Disciplines and Ideas in Applied Social Sciences
Lesson 2: The Discipline of Counseling
The Discipline of Counseling
– is a relationship characterized by the application of one or more psychological theories and a
recognized set of communication skills appropriate to a client’s intimate concerns, problems, or aspirations.
Who are these clients?
- These clients include those who are demoralized, distressed or in a negative state of mind about
their situation or context. Counseling can be delivered through face-to-face dialogue, group work, telephone
or email, or other written materials.
Counseling
– “the process of guiding a person during a stage of life when reassessments or decisions have to be made about
himself or herself in his/her life course” (Collins Dictionary of Sociology)
As a discipline, it is allied to psychology and deals with normal responses to normal life events, which
may sometimes create stress for some people who, in turn, choose to ask for help and support.
It is generally a non-clinical intervention.
It is not to be confused with psychiatry.
It is widely considered the heart of the guidance services in schools
It is also utilizes appraisal and assessment to aid counseling by gathering information about clients
through the use of psychological tests non-psychometric devices.
Psychometrics- is a branch of psychology that deals with the design, administration, and interpretation
of quantitative tests for the measurement of psychological variables such as intelligence, aptitude,
interests, and personality traits.
Counselors
-are professionally trained and certified to perform counseling
-their job is to provide advice or guidance in decision-making in emotionally significant situations by helping
clients explore and understand their worlds and discover better ways and well-informed choices in resolving an
emotional or interpersonal problem.
Counselors exist in a wide range of areas of expertise; marriage, family, youth, student and other life
transitions dealing with managing of issues of loss and death, retirement, divorce, parenting, and bankruptcy.
Contexts of Counseling
Counseling is affected by the context and the surrounding g factors. They are explored here as part of the basic
concepts of counseling that are very important to consider.
Disciplines and Ideas in Applied Social Sciences
Peers as Context – friends’ attitudes, norms, and behaviors have a strong influence on adolescents.
Many personal issues are often introduced to the individual by their peers.
Neighborhood as Context – the interactions between the family and its neighborhood as immediate
context are also important to consider. A family functions within a particular neighborhood. The
behavioral problems in this particular neighborhood require that families work against crime and social
isolation that may impact them.
Culture as Context – culture provided meaning and coherence of life to any orderly life such as
community or organization. It is the source of norms, values, symbols, and language which provide the
basis for the normal functioning of an individual. Understanding the cultural context of a client makes it
easier for a counselor to appreciate the nature of their struggles as well as their cultural conditioning that
informs certain personal characteristics.
Counseling as Context – regardless of a therapeutic approach in use, the counseling situation in itself is
a context. There is a deliberate specific focus, a set of procedures, rules, expectations, experiences, and a
way of monitoring progress and determining results. Counseling can therefore be affected by the
counseling context.
From the counseling context, other success factors should be managed well so as to contribute toward the
success of engagement.
Client Factors – The client factors are everything that a client brings to the counseling context. They
bring so much to counseling context and therefore it remains imperative that they are considered as an
active part of the process. Very often, the expectations and attitude of the client define the result of a
counseling process and experience.
Counselor Factors – The personality, skills, and personal qualities of a counselor can significantly
impact the outcomes of the counseling relationship. The counselor’s personal style and qualities can
make the interventions successful.
Disciplines and Ideas in Applied Social Sciences
Contextual Factors – The context in which counseling takes place can define the outcomes. Counselors
are therefore concerned with the environment and atmosphere where to conduct the sessions. Ideally,
counseling should take place in a quiet, warm, and comfortable place away from any distraction.
Process Factors – The process factors constitute the actual counseling undertaking.
Goals and Scope of Counseling
Counseling is aimed at empowering a client.
The general goal is to lead an individual client or group to self-emancipation in relation to a felt
problem.
In the process, the client should: attain insight and understanding of oneself; achieve better self-
awareness; look at oneself with increased self-acceptance and appreciation; and be able to manage
oneself positively.
Client empowerment means that they develop skills and abilities that they require self-management and
improved motivation toward actions that are good for one’s self and develop a positive outlook toward the past
leading to some sense of closure and attainment of relative inner and outer harmony resulting to improvement in
relationships with family, friends, colleagues and others.
The scope of counseling is wide. Essentially, it involves application of some psychological theories and
recognized communication skills. It does not deal with clinical cases such as mental illness. It is a professional
relationship that requires an eventual closure and termination of the counselee-counselor relationship.
Assessment
Name: ______________________________________ Date: _______________ Score: ___________
Answer the following questions. Write your answer on a piece of paper.
1. What is counseling in your own understanding?
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2. What are the context of counseling? Explain and elaborate each context.
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3. What do you think is the roles and aims of counselors?
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Disciplines and Ideas in Applied Social Sciences
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