Writing Feedback / counselling essay [2]

Hi,
I just wondered if someone could give me feedback on this. I have done some essays and fgot remits and some and ive passed but havent had feedback from tutors to whether its a good essaY or just passed. It would be good to know what others can help me with to improve. thanks

Stage III of Egan's model of helping focuses on helping the client to achieve the goals discussed in stage II of the counselling process. This assessment will discuss how the counsellor decides when a client is ready to move to stage III and what strategies will be used to achieve this. It will also review my thoughts on equal opportunities since starting my counselling course.

A) Explain by what means you would determine that a client is ready to move on to stage III of the counselling process.
"If stage II is done well, clients will have a clear idea of what they want and where they would like to go - even though they might not know how to get there." (Egan P34). The counsellor can then assess if the client is set to move to stage III of the counselling process. Egan believed a helper can ask themselves questions to see if they have helped the client commit to the goals in order to move to the next stage.(action)(Egan P274). Moreover, the counsellor may find the client is repeating themselves or becomes frustrated when talking about their problems indicating they are ready to move on. The client might become motivated after completing stage I and II and just eager to put their goals into action. Furthermore, a change in circumstances in someone's life could be a reason for them to move to stage III. For example, a job loss may have caused several problems with the client resulting in them seeking counselling. If the client gets another job it could make their problems easier. A client suffering from depression and given medication from their GP might feel better and want to move on.

On the other hand the counsellor might discover that they have to move clients to stage III quicker than they would like. For example, the client could have been sent through their GP for counselling and only been funded for 6 sessions of counselling. Also if a client has been sent by the courts may have been sent for 5 sessions of counselling by a court meaning the process is quick. Naturally, if the client is paying privately for counselling they may only have the funds for fewer sessions than they require. As a result, the client might end up back in counselling at a future date to deal with issues not covered. Moving to stage III of the counselling process is very much an individual thing and that each person is there for different reasons and one person's time scale will be different from the next. It could also be that the person is ready to move into stage III and someone thing happens in their life that would bring them back down to stage I.

B) Explain the dynamics involved between the counsellor and the client in developing programmes which assist clients to achieve change, make sure you cover, goals setting, possible programmes, programme choice, implementation and evaluation and method to end the relationship.

Once the counsellor has decided to move the client to stage III of the helping process they can then assist the client to achieve the goals. Goal setting can be done in a variety of ways depending on the individual involved.

The counsellor can us SMART as a useful guide when helping the client choose their goals. The goals have to be specific so there is no confusion, they also have to be measurable checking progress of achievements, achievable goals that are possible to do and they are feasible, realistic goals based on the resources they have and what they know. Time based goals, making sure they have enough time to achieve the goals discussed.

"Helping the client stimulate their imaginations and engage in divergent thinking is an important part of Step III..." (Egan P280). Brainstorming (quick thinking) can help the client to think of ideas to delve into complex situations to help them develop new strategies to achieve goals. Counsellors can use the Balanced - Sheet method to help clients make difficult choices. This involves clients looking at the positives and negatives of their chosen goals and the effects this may have on themselves or others. Planning goes on throughout the sessions but a formal plan (planning grid) 'takes strategies for accomplishing goals, divides them into workable bits, puts the bits into order, and assigns a timetable for the accomplishment of each bit' (Egan P304). This can help with many ways such as, helps client discipline themselves, prevents clients being overwhelmed with problems, it can undercover obstacles and also brings awareness of resources required for their goals. Force field analysis provides a framework for looking at issues that affect clients lives.(forces)It looks at positive forces that will help achieve a goal (facilitating forces) and also ones that have a negative impact. (restraining forces)(Egan P318) This can provide a clearer picture for the client to see if they are ready to deal with certain issues.

When using any of these programmes the client is fully responsible for the choices they make although the counsellor can 'prime the pump' using the 'prompt and fade' technique if required. After the client is helped to set the goals the client has to put these into practice. In order for the counsellor to see how the client's progress they can use the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation (CORE) form. Depending on the counsellor's method this can be done before the counselling begins during and at the end. This lets the counsellor see what areas have changed for the client and if areas haven't changed or got worse it lets them see what went wrong or what they need to work on.

The ending of the therapeutic relationship can be a daunting experience for some clients resulting in mixed emotions. The client might become dependant on the counsellor helping them with their problems that they are reluctant to do so alone. In some cases clients may put off succeeding in the relationship so that it doesn't end. The counsellor can make this process more positive by going over the history of their relationship and sharing experiences of the relationship with the client, identify what has been learned from any difficulties both have had during the relationship, planning the ending in advance, giving alternative sources of support for them in the future. (Culley/Bond P138/139)

C) With your years course in mind, your practice with different people, for various lengths of time both in the classroom setting and your placement, reconsider your thoughts on equal opportunities in a counselling profession

Before I started my counselling course I never took much notice in the way I saw the world around me. I would often judge people on assumptions I was brought up with. Since starting college I have started looking beyond the person seeing that everyone is an individual with different wants and needs. For example, in the past I would just assume a homeless person was a bad person who wasted their life out of choice, now I tend not to judge and think they are not any less of a person than me and sometimes people are in situations not through their own choice. Accepting everyone for who they are is essential for a counselling relationship to be equal and that no one has more power in the relationship. This is important for a client to feel safe and secure and accepted to open up and start dealing with their problems. Recently I have been in company where people have told me of certain conditions they have I have found myself going home and reading up on these, looking into forums and thinking how they must feel. I feel it is an important part of being a good counsellor is to continue to read and learn (CPD) because there is always learning to be done and society is always changing. Also how one person might feel with a problem another person will feel completely differently as everyone has different beliefs, come from different environments, feel differently and handle things different and they should be respected for this. I haven't been fortunate enough to find a placement as yet but when I do I intend to treat everyone as a unique individual like they deserve and how I would want my own family to be treated by someone. Counsellors that have no knowledge on a client's problem can read up on this to gain better knowledge and being honest with a client helps build a better relationship. If they refer the client to someone else the client might feel rejected or even that their problem is even to complex for the counsellor.

In summary, this shows that the counsellor would look at the clients personal circumstances before deciding if they should move to stage III of the counselling process, it also shows sometimes this is out-with both the clients and the counsellors control and can have negative consequences. Setting goals can be done in a variety of ways depending on the individual involved and the counsellor will deal with everyone's goals setting accordingly. Ending the relationship again depends on the individual and the counsellor can use many methods to make this more positive for the client. Also this course has helped me change the way I see people around me in a more positive way.