COURSE: SW 150 – COUNSELING IN SOCIAL WORK

INSTRUCTOR: Johari D. Tabao, RSW ([email protected])

BOOK SOURCE: HELPMATE: Counseling 101 for social workers and other Helping
Professions

LESSON 1 :
COUNSELING AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF SOCIAL WORK HELPING
PROCESS
Counseling is the activity of the counsellor, or a professional who counsels
people especially on personal problems and related difficulties.
Historically, social work originated as a community help measure in the 19 th
century and since then become an organized discipline that aims to support
and empower those who suffer from social problems.

The profession of Social Work is practiced in the context of a particular

society of which it is a part as is the case with other professions.

While in a tradition conception of those who are doing “counselling work, we

associate practitioner with sessions held with specific/ appointed counsellor.

 BOUNDARIES AND INTERFACE

For all social work tasks, it is important to have at least basic counselling
skills and preferably to have more advanced one’s even if it is not necessary
for all social workers to be qualified to counsel in depth (Seden, p. 9 ).

 THESE BASIC SOCIAL WORK SKILLS CAN BE IDENTIFIED AS

- Attention giving, active listening, non – critical acceptance;

- Paraphrasing, reflecting back, summarizing and checking;
- Awareness on the use of different kinds of questions, minimal
prompting, use of alternatives

It is also necessary for Social Workers to raise issues, be

familiar or to some extent question concerns on the following:

- Empathic understanding, linking, immediacy;

- Challenging, confronting, work with defences;
- Goal setting, problem solving, focusing techniques;
- Knowledge about own and other’s use of body language;
- Avoidance of judging and moralistic responses;
- Boundary awareness, structuring techniques, the ability to say
difficult things constructively;
- The ability to offer feedback, techniques for diffusing, avoiding
the creation of and managing hostility
Social workers take on counselling role at a certain extent and employ
counselling skills in all social work processes and tasks.
Both social workers and counsellors work towards helping individuals to grow
and develop.

In more instances, Social Workers are faced with the following;

- Client who are struggling with problems in their lives or are
driven to ask for help due to poverty or some other type of
disadvantages;
- Are engaged with service delivery to different client groups –
individuals, group and communities;
- Perform case management tasks; and
- Perform intervention with clients’ social environment

In clinical psychology / psychiatric clinics and guidance centers of schools

where we usually associate counselling:

- Clients come almost entirely on their free will;

- Do not have to engage with service delivery or directly work
with clients social environment;
- May offer confidentiality in distinctive way
- Employs various counselling strategies and techniques; and
- May operate in hourly sessions (De Leon, 2015)

COUNSELING IN THE SOCIAL WORK HELPING PROCESS

The counseling process both and art and science (Nystul, 1999). It requires
the counsellor to reach sensitivity into the world of clients and help them
become aware of their strengths and hidden beauty. There is also the need
to tune in and react appropriate to diverse issues such ass culture, gender
and spirituality. On the other hand, it is considered as a science by creating
an important balance, providing an objective dimension to the subjective art
of counselling.

Counselor must be able to utilize scientific tools to gain an objective

understanding of what is occurring during the various stages in the
counselling process, from formulating a counselling relationship to
termination and follow – up and research and evaluation.

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF COUNSELING PROCESS

According to McDaniel and Shaftal, the counselling process is based on some

basic principles of:
 1. Acceptance : according to this principles, each client must be
accepted as an individual and dealt with such. The counsellor should
give due regard to the rights of client.

2. Permissiveness : counselling is such a relationship which develops

optimism and provide the conducive environment for the person.

3. Respect for the individual : all the school of thoughts of counselling

advocate for the respect of the individual.

4. Thinking with the individual : it is the role of the counsellor to think

about all the forces around the client, to join client’s thought process
and to work collectively with the clients regarding his problem.

5. Learning : accepts the presence of learning – elements in the

counselling process.

INSTRUCTION: This will be encoded in a SHORT BONDPAPER with 12 FONT

SIZE, Times new roman, Tw Cen MT, Cambria FONT STYLE, and with 1.15
SPACE with being JUSTIFY. Will be pass next meeting.

Activity 1:
Have your partner ( 2 person in a group) to discuss the counselling as an
integral part in social work helping process;
Make a reflection paper on the idea of integration of counselling into social
work practice, did you agree or disagree? And why?

LESSON 2:
COUNSELING PROCESS

1. STAGE 1 : BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

In this stage, the social worker needs to establish rapport with

the client to gain their trust and confidence in the helping relationship.
Relationship building also gives weight to communication as an
interactive process involving the giving, receiving, and checking out the
meaning.

2. STAGE 2 : ASSESSMENT

Is both process and outcome. Its purpose is to gather as much

information as possible about the situation and form some opinion about its
meaning for the client and its implication for actions. It serves as the
foundation of planning and decision making. It moves away from diagnostic
focus towards understanding the perspective of the client within a holistic
and needs – assed framework. It emphasizes on the client’s needs and
existing successful problem – solving and coping startegies.

Stage in Assessment:
- Acquisition of information
- Studying facts and feelings
- Balancing and formulation
- Strategies in goal – setting
- Intervention

3. STAGE 3 : PLANNING, INTERVENTION AND EVALUATION

Social workers are expected to understand people in the context

of their environment and discuss any planned actions with them. This list is
not exhaustive but shows the wide range of social work intervention.

Social work actions include:

- The use of social work theories and methods of intervention to
achieve changes;
- The use of practitioners’ personal skills in interventation;
- Referral to provider agencies;
- Purchase of services from provider agencies;
- Direct provision in cash or kind;
- Advocacy to obtain services from another agency.

4. STAGE 4 : FOLLOW UP AND TERMINATION

Ending contract and working with people towards

complementing work is very important. An understanding of attachment
theory and human growth and development suggest that relationships are
built and attachments made. Taking care of the way a contract end
consolidates what has been achieved.

INSTRUCTION: This will be submitted through, soft copy, a 3 – 5 minutes

video presentation.

Activity 2: Together with your partner in the previous activity, have your
brain storming about the counselling process, and then, make your self –
recorded (role play) of counselling process.

LESSON 3:
 QUALITIES / COMPETENCY REQUIREMENTS OF AN EFFECTIVE
COUNSELOR

The key to being able to put on all these different hats and remain
effective is acquiring the right skill sets. This is where the appropriate
training comes in; the coursework and the curriculum are designed to give a
broad view and general understanding of the many roles, responsibilities and
obligations of the social worker.

Basic Qualities of Effective Helper (Nystul, 1999)

1. Encouraging : helps clients to believe in their potential for growth and

development. One of the primary jobs of a counsellor often involves
instilling hope in a hopeless individual.

2. Artistic : to be sensitive and responsive to client’s needs. Implies

being creative and flexible and adjusting the counselling technique to
the unique needs of their client.

3. Emotionally Stable : an emotionally unbalance counsellor will

probably do more harm than good for the client.

4. Empathic and caring : care about people and have desire to help
those in need. They are sensitive to the emotional states of others and
can communicate an understanding of their struggles in life. Empathy
is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others.

5. Self – aware – enables counsellor to become aware of their

limitations. Can also help counsellors monitor their needs, so they can
gratify those needs in a manner that does not interfere with the
counselling process. This is related to self – acceptance, self – esteem,
and self realization.

6. Self – acceptance – this suggest that counsellors are comfortable

with themselves. They should be working on their personal growth and
development.

7. Positive self – esteem – this can help counsellor cope with their
personal and professional lives and maintain the emotional stability
that is central to their job.

8. Self – realization – effective counsellor reach out new directions and

explore new horizons. As they do, they realize that growth requires
commitment, risk, and suffering. Counsellors can welcome life
experiences and learn from them.

9. Self – disclosure – effective counsellor are constructively open with

their thoughts and feelings. When counsellors model openness, they
encourage their clients to be open.

10. Courageous – although it is important for the clients to perceive

their counsellors as competent, counsellor are not perfect, and they
should be not viewed as perfect.
 11. Patient – it may take them to accept certain things and to move
towards positive changes.

12. Non – judgemental – you must do our best to refrain from

judgement and instead communicate positive regard.

13. Discrete - confidentiality is of upmost importance when you are

a counsellor. You must be able to maintain confidentiality so the client
can trust you with their most intimate concerns.

14. Authenticity – is vital when working with clients. Clients will

know if you are being fake or not showing genuine concern.

15. Good listener – counsellor spend a significant amount of time

listening to their clients. You will do more listening than talking. You
must be content to give the client time to express their story and their
feelings (Seden, 2005)

INSTRUCTION: This will be submitted through, soft copy, a 3 – 5 minutes

video presentation.

Activity 2: Together with your partner in the previous activity, have your
brain storming about the counselling process, and then, make your self –
recorded of having discussion of the importance of qualities of effective
counselor in counselling process on your own pwerspective.