Summary PYC4809 Exam preparation Notes.

PYC4809 Exam preparation Notes. PYC4809 - Therapeutic Psychology. The counsellor as a therapeutic person • Counselling demands a practitioner who is willing to shed stereotypes and be an authentic person in the therapeutic relationship! • It is within these person to person connections that clients experience growth, if counsellor hides behind professional mask our clients will likely keep themselves hidden from us --- leading to sterile counselling. • It is through the genuineness of the counsellor and their aliveness that clients can be helped and truly effected. • As therapists we serve as models for our clients. If we model incongruent behaviour and remain distant we can expect our clients to also behave in the same manner. If we are real in our approach and engage in appropriate self-disclosure our clients will tend to be honest with us in the therapeutic relationship. Personal characteristics of effective counsellors The following are is a list of the characteristics a therapist should strive to possess: 1. Have an identity 2. Respect and appreciate themselves – Can give and receive help they feel adequate with others. 3. Open to change 4. Make choices that are life orientated –committed to living fully rather than settling for mere existence 5. Authentic / sincere and honest 6. Sense of humour 7. Make mistakes and are willing to admit them 8. Generally live in the present 9. Appreciate the influence of culture – aware of the ways culture effects them, respect the values and diversity of other cultures 10. Have a sincere interest in the welfare of others 11. Possess effective interpersonal skills – capable of entering the world of others without getting lost in their world. 12. Become deeply involved in their work and derive meaning from it 13. Passionate 14. Maintain healthy boundaries – strive to be fully there for their clients but still maintain healthy boundaries, they do not carry their client’s problems around with them. S - The study-notes marketplace Downloaded by: hlabanganemilly | Distribution of this document is illegal S - The study-notes marketplace 2 Personal therapy for the counsellor: Should the counsellor undergo some kind of personal therapy? The underlying consensus is YES. Personal therapy contributes to the therapist’s professional work in three ways: 1. As part of the therapists training – personal therapy offers a model of therapeutic practice in which the trainees experiences the work of a more experience therapist and learns what is helpful and what is not! 2. A good experience in personal therapy can enhance a therapist’s interpersonal skill that are essential to skilfully practicing therapy. 3. Successful personal therapy can contribute to a therapist’s ability to deal with the on-going stresses associated with clinical work. Research gather has proved that personal therapy has positive effects in the following areas: Self esteem Work functioning Emotional expression Interpersonal conflicts And more…. Personal psychotherapy is not an end in itself but a means to help potential counsellors become therapeutic persons--- increasing their impact on clients! The counsellor’s values and the therapeutic process The roles of values in counselling: The degree to which a counsellor should enter into a therapeutic relationship is a matter of debate, our therapeutic interventions rest on core values. Even the choice of words we use to express our value systems. In is neither possible nor desirable for counsellors to be neutral about values … even though our values influence the way we practice it is possible to maintain a sense of objectivity. Counsellors need to guard against tendency to assume one of 2 extremes: 1. Counsellors who hold definite and absolute beliefs and see it as their job to exert influence on clients towards what they (counsellor) thinks is right Downloaded by: hlabanganemilly | Distribution of this document is illegal S - The study-notes marketplace 3 2. Counsellors who maintain that they should keep their values out of their work --- that the idea is value free counselling. Counsellors role is to create a climate in which clients can examine their thoughts/ feelings and actions and arrive at their own solutions! Influence of counsellors values on client  ethical implications Value imposition: counsellor directly attempting to define a client’s values/attitudes and beliefs This can happen actively or passively The role of values in developing therapeutic goals Who should establish goals of counselling? Everyone in agreement it should be the CLIENT However counsellors do have general goals which should be congruent with those of the client… therapy should begin with an exploration of client’s expectations and goals … setting goals is related to values… client and counsellor need to explore what they hope to obtain from counselling . Becoming an effective multicultural counsellor  Effective counselling involves learning to recognize diversity and shaping counselling to fit clients worldview.  Ethical obligation- develop sensitivity to cultural differences  Therapists role is to assist client in making decisions that are congruent with client’s world view (not therapist’s) Acquiring competencies in multicultural counselling Downloaded by: hlabanganemilly | Distribution of this document is illegal S - The study-notes marketplace 4 Effective counsellors understand their own culture/that of their clients and the socio-political system of which they are a part this begins with of cultural origins they may hold, we should consider our values to be those held by others, we must also understand that our own are likely to influence our proactive with diverse clients--- this is an on-going process. Conceptual framework for standards in multi-cultural counselling: 3 areas 1. Beliefs and attitudes 2. Knowledge 3. Skills Effective counsellors believe the following to be true Beliefs and attitudes  Ensure that personal bias/values/problems will not interfere with ability to work with clients who are culturally different  Believe cultural self-awareness and sensitivity to one’s own cultural heritage are essential for helping.  Aware of their positive and negative emotional reactions towards persons from other groups.  Seek to examine and understand the world from the vantage point of their clients.  Respect clients’ religious/spiritual beliefs / values  Confortable with the difference between themselves and others in terms of race/ethnicity and culture  Able to accept and value cultural diversity  Realize not every form of therapy is suited to every client Knowledge  Know about their own race and culture and how it effects them personally/professionally  They are able to detect their own attitudes  Understand world view of clients  Do not impose their values/expectations  Understand that external socio-political forces influence all groups, they know the forces that operate with respect to Skills and intervention strategies Downloaded by: hlabanganemilly | Distribution of this document is illegal S - The study-notes marketplace 5 Take into account worldview and background of client. Ability to send and receive verbal and nonverbal messages accurately and appropriately. Actively involved with minority individuals – community events, celebrations. Consult with other multicultural sensitive professionals. Ability to assess degree of acculturation. Multicultural guidelines 1. Therapy models still based primarily on Eurocentric assumptions 2. Learn how OWN cultural background influences OWN thinking and behaviour. 3. Identify basic assumptions and determine how these could affect professional practice. 4. How accurate is your information about diverse cultures, how open are you to learning? 5. Pay attention to common ground. 6. Be flexible in applying methods you use with clients. 7. Practicing from a multicultural perspective can make job easier and more rewarding for both you and the client. Downloaded by: hlabanganemilly | Distribution of this document is illegal S - The study-notes marketplace 1 Chapter 3 Ethical issues in counseling practice Exam questions likely to come up: • Discuss the most important ethical issues in counseling practice • Provide an ethical perspective on dual and multiple relationships in counselling practice • Discuss the ethical issues in counseling practice with reference to: the right to informed consent the dimensions of confidentiality Introduction Mandatory ethics: view of ethical practice that deals with the minimum level of professional practice Aspirational ethics: higher level of ethical practice that addresses doing what is best for the client Positive ethics: approach taken by practitioners who want to do their best for the clients rather than simply meet min standers to stay out of trouble Practitioners differ on how to approach ethical problems and sensitivity and care are required to approach each new situation. Putting clients needs before your own As counselors we must understand that we also have needs it is ethically essential that we are aware of this fact. As this could influence how we ethically deal with clients problems… Professional relationship with clients exists for their benefit. It is not unethical for us to meet our own personal needs through our professional work but it is essential that these needs be kept in perspective … an ethical problem exists if we meet our own needs at the expense of our clients’ needs. As helping professionals we have the responsibility to work actively towards expanding our own self awareness to learn to recognize areas of prejudice and vulnerability if we are aware of our own personal problems and are willing to work through them they will not influence our clients. Essential that our needs as therapists in all areas are met outside of our helping career Downloaded by: hlabanganemilly | Distribution of this document is illegal S - The study-notes marketplace 2 Ethical decision making As a professional one will encounter many ethical problems, there are no readymade answers to rely on and therefore a practitioner must learn to draw from other resources that may help- although you are the one ultimately dealing with the problem and the decision you are not alone. The role of ethics codes as a catalyst for improving practice Professional ethics serve a number of roles: ⬧ Educate counselors / general public about responsibilities of profession ⬧ Provide a basis for accountability – through their enforcement clients are protected unethical practices ⬧ Can provide a basis for reflecting on improving your professional practice However self monitoring is a better route to take then outside monitoring, many professionals are very nervous about being sued and this hinders performing job to the utmost… one of the best ways to prevent being sued is to demonstrate respect and have clients welfare as main concern Most of ethics codes have evolved over time into lengthy documents and may not even serve clients welfare → this is an example of Negative Ethics.