Characteristics Of Professional Counseling Specialists

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.

Tolerance is key in helping clients recover. During practice, counselors are likely to come in contact with variable clients. Some want to keep talking and need to listen all the time. Others keep going back to original habits yet require you to start the psychological process again every time they fall. For this reason, specialists must be highly tolerant. Making a positive progress takes time. Therefore, give patients enough time to recover and celebrate small milestones every time it happens.

Notably, psycho-social cases vary which is why patients are different. All the same, therapists should accept them with their weaknesses. Show compassion towards their problems and let them feel you care. Normally, most are handled indifferently by society including close family members which should be different as a therapist. Being too judgmental and criticizing imperfections will prolong healing process or lead to worse cases.

Build lasting relationships with clients. Somehow, with time, relationship changes from a doctor-patient to friends. This is important in building trust among patients. A therapist should be approachable. To establish a rapport, counselors ought to stop emphasizing on problems of clients but listen to personal needs. Encourage them to freely express themselves before you.

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.

By putting themselves in the shoes of victims, counselors are able to treat mental cases easily. This is referred to as empathy. Empathetic counselors understand the perspective of their clients and suggest solutions based on that. Specialists do not enforce own arguments without trying to comprehend why victims behave in a given manner.

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.




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