The skills and qualities of effective/ professional counselor

Qualities of professional counselor

The professional counsellor

The term professional counsellor distinguishes the professional

from those who may use the title counsellor in conjunction with

another primary occupation (e.g., loan counsellor, sales counsellor,

investment counsellor, and such). Professionals are full-time active

representatives of their profession. They accept the responsibilities

of professionalism. For the professional counsellor, these

responsibilities include the following.

1. Professional counsellors must become fully trained and qualified

to meet the needs of the client population they elect or are

designated to serve. Training requires an appropriate graduate level

(master’s degree at least) program that leads to an understanding

and awareness of the systematic theories guiding professional

practice.

2. Professional counsellors actively seek and obtain the

certification or licensure appropriate to their training, background,

and practice setting.

3. Professional counsellors need to be professionally and personally

committed to constantly updating and upgrading their skills and

knowledge to reflect the latest and ongoing progress in their

professional field.

4. Professional counsellors are aware of and contribute to the

advancement of the profession by conducting and participating in

research studies designed to increase knowledge for the profession.

In addition, they ensure the dissemination of such studies to the

profession through professional writings and program presentations

at professional meetings.

5. Professional counsellors are active participating members of

appropriate professional organizations at all levels (national,

regional, state, local).

6. Professional counsellors are aware of and adhere to all legal and

ethical guidelines pertaining to the profession and the practice of

counselling. Note that in most states the use of the title counsellor

is protected by law.

PORTRAIT OF AN EFFECTIVE/ PROFESSIUONAL COUNSELLOR

The three aspects by which an effective counsellor can be

distinguished from ineffective ones are experience, type of

relationship established and non-intellective factors.

Experience —Fiedler’s (1950,1951) studies reveal that counsellors

who are well trained agree with each other about their concept of

an ideal therapeutic relationship. According to Rogers (1962) also,

more experienced counsellors offer more congruence and empathy,

and they are more successful in communicating with their clients.

Type of counselling relationship—The ability to communicate and

understand their clients, maintain an appropriate emotional distance

and divest themselves of status concerns regarding their clients

characterizes efficient counsellors (Fiedler, 1950, 1951).

Non-intellective factors — The effective counsellor exhibits

tolerance for ambiguity, understanding (of the client), maturity, and

ability to establish good social relationships with clients and nonclients.

Wicas and Mahan (1966) found that ‘high rated’

counsellors were anxious, sensitive to the expectations of others

and society, patient and non-aggressive in inter-personal

relationships and showed appropriate self-control.

QUALITIES/ CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE COUNSELLOR

A counselor’s personality is a crucial ingredient in determining the effectiveness of counseling. The skills
needed for effective counseling are non-negotiable and not open to compromise: all are necessary and
when understood and internalised, form the value base for our profession.

Effective counselling requires an understanding of self and a detailed awareness of the impact of oneself
on others.

A counselor needs to be equipped with advanced listening skills. They must be able to recognise the
various levels of empathy of their responses, (i.e. reflecting an accurate understanding of the feeling
being expressed by the client). It is necessary to develop the ability to listen with an open mind, to
refrain from judgmental responses and to actively check with the client that the understanding of the
feelings being expressed is correct.

Counselling demands a process of negotiation and problem solving. A clear goal needs to be set so that
the client is able to take appropriate action in their own life space and also to take responsibility for the
consequences of their action.

Self disclosure is a powerful tool that can be used by an effective communicator but when it is used
within the constraints of the therapeutic encounter it needs to be done with considerable care.

An understanding of the complexity of communication is a basic foundation within the development of

an effective counselling framework. An ability to read, interpret and respond non-verbally is critical. The
use of conscious use of paralinguistic signals, postures and gestures to pace a distressed client for a
sense of greater emotional self-control are just some examples of skills required.

Counselling will generally use a conversational style. As Eric Berne pointed out there is plenty left if you
remove the solemn face and the big words. Counselors need not be afraid of ordinariness.

The effective counsellor requires the skills of assertiveness and the ability to confront a client when it is
therapeutically appropriate. Counsellors must be competent in their communication to be credible and
must be able to self- monitor – they must have the ability to concentrate their messages so that they are
immediate i.e. they relate to the here and now) and refer to concrete interpersonal issues.

He or she has an internal source of motivation and drive and seeks growth instead of external approval.

Counselors must recognise the impact of their own personal values, attitudes and self- esteem. The
effective counsellor must develop and use the ability to model his or her behaviour for the client; this is
one of the most potent media for personal growth and change. This brings us to the all important
question of values.
Confidentiality is the key of successful counseling. The ability to uphold a therapist-patient relationship
in which you do not talk about your clients outside of your office or in a professional setting with your
colleagues is required as a practicing counselor. The American Counseling Association reminds that
“clients must be able to trust the counselor and have faith in the therapeutic relationship if growth is to
occur . . . the counselor must take care neither to threaten the therapeutic relationship nor to leave
obligations unfulfilled.”

The little time you spend with your client each week should allow him to feel he can express his
concerns and feelings without reservation. Whether you are in school training towards your degree or
you are running a private practice, you should always respect your client’s privacy as if it were your own.

Empathy allows you to see the situation from the other person’s view. It provides a grounding effect on
the plan of action, ensuring that it is feasible and achievable from the perspectives of the employer and
employee.

Counselors achieve credibility by being honest and consistent in their statements and actions.

Counselors take risks everyday and face rejection by their clients or face clients or situations they may
not be prepared to face.

He or she is not racist and does not discriminate against others who are different from himself or
herself.

He or she is not ego-centered but chooses to help others out of concern for others and not for
glorification of the self.

Training and Educational Qualifications of a Counselor

Education and training requirements for counselors are often very detailed in the Western countries and
vary by State and specialty, but a master’s degree usually is required to become a licensed counselor.
Prospective counselors should check with State and local governments, prospective employers, and
national voluntary certification organisations to determine which requirements apply.

1.4.2 Education and Training

Education requirements vary with the occupational specialty and State licensure and certification
requirements. A master’s degree usually is required to be licensed or certified as a counselor. Counselor
education programs in colleges and universities often are found in departments of education,
psychology, or human services. Fields of study may include college student affairs, elementary or
secondary school counseling, education, gerontological counseling, marriage and family therapy,
substance abuse or addictions counseling, rehabilitation counseling, agency or community counseling,
clinical mental health counseling, career counseling, and related fields. Courses frequently are grouped
into core areas, including human growth and development, social and cultural diversity, relationships,
group work, career development, counseling techniques, assessment, research and program evaluation,
and professional ethics and identity. In an accredited master’s degree program, 48 to 60 semester hours
of graduate study, including a period of supervised clinical experience in counseling, typically are
required. Some employers provide training for newly hired counselors. Others may offer time off or
tuition assistance to complete a graduate degree. Often, counselors must participate in graduate
studies, workshops, and personal studies to maintain their certificates and licenses. The processes
involved in the training of counselors are given below: 1) Ability to explain the micro skills. 2)
Demonstrate the skills involved in commencing the counselling process. 3) Evaluation of non verbal
responses and minimal responses. 4) Demonstrate reflection of content, feeling. 5) Demostrate the
appropriateness of both content and feeling in the counselling process. 6) Develop different questioning
techniques. 7) Understand risks involved with some types of questioning. 8) Show how to use various
micro skills including summarising, confrontation, and reframing. 9) Demonstrate self destructive beliefs
and show methods of challenging them, including normalising. 10) Explain how counselling a client can
improve their psychological well-being through making choices, overcoming psychological blocks and
facilitating actions. 11) Demonstrate effective ways of terminating a counselling session and to explain
ways of addressing dependency. As for the student trainees 1) They have to report on an observed
counselling session, simulated or real. 2) Identify the learning methods available to the trainee
counsellor. 3) Demonstrate difficulties that might arise when first learning and applying micro skills. 4)
Identify why trainee counsellors might be unwilling to disclose personal problems during training. 5)
Identify risks that can arise for trainee counsellors not willing to disclose personal problems. 6) Discuss
different approaches to modelling, as a form of counselling . 7) Evaluate verbal and non verbal
communication in an observed interview. 8) Identify the counsellor’s primary role (in a generic sense). 9)
Show how to use minimal responses as an important means of listening with intent. 10) Explain the
importance of different types of non verbal response in the counselling procedure. 11) Report on the
discussion of a minor problem with an anonymous person which that problem relates to. 12) Identify an
example of paraphrasing as a minimal response to reflect feelings. 13) Discuss the use of paraphrasing in
counselling. 14) Differentiate catharsis from confused thoughts and feelings. 15) Identify an example of
reflecting back both content (thought) and feeling in the same phrase. 16) Demonstrate/observe varying
responses to a variety of closed questions in a simulated counselling situation. 17) Demonstrate/observe
varying responses to a variety of open questions in a simulated counselling situation. 18) Compare
student’s use of open and closed questions in a counselling situation. 19) Student should identify the
main risks involved in asking too many questions. 20) Learn to explain the importance of avoiding
questions beginning with ‘why’ in counselling. 21) Identify in observed communication (written or oral),
the application of different micro skills which would be useful in counselling. 22) The student should
demonstrate examples of when it would be appropriate for the counsellor to use confrontation. 23) List
the chief elements of good confrontation and discuss appropriate use of confrontation, in case studies.
24) The student should show how reframing can be used to change a client’s perspective on things. 25)
The student must develop a method for identifying the existence of self destructive beliefs (SDB’s) and
identify self destructive beliefs (SDB’s) amongst individuals within a group. They should be able to
explain the existence of self destructive beliefs in an individual. They should be able to list methods that
can be used to challenge SDB’s. 26) Explain what is meant by normalising, in a case study. Be able to
demonstrate precautions that should be observed when using normalising. 27) The student should be
able to determine optional responses to different dilemmas and evaluate those optional responses to
different dilemmas. 28) The student should develop the ability to explain how the ‘circle of awareness’
can be applied to assist a client, in a case study. 29) Explain why psychological blockages may arise, and
demonstrate how a counsellor might help a client to overcome psychological blockages. 30) Describe
the steps a counsellor would take a client through to reach a desired goal, in a case study. 31) The
student should be able to identify inter dependency in observed relationships and explain why good
time management is an important part of counseling. 32) The student should know the difference
between terminating a session and terminating the counseling process and be able to compare the
same. 33) Demonstrate dangers posed by client counsellor inter-dependency and explain how
dependency can be addressed and potentially overcome. Also the student should explain any negative
aspects of dependency in a case study. The students will gain a range of skills and knowledge necessary
to apply counselling concepts to a range of situations as given below: • Family support services • NGOs •
Government agencies • Community Health centers • Outreach services • Women health centers •
Counselling young people and children. • Issues in family therapy • Substance abuse: alcohol and drugs
counselling • The elderly. Death and bereavement counselling • Counselling at work Some of skills that
the students will learn in the process include Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Counselling clients with
AIDS.

1.4.3 Licensure

Licensure requirements differ greatly by State, occupational specialty, and work setting. Some States
require school counselors to hold a State school counseling certification and to have completed at least
some graduate coursework; most require the completion of a master’s degree. Some States require
school counselors to be licensed, which generally entails completing continuing education credits. Some
States require public school counselors to have both counseling and teaching certificates and to have
had some teaching experience. Counselors working in certain settings or in a particular specialty may
face different licensure requirements. For example, a career counselor working in private practice may
need a license, but a counselor working for a college career center may not. In addition, substance
abuse and behaviour disorder counselors generally are governed by a different State agency or board
than are other counselors. The criteria for their licensure can vary greatly, and in some cases these
counselors may need only a high school diploma and certification. Those interested in entering the field
must research State and specialty requirements to determine what qualifications are necessary.

There are six personal characteristics that are critical for good

counsellors and should be improved upon continually. These

include having good interpersonal skills and being trustworthy,

flexible, hopeful/optimistic, culturally sensitive, and self-aware.

1. Interpersonal skills

Counsellors must be able to express themselves clearly and

effectively. It is important not only to be able to educate clients

about therapeutic topics, but also to gauge the client’s

understanding at any given time. Counsellors should be able to

sense what clients are thinking and feeling and relate to them by

showing warmth, acceptance, and empathy are cornerstones of

effective therapy.

2. Trust

Counsellors must be able to communicate verbally and nonverbally

that they are trustworthy. Clients need to feel comfortable sharing private, confidential information and
parts of themselves that are often entirely unknown by others. Having faith in the quality of the

relationship and the confidentiality of what is disclosed leads to a

deeper connection with the therapist.

3. Flexibility

A good counsellor will create a meaningful treatment plan that is

individualized for each client. This means the counsellor should not

follow a rigid schedule of treatment or have a “one size fits all”

approach.

Prochaska and Norcross (2001) found that some treatments are

better than others for specific types of disorders. Matching the

treatment to the client’s stage of readiness is the most effective way

to implement therapeutic techniques. Additionally, counsellors

need to be able to adapt and change course if treatment is not

working for the client.

4. Hope and optimism

Effective counsellors can find a balance between realism and hope.

A good counsellor will set realistic goals that engage the client and

inspire a more optimistic outlook. As attainable goals are reached,

clients will develop a sense of resilience and confidence that can

help in all areas of life. These traits are why positive psychology is

such an effective method of improving emotional health.

5. Multicultural sensitivity

The American Psychological Association recommends that

therapists adapt treatment to a client’s cultural values and show

respect for differences, beliefs, and attitudes. When working with

clients, it is important to be educated and sensitive to issues of race,

gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, and cultural

background.

6. Self-awareness

An effective counsellor can separate personal issues from those of

the client. Countertransference is a phenomenon described by

Freud where issues expressed by a client lead to an emotional

reaction of the therapist. When counsellors can identify and

manage responses to their own issues, they will be less likely to

react to them during sessions, and it will eliminate any detrimental

effects on therapy.

Part of self-awareness is the ability to know how much information

should be disclosed to clients. This will vary on a case-by-case basis, but professional boundaries,
personal insight, and the ability

to read others are integral parts of this.

10.3.1 PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

• An effective counsellor must possess some personality

characteristics groomed into him/ her, during developmental

process which no formal training can impart. Some of these are

altruism and desire to help; interest in human behaviour and

problems; Balanced self-esteem; Autonomous thinking and

decision making; Empathy and understanding; Patient listening;

communicability; Social responsibility; Good emotional control.

• Counsellor qualities are developed based on specialized education

and training based on ‘Supervised field training’

• Some of the additional qualities to personal characteristics can be

gained only through specialized training. Some of these can be

given as theory-based techniques; Individual or group counselling

approach; Working with specific areas like family and marriage

counselling, working addicts, victims of abuse and violence, crisis

intervention, working in disaster affected areas, etc.

• Counsellor qualities agreed upon by most professionals, for

Effectiveness of counselling process are Altruism, Empathy, Selfesteem,

Autonomy, Social Interest, Communicability, Social and

Interpersonal Skills, Patient Listening, Emotional Control,

responsibility action, reflection/missing ability, focusing,

Introspection, Insight fullness, Genuineness, Spontaneity, avoiding

dealing with counsellor burn-out.

• Effective and genuine counsellor are likely to face physical,

emotional and social draining out of energy as counselling for

human problems can be very demanding and exhausting. This state

of overall exhaustion is called a Burn-out state. Most practicing

counsellor’s own positive mental health, timely dealing for burnout

is

essential.

Some

such

effective

steps

to

avoid

counsellor

burnout

are:
Self-assessment

and introspection; awareness of stress symptoms;

changing environmental stressors; indulging in stress-reduction and

relaxation exercises like yoga and meditation; regular interaction

with healthy individuals; going through personal-therapy with

another expert therapist; taking time-off; Maintaining an attitude of

‘Detached concern’ toward client problems; Holding an attitude of

hope and optimism.

Skills of professional counselor

11.1 INTRODUCTION

Counselling, consists of a body of practices and skills concerning

the several counselling processes, for instance, interviewing, case

taking, choosing and administering tests, interpreting test results,

etc. The skills cannot be mastered by mere intellectual learning and

didactic understanding. What is vital is the acquisition of the skills

of empathizing, diagnosing, resolving conflicts, understanding

feelings, ideas, content, and a host of other subtle and sensitive

skills. This constitutes training.

Counselling efficiency is closely related to the quality of

Counsellor preparation and training. The more carefully the

programmes are drawn, the better is the Counsellor service. It is

sometimes argued that counselling skills are inborn rather than

acquired. This kind of thinking is based on the notion that

Counselling is an art and not a science. There is no gainsaying the

fact that Counselling is both an art and a science.

Individuals who are engaged in professional activities must face

three basic issues concerning

(1) the procedures of selection and the training of prospective

entrants,

(2) academic preparation to reach a level of professional standing

about the necessary knowledge and the understanding of the

principles and dynamics of human growth, motivation, adjustment

and coping mechanisms

(3) methods of analysis and synthesis and the appropriate

application of the acquired skills.

The primarily of the professional considerations are, therefore,

equipping prospective Counsellors with the necessary skills and

adequate knowledge. With the progressive growth of knowledge

and an increasing understanding of natural phenomena, what is

known and acclaimed as the latest is likely to become obsolescent

as soon as new knowledge and techniques are known. Professional

training and skills by their very nature need constant revision and updating This brings home the
related issue, namely, the question of

differential service or various kinds of services to be provided to

clients who differ in age, sex, experience occupation, etc. Similarly,

clients could differ about the type of problems they have and the

kind of service they require. Consideration of these issues suggests

that training should not be of an omnibus type. There could be

various levels of training:

1. A basic or general type of training.

2. Training for different specializations depending on the areas or

groups or situations in which the trainees will be called upon to

serve.
11.2 COUNSELLOR’S SKILLS

11.2.1 BUILDING TRUST/RAPPORT

The relationship between a counsellor and a client has a unique and

extremely specific meaning. The effectiveness of counselling

depends on this counselling relationship. Hence building a

relationship with the client or commonly known as rapport building

is especially important that will determine the continuation of client

with counselling process.

Shertzer and Stone (1968) define rapport as an essential condition

for a comfortable and unconditional relationship between the

counsellor and counsellee. Rapport means interest, responsiveness

and sensitive emotional involvement. Taking the counsellee’s

needs, moods and conflicts into consideration the counsellor

establishes rapport. For the establishment of good rapport there is

need for counsellor skills and abilities, such as versatility,

flexibility and reliability. Maintaining the rapport formed is a

continuous process throughout counselling. Establishment of

rapport helps in building trust and confidence on the counsellor.

This is required so that the client becomes open and shares with the

counsellor who can then reach out to the client and understand

her/his concerns effectively. Rapport building is considered as the

foundation of counselling. The client can connect with the

counsellor if she/he feels comfortable enough to open and talk to

the counsellor about the issues or challenges. Hence it is the first

requirement in the establishment of a counselling relationship

without which counselling cannot progress. Rapport building helps in creating a psychologically safe
and secure environment and a

trusting relationship between the counsellor and the client.

11.2.2 ACTIVE LISTENING

Active listening is engaged listening when you are listening for

meaning and understanding. Active listening is quite different from

passive. It requires listening to thoughts, feelings, and non-verbal

messages. The counsellor says extraordinarily little but conveys an

interest in what the client is talking. The counsellor speaks in

between to clarify and paraphrase to communicate if client has

been correctly heard and understood.

Since counselling is a conversation or dialogue between the

counsellor and client, the counsellor needs certain

communication skills in order to facilitate change. The

counsellor needs the basic communication skills to do effective

counselling.

Active listening means using a set of skills that encourage the

person counsellor are listening to talk, to help them feel heard and

understood. It is called ‘active’ because counsellor intentionally do

things to help them feel able to talk, and because counsellor engage

with all your attention on what the speaker is saying, how they are

acting, and how they are feeling. Active listening happens when

you ‘listen for meaning.’ The listener says very little but

conveys empathy, acceptance and genuineness. The listener

only speaks to find out if a statement (or two or twenty) has

been correctly heard and understood.

Some active listening skills are -

• Using minimal encouragers - small signals or words that let the

speaker know you are listening and understanding words like

‘uh-huh’, ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘mmm’, and little actions like nodding that

show you are engaged in listening.

• Using open body language - helping make the speaker feel

comfortable and safe with you.

• Repeating back some of the speaker’s words, or a phrase, to help

prompt them to say more.

• Paraphrasing - putting what the speaker says into your own

words.

• Summarizing - putting in a nutshell, in a sentence or two,

what the speaker has been talking about over an extended period.

• Mirroring the speaker - adopting aspects of their body

language, voice tone and language to develop rapport and help

them feel more at ease.

• Reflecting - picking up on the speaker’s feeling or mood

and feeding your perceptions back to them.

• Using silence - so that the speaker has a respectful space to stay

with their feelings and to work up to what they want to say.

• Questioning skills - when and how to use questions to help the

speaker to open up and tell you more.

Since counselling is a conversation or dialogue between the

counsellor and client, the counsellor needs certain communication

skills to facilitate change. The counsellor needs the basic

communication skills to do effective counselling. Active listening

means using a set of skills that encourage the person counsellor are

listening to talk, to help them feel heard and understood. It is called

‘active’ because counsellor intentionally do things to help them feel

able to talk, and because counsellor engage with all your attention

on what the speaker is saying, how they are acting, and how they

are feeling. Active listening happens when you ‘listen for

meaning.’ The listener says extraordinarily little but conveys

empathy, acceptance and genuineness. The listener only speaks to

find out if a statement (or two or twenty) has been correctly heard

and understood. Some active listening skills are –

• Using minimal encouragers - small signals or words that let the

speaker know you are listening and understanding - words like

‘uh-huh,’ ‘yes,’ ‘no,’ ‘mmm,’ and little actions like nodding

that show you are engaged in listening.

• Using open body language - helping make the speaker feel

comfortable and safe with you.

• Repeating back some of the speaker’s words, or a phrase, to

help prompt them to say more.

• Paraphrasing - putting what the speaker says into your own

words.

• Summarizing - putting briefly, in a sentence or two, what the speaker has been talking about over an
extended period. • Mirroring the speaker - adopting aspects of their body

language, voice tone and language to develop rapport and help

them feel more at ease.

• Reflecting - noticing the speaker’s feeling or mood and feeding

your perceptions back to them.

• Using silence - so that the speaker has a respectful space to stay

with their feelings and to work up to what they want to say.

• Questioning skills - when and how to use questions to help the

speaker to open and tell you more.

11.2.3 ATTENDING SKILLS

Attending skills means being physically and psychologically with

the client. Some of the non-verbal behaviours useful in attending to

clients have been summarised by the acronym SOLER by Gerald

Egan in his book, The Skilled Helper (1994). This includes:

• S- Sitting squarely facing the client. Counsellor should sit

attentively at an angle to the person, so that s/he look at them

directly and show that they are listening to them and paying

attention to them. Turning to sides lessens one’s involvement.

• O- Have an open posture. Crossing arms and legs can make

counsellor look anxious or defensive and can be a sign of less

involvement.

• L-Lean forwards/towards the client slightly to show that

counsellor is interested in what the client is sharing or talking

about.

• E- Maintaining eye contact shows that counsellor is interested

and listening to what the client has to say. It is different from

staring at the client which can make them feel uncomfortable.

Maintaining good, positive eye contact means looking at the

client directly and not fiddling with mobile, watch or busy with

writing/or any other task. Counsellor can also shift the eye gaze

briefly if the client is not extremely comfortable. One needs to

be careful and understand that there can be cultural/gender

differences in making eye contact.

• R- Keep relaxed body language. This helps the client to

perceive the counsellor as confident and relaxed. The client see

that the counsellor is not in a hurry to get away and are

allowing the client to talk at their own pace.

Observational skills

Observation skills are very crucial for the counsellor as it helps to

observe client. There are four specific areas which needs to be

focused for observation: body position, postures and gestures,

grooming and nonverbal expressions (body language). Body

language of the client includes our facial expressions, angle of our

body, proximity of ourselves to another, positioning of arms and

legs, etc. Observe how much can be communicated or expressed by

raising and lowering your eyebrows. Make sure you observe the

client objectively i.e., observing the client as a person without

counsellor’s own biases or prejudices. Counsellors need to monitor

the Tone of the voice. As it is required to monitor one’s body

language to help understand beyond what is said, similarly, it is

important to pay more attention to ‘how it is said’ rather than ‘what

is said.’

11.2.5 EMPATHY

Empathy is the ability to recognize and relate to other

people’s emotions and thoughts. Empathic thinking is often

characterized as the willingness and ability to place oneself in

another person’s situation, to feel another person’s feelings, or

to recognize that another person might experience feelings in

the same way as oneself. Empathy on the part of the therapist

for those in therapy is also an important characteristic of

therapeutic relationship.

Empathy in counselling is about the counsellor seeing the client’s

world as they see it. Empathy is to respectfully perceive what the

client is bringing from their frame of reference and to communicate

that back in a way that makes the client feel they have been

understood. The empathic circle is only complete when the

counsellor can communicate her understanding back, in such a way

that the client feels they have been heard and understood.

Empathy vs Sympathy

Sympathy is different from empathy.

Sympathy means we feel sorry for someone, and empathy means

we try to fully understand how it feels for that person. Feeling sorry

for a person is not therapeutically useful, but empathy is as it shows

the person, we utterly understand what they are going through.

Empathy is perception. For empathy in counselling to be effective,

we need to perceive what it is that the client is bringing, and to

communicate that back in a way that makes the client feel they

have been understood. Perception without being able to

communicate back your understanding is ineffective and does not

build an empathic connection.

Role of empathy in therapy

Empathy is considered essential to therapy because for any

therapeutic tactic to work, the therapist must make the person in

treatment feel understood. To do this, the therapist must not

only understand what a person says in a therapy session but also

understand what the person is not saying and communicate this

understanding. Therapists who are highly empathic can help

people in treatment face past experiences and obtain a greater

understanding of both the experience and feelings surrounding

it.

THE SETTING

It is the clinician's responsibility to provide the patient with a comfortable

pleasant atmosphere in which to talk about his problems, concerns and

aspirations. Special measures must be taken in order to generate an

atmosphere conducive to an open, self-disclosing interview. A

private room, preferably a corner in a large conference or recreation

room, where one can arrange to be undisturbed by patients, staff and

visitors is highly desirable. The aesthetics of the interviewing room

should convey a professional atmosphere of comfort and security. The

purpose of the interview is to help the clients and patients to reveal

themselves so that the interviewer can understand them. Interviewing

the patient by sitting behind a desk not only destroys the conversational

mood but also inhibits a full view of the patient. Generally the best arrangement is to fit facing the
patient with both participants in chairs

that are approximately the same height.

Attention should also be paid to other aspects of the environment, such

as ventilation, lightening etc. in addition, the room should be relatively

quiet and the clinician should arrange to be undisturbed during the

interview. It is difficult to convey a feeling of confidentiality if other people

are coming in and out during the interview or if telephone calls

constantly interrupt.