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Introduction
Helping is a very important aspect of counseling. In the course of counseling, however, a counseling professional finds himself or herself in very conflicting situations whereby the counselors personal interests often clash with those of other people seeking help. This entails that counselors suppress a few of their needs or desires so that this does not clash with their line of duty. Such a sacrifice must however be done in an environment that does not in any way endanger their happiness.
The professional relationship that counseling establishes between the counselors and clients exists for the benefit of these clients. Although professionals have needed to be met, this should not take place at the expense of clients needs. To achieve such a noble goal, counselors must actively work towards expanding their own self-awareness as well as learn to recognize all areas of vulnerability and prejudice. It is the moral duty of every counselor to help others achieve the desired satisfaction in their lives. To understand and be able to help clients, counselors or therapists must however first have an understanding of their own feelings and emotions (Rao 2002, p.41).
Self-Exploration of the Helping Process
A helping profession can be defined as one which relies on specialized knowledge and applies such knowledge towards helping others to effectively cope with the paradoxes and dilemmas that are part of the human condition. Through skills, training, specialized knowledge, and an inward desire to comfort others, helping professionals are able to offer their services for the common good of others. When a client visits a counseling facility, he may not be certain about the nature or complexity of his problems or even about the specific type of help that he is seeking. It is therefore the duty of a counselor to help the client get a clear picture about such matters. Such an exchange also consists of the fact that the counselor must clearly outline the kind of help that he or she is ready to offer to the client (Rao 2002, p.41; Dryden & Reeves 2008, p.23).
Clients who visit counseling centers are often very discouraged and tend to function ineffectively mainly because of faulty values, goals that never matured or mistaken beliefs. In such an environment, counselors operate on a general assumption that their clients will behave and feel better if they are able to realize and rectify their basic mistakes. Besides physical handicaps and a clash of interests, human suffering can result in form ones own personality.
Inferiority and a sense of personal inadequacy often lead to a lack of self-confidence, little or no desire for achievement, and withdrawal. Psychological conflicts resulting from interests, goals, and values, among other factors cause a reduction in the zest for life and human enthusiasm. Counseling psychologists help to alleviate this suffering by creating a helping relationship with their clients and the counselor and counselee interaction is therefore considered a helping relationship (Rao 2002, p.41).
By helping others, counselors offer a listening ear and try to understand people who have probably been misunderstood by both family and friends. The counseling process begins a new relationship between counselor and client whose relational depth may help the client to change how he or she relates to him or herself. In such an environment, however, the client is the expert, and his or her skills, values, and needs among other factors form the materials that the counselor needs in the helping process. The counselor has to apply expertise to help the client organization as well as act upon whatever information or knowledge they have about themselves.
Counseling, therefore, aims at helping people to reach a stage of self-autonomy through self-direction, self-understanding, and self-motivation. It does not however have magical solutions to the clients problems. Because it cannot be everything to everyone, it is only concerned with helping individuals find workable and realistic solutions to problems facing them. The most important goal of counseling is, therefore, to reduce or eliminate anxiety by helping the client to overcome his or her inhibitions and make more meaningful decisions on their behalf and on behalf of others (Figler & Bolles 2007, pp.24-25; Rao 2002, pp.4, 68, 274).
As a counselor, it is also important to help a client identify and also articulate specific objectives for the counseling process. To initiate and structure the initial therapeutic relationship, a counselor must carry out a serious assessment of the clients distress through experiences, relationships as well as current presentation. A counselor should take a non-judgmental approach while trying to help the client realize why they have resorted to seeking the intervention of a counselor or why others feel that the client needs such help. The counselor must however not injure himself through the mistaken belief that prolonging counseling will help the client while in reality he no longer has the resources necessary to provide counseling (Dryden & Reeves 2008, pp.44, 62, 123, 128, &189).
Conclusion
While many human relationships actually involve the receiving or rendering of help, providing help in an efficient and effective manner has over the years been rendered a very important service. Helping has in other words become professional in nature. During counseling, counselors are not only involved in researching but also help the clients to have an insight into their own existence as well as to experiment with new ways of interacting and being in the present. When taken through counseling systematically, a client should; at the end of the therapeutic process be capable of helping and looking after themselves (Ra0 2002, p.41; Dryden & Reeves 2008, pp. 128, 303).
References
Dryden, W and Reeves A. (2008). Key issues for counseling in action. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Figler, H. and Bolles R.N. (2007). The career counselors handbook. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.
Rao. (2002). Counseling and guidance 2e. New Delhi, India: Tata McGraw-Hill.
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