Counseling Skills and Their Use in Social

Counseling Skills and Their Use in Social Work

Counseling skills can encompass many different aspects of life, and they are of great use to those in social work. Unfortunately, many social workers do not realize just how important these kinds of skills are and therefore do not get the training in them that they really need. Since social workers are not counselors and do not usually see what they do as 'therapy' of any kind, they do not look to counseling as having a place in their work and the families that they often are called upon to help. However, much of what a social worker does for those that need help is actually counseling of a sort, and by learning more about counseling skills those that spend their time in the social work field can utilize what they already know, along with the counseling skills, to help many more individuals and families in new and better ways, which will ultimately be to the benefit of society.

One of the reasons that this is so is that social workers often do many different things, and they do not only work with families who are abusive, or take children from homes and place them in foster care. Social workers have many functions, and they are often counselors and therapists without actually realizing it. The well-being of others and help with their basic needs is what social workers strive for, and they must do this in many different ways if they are to be successful at it. They often have ethical codes and strict rules that they must follow, yet they are also empowered to do a great deal of good for humanity. Some of them even work over the Internet now, in yet another effort to reach out to individuals and give them what help and support they can.

This paper will show how counseling skills can be used in social work, and what social workers can do to take these skills and ensure that as many people as possible are helped. The paper will first define counseling so that there is a clear understanding - albeit in general terms - of what is being discussed in the rest of the paper. Following that, the principles of counseling will be discussed so that they too can be clearly understood.

Next, some examples will be given so that how these counseling skills can be used by social workers can be seen. Situations in which social workers can use counseling skills must be addressed. This will help those who are contemplating teaching these skills to social workers make the decision as to whether these skills will be beneficial in the future, as training anyone to do something different often costs money.

The conclusion will tie together all of these issues and show a cohesiveness between all of the main points that are presented throughout the paper. While not overly long, the conclusion will create a summary of information that will help those who read this information feel as though they have been reminded of all that they have read and the importance of all of it in the lives of social workers and also in the lives of those in the community that they work to help and protect.

Definition of Counseling

When asked for a definition of counseling, there are many different answers depending on the type of person that is asked the question and how much he or she knows about the actual subject. There are those that believe that counselors are therapists, and those that believe that counselors are psychiatrists or psychologists (Hepworth, Rooney, & Larsen, 1994). Others feel that counselors do not really have any specialized training or degrees, and only 'call' themselves counselors - a word that really has nothing to back it up (Hepworth, Rooney, & Larsen, 1994; Marshall & Von Tigerstorm, 1999).

Counseling means so many different things to different people that it is extremely difficult to come up with a definition of counseling that everyone will agree on (Hepworth, Rooney, & Larsen, 1994). This is true not only of those who call themselves counselors but also true of their patients as well (Hepworth, Rooney, & Larsen, 1994). Because of this, there is no official definition of counseling that appears to be used by all who work in the field. This makes a definition and an understanding of counseling somewhat difficult but not impossible for those that are not used to discussing the issue (Hepworth, Rooney, & Larsen, 1994). The purpose here is to give only a simplistic definition that does not include every possible instance that could be considered counseling.

In order to do this there would have to be much more space available to discuss all of the ways that counseling is thought of and all of the definitions that have been provided for it as it has developed. Instead, a simple definition of counseling will be provided here. This will be one that can be used as a general overview of what counseling actually is instead of attempting to encompass everything that counseling can be. That is not to say that many of these other issues that are considered counseling are not important, but only that they are not necessary for purposes of this particular document.

However, in general terms, counseling is the giving of advice, help, and support to those who request it, by those who are specially trained to do so (Hepworth, Rooney, & Larsen, 1994). This is a relatively simple definition, and there are many variations on that theme where counseling is discussed (Hepworth, Rooney, & Larsen, 1994). It would take far too much time to list all of the possible definitions of counseling or all of the things that it means to everyone that is asked about it (Hepworth, Rooney, & Larsen, 1994). For the purposes of this paper, the simple definition will be sufficient.

Principles of Counseling

There are several principles that are important to understand in counseling, and they will be discussed here. The first principle is that the counselor must be open to hearing what the client is really saying (Glancy, Regehr, & Bryant, 1998). A counselor that is not a good listener will not be helpful to the clients that need and want advice (Glancy, Regehr, & Bryant, 1998). The counselor must not put his or her own ideas or opinions into what the client is saying, but actually listen to the thoughts and feelings that are coming from the client (Glancy, Regehr, & Bryant, 1998). It is often hard to look at someone else's ideas objectively, but counselors must put their own feelings about the client aside to counsel them properly (Glancy, Regehr, & Bryant, 1998). This is one of the most difficult things that they have to do (Glancy, Regehr, & Bryant, 1998).

Another important principle of counseling is that the counselor must be able to use metaphor and simile to explain the feelings that the client is having and the problems that the client is dealing with (Glancy, Regehr, & Bryant, 1998). Repeating back to the client what he or she has just said, but saying it in a different way, is an important skill (Glancy, Regehr, & Bryant, 1998). This is done to ensure that the client has clearly understood what the client is trying to say, but also to help the client see their problems in a somewhat different light so that they can have a better understanding of the problems that they face and how they might best deal with them (Glancy, Regehr, & Bryant, 1998).

When considering various principles that are used in counseling it is also important to understand that counselors must be the kind of people that are willing to give up their necessity to be correct about something all of the time (Glancy, Regehr, & Bryant, 1998). Many people always feel that they have to be right in what they say and do, and counselors must accept the fact that this is not always possible (Glancy, Regehr, & Bryant, 1998). This is often very difficult, but someone who is not capable of admitting that he or she was wrong will not be able to effectively help a client (Glancy, Regehr, & Bryant, 1998).

Much of this is due to the fact that being able to help someone involves seeing that person's point-of-view and understanding it for what it is (Glancy, Regehr, & Bryant, 1998). When someone feels that they must be right all of the time they are not able to look at the point-of-view of the other person because that would make the other person right (Glancy, Regehr, & Bryant, 1998). When counselors are able to get around this they will be much more effective in treating their patients (Glancy, Regehr, & Bryant, 1998).

Perhaps one of the most important things to be considered when looking at what makes a good counselor is to remember to be where the client is at (Glancy, Regehr, & Bryant, 1998). This is not meant in the physical sense of being in the same office with the client but rather in the mental sense of understanding where the client is in his or her life at the present moment (Glancy, Regehr, & Bryant, 1998). This means that a counselor must not moralize to a client and must not judge that client for what the client has done or said (Glancy, Regehr, & Bryant, 1998). Instead, the counselor must only look at what the client sees as his or her own particular reality at that period of time and must work from there instead of trying to correct the client's perceptions about the reality that he or she has created (Glancy, Regehr, & Bryant, 1998; Marshall & Von Tigerstorm, 1999).

In order to help the client and change the reality that the client has created into something that is actually genuine, a counselor must start from the beginning point that the client gives them and be where the client is in his or her life at that particular time (Marshall & Von Tigerstorm, 1999). Only by starting from where the client is can a counselor take the client where he or she needs to go (Marshall & Von Tigerstorm, 1999). This can often be a long and difficult journey but it is one worth taking if the counselor is able to truly offer help and support for a client who has created his or her own version of reality which now must be adjusted (Marshall & Von Tigerstorm, 1999).

Situations in Which Social Workers Would Use Counseling Skills

There are many different areas in which social workers would use counseling skills. One of the newest and most fascinating one is the growing e-therapy trend (Barak, 1999). Many people are now seeking advice over the Internet for various reasons and because of this more counselors and social workers are learning the skills that they need in order to be able to help people in a new and different way (Barak, 1999). These social workers must learn Internet skills as well as counseling skills, as more of them are being called upon to utilize traditional counseling skills in the scope of their jobs (Barak, 1999).

There are regulations on social workers, however, and much of what these individuals are doing over the Internet may not fit those regulations (Pergament, 1998). This could lead to problems for the social work field and also for traditional counselors that might have the same or similar problems (Pergament, 1998). One of the main problems that these workers are facing is that the licensing requirements that they have do not always allow them to counsel or help those who are not in the same state, and over the Internet the clients could come from virtually anywhere (Pergament, 1998).

While social workers could use some of the counseling skills in virtually any situation, this particular area of the paper will focus on the e-therapy trend because it is relatively new and it therefore presents somewhat of a problem for social workers and their patients (Barak, 1999). As mentioned earlier, e-therapy is the obtaining of advice over the Internet. There are many reasons that individuals would wish to do this, ranging from agoraphobia to a lack of ability to find a good counselor near where one lives (Barak, 1999).

Whatever the reasons, more and more people are looking at doing a great deal through the Internet and even though Internet counseling has been available in some form for quite some time it is only recently that social workers have begun to use the Internet for their own counseling purposes as well (Barak, 1999). While still employing the principles of counseling that were discussed earlier, there are other issues that must be considered when social workers use the Internet for this purpose (Barak, 1999). Most of these are technical issues and do not need to be discussed here. Some, however, are legal, ethical, and moral issues, and it is important that these are addressed to facilitate an understanding of the issue (Barak, 1999).

Since social workers try so hard to enhance the well-being of individuals and to make sure that their basic needs are met, they look for and treat not only interpersonal and societal problems but individual problems as well (Barak, 1999). Face-to-face contact between a social worker and the individual who is seeking help is the most common form but now that the Internet has come about there are many social workers going into the virtual world as well (Barak, 1999). Professional regulations are very important, however, because they do not always reconcile well with online counseling and this could produce legal issues that must be looked at (Barak, 1999).

Social workers as well as psychologists, doctors, and nurses make up many of the therapists that are represented online (Barak, 1999). Many of their services vary a great deal depending on the therapists and only 18% of individuals in a study done of these online therapists consider what they do to be counseling (Barak, 1999). Most of these individuals consider their services advice or education (Barak, 1999). This is important to know because many of the individuals who only feel that they are giving advice or providing education of some kind do not look at the issue in the same way as those that believe there are performing counseling services (Barak, 1999).

Those who say that they are performing services that they consider counseling have to be aware of what counseling actually means and the principles that were discussed above regarding what counselors do for their patients (Barak, 1999). Internet therapy is becoming increasingly interesting to many people, however, because some people feel that there is a lot of stigma in going to a traditional counselor or therapist (Barak, 1999). By partaking in something such as counseling over the Internet the person does not feel that he or she must let others know in any way that this type of counseling is taking place (Barak, 1999).

Unfortunately, there are some serious drawbacks with using counseling skills in this type of environment (Barak, 1999). Being able to interpret body language, facial expressions, and the way someone vocalizes the information that they discuss is not something that can be done with this therapy (Barak, 1999). Using nonverbal cues for assessment is one of the things that many counselors do and when this cannot be done it is often hard to make sure that the quality of therapy is as high as it would be for someone who is seeing a therapist face-to-face (Barak, 1999). Another important issue is that the Internet may not be entirely secure for this type of communication (Barak, 1999). One of the most important things that social workers must get across to their patients when they counsel them is that everything that is said and done will be strictly confidential (Barak, 1999).

The Internet cannot guarantee this even though there are many ways of encrypting information and securing web sites (Barak, 1999). Even so, hackers can often get into many of these databases and when they can get into the personal and private communications between a therapist and the client there is much damage that can be done (Barak, 1999). Culture and location are also extremely important as counselors must know a great deal about their patients to be able to counsel them correctly (Barak, 1999). Not being aware of a specific cultural issue or the specific conditions that a patient is involved in can lead a social worker to counsel incorrectly and this can also be damaging (Barak, 1999). Another concern for this e-therapy is the fact that many clients cannot see the licensing and credentials of a particular social worker or counselor (Pergament, 1998).

A web site can make all kinds of claims about what type of person the counselor is or what type of information that he or she can provide but there is no actual proof that the advice the patient is getting is good advice or that be counselor is even who he or she claims to be (Pergament, 1998). The last important issue that raises a concern regarding e-therapy is that there is very little legal recourse that a patient would have if he or she found a therapist who was not providing the type of quality information that was claimed (Pergament, 1998). This largely has to do with the fact that the Internet is a very different medium and because of this the rules and regulations are not often as strict as they are for those who work offline (Pergament, 1998; Barak, 1999).

Since this is the case, those who try to sue a therapist or others who work online often find that they have no legal standing and that there is nothing they can do to recover the money that they have lost or correct some of the damage that they feel has been done to them (Pergament, 1998). Social workers especially must be careful if they are interested in doing this type of activity online. There is legislation that creates the requirements for social workers and these workers must be certified and registered (Pergament, 1998). Complaints regarding misconduct or any type of professional negligence go to a specific regulatory body and social workers must take care to follow the regulations that they have agreed to when they received their certification (Pergament, 1998).

When individuals become licensed to perform social work this license generally covers only a particular jurisdiction (Pergament, 1998). Because of this, there is a gray area about whether a social worker can practice any type of e-therapy outside of what they are actually licensed in (Pergament, 1998). Even social workers who are registered to deal with Internet counseling may find that they have a difficult time doing so do to geographical restrictions (Pergament, 1998). Often, a license for a social worker is restricted to a specific geographical area and when this is the case the Internet cannot be used to get around this licensing issue (Pergament, 1998).