Attributes Of Professional Counseling Experts

By Virginia Collins


To become a proficient therapist, an individual must possess the right attributes as well as skills. Unlike other fields, school training is not sufficient to bring out effective counselors. One must go further to develop interpersonal skills and attributes necessary to handle people. Remember, the goal of a psycho-social expert is to help mentally distressed individuals recover normal lives. Without applying certain traits in a professional counseling session, your goals might not be realized. It is important to note that some of these attributes are acquired gradually with practice. A few of these are discussed in the following sections.

Psychologists must be self-aware. Self-awareness is the process of understanding oneself first before helping others. Just as a dentist with terrible teeth looks weird handling a patient with dental problems so is a counselor who does not understand themselves. Before choosing a psychologist, patients must ascertain that selected individuals can handle themselves as well as their problems. Precisely, they look perfect in a given area. Therefore, before establishing a psycho-social facility, a doctor must address their personal weaknesses, insecurities as well as fears. This way, patients will have confidence that you can handle theirs.

Next, practice tolerance. It is challenging to handle clients with mental problems. First, because mental illnesses take a while to heal completely. Secondly, mentally affected people may act very irrationally sometimes. For this reason, a psychologist should possess tolerance and the ability to control anger. Acknowledge changes are slow and keep recurring. At no time must you feel and show that you are fed up with a client.

Accept patients as they are. Markedly, most come to you because of problems, which only you can handle. Probably, some have been judged by close people in their lives. Others could have been rejected by relatives due to their behaviors. Precisely, most have lived as outcasts for the better part of life. Therefore, a psychologist needs to create a different environment where a client feels loved. Avoid being judgmental or criticizing.

To discover long-lasting changes, make clients your friends. Open avenues for a cordial relationship with victims such that they can share innermost feelings with you. Be a good listener and make their needs a priority. Additionally, give them adequate time to speak out and let them know in you they have a confidant.

Moreover, psycho-social treatment is not a one-fit-all process. For this reason, counselors must be flexible enough to adapt to new methods besides what they learned in school. Even though the standard approach works with most patients, doctors must adjust a little every time they handle a more challenging case. Every treatment plan ought to meet the needs of a specific client.

Empathy is another valuable trait of a doctor. Unlike sympathy, empathy seeks to understand the feelings of a client by putting oneself in their shoes. Psychologists should understand why patients think the way they do even when they disagree with their perspectives. However, create a boundary between work and personal life. Being too empathetic may trigger one to carry the emotional distress of clients even at home.

An expert ought to be encouraging. Notably, most clients are in a point of hopelessness by the time they go for therapy. It is important to let them know changes are possible no matter a situation. Applaud simple milestones and give them hope whenever they seem desperate. No matter how long positive changes take to come, you should not show despair.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment