Counsellors and their part in the culture

Counselors play an important part in the culture and they help people overcome problems that can have far-reaching effects. Lynne Shallcross’s post (2012) The recipe for genuinely excellent counseling highlights some of the most important characteristics that a counselor can possess. According to the post, a counselor should be adaptable, patient, and capable of instilling hope in a person. Furthermore, the article emphasizes that a counselor should be passionate about his or her work and, as a result, should be subjected to a multitude of researches in order to gain more insight on how to best support their clients. Thus, the paper will summarise the opinions expressed in the article by Shallcross, define which factors make a great counsellor referred to my own experience and explain in what way Christian worldview supports or not those factors.

Summary of the Opinions Brought Out in the Article

The article highlights three main opinions about counselling as being the factors that may make a person be termed as a great counsellor. The article points out that a great counsellor has to be someone with the potential of instilling hopes in his/her clients and be capable of formulating achievable goals. I agree with this assertion, because some of the people who seek for counselling services tend to be hopeless more, if they fail to achieve something they believe very important in their lives (such as losing someone they love). Such people may even end up with having a low self-esteem, as they become convinced that they are inferior in comparison to other people. In such a scenario, a counsellor should be in a position to advise such a person to make him/her remain hopeful and, hence, believe that he/she would get another lover soon.

The article also sheds light on some of the key attributes a counsellor should have such as self-awareness, understanding, and flexibility. Self-awareness helps the counsellor overcome some attitudes that may adversely affect his/her potential to render counselling sessions to the client (Shallcross, 2012). By having a sound of understanding, the counsellor would be in a position to view the client’s concerns from his/her (the client) position, which enables the counsellor to offer a reasonable advice. On the other hand, by being flexible, the counsellor can formulate a good relationship with the customer hence enable the client to express his/her feelings. I also agree with the claim that a counsellor should have such attributes. To start with, self-awareness plays a crucial role by enhancing the consultant to take charge of his/her feelings to be in a position to make informed decisions regarding the issue at hand. By having a sound of understanding, the counsellor would be capable of avoiding the use of any terms that could hurt the client, which might adversely affect the therapeutic session. For the counselling session to proceed smoothly, the counsellor should create a conducive environment, which makes the client feel comfortable and, thus, encourages him/her to share his/her feelings with the counsellor without fear.

Finally, the article points out that some of the counsellors have had to learn the need of having some attributes (such as patience) to advance their counselling skills. Just like any other person, counsellors should also pre-judge a situation, which might be as a result of giving the client enough time to express his/her opinions. In such a case, the consultant would always end up with giving a wrong advice as a solution to the current problem. As a result of this conviction, I support the proposition that counsellors need to be patient as a measure of guaranteeing that they offer the right counsel (Shallcross, 2012). Lack of patience would make a counsellor come up with assumptions regarding a given issue instead of making reasonable conclusions after actively listening to the patient’s concerns.

What, Overall, Makes a Great Counsellor?

A great counsellor should have a passion for his/her work, which makes it possible for him/her to listen to the concerns of the clients irrespective of their backgrounds. Passion also makes the counsellor realize that his/her advice would have an effect on an individual’s life and, hence, he/she (the client) should uphold professionalism and dignity for humanity while offering counselling services. While in class, we also learn that by being passionate about our profession as counsellors, we become more committed to serving the society by assisting people with skills on the best way to handle some of the issues that can adversely affect their lives.

Christianity points out that it is not wrong for a psychologist (counsellor) to base his/her counselling sessions on secular research. According to a Rainer (2014), a Christian psychologist should get more knowledge from a secular research to be in a position to adequately help people address some issues affecting them. It is hence evident that counsellors should have a passion for their job and, hence, the main reason why they should remain exposed to the views of other forms of researches.

Conclusion

To sum up, counsellors should be capable of instilling hope in their clients to help the clients overcome the challenges they might be facing. Some key attributes that counsellors should possess include flexibility, self-awareness, patience, and understanding. In addition, a counsellor should have a passion for his/her work and, hence, be always exposed to any research concerning the psychological field to get more information on how to serve humanity better.

References

Rainer, S. (2014). The integration of Christianity and psychology: A guest post by Sarah Rainer. Christianity Today. Retrieved on July 23, 2017 from http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2014/september/concerning-psychology-and-christianity-guest-post-by-sarah-.html

Shallcross, L. (2012). The recipe for truly great counselling. Counselling Today. Retrieved on July 23, 2017 from, https://ct.counseling.org/2012/12/the-recipe-for-truly-great-counseling/