There is a belief among people that counseling is only approached by people who are facing some kind of mental illness. They feel that the goals of counseling are only a cure for mental illness. But is counseling really limited to mental illnesses? So the answer is no. Counseling facilitates self-knowledge, emotional acceptance and development, and the optimal development of the individual. It gives you the means to understand yourself, understand your feelings, and make yourself aware. It helps you to modify or replace irrational beliefs or maladaptive thought patterns associated with self-destructive behavior. Some of the different goals that are adopted either explicitly or implicitly by the counseling process are: What are the major goals of counselling?Self-knowledge The first important goal of counseling is to help the individual in their own evaluation. A person needs to be enlightened, to know about himself, to identify his own strength, abilities, and possibilities. Counseling is in a way similar to the flame, the use of which helps a person to recognize his inner and external form. Various methods of counseling are used for self-knowledge and evaluation of the person. Such as Non-directive Counseling, Counseling interviews, etc. These different types of methods help a person to become aware of the true nature of himself. Counseling is helpful in making the person aware of his true self-knowledge, by which the success of the process of enlightenment is evaluated. Counseling is a supportive process, which is not to change the person, but to enable him to use the sources he has to help him handle all the problems he faces in his life. Self-acceptance Self-acceptance refers to accepting one's own personality or image. There are many people who are unable to form a proper view of themselves and cannot take any decision. In whatever form other people accept such people, they begin to accept them as their real nature. Their source of information about themselves is others point of view Under self-acceptance, a person should also keep in mind his own shortcomings and limitations in the formulation and evaluation of himself. On the basis of knowledge of one's own nature, one can easily set the goals of life and can also achieve success in achieving the goals. In the absence of knowledge about strengths and limitations about himself, a person may develop an inappropriate perception about himself and he may also face disappointment, frustration, and failure in the future. counseling helps a person to accept the true and real nature of himself and provides a strong foundation for the development and progress of the person. Social Cohesion Being helpful in the social life of an individual is also considered to be another important goal of counseling. The emergence of various problems in our life is also due to not being able to make proper adjustments with society. In order to understand social life and behavior and to work in accordance with socially accepted behavior, one has to abandon the limits of one's own personal limitations. A person can do this only if he is generous, tolerant, and with the qualities of making friends. Through counseling, a person is free from his narrow thoughts. Additionally, counseling is also helpful in adjusting the person's social life. In conclusion, helping the individual in achieving social harmony is considered to be the ultimate goal of counseling,
You May Also Like Psychologist vs. Psychiatrist: What’s the Difference? What Is Hypnosis? How Does Hypnosis Work? Antidepressants: Types, Common Side Effects & How Long Should You Take I’m sure you, by virtue of being on this site right now, have wondered about counselling, therapy, psychologists and so forth. What is the difference? Can they actually help me? Do they just want to lure me into a crutch-like relationship that has no end, where I just sit on their couch sharing my life while they just nod and ask how I feel about it? It is heartbreaking that many people judge the psychology world by the picture that Hollywood has painted for us. In countless movies the psychologist is portrayed as a know-it-all guru who traps people in an extended, dependency driven relationship. There is a big fluffy couch where the patient will lie down and share their story, while the distracted ‘shrink’ continuously asks “how do you feel about that” and bluntly stops the session the moment time is up. In many movies the client never resolves issues and is just told to come back next week. In light of this I am overjoyed to tell you that most counsellors sees this portrayed image and goes out of their way to break and correct this view of the counselling world. According to the British Association of Counselling (BAC,1986):
Most counsellors are highly skilled individuals with backgrounds in psychology, social work, nursing or education. Counsellors also continuously upskill by attending short courses and seminars on current problems that society is facing. The fact that many counsellors choose to register with appropriate boards and councils give them principles and guidelines to follow in their practice. Now for the most important aspect and focus of this article: The goal of counselling is to build such a strong relationship between counsellor and client that there is space for growth and exploration on both accounts. By building an empathetic, non-judgemental and accepting space the client will be able to open up and share their deepest pain, fears, hurt and ideas. For many clients this will be the first and only space where they can truly be themselves and share what they feel. This is an incredibly powerful space where, in many instances, for the first time, the client can hear if they are ‘normal’ or if others also go through similar hardships. By sharing and trusting the counsellor the client builds and expands this space where the counsellor can then explore and discover what the client actually feels, believes and fears. It is then the counsellor’s privilege to take everything that the client brings and help the client go on a journey of guided exploration into their own mind and psyche. The counsellor is not there to tell the client what to do, believe or think but rather to help them see the bigger picture, to connect the dots between events and feelings or previous mysteries. A skilled counsellor will be able to guide the client to find, in themselves, the answers they are seeking for and be able to give the client back a sense of power and control over their own lives again. The counsellor is only a small part of the client’s life journey and therefore the aim of this process should always be to share skills, discover resources and empower the client to live and interact with the world more effectively. The topics or problems that are discussed are completely up to the client. The counsellor will discover and explore what the client brings to the table and then propose a plan to deal with each topic in such a way that a resolution could be reached within a couple of sessions. In counselling the goal is never to build a crutch-like relationship where the client cannot function without a weekly visit. Many people see the professional psychological world as a tiered mountain, with psychiatrists at the top, then psychologists and at the base, the counsellors. In some cases, according to education and hourly fee this picture could be accurate, but in the real world this is a fallacy. All three of these professions have a specific goal, target market and problems they deal with.
There is a stigma that only sick or broken people go for therapy. This is plainly not true. Therapy is for any person, who is stuck or struggling in a specific part of their life, who wants to overcome this issue and get their power back to face life and all its challenges. It takes a very brave person to acknowledge that they are stuck and need help. |
What are the 3 goals of counseling?
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