Counseling Theory and Practice Group Supervision - Essay Example

COUNSELING THEORY AND PRACTICE GROUP SUPERVISION Introduction Counseling can be referred to as a special kind of talking, which often allows an individual to express their particular feelings and problems in an environment though to be confidential and dependable. A counselor is that person specially trained in order to listen to such people with empathy, something that enables him/her to enter into their shoes. In doing so, the counselor helps the person to deal with some of the negative thoughts that they have. In some instances, “counseling” is used in describing all forms of talking therapies in general. They development of counseling experts often requires that one attends a counseling course, and later undertake a work placement in which he learns to practice his or her skills under a supervisor, who gives guidance on the way to undertake the placement. This paper examines a person-centered approach to counseling supervision, which I went through in the course of my professional development; it focuses on the benefits that the process had towards development of my career. Counseling supervision The counseling process simply means working under certain forms of supervision. In this case, the counselor employs the services of a different counselor in the process of reviewing their work other clients, their personal developments as well as issues of professional development. Supervision can be described as a noble professional service, instead of simple a management function. In this context, the supervisor performs the role of consultancy and not just as the boss. McLeod (2003), explains that supervision is an important practice that is common in psychotherapy, counseling as well as in many other fields of mental health and professions that entail a lot of working and dealing with people in different capacities (64). The supervision process can often be applied to practitioners in various somatic fields for their respective preparatory work with patients and collateral for such patients. In this understanding, it is evident that supervision can be taken to be a replacement as opposed to a formal retrospective process of inspection, evidence delivery of skills for other supervised practitioners (Lago 2006, p. 18). The purpose of counseling supervision The main purpose of the supervision process is to assist the practitioner in learning from his particular experiences and gaining the much needed expertise in the field. In doing so, it also ensures good service to the respective clients or patients being attended to by the practitioner. The learning process is often applied towards effective work planning as well as effective therapeutic and diagnostic work (Rogers 1980, p. 87). Some practitioners like those in art, chaplaincy, drama therapists, occupational therapists in mental health as well as psychologists have often relied on this kind of practice for a very long time. Inasmuch as this seems a common practice in many disciplines, it is a new concept in others. The use of supervision for nurses in the NHS is often regarded as a very good practice, which needs to be observed at all times in order to enhance effective service delivery to patients and other people seeking diverse services in medical centers. Some of the renowned experts in this profession like Winstanely and White examined the kind of relationships existing in the supervision process, nursing care quality as well as patient outcomes expected and concluded that the supervision process is the only one that had great sustainable effects to both supervisees and their supervisors (Sanders 2006, p. 32). The art of maintaining effective clinical supervision needs systematic and managerial backing with consistency. Models of supervision As noted above the supervision process often involves the development of effective individualized plans for learning by the supervisees, working in harmony with their identified clients. This systematic manner within with the supervision process takes places is what is commonly referred to as a “model.” The application of certain guidelines and principles as outlined in certain models is very effective in ensuring that final goals and objectives have been achieved; this means that effective knowledge of the different models of supervision is very imperative towards the success of the process. Supervision beliefs, routines as well as the different practices started to emerge the moment therapists began training others in their professional. During that time, the main focus in the prior training was on improving the efficacy of particular theory like psychodynamic, behavior as well as client-centered theory. The main aim in the supervision process was spreading this kind of practices in the social, youth and child care work as well as in the education process. The supervision norms had typically illustrated indirectly during rituals of apprenticeship. Nowadays, supervision has become a common practice in many disciplines in the process of helping supervisees to know their progress and professional development. Person-centered supervision One of the commonly used approaches in the supervision process is the person-centered approach. In this model, the client is often regarded as being in his/her best authority in terms of experience; he is also viewed as being able to fulfill their potential towards success and growth (Rogers 1965, p. 42). The model gives recognition to the fact that attaining this potential needs higher effective and favorable conditions. It is important to realize that the process of achieving its full potential can be hampered by adverse conditions, which undermines the process of achieving their set goals and objectives. Most importantly, at the time when individuals seem to lack positive regards and acceptance, they tend to lose the much-needed touch that is needed for growing their experience and the tendency to develop in the direction of consistency for their experience. One of the main reasons for the above occurrence is that most often, people tend to cope with conditional acceptance that is given to them by slowly coming to integrate these conditions into views by themselves for their own (Kirschenbaum & Henderson 1989, p. 58). When this process happens, the individuals can sometimes end up developing self-concepts of their own; in this regard they may think highly of themselves or otherwise depending on the perceptions that the build in their minds. Due to this kind of basic need for positive regards from other people, it is sometimes easier to become the kind of person that the individual tends to perceive in his/her mind. For a very long time, the intrinsic sense of identity for the individuals as well as their evaluations of attributions and experience can therefore be replaced through creations in part or due to pressures from other kinds of people. Under the person-centered approach, psychological disturbances can take place when a person’s sense of self-concept starts clashing with other personal experiences in the immediate environment. However, it is important to understand that the disturbance process is sometimes apt to take long since the individual depends on the prevailing conditional positive opinion of other people about his particular self-concept. Experiences that seem to challenge self-concepts are often apt to exist even when they are entirely denied in the process of preserving them. Therapeutic approaches of the person-centered approach to supervision Under the person-centered approach, it is often perceived that three major conditions have to be present in order to enhance a perfect climate for its growth as well as therapeutic change. These conditions sometimes tend to be in sharp contrast with conditions needed for responsible psychological disturbances. The conditions include an unconditional positive concern or regard, an empathetic understanding as well as congruence. In the first condition, the counselor often gives acceptance to his client in an unconditional manner, which also has to be non-judgmental. In this regard, the client has the freedom of exploring all feelings and thoughts, whether negative or positive, without showing any danger for condemnation and rejection (Rogers 1961, p. 28). Additionally the client is also free to make an exploration and expression without necessarily doing anything particular to meet certain standards of respective behavior in earning many positive regards from a counselor. The second condition, which is empathetic understanding, requires that a counselor has to accurately comprehend the thoughts of the client including the associated meanings, feelings and other important aspects of the particular client (Mearns & Thorne 2000, p. 53). The moment that the counselor happens to perceive the kind of world according to the perspective of the client, it indicates that the perspective has not just value but also that the client is getting acceptance. This is very important in order to him/her to gain confidence in what he does and excel in it. Therefore, it is important to understand that acceptance plays a vital role in the development and nurturing of confidence (Mearns & Thorne 2007, p. 42). Finally, the third condition involves congruence, which means that a counselor is expected to be very genuine and authentic in his or her operations. The counselor does not often have to present aloof proficient façade; instead, he or she simply happens to be quite open and transparent to the respective client. Additionally, under this condition, any hidden knowledge or authority does not exist, for this reason; the client does not always have to make speculations about the impression presented by the client. Analysis of my supervision sessions from a person-centered perspective The journey into my placement was quite interesting especially at the start of the process; long after most of my course mates had had got started into their process, I was still not quite sure of where I could not my placement. I had attended an interview in one of the organizations that I had been scheduled to be by my placement officer; after the process, the interviewers promised to assess my suitability and get back to me to tell the way forward. A few weeks after the process, I had not received any communication from the organisation I had done the interview; I began growing nervous because I did not have a clear alternative about the next step. I decided to call and find out why the process that was seemingly short was now taking several days to get the reply I wanted. Calling them was an idea that rocked into my mind; however, the answer I got was very shocking. I was informed that I had failed the interview since I had not had enough information about the particular organisation at the time of the interview. What was most frustrating was that inasmuch as I had not qualified, my interviewers would have done me a favor by informing me about it, instead of leaving me in the dark. I later called my placement officer who informed me the alternative plan. I was happy to join a new institution where I enjoyed practicing and learning a lot in the field. Key moments in my supervision process To begin with, the process of getting the place for my placement itself was a very key moment. I had been very excited about undertaking my placement, knowing that I was going to do my ultimate best in order to get better positive reviews at the end of the process and also earn high marks from the process. This made me to bother less about finding more information more information concerning the organizations I was to attend to. When the placement time was beginning I was not much bothered to see my friends already having started because I knew that I was assured of the place I was going. During the interview, I had a lot of information about my profession and the industry at large. However, I was asked a few questions about the organisation that I could not answer effectively. I did not have an idea that those were the key questions that would guarantee me place in the organisation for placement. One of the reasons that make this a key moment for me is that it set me thinking about the next step to take since I was being left behind. I decided to call the placement officer, explained the situation as it was and lucky enough, he assisted me to get a place, where I started my placement. Talking to my colleagues When I was talking to my colleagues and narrating about my experiences, I felt quite relieved when most of them were empathizing with me. This made me feel like I was having a shared problem; some colleagues would give me some possible alternatives to take in order to find a place to undertake my placement. However, the only person that had a final say in my situation was the placement officer, who after I told all the development, he encouraged me to be calm and composed since he was going to help me out. The sharing of our experiences about the supervision process was very overwhelming. I learnt a lot from how my friends had faired on in their cases; they were also impressed in the way I had candidly taken on the roles and responsibilities that I was given in my new place. Generally, we all acknowledged the inputs that our supervisors had taken during the entire placement process, which made out different experiences wonderful and exciting. The supervision process The supervision process I what I enjoyed most, I had a wonderful time with my supervisor, who always came in handy to give the bets directions to take in order to have a successful exercise. We could meet occasionally in order to examine and evaluate my progress. In these meetings, I could express my perspectives about the people I was working with, my experiences with the organizational culture and how I was dealing with patients. One of the best things that the process brought to me was instilling a sense of confidence in my character. Prior to this activity, I had never been in an environment that had people from varied cultural backgrounds. Most of the time, I found myself dealing with women, most of whom originated from the minority groups. My supervisor advised me on how to start and maintain conversations in the right manner, give people time to express their views and being humble. This brought a lot of difference in the way I interacted with people. I found myself making many friends and learning a lot from my work mates and clients that came to seek our services. I build my personality, learning how to interact with people of both classes and clients. In the end, I realized that many of the clients would prefer my services, something that made me appreciate the input of my supervisors. As far as my personal development is concerned, I came to realize from out consistent discussions with my supervisor that the success of any career that deals with people is in the way one discharges his services. While some work mates would treat the clients harshly and even shouting at them. I learnt a different approach; I was always humble, smiled at the clients and gave greetings. Most of the time, they would answer back in a nice way and proceeded to explain how they wanted to be assisted. Whenever I lacked an immediate solution to a problem, my supervisor had advised me to always give assurance that I would consult and come back with the right answer. Whenever this happened, I always wrote a background of the information I received and would ring my immediate seniors to seek more advice, thereafter I would bring the intended solution to the clients. Sometimes, when I realized that I could not handle the issue in my capacity, I made referrals to other people that would offer the solution to our clients. Impacts on my professional development The supervision process was an integral part of my professional development. I have ended up learning several important things that I would not have known. First, I have learnt that people skills is an important part of any profession, especially that which deals with people. One is needed to understand that people have different opinions and perspectives, which are supposed to be respected at all times. It is not easy to control how people think express their sentiments, but one can determine the way to relate with all these different groups of people. One of the things I consider so important as far as my professional development is concerned, is the ability to connect with people in the most effective way. I learnt how to relate with my fellow workmates. For those that were my seniors, I could often consult them but after having sought the inputs of those that I worked with on the same level; my supervisor told me that maintaining such a professional horizontal and vertical relationship with people at the work place is the key towards ultimate success. Most of the people that have excellent people skills end up getting promotions and higher racks in management because they can easily steer institutions towards effective performance and growth. Integrating the person-centered theory into practice The person-centered theory of supervision is often thought as the most effective especially when it comes to professional growth and development for supervisees. This is because; supervisees are often attached to supervisors that have a thorough understanding of the industry practices and essential information that facilitates the success of an individual. The three major conditions that are necessary for the success of the person-centered approach are very imperative in enabling a client to develop their strategies for growth and success in the own best ways. It enables them understand and improve on their personality and become the people that they want to be in their future endeavors as far as their professions are concerned. Knowing and understanding oneself is very essential since it enables one to avoid working under the pressure of pleasing other people (Merry 1995, p. 37). Instead, one can easily know when he is making mistakes and correct them effectively as he masters the practice needed for the success of his particular work endeavor. In this understanding, it becomes evident that the person-centered approach of supervision takes the conditions earlier highlighted as being very essential and necessary for any forms of therapeutic movements to take place among patients. According to the person centered approach, we have nothing which is essential unique about the relationship in the counseling process and the idea that better relationships often manifest the major conditions. However, in this process, the conditions are administered in a more transitory process as opposed to the continual or consistent approach as noted before. It is important to realize that the person-centered approach is known for taking clients as their best authorities, which means that they are supposed to be well attended and assisted in the right way that they want (Bond 2000, p. 71). This means that there has to be several consultations in order to give services that are very satisfactory. Conclusion In conclusion, I have acknowledged the person-centered approach in my supervision because it enabled me to have a clear perspective of what was expected to me and the process of achieving ultimate success not only in my personal life but also in my career development. Most of my friends, according to their analysis of their experiences also appreciated the inputs of their supervisors, which were made possible because of the person-centered approach to the supervision itself. This model of supervision can thus be described as being best suited for clients, especially those that are driven by the sense of having knowledge about their feelings and other personal values. This model has been used in different disciplines especially the counseling field in order to enhance the success of supervisees, most of them have emerged to become reliable professionals in the industries they work in (Tudor & Merry 2002, p. 43). clients that often have an interest in addressing some of the particular psychological habits and thinking patterns are advised to use this approach in their approach (Merry 2002, p. 77). Therefore, I can predict that in the future, the person-centered approach is going to be the most preferred in future in most disciplines because of its many advantages as pointed out in this paper. Bibliography Bond, T. 2000. Standards and ethics for counseling in action. Sage Publications, London England. Kirschenbaum, H. & Henderson, V. 1989. The Rogers Reader. 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