A Comprehensive Definition of Counseling

The Importance of Professional Counseling

Generally speaking, counseling is regarded as one of the forms of psychological therapy that aims to improve the general health condition of the clients. The recent statistics have already proved the importance of this kind of therapy for the individuals that need this psychological therapy. Below, you will find a comprehensive definition of this notion as well as some important details related to this field of the modern psychology.

In order to have a better understanding of this topic, it is necessary to provide a comprehensive definition of counseling. So, how can we define counseling psychology? In accordance with the most common definition of counseling, the meaning of this notion implies “a process where an individual, couple or family meet with a counselor to talk about issues and problems that they are facing in their lives.” Hence, this word is considered to be the umbrella term for a talking therapy in the field of modern psychology.

Thanks to the great flexibility within this type of psychological therapy, the clients are offered a variety of counseling formats like face-to-face counseling, individual or group counseling, telephone counseling, and online counseling.

1. Face-to-Face Counseling

In this case, the clients tend to see the counselors in person. This approach is the most common one applied in the practice of the modern psychotherapy. Face-to-Face Counseling is considerably popular since it gives the clients the opportunity to react to any feelings and emotions.

2. Individual or Group Counseling

In this case, the clients have an opportunity to choose between the form of counseling. On the one hand, the clients may choose their personal counselor. On the other hand, they have a chance to join the counseling group with the clients that experience the same or similar psychological issues.

3. Telephone Counseling

First of all, telephone counseling is considered to be a great alternative to face-to-face counseling. This approach may be very useful for the individuals that do not have enough time to visit the counselors personally. In the case of telephone counseling, the clients are offered to try a remote therapy.

4. Online Counseling

Due to the rapid rise of the innovative technology, this format of counseling enjoys great popularity as well. Currently, a significant number of the clients prefers emailing their counselors to attending these sessions personally.

What such therapy can help with?

First of all, counseling is a kind of psychological therapy that can help the individuals explore their thoughts and feelings. However, this approach of the modern psychology may be applied by the professionals in the attempt to experience the problems faced by their clients and resolve these issues as well. Therefore, it is critical to understand the importance of this ‘talking’ therapy since it can be useful in treating different psychological disorders. The examples of the potential mental issues faced by the clients can be found below.

1. Bereavement

Needless to say, that the loss of a beloved person is a terrible event that might be faced by everyone. However, some individuals have particular challenges attempting to cope with their feelings and emotions. The majority of the clients having this problem feels anger, guilt, and fear.

2. Addiction or Abuse

This psychological issue implies the individuals’ addiction to a particular substance or activity. The most common examples include drug addiction, alcohol abuse, and gambling.

3. Bullying

Unfortunately, sometimes, people may become the victims of a particular form of abuse. Usually, such events have a number of negative effects on the individuals’ lives. As a result, these clients need some help, and hence, a proper intervention is required.

4. Illness or Trauma

In this case, the meaning of ‘illness’ implies the fact that the individuals seeking for psychological support suffer from the long-term diseases. Additionally, the potential clients may become the victims of abuse that usually result in different traumas.

5. Relationships

It is a common knowledge that the counselors may explore the individuals’ feelings regarding their families, friends, boyfriends, or girlfriends.

The Importance of Self-Care For the Counselor

First of all, it is required to provide a clear and concise definition of a counselor. A professional counselor is usually defined as “a highly trained individual who is able to use a different range of counseling approaches with their clients.” Needless to say, that counselors play an important role in the process of the psychological therapy. In fact, a counselor should develop a particular plan that would make the clients’ lives better. Depending on the severity of the individual’s disorder, the counselors may decide on different types of therapy that may include art therapy, behavioral therapy, cognitive therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, humanistic therapies, and psychoanalysis.

Although all the professional counselors should take care of their clients, they should consider their self-care as well. In general, all the professional counselors are considered to be the instruments of healing, and hence, they should monitor their health condition as well. There are several warning signs that make the counselors pay attention to this issue. Usually, these warning signs include:

– feeling irritated about the clients;

– losing a sense of humor;

– low level of energy.

The Importance of Unconditional Positive Regard in the Counseling Process

To begin with, what is unconditional positive regard? How can you define the meaning of this psychological term? Generally speaking, this term refers to the neutral attitude of the medicals towards their clients. Hence, every professional counselor should accept and support the clients exactly as they are. Apart from that, they should not judge them or evaluate.

The core belief of the counseling therapy is that all the people seeking for help have particular resources to cope with their problems. The only thing that should be mentioned is the fact that each of them needs a proper environment to activate these personal resources.

The Unconditional Positive Regard has a number of benefits in the therapy room. Such benefits are the following:

1. If the counselors do not evaluate their clients and do not judge them as well, the individuals do not feel any fear or anxiety in the process of their treatment.
2. By means of this format of psychological therapy, the individuals have a greater chance to accept themselves and their problem as well.
3. Additionally, the clients have the opportunity to cultivate or activate the inner resources that would help them manage different issues.