The Importance Of Change In Counseling

The focus of counseling is change. Counselors who are most proficient in their area of specialization are referred to as change specialists. Self change often fails. In order to prevent this failure, counselees should be encouraged to set expectations that are realistic in terms of what can be accomplished as well as me made aware of all the time and effort that will be required. Situations and persons who might create temptations who relapse may occur should be avoided. Occasional relapse should be expected but the decision to resume the changed behavior should be realized. After relapse, what happened should be discussed and steps should be taken to prevent a reoccurrence. Support and accountability should be provided from others. Lasting change is characterized by several factors. Some of these are: Counselees setting attainable goals; Support to counselees from other persons and active efforts to prevent relapse. Counseling today can be complicated by a quickened pace of life, technology which evolves within the blink of an eye, information overload which may be too much to process all at once and a greater interest in spirituality which includes non- Christian spirituality. As a result of this, counselors must have some understanding of post modernism and be knowledgeable about the ways in which it is changing methodologies in the area of counseling. Counseling can be seen both as fulfilling and difficult. Effective counselors must show positive psychological health