TYPES of

COUNSELING

DIRECTIVE COUNSELING

the process of hearing a person’s emotional problem. Deciding with him what he should do and then informing and motivating him to do. Directive counseling accomplishes the counseling function of advice, reassurance, communication, emotional release and to a certain extent, clarified thinking.

There are several questions to clarify:

1. Is it effective?2. Does the counselor really understand

the employee’s problem?3. Does the counselor have the technical

knowledge of human behavior and the judgment to make the “right” decision?

4. Even if the decision is right, will the employee follow it?

 

NONDIRECTIVE COUNSELING

the process of listening to a person and encouraging him to explain his emotional problems, understand them, and determine the courses of action to take. It is “client-centered.”

They do perform the four counseling functions:

CommunicationEmotionalClarified ThinkingEmployee’s Reorientation

Nondirective counseling operates in this manner:

1. Employees come to seek for help and the counselor attempts to build a permissive relationship which motivates the employee to open up and talk freely.

2. At this point the counselor attempts to define the counseling relationship by explaining to the employee that he cannot tell how to solve his problem and that he may be able to help the employee understand his problem and to deal satisfactorily with it;

3. the employee then explains his feelings and the counselor encourages their exposition; shows interest in them, and accepts them without blaming or praising;

4. the employees at this point should begin to get some insight into his problem and to develop alternative solutions to them. As a result, he then feels a decreasing need for help and recognizes that the counseling should cease at that point.

To keep the conversation going while he listens, the counselor may:

1. Look and act interested;2. Ask appropriate questions; and,3. Restate or reflect feelings, that is, he merely

restates the employee’s last idea without adding new ideas or appearing to agree or disagree.

HOW NONDIRECTIVE COUNSELING DIFFERS FROM DIRECTIVE

COUNSELING

The main differences are the following:

Counseling Method Responsibility Status Role Emphasis

Nondirective counseling has several limitations, among which are the following:

1. It is more time-consuming and costly than directive counseling.

2. Professional counselors require technical training and are consequently expensive and short of supply.

3. It depends on a capable, willing employee who is assumed to possess a drive for mental health, has enough social intelligence to perceive his problems and has sufficient emotional stability to deal with them.

4. The nondirective counselor needs to be cautious not to become a crutch for emotional hypochondriacs to lean on while avoiding their work responsibilities.

5. It is generally a weak solution. It turns employee to the same environment which caused his problems.

COOPERATION COUNSELING

It is defined as a mutual deliberation over an employee’s emotional problem and a cooperative effort to set up conditions that will solve it.

COMPANY COUNSELING PROGRAMS

The reasons behind this are:

1. Counseling has been splintered among specialists in many areas;

2. Supervisors of today are better trained to conduct their own counseling;

3. The ready availability of counseling through public agencies;

4. The high cost of counseling service;5. Counselors, compared with managers, are

comparatively lacking in power to change the employee’s work environment; and,

6. Employers are held partly responsible for employee’s mental illness or physical disability which is precipitated by emotional stress on the job.

OTHER TYPES OF COUNSELORS

The counseling responsibility can be by the following:

1. The direct supervisor - his counseling responsibility is threefold.► He detects signs of poor mental health such as

increased errors, nervousness, absence and others.► He provides counseling whenever appropriate and

refers serious cases to professional counselors.► Supervisors should understand their own emotional

nature before they can deal with other’s emotional problems.

2.The second type of counselor is a “friend.”

3.The third type is the specialist whose main duty is something other than counseling.

4.A fourth type is the full-time staff counselor.