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Block 3 Assessment in Counselling and Guidance

Unit 2 Individual And Group Techniques In Counseling And Guidance

1) Define counseling and state the psychodynamic approach to counseling.

Counseling is defined as an interactive process between a counselor, who is trained to assist, and a client who needs assistance. It is a learning-oriented process that occurs in a one-to-one social environment. The goal of counseling is to help individuals overcome immediate problems and equip them to handle future issues.

The psychodynamic approach, pioneered by Sigmund Freud, views behaviour as motivated by unconscious mental processes that shape personality. It sees the mind's function as the expression of conflicts.

2) Elucidate the psychodynamic approach to counseling. Describe the techniques used by a psychoanalytic counselor to achieve counseling goals.

The psychodynamic approach, particularly psychoanalysis, focuses on the unconscious aspects of the client's personality. It aims to reconstruct the client's basic personality by making them aware of repressed memories or wishes.

Techniques used by psychoanalytic counselors include:

• Free association: Clients are encouraged to speak freely about whatever comes to mind, particularly childhood experiences, to uncover unconscious material.
• Transference analysis: Counselors encourage transference, where clients project feelings from past relationships onto the therapist, to help clients deal with unconscious material more realistically. The counselor interprets these transferences and resistances to free the client’s unconscious.
• Interpretation: Counselors provide interpretations of the client’s free associations, dreams, and resistances to help them gain insight into their unconscious conflicts.

3) What is involved in affective approach in counseling?

The affective approach in counseling focuses on impacting a client's emotions to bring about change.

Prominent affective theories include:

• Person-centered counseling
• Existential counseling
• Gestalt therapy

4) Describe behavioural counseling.

Behavioural counseling uses learning principles to replace maladaptive behaviors with adaptive ones. It is based on the idea that behaviors are learned and can be changed through techniques like classical and operant conditioning.

• In this approach, the counselor identifies the client's problems in behavioral terms and sets behavioral objectives.
• The counselor may use modeling or reinforcement paradigms within the counseling process to achieve goals.

5) Discuss cognitive counseling in terms of its approaches and techniques.

Cognitive counseling focuses on thinking patterns and their influence on behaviour and feelings.

• Approaches include:
  • Rational Emotive Therapy (RET), which challenges irrational beliefs.
  • Cognitive Therapy (CT), which aims to correct negative thought patterns.
• Techniques used in cognitive counseling include:
  • Cognitive disputation: Using direct questions, logical reasoning, and persuasion to challenge irrational beliefs.
  • Socratic questioning: Guiding clients to logically analyse their thoughts and replace distorted ones with more accurate and realistic thoughts.
  • Self-monitoring and daily diaries: Instructing clients to recognize how situations elicit automatic thoughts, which influence subsequent behaviors.
  • Examining available evidence: Collaborating with clients to evaluate their thoughts regarding their usefulness and validity.

6) Describe rational emotive counseling / therapy.

Rational Emotive Therapy (RET) is a cognitive approach where counselors actively challenge and dispute clients' irrational beliefs.

• RET counselors teach clients how their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are interconnected.
• They also assign homework to help clients overcome irrational beliefs.
• Techniques include cognitive disputation, coping self-statements, and behavioral and emotive techniques.

7) What is cognitive therapy?

Cognitive therapy focuses on correcting negative thought patterns. It helps clients recognize and change their distorted thoughts to promote more objective thinking.

• Cognitive therapy posits that psychological distress is often caused by dysfunctional thinking, rather than external events.

8) What are the techniques and goals of cognitive therapy?

Goals of cognitive therapy are to help clients revise negative thinking and beliefs, and bring about more objective thinking.

Techniques used include:

• Self-monitoring and daily diaries: To recognize automatic thoughts.
• Examining available evidence: To assess the validity of thoughts.
• Socratic questioning: To help clients analyse and replace distorted thoughts.
• Cognitive restructuring: A process that includes self-monitoring, examining evidence, and socratic questioning, to help clients change their thinking.

9) Discuss individual counseling process.

Individual counseling process involves establishing a relationship with the client, problem identification and exploration, planning for problem-solving, and solution application and termination.

• The core of the process is the relationship established between the counselor and client.
• The counselor aims to meet the client's needs by helping them take responsibility for their problems and solutions.

10) How problem identification and exploration is take place in this process?

Problem identification and exploration in individual counseling occur after establishing a relationship.

• The counselor uses communication skills to identify and reflect the client’s feelings and concerns.
• The counselor asks questions to help the client explore their concerns, avoiding questions that may embarrass or threaten the client.
• The goal is to understand the nature and causes of the problem and gather relevant information.
• This may include using standardized tests to diagnose the problem.

11) Describe the group counseling process.

Group counseling provides a forum for individuals to make changes in their lives by interacting with peers who may share similar concerns.

It allows members to be open about their problems, test solutions, and learn new behaviors.

12) Elucidate the process of establishing the group.

The process of establishing a group involves orienting members to the group's format and processes, clarifying practical considerations, and initiating relationships among participants.

The counselor also uses this time to answer questions and set a positive group climate.

13) What are the methods to ensure productivity in a group?

Productivity in a group is ensured by clarifying individual and group concerns, examining possible solutions, and employing chosen solutions to achieve desired outcomes.

• Members make decisions and take ownership of the problem and solution.
• During this phase, members become more deeply committed to the group and ready to reveal more of themselves and their problems.

14) Differentiate between individual and group counseling processes.

Individual counseling is a one-to-one relationship marked by intimacy, warmth, and rapport.

• Group counseling involves multiple members and provides opportunities for mutual support and shared experiences.
• In group counseling, members can receive and give help to others, whereas in individual counseling, the focus is primarily on the client.
• The counselor's task is more complex in group counseling due to group dynamics.

15) What are the learning principles on which behavioural approach is based? Describe the various behavioural techniques briefly.

Behavioural approach is based on learning principles such as classical and operant conditioning.