Paper-: Child Guidance and Counselling   Module-:   11CG18 Individual Counselling, 
                                                                  Group Counselling, Group vs Individual Counselling 
        
        
       11CG 18 Individual Counselling, Group Counselling, Group vs Individual Counselling 
        
       18.1 Introduction: 
          Counselling  is  one  of  the  distinct  profession  that  has  been  developed  in  a  vide 
       category from 20th century. It is unique and dynamic process in which helps to grow positive 
       thoughts in clients by building confidence. In a simple way counselling is nothing but when a 
       person  (client)  approaches  another  professional  person  (counsellor)  for  a  help/advise  for 
       his/her  day  today  problems.  Counselling  is  the  focus  of  assisting  an  individual  from  her 
       problems in daily living.  
          Counselling  as  a  helping  profession  that  underlines  the  role  and  function  of  the 
       counsellor in today’s society. A helping profession is the one who are specially trained and 
       licensed  or  certified  to  execute  a  unique  role/  service  to  the  human  beings  who  are  in 
       problem. These helping professions may include health, law, education, psychology, family 
       and societal works (Gibson and Mitchell 2009).  
        
           
       Learning objectives:  
           To understand the meaning and purpose of Counselling 
           To know about Individual and Group Counselling 
           To identify the qualities of a counsellor 
           To learn about steps in counselling process 
        
       18.2 Definitions:  
          Counselling is a process in which clients learn how to make decisions and formulate 
       new ways of behaving, feeling and thinking. Counsellor’s focuses on the goals of their clients 
       wish to achieve. Clients present levels of functioning and the changes that must be made to 
       achieve personal objectives. Thus, counselling involves both choice and change, evolving 
       through distinct stages such as exploration, goal settings and action (Brammer, 1993; Egan, 
       1990, Samuel, 1995). 
          Counseling usually deals with an individual personal, social, vocational, educational 
       and empowerment concerns. Counseling areas may be related to interpersonal and intra-
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                    Paper-: Child Guidance and Counselling   Module-:   11CG18 Individual Counselling, 
                                                                               Group Counselling, Group vs Individual Counselling 
                     
                    personal concerns which are related to school, college, personal adjustments, mental health, 
                    education, marriage and family issues, aging, employment and rehabilitation.  
                    How counselling for young children are different?  
                              Counselling for young children will differ from counselling for adults, and it depends 
                    on the child’s age, type of difficulties and their developments. For every trouble different 
                    methods may be used to encourage young children to be able to express their difficulties, 
                    such as play and art. For example, during story telling session while talking about the feelings 
                    of a character child also puts his own feelings and will help him to express his emotions 
                    through  drama,  story,  drawing,  painting  and  so  on.  This  type  of  methods  will  make  a 
                    counsellor a great insight into the unconscious mind of the child.  
                              Older children might prefer talking therapy, or a mixture of both, and counselling 
                    approach will always depend on a particular individual. Even though different methods may 
                    be used for child counselling, the aim of counselling for both children and adults is ultimately 
                    the same; which helps the individual to cope better with their emotions and feelings. 
                    How can counselling benefit young people? 
                              Counselling to the children and young people involves helping a child to develop a 
                    positive attitude towards their life, recognise their strengths and express their emotions. It 
                    does not involve decision making for the child but imposing beliefs on them or campaigning. 
                    Counselling  may  be  provided  to  children  and  young  people  on  their  own,  or  it  may  be 
                    provided to a child as part of a family (family counselling). 
                    Child related issues  
                     
                    Child related issues may include: 
                   family and step-family relations 
                   bullying 
                   bereavement/loss 
                   emotional problems 
                   behavioural problems 
                   infatuation  
                   school issues 
                   Literacy and numeracy problems. 
                     
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       Paper-: Child Guidance and Counselling   Module-:   11CG18 Individual Counselling, 
                                                                  Group Counselling, Group vs Individual Counselling 
        
          To  solve  these  issues  counsellors  need  many  years  of  practice  and  should  have 
       required qualification to accomplish. However anyone in spite of qualifications or training 
       can become a more effective assistant by learning to apply basics of counseling techniques.  
       Who are child counselors? 
          Child  counselors  are  those  who  assist  children  who  are  having  personal  or 
       psychological  problems.  These  counselors  possess  certain  qualities/characteristics.  If  they 
       possess these characteristics, they can be called as an effective child counselor. 
       18.3 Professional Counselors: 
          Professional Counselors are the one who distinguishes from those who may use the 
       term  Counselor.  Professional  Counselors  are  full-time  dynamic  representatives  of  their 
       vocation and accept the role and responsibilities of professionalism.   
       A licensed Professional Counselor is characterized by: 
       a.  Having the primary duty and responsibility of providing specific licensed professional 
       counselling to  deal  with  personal,  social,  emotional  and  physical  issues  and  needs  of  an 
       individual 
       b. Functioning as a source of education in a variety of settings, such as building confidence, 
       time management, stress management, coping skills, mental health awareness, etc. 
       c. performing as the primary contributor in crisis, behavioural intervention services and other 
       major crisis situations. 
        
       18.4 Qualities of a Counselor: 
           Patience 
         As  a  counsellor  they  need  to  have  patience  with  their  client  as  they  process  the 
       conversation. It may take time to acknowledge certain things and to move towards positive 
       changes. Sometimes people may discuss about something several times before they are ready 
       to make a move in any particular direction. Also, we may not expect to see great changes in 
       an individual child; therefore, we must accept with incremental progress in their lives and be 
       happy over small victories. 
           Good Listener 
          Being  a  counsellor  they  should  spend  most  of  their  time  to  listen  to  the  clients; 
         because clients will be expressing their problems and the counsellor has to listen to them 
         rather  than  talking.  Counsellor  must  give  time  to  his  client  to  express  their  feelings, 
         emotions and time to tell their story in a clear way.  
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       Paper-: Child Guidance and Counselling   Module-:   11CG18 Individual Counselling, 
                                                                  Group Counselling, Group vs Individual Counselling 
        
           Compassionate 
          It  is  very  essential  that  every  client  should  feel  counsellor’s  compassion  for  their 
         problems and client have to sense as counsellor is truly caring about them. Counsellor 
         may not be able to relate to every issue that is shared with them, but they need to be able 
         to have concern for how it feels to be in their shoes. Honest concern produces positive 
         results. 
           Nonjudgmental 
         A counsellor has to listen all types of information’s from the client whether it is private or 
         general.  They  must  give  better  solution  for  the  client  problems  and  to  communicate 
         positive regard. Counsellor should be ready to spare time to judge a particular behaviour 
         and is very much essential to understand them. But client must not feel that counsellors 
         are judging them. Likewise, they must come across children of different problem, culture, 
         tradition, religion and it should not push their cultural/religious views. For a counsellor, 
         multicultural competency is very essential. The counselling environment should always 
         provide a secure place for the clients to share their utmost personal concerns.  
           Research-Oriented 
         Being  a  counsellor  they  have  to  involve  a  considerable  amount  of  time  spent  for 
         researching. Counsellor should have current knowledge about the existing research in 
         order to help the clients and to extend the counsellors knowledge. Counsellor knowledge 
         can also be enhanced by personal research after they started to counsel the clients.  
           Empathetic  
         Empathy is the ability to recognize and share the feelings of others. Counsellor need to be 
         able to put themselves in the shoes of their client and understand the situation from their 
         point of view. Even if counsellor doesn’t agree with their perspective, they still need the 
         ability to understand how it feels to them in order to deal with their issue successfully. 
         However, it’s important that they should not be too empathetic. Some people struggle as 
         counsellors because they are unable to maintain objectivity and therefore carry home the 
         emotional stress of the job.  
           Discrete 
         Maintaining secrecy is of upmost important when we are a counsellor. One must be able 
         to  maintain confidentiality so the client can able to trust counsellor with their utmost 
         personal issues. 
           Encouraging 
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