Counseling

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The word counseling (or counselling) comes from the Middle English counseil, from Old French conseil, from Latin cōnsilium; akin to cōnsulere, to take counsel, consult. Counseling can be defined as a relatively short-term, interpersonal, theory-based process of helping persons who are fundamentally psychologically healthy resolve developmental and situational issues. ^[1]

There are probably as many definitions of counseling as there are practitioners to describe it. The term was originally used by Frank Parsons in 1908. It was adopted by Carl Rogers in response to widespread prejudice in the U.S. against lay therapists and also because he was not then permitted by the psychiatry profession to call himself a psychotherapist. The difference between definitions of counseling and psychotherapy is less significant than the practitioners' perceptions of their raison d'être.

[edit] What a counselor commonly does

Listens effectively to what you are saying
Works with you to define your goals with respect to your values and culture
Facilitates your untangling of thoughts, feelings and worries about a situation
Helps you gain your own insight into how you act, think and feel
Teaches, shows and helps you express your emotions in your own way
Teaches, shows and helps you work out your own solutions to problems
Teaches, shows and helps you accept what cannot be changed
Teaches, shows, helps and supports you and your relationship while you do all this
Helps you become empowered to act in ways that are in your best interest
Uses a variety of different techniques to help you explore what is important to you