overview - california state university, northridge

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Psychology 460Counseling & Interviewing

Sheila. K. Grant, Ph.D.

OverviewIntro: The Effective CounselorIntro: Counseling for the Counselor

Intro: The Counselor’s ValuesIntro: Multicultural CounselingIntro: Issues Faced By Beginning TherapistsIntro: Staying AlivePersonal Characteristics of EffectiveCounselorsPersonal Counseling for the CounselorThe Counselor’s Values & Therapeutic ProcessBecoming an Effective Multicultural CounselorIssues Faced By Beginning TherapistsStaying Alive as Person & Professional

The Effective Counselor

The most important instrument you haveis YOU

Your living example, of who you are and how youstruggle to live up to your potential, is powerful

Be authenticThe stereotyped, professional role can be shedIf you hide behind your role the client will also hide

Be a therapeutic person and be clear about whoyou are

Be willing to grow, to risk, to care, and to be involved

Counseling for the CounselorIn your experience of being a client youcan:

Consider your motivation for wanting to be acounselorFind support as you struggle to be aprofessionalHave help in dealing with personal issues thatare opened through your interactions withclientsBe assisted in managing yourcountertransferences

Corey believes “...that therapists cannothope to open doors for clients that theyhave not opened for themselves.”

The Counselor’s Values

Be aware of how your values influenceyour interventionsRecognize that you are not value-neutralYour job is to assist clients in findinganswers that are most congruent with theirown valuesFind ways to manage value conflictsbetween you and your clientsBegin therapy by exploring the client’sgoals

Multicultural Counseling

Become aware of your biases and valuesAttempt to understand the world from yourclient’s vantage pointGain a knowledge of the dynamics ofoppression, racism, discrimination, andstereotypingStudy the historical background, traditions,and values ofyour clientBe open to learning from your clientMore later on Effective MulticulturalCounseling

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Issues Faced byBeginning Therapists

Achieving a sense of balance and well-beingManaging difficult and unsatisfyingrelationships with clientsStruggling with commitment and personalgrowthDeveloping healthy, helping relationshipswith clientsMore on Issues Faced by BeginningTherapists Later

Staying Alive – It’s a Prerequisite

Take care of your single mostimportant instrument – YOU

Growth in Your own life is crucial

Know what causes burnout

Know how to recognize and remedyburnout

Know how to prevent burnout

Personal Characteristics ofEffective Counselors

Most Important:the ability to look at,understand andaccept yourself(as a counselor) andyour clients


The Authenticity of theCounselor

The counselor as a therapeuticperson


The Authenticity of theCounselor

Be a real person in arelationship with appropriateself-disclosure


The counselor as atherapeutic person

1. They have an identity2. They respect and appreciate themselves3. They are able to recognize and accepttheir own power4. They are open to change5. They are expanding their awareness ofself and others6. They are willing and able to tolerateambiguity

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The counselor as atherapeutic person

7. They are developing their owncounseling style8. They can experience and know theworld of the client9. They feel alive and their choices are life-oriented10.They are authentic, sincere, and honest11.They have a sense of humor12.They make mistakes and are willing toadmit them


The counselor as a therapeuticperson

13.They generally live in the present14.They appreciate the influence ofculture15.They are able to reinvent themselves16.They are making choices that shapetheir lives17.They have a sincere interest in thewelfare of others18.They become deeply involved in theirwork and derive meaning from it19.They maintain healthy boundaries

Personal Counseling for theCounselor

The counselor is encouraged toexperience being the client beforecounseling others

The Counselor's Values andthe Therapeutic Process

The role of values in counseling1. Assist individuals in finding answers thatare most congruent with their own values2. Competent perception and expression offeelings3. A sense of being a free and responsibleagent4. Developing strategies for managingstress5. Self-awareness and growth6. Being committed in marriage, family, andother relationships


The role of values in counseling7. Self-maintenance and physicalfitness

8. Having orienting goals and ameaningful purpose

9. Forgiveness

10. Regulated sexual fulfillment

11. Spirituality/ religiosity


Dealing with value conflictsThe therapist needs to be aware oftheir own experiences and systemsof values and how they caninfluence in a therapeuticrelationship

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The role of values indeveloping therapeutic goals

It is critical that the general goals ofthe therapist be congruent with thepersonal goals of the client

The counselors need to be able tounderstand, respect, and work withinthe framework of the client's world

Becoming an EffectiveMulticultural Counselor

Acquiring competencies inmulticultural counseling

Beliefs and attitudes of culturally skilledcounselor

From culturally unaware to ensuring theirpersonal biases, values, or problems w/ninterfere with ability to work w/culturally differentclientsCultural self-awareness & sensitivity to owncultural heritage essentialAware of own positive & negative emotionalreactions toward other racial/ethnic groups so asnot to impede developmental of collaborativerelationship w/clientSeek to examine & understand client’sworldview


Seek to examine & understand client’sWORLDVIEW



Beliefs and attitudes of culturally skilledcounselor

Respect clients’ religious & spiritual beliefs &valuesOwn cultural heritage not superior but able toaccept & value cultural diversityRealize traditional theories & techniques may nobe appropriate for all clients or for all problemsCulturally skilled counselors monitor theirfunctioning through

– Consultation– Supervision– Further training or education


Acquiring competencies in multiculturalcounseling

Knowledge of culturally skilled counselorsSpecifically about own racial & cultural heritage& how it affects them personally &professionallyDynamics of oppression, racism, discrimination,& stereotypingClient’s cultural backgroundsDoes not impose own values & expectations onclient’s from differing cultural backgroundsAvoids stereotyping clientsExternal sociopolitical forces influence allgroups & how these forces operate with respectto treatment of minorities



Knowledge of culturally skilledcounselors

Aware of institutional barriers that preventminorities from utilizing mental health services intheir communities

Historical background, traditions, & values of theclient populations with whom they work

Minority family structures, hierarchies, values, &beliefs

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Knowledge of culturally skilledcounselors

Community characteristics & resources

How to help clients make use of indigenoussupport systems

Where lacking knowledge, seek resources toassist

Greater the depth & breadth of knowledge ofculturally diverse groups, the more likely theyare to be effective practitioners



Skills and intervention strategies ofculturally skilled counselors

Educate their clients to therapeuticprocess (goals, expectations, legal rights,counselor’s orientation)Use methods & strategies & define goalsconsistent with the life experiences &cultural values of clientModify & adapt interventions toaccommodate cultural differences




Do not force their clients to fit within onecounseling approach, but recognize thatcounseling techniques may be culture-boundAble to send & receive both verbal &nonverbal messages accurately &appropriatelyBecome actively involved w/minorityindividuals outside the office (communityevents, celebrations, & neighborhoodgroups)




Willing to seek out educational, consultative,& training experiences to enhance theirability to work with culturally diverse clientpopulationsConsult with multiculturally sensitiveprofessionals regarding issues of culture todetermine whether or where referral may benecessary


Incorporating culture into counselingpractice

1. welcome diversity

2. how ones own cultural background has aninfluence on ones thinking and behaving

3. identify your basic assumptions

4. pay attention to common ground

5. its not necessary to learn everything aboutyour clients background before treating them

6. spend time preparing clients for counseling

7. be flexible in applying methods you use withclients


Dealing with our anxietiesBeginning counselor’s level of anxietydemonstrates awareness of uncertainties offuture w/clients & of our abilities to really bethere & stay w/them

Willingness to recognize & deal with theseanxieties (as opposed to denying them) ismark of courage

Openly discuss anxieties w/ supevisors &peers

Gain support from fellow interns with sameconcerns, fears, & anxieties

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Being and disclosing ourselvesdisclosing persistent feelings that arerelated to the present can be usefuldisclosure that is unrehearsed is usefulfind a middle ground


Avoiding Perfectionismeveryone will make mistakes frombeginners to expert therapist

Being honest about our limitationsdelicate balance between learning ourrealistic limits and what we think asbeing "limits"


Understanding silenceit can have a variety of meanings frombored to resistance

Dealing with demanding clientsmake your expectations clear duringinitial meeting

Dealing with uncommitted clientsbe direct and caring when confrontingthe clients


Tolerating AmbiguityAnxiety of not seeing fruits of their laborClients may get worse before they getbetter

Avoiding Losing Ourselves in OurClients

Most therapeutic = to be as fully presentas we’re able (feeling w/ our clients &experiencing their struggles) but let themassume responsibility of their living &choosing outside of session


Developing a Sense of HumorCan be a welcome relief when we admitthat pain is not our exclusive domainLaughter or humor d/n mean that work isnot being accomplishedBut, there are times when laughter isused to cover up anxiety or to escapefrom experience of facing threateningmaterial


Accepting Slow ResultsAvoiding Self-DeceptionEstablishing Realistic GoalsSharing Responsibility With the Client

Mistake to accept full responsibilityMistake to refuse to take responsibility formaking accurate assessments & designingappropriate treatment plansEventually, if we are effective, we will be out ofbusiness!

Declining to Give AdviceCounseling c/n be confused w/ dispensingadvice (even when clients demand it)

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Defining Your Role as a CounselorDependent on factors such as clientpopulations, specific therapeuticservices you are providing, particularstage of counseling, setting in which youworkRole not defined once & for all but willredefine at various times


Learning to Use TechniquesAppropriately

Ideally, therapeutic techniques:Should evolve from therapeuticrelationship andshould enhance client’s awareness orsuggest possibilities for experimentingwith new behavior


Developing Your Own CounselingStyle

Inhibit your effectiveness if you attemptto imitate or fit most of your behavior intothe Procustean bed of some expert’stheoryDon’t blur your potential uniqueness bytrying to imitate them

Myth ofProcrustes

Procrustes, or "one who stretches," was a robber in themyth of TheseusHe preyed on travelers along the road to AthensHe offered his victims hospitality on a magical bed thatwould fit any guestHe then either stretched the guests or cut off theirlimbs to make them fit perfectly into the bedTheseus, traveling to Athens to claim his inheritance,encountered the thiefThe hero cut off the evil-doer's head to make him fitinto the bed in which many "guests" had died


Accepting Slow ResultsAvoiding Self-DeceptionEstablishing Realistic GoalsSharing Responsibility With the Client

Mistake to accept full responsibilityMistake to refuse to take responsibility formaking accurate assessments & designingappropriate treatment plansEventually, if we are effective, we will be out ofbusiness!

Declining to Give AdviceCounseling c/n be confused w/ dispensingadvice (even when clients demand it)


Defining Your Role as a CounselorDependent on factors such as clientpopulations, specific therapeutic services youare providing, particular stage of counseling,setting in which you workRole not defined once & for all but will redefineat various times

Learning to Use Techniques AppropriatelyIdeally, therapeutic techniques shouldevolve from therapeutic relationship andshould enhance client’s awareness orsuggest possibilities fo experimenting withnew behaviorDeveloping Your Own Counseling Style

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Staying alive asa person and as a professional

Causes of burnout1. same type of work with little variation2. giving a great deal but not getting muchback3. lacking a sense of accomplishment andmeaning in work4. working with a difficult population5. under constant pressure to produce, perform,and meet deadlines6. facing unrealistic demands on your time andenergy

Remedies for burnout1. personal responsibility of what you can do

Staying alive as a person and as aprofessional

Preventing burnout1. evaluate your goals, priorities, andexpectation2. recognize that you can be anactive agent in your life3. think of ways to bring variety intowork4. find other interests besides work5. learn to monitor impact of stresson the job & at home

Staying alive as a person and as aprofessional

Preventing burnout 6. learn to ask for what you want

7. find meaning through play, travel, or new experiences

8. rearrange your schedule to reduce stress

9. make time for spiritual growth

10. seek counseling as an avenue of personal development

overview - california state university, northridge

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