TITLE Clientele and audiences in counseling and settings, processes,

methods, and tools in counseling

OVERVIEW This lesson will learn the needs and appropriate interventions
when attending to various kinds of clientele, presents the
various social settings where counselors are needed to
illustrate the different processes and methods involved in
carrying out counseling process in these settings. It will also
discuss the different services a professional counselor
provides, the counseling processes, and the various
counseling methods to choose from in order to address
specific needs.
CONTENT STANDARD The learners demonstrate an understanding of clientele and
audiences in counseling and settings, processes, methods, and
tools in counseling

PERFORMANCE The learners shall be able to:

STANDARD 1. use acceptable research protocols, conduct a survey among
young adults (i.e., ages 18–21) on their counseling needs
2. using the results of the survey conducted, critically
evaluate whether the needs of the respondents are addressed
by the practitioners and pertinent institutions propose
suggestions on how needs can be effectively addressed.
OBJECTIVES At the end of this lesson, the learner is expected to:
1. describe the clientele of counseling
2. illustrate the different processes and methods involved in
counseling
3. distinguish the needs of individuals, groups, organizations,
and communities

DISCUSSION OF THE TOPIC:

Counseling and Its Clientele and Audience

-the clientele and audiences of the counseling profession come from different
settings. Counselors deal with a mixture of people with different concerns and
issues.

 People who abuse drugs- drug abuse is not just harmful to our physical
health but to our mental health as well. It cannot be denied that the drug
addiction create more social problems and contribute to social
disintegration. Consequently, more youth victims cry for help and seek for

Page 1 of 8
 counselor’s attention.
 People who use Tobacco- slowly our population recognizes the bad
effects of tobacco to our health. However, many people still use and
continue use tobacco even if it is deadly. Users find it difficult to stop
smoking. Hence smokers who desire to quit tobacco were added to the list
of the counselor’s audience.
 People who abuse alcohol- alcoholism is seen as a disease alcoholics find
it difficult to stop drinking on their own. This requires help from a
professional as it requires appropriate treatment. However, an equally
important paradigm is to look at alcoholism as weakness of self-control
and self-discipline, therefore this requires intervention other than
treatment.
 Women- most men still have less participation in household
responsibilities and child care. In this case, women’s advancement is
constrained. What complicates this situation is the women’s perception
about themselves and the society’s expectations. Counselors are
responsible in helping women appreciate their own values, abilities,
aptitudes, and interests and to utilize these to develop their full potential
(Gibson an Mitchel, 2003)
 Older Adults- a transition from a busy life to retirement stage must be
instituted. This is a challenge to the counseling profession, other issues
that require attention of counseling include loss of a partner, decline of
mental capacity and mobility, increased loneliness, decline in financial
security etc.
 People with AIDS- acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) has
been labelled as the most feared disease due to its incurability. Victims of
this disease are seeking help to improve their quality of life and to handle
their emotional stress and low self-esteem.
 Victims of Abuse- this population represents victims of domestic violence
characterized by spouse and child abuses. Spouse abuse is often
associated with poverty, drug abuse and career disappointments. The
abuse has also become rampant and has caused psychological damage to
the victims.
 Gay men and Lesbian Women- they are usually the victims of harassment,
violence, discrimination, and isolation. Gays and lesbians, like other
sectors of the society, suffer from peer denial, family clash, health
uncertainties and prejudgment. Counseling will focus on self-awareness,
self-acceptance and understanding.

Page 2 of 8
Counseling and Its Work settings

-there are some of the settings where professional counselors provide services:

1. Government setting- guidance counselors in the government sector usually

work in collaboration with the social workers. They provide counseling and
other guidance services to individuals referred by government agencies to
address the clientele’s socio-emotional needs. Example, (DSWD) this
government sector responds to the needs of children who were abandoned by
their parents.

2. Private Practice- guidance counselors may also have either part-time or

full-time private practice. They may practice as an individual or in partnership
with other groups. In private practice, counselors may also enter in either
general practice, where they provide the usual guidance services, or
specialized service, where they may devote themselves in specialized
counseling that addresses concerns such as addiction, abuse, or crisis.

3. Civil Society- means the general population or the public, which may
include municipalities. Example: professional counselors who work in this
setting are pastoral counselors, or those who work in parishes and churches.
They provide counseling services to individuals with concerns relevant to
issues of morality or spiritual concerns.

4. Schools- provide programs and services that address the cognitive, social,
emotional, moral and spiritual needs of students. Aside from this, counselors
provide activities to help students cope with their academic requirements and
challenges. They also guide the students to plan their future career goals in
terms of course to take in tertiary level.

5. Community- includes a group of people in a certain place or area.

Counselors in the community setting deal with diverse groups and a number
of societal concerns ranging from developmental needs to crises requiring
immediate attention.it addresses crises such as suicidal tendencies of a
referred individual or drug dependency of either an individual or a group.

Counseling Processes

Stage 1: Establishing As a counselor, you have to bear in mind that

rapport with the client clients need to feel respected, accepted, and
listened to. The counselor should present an
inviting therapeutic environment, which can
only be created by demonstrating acceptance
Page 3 of 8
 and empathy, characterized by warmth.
Stage 2: Assessment Careful assessment should be done in order to
accurately pinpoint the real cause of problems.
Assessment includes data gathering methods
such as interviews, behavioral observations,
psychological tests, mental health status, and
other empirically validated instruments such as
psychological tests. All the gathered information
will be integrated and used to formulate a case
summary.
Stage 3: Treatment It should be a product of collaboration between
planning or formulation the counselor and client. This requires the
of counseling goals client’s active participation in generating the
goals of the sessions or what is called
therapeutic goals. Treatment plan is tailored to
respond to the client’s specific needs, where the
counselor presents options and the client
chooses according to his/her deemed primary
concerns. The therapeutic goals must be
optimistic, realistic, and achievable.
Stage 4: Intervention The counselors guide the counselee in aligning
and Problem-solving the intervention with the identified counseling
goals. Counseling interventions are used to
assist the client in gaining insight about his/her
situation and, eventually, take the appropriate
actions that will facilitate change and improve
the quality of his/her life.
Stage 5: Evaluation Implemented interventions and its outcomes are
evaluated in terms of accomplishments of
agreed goals. One form of evaluation is
formative evaluation, which is consistently
conducted throughout the counseling process.
This monitors the effectiveness of the
implemented intervention. Another method of
evaluating the counseling process is summative
evaluation.
Stage 6: Termination The counseling process is terminated after the
outcomes are evaluated and the counselors and
the counselee have mutually agreed that goals
have been achieved. It provides a sense of
Page 4 of 8
 closure for the both the counselee and the
counselor. Preparations for termination include
promoting the client’s independence and
responsibility, assisting them to identify their
problems, teaching them to plan for future
situations, and helping them set up long-term
goals.

Counseling Methods

1. Brief Counseling Approach- this is popularly known as “solution-focused

brief counseling” (SFBC)proposes that (1) when clients concentrate on
success, it will lead to positive change; (2) by determining moments or
occasions when symptoms do not occur, clients are given the opportunity to
generate solutions; (3) clients must trust that small positive changes can
facilitate bigger changes; (4) all clients have the capacity to solve their
problems particularly during the absence of symptoms; and (5) clients must
identify goals that are positive and measurable.

a. 1. Scaling. Scaling quickly assesses or gauges the client’s progress. It

simply presents the client a 10-point (or 100-(or 100-point) continuum where
he/she is asked to rate a particular concern.

b. 2. Exceptions. A counselor explores situations or moments when the

problem was not occurring. SFBC comes from the assumption that all
concerns have exclusions, which are moments that can be used to generate
possible solutions, sources of strengths, and personal resources.

c. . Miracle Question. This technique shifts from a problem-focused way of

dealing with other difficulties to a solution-focused one. It prompts clients to
think of what they really want and what this entails to do so, or what is needed
to do what he/she wants.

2. Adlerian or Psychodynamic Approach-is to recognize and understand the

objective reasons for one’s experiences. These reasons may different from the
perspective of the client or how the clients view their lives.

a. I-Messages. This technique, sometime called responsibility messages

(Gordon, 1974), prods the client to take responsibility for his/her feelings,
behaviors, or attitudes (Doyle, 1998). Acknowledgment of one’s responsibility
allows for an expression of the other person or the other party’s side, thus
facilitating an open and respectful communication.
Page 5 of 8
a. Acting As If. Facilitates change not only in the client’s perception about a
particular experience but also in improving his/her actions or behaviors.
Having such change perspective leads to increased functioning. It was
believed that people act as if what they believe is true, yet it has always been
proven that not everything we believe in ourselves is real.

b. . Mutual Storytelling. It uses allegories or metaphors related to the client’s

life stories that will bring about insights or lessons. In preparing the mutual
storytelling technique, the counselor must have already established a
therapeutic relationship with the counselee (in this case, usually a child) and
have already understood the counselee’s personal background.

3. Gestalt Approach-is a German word means “a structured, meaningful

unity that stands out against a background in the organism/environment field”.
This suggests that this approach focuses on present moment experiences,
existential meaning, interpersonal relationships, and integration of the whole
person.

a. Empty Chair. It aims to help the counselee to play what he/she would
likely to say or to act toward another person. The counselee, consequently,
would also be asked to play what the other person would say to or act toward
him/her.

b. Body Movement and Exaggeration. It is used to increase the client’s self-

awareness regarding the nonverbal messages that he/she is sending to others,
expressed in his/her body language. The counselor takes note of the nonverbal
cue and asks the client to express this nonverbal cue through an exaggerated
movement.

c. Role Reversal. It is used when the counselor believes that the behavior that
the client displays is the reversal of what he/she actually and truly feels. By
taking the reverse role (which causes anxiety to the client), the client sees the
situation from a perspective other than his/her own.

4. Social Learning Approach- suggests that clients learn to do their tasks and
behaviors by simply observing and imitating others.

a. Modeling. Is also known as imitation, identification, observational

learning, and vicarious learning (Hackney and Cornier, 2015). It emphasizes
that an individual’s behaviors are learned from observing a model or someone
whom we see around by imitating their behaviors.

b. Behavioral Rehearsal. It is a form of role play wherein the client learns a

Page 6 of 8
new type of behavior such as manner of speaking that he/she can use in
response to certain situations and to people around him/her.

c. Role-play. Is used by counselors to facilitate the clients’ understanding of

or change within, themselves (Gilliland and James, 1998). In most role-plays,
the client re-enacts oneself, another person, a set of circumstances, or one’s
reactions.

5. Cognitive Approach- this approach believes that clients improve their

situations by perceiving and thinking about problems and solutions through
different perspective or by seeing the situation from different lenses.

A. Self-talk- is like a pep-talk by the client to himself or herself. The client

will be asked to repeatedly state a helpful, supportive phrase when
encountering a difficult situation.

b. Visual/ Guided Imagery- is used to help clients work through conflicts

and ease anxiety. The counselor can make use of a vivid mental picture of a
real or imagined experience, a pleasant scent, or a visualization of successfully
coping process.

c. Cognitive Restructuring. Is based on two basic assumptions that self-

defeating behaviors come from irrational or defective thoughts or self-
statements. This can be altered by changing these negative thoughts into
positive ones.

6. Behavioral Approach- it contends that learning happens when a particular

behavior is reinforced by the presence of a reward or discouraged by either
giving a punishment or removing a potential reward. Behaviors that are
rewarded tend to be performed more frequently.

a. Token Economy. It is a technique that you can use to yourself. You may
consult your guidance counselor for supervision but you can take the leap of
implementing this to yourself. This can be applicable for those who noticed
that they have been very fond already of their gadgets and may have missed
some quizzes or assignments due to lack of time because of playing too much
electronic games.

b. Time-out Technique. It is a form of negative punishment. This means all

positive reinforces are removed when an individual (in case, usually a chid)
demonstrates negative or deterrent behaviors. It has 3 types; (1) seclutionary,
where the child is sent out of the room for some time; (2) exclusionary, where
the child is removed from an activity; and (3) non- seclutionary , where the
Page 7 of 8
child remains inside the room, but I not allowed to participate in the activity.

c. Response Cost. It involves removing the positive stimulus to occurrences of

an unwanted behavior. This can be an effective way to reduce likelihood of
occurrences of negative behaviors. These are the steps; (1) identify the
specific behavior that you will target; (2) decide what the penalty or cost for
that behavior; and (3) inform the client of the cost or price of this behavior.

Page 8 of 8