an excellent service. I feel, had my dad not been able to speak to someone other than family members at that time he could have continued to be anxious over whatever was troubling him. I know that not all GP surgeries are lucky enough to have counsellors and thought how much it had helped my dad then it would be something I would like to pursue.

First meeting

After my first meeting, I thought what a large group and was a little unsure whether each of us would get heard. I enjoy meeting new people and am very sociable. I found everyone on the course approachable and had a variety of reasons for attending the course. I was looking forward to being part of the group. The first week of the course, I was unable to attend because I was at the birth of my grandson, one of the greatest moments of my life.

I expected counselling to be easy how hard can it be to listen to someone? Then we got further into the course and I realised it wasn't what I was used to as a nurse which was sometimes listening but also a lot of giving advice to my patient's . Listening was a whole new skill in itself.

What did I experience?

Counselling is about making the person feel supported, valued, appreciated and understood.

Counselling takes place when a counsellor sees a client in a private and confidential setting to explore a difficulty the client is having, distress they may be experiencing or perhaps their dissatisfaction with life, or loss of a sense of direction and purpose.

By listening attentively and patiently the counsellor can begin to perceive the difficulties from the client's point of view and can help them to see things more clearly, possibly from a different perspective. Counselling is a way of enabling choice or change or of reducing confusion. It does not involve giving advice or directing a client to take a particular course of action. Counsellors do not judge or exploit their clients in any way.

In the counselling sessions the client can explore various aspects of their life and feelings, talking about them freely and openly in a way that is rarely possible with friends or family. Bottled up feelings such as anger, anxiety, grief and embarrassment can become very intense and counselling offers an opportunity to explore them, with the possibility of making them easier to understand. The counsellor will encourage the expression of feelings and as a result of their training will be able to accept and reflect the client's problems without becoming burdened by them.

Acceptance and respect for the client are essentials for a counsellor and, as the relationship develops, so too does trust between the counsellor and client, enabling the client to look at many aspects of their life, their relationships and themselves which they may not have considered or been able to face before. The counsellor may help the client to examine in detail the behaviour or situations which are proving troublesome and to find an area where it would be possible to initiate some change as a start. The counsellor may help the client to look at the options open to them and help them to decide the best for them.

Counselling does not involve being told what to do or given advice as in being a doctor or a nurse or a rigid programme being set to cure someone as I had originally thought prior to starting the course. Counselling is not like teaching where you are helping someone to acquire knowledge and new skills. The idea of counselling is to enable you to draw on your own resources, some you may be unaware of, so enabling you to approach life in a new way. You are after all the "expert".

Models of counselling

There are distinct methods of counselling, typically humanistic, psychodynamic, cognitive or behavioural.

The person-centred approach maintains that three core conditions provide a climate conducive to growth and therapeutic change. The core conditions are:

1. Unconditional positive regard

2. Empathic understanding

3. Congruence

The person-centred approach views the client as their own best authority on their own experience, and it views the client as being fully capable of fulfilling their own potential for growth. It recognizes, however, that achieving potential requires favourable conditions and that under adverse conditions, individuals may well not grow and develop in the ways that they otherwise could. In particular, when individuals are denied acceptance and positive regard from others -- or when