Counseling is one of the most sought services by millions of people across the world. It refers to a process that provides an individual with direction and advice as to a decision or cause of action through the help of a professional. Professionals providing this service are known as counselors. The work of a counselor entails providing mental health services to patients depending on their unique or specific challenges.
According to the American Psychology Association, counselors offer many forms of therapy that include career, educational, rehabilitation, Christian, credit, grief, as well as marriage and family counseling among others. One of the characteristic elements of counseling as a profession is the understanding that people are different, have unique challenges, and cannot respond similarly to counseling. Therefore, a professional counselor should be in a position to understand the counseling style that fits the needs of each patient that seeks his or her services. The main duty of a counselor is to offer services to deal with specific issues affecting a patient and enhancing individual growth.
My distinctiveness as a counselor is founded on the need to engage with all the values, attitudes, and actions that define this profession. The first step I took in building my professional image was to comprehend the fact that my main duty is helping others. I knew that I had to embrace the role of helping people identify problematic areas in their lives and providing them with the most effective solution as part of duties fulfilled by a counselor.
For example, in explaining the duties of a counselor to others I would focus on the changes I had to make at the beginning of my practice. I focused on improving specific skills and attributes that are essential in providing mental health services. A counselor in the contemporary world should be culturally competent, flexible, empathetic, and emotionally intelligent. In addition, a high degree of self-awareness coupled with great communication and problem-solving skills plays a pivotal role in ensuring that a counselor develops a good understanding of a patient.
My career is also guided by the need to earn and maintain the trust of all my patients. In this profession, adherence to high standards of ethical behavior is crucial because patients often share personal information with a counselor. Therefore, respecting the privacy of a patient is an attribute that every counselor ought to have and promote.
The most suitable settings for counselors to work in include hospitals, rehabilitation centers, learning institutions, and churches. The main reason for this is that people found in these institutions have many issues that often compromise their mental health. Counselors apply several styles or approaches that help them deal with the different patient needs. One of the common ones is cognitive therapy, which focuses on an individual’s train of thought to recognize any patterns of negative thinking that could be problematic. These patterns are then changed using cognitive restructuring, which aims at injecting positivity in a way a patient interprets self, the world, thoughts, and situations.
For example, counselors work closely with people that have attempted suicide. Another approach is a behavioral therapy that aims to discover and improve behavioral patterns that are causing problems to a patient. Counselors believe that helping a patient to change such patterns leads to positive thoughts and interactions. For example, counselors often offer their services to people dealing with personality issues, low self-esteem, and relationship issues.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is also a common style of counseling. It is a combination of cognitive and behavioral therapies, which focuses on establishing the interconnection between the thoughts, emotions, and behavioral tendencies of an individual. In addition, a counselor focuses on how the three elements influence each other. For example, counselors play a crucial role in helping people with different forms of addictions by changing their perceptions about the drugs they use. Counselors also offer psychodynamic therapy that focuses on helping patients develop awareness about the effect of their actions and behaviors towards others.
It focuses on understanding, interpreting, and improving the interconnection between the beliefs, emotions, thoughts, and behaviors of a patient. For example, counselors work with people coming from broken homes and families in a bid to develop a positive perception of marriage. In most cases, such individuals struggle with relationships and marriage life. Other counseling styles that are also commonly used include eclectic, group, and interpersonal therapy.
Apart from counselors, mental health services are provided by other professionals albeit under different settings and identities. They include social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists. The difference between these professions is necessitated by the duties and responsibilities taken about helping patients deal with their unique challenges. Counselors entail licensed clinicians who work with patients to provide preferred outcomes.
Unlike the other professions, counselors do not require advanced training to operate because they have greater access to broader models of counseling. However, they do not have in-depth knowledge of clinical research found in psychologists who must have at least a Bachelor’s degree to hold the title. They have specific training based on the clinical psychological study of human behavior. Psychologists use research-based psychological approaches to treat patients. In addition, they can make clinical evaluations of a patient and diagnose mental illness. Social workers mainly focus on helping patients enhance their collective well-being through skill development and good resource utilization.