“IMPACT OF COUNSELLING

SKILLS FOR MY PROFESSIONAL

DEVELOPMENT”
CPE5200 INDIVIDUAL COUNSELLING

SEMESTER 1 2019/2020

PREPARED FOR:
DR. NOOR SYAMILAH ZAKARIA

PREPARED BY:
RASEAN HELISMA BINTI HAMZAH
GS56412
 “IMPACT OF COUNSELLING SKILLS FOR MY PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT”

INTRODUCTION_____________________________________________________________

We live in a culture which surroundings are wide variety of ways of making sense of
emotional problems and relationship issues. Therefore, it is not easy for us to cope with those
situations. When we may eventually seek counselling, we tend to have certain preferences for the
kind of strategies and processes that we believe will help us. Thus, we actually put ourselves as the
person who seeks helps then we acknowledge what should we do and learn to be professional
counselling practitioners.

Skills linked to the satisfaction of particular group of human needs began to cluster
together and people began to develop expertise in specific sets of skills. (Arulmani, G., & Nag-
Arulmani, S.,2004. p. 4). All expertise in particular occupational tasks began to develop
themselves in career development. Each individual also tend to ensure personal survival by
developing mastery over a wide range of tasks and skills. As well as professional counsellors
also needs to learn and expert in counselling skills in order to conducting a good counselling
sessions.

Learning counselling skills in conducting a counselling session is an important aspect that

should take into consideration to anyone who is interested to be a counsellor. If effective
counselling depends on the quality of the relationship between person and counsellor, then it is
essential that the counsellor has an understanding of what they bring to that relationship in terms of
their own relationship needs and patterns, and capacity to respond constructively to the type of
relationship that is preferred by the person seeking their help.(McLeod, & McLeod, 2011.p.8)
Thus, the counselling practitioners has to be prepared technically and accordingly to be a
professional.

As my professional development of career, I always acknowledge what I should do in my

job. Some of them that I am not actually practice in the counselling session make it quite difficult
in practicing certain counselling skills in professional settings. Some of them I never noticed that I
am actually practicing those skills. In order to prepare myself to be a better professional
counselling practitioner in the future, thus I am developing my own self-awareness to understand
my own strengths and limitations as a helper or counsellor.

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OWN EXPERIENCE IN INDIVIDUAL COUNSELLING SESSIONS__________________

As I have explained previously, my clients out there are children range from seven to
thirteen years old with deaf disabilities and how I treated them are different with the common
roles of the counsellor in professional settings. I am attending special needs students in almost
seven years with different ways more to comforting them before each of counselling session.
Moreover, I already know their problems when the counselling sessions took place. On the other
hand, when we are told to practice counselling sessions amongst the classmates, it is actually
quite challenging in which we should ‘create’ a counselling session. Furthermore, it is quite
challenging to myself because the clients are adults in which different from my clients in school.
I have to be prepared to be more professional using techniques that we have learned in class.

What I have learned in this class is basically helps me a lot in recalling what I have
learned before about the counselling skills. In each session conducted, I trained myself to be
more comfortable and calm with the session. I tried to follow the general consent that should be
addressed in this kind of training. First, any person offering a counselling relationship to others
should possess an ability to make sense of what they are doing in the form of a model or
theoretical framework. (McLeod, & McLeod, 2011.p.8) Sometimes I get confused which
theoretical framework that I used. It seems like I am unsure whether I really practiced the correct
or appropriate techniques or not. For instance, I often used Cognitive Behavioral Theory in my
session, but sometimes I feel like I am using the Reality Theory. This situation made me dealing
with my own anxiety of doing mistakes. As stated by Corey, G. (2009), the possibilities are rich for
meaningful exchanges and for gaining support from fellow interns who probably have many of the
same concerns and anxieties. Therefore, I always asked my colleague’s opinion after each of the
training session.

Second, training should involve an extensive period of reflective practice in which the
person develops methods and strategies for face-to-face work. (McLeod, & McLeod, 2011.p.8)
According to this statement, we should do some observing counselling sessions of any experts
counsellors whether in live or on video. I did some observations and practiced with few of the
colleagues who are already in this area. Through the counselling session, it really helps me when
acting as a client. As I was told to be a good counsellor you must first experience how to be a
client, thus I learn more how to be a good counsellor through my own counselling sessions.I
learned how they speak, their approaches and styles in conducting counselling sessions. A lot of
varieties are shown, but I hope that I am not being confused in developing my own counselling
style. Because sometimes, I feel like my approach are changed due to the person I training with.
Your counseling style will be influenced by your teachers, therapists, and supervisors, but don’t
blur your potential uniqueness by trying to imitate them. (Corey, G. 2009.p. 34)

Third, training in counselling requires development of self-awareness. (McLeod, &

McLeod, 2011.p.8) Therefore, we are always helping each other through group discussion, we
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practice as both clients and counsellors, we observe each other and make some reflection regarding
the training sessions. Thus, it strengthens our weaknesses and being honest about our limitations. It
is important to learn when and how to make a referral for our clients when our limitations prevent
us from helping them. (Corey, G. 2009. p.30) To be sure, you will make mistakes, whether you are
a beginning a seasoned therapists. (Corey, G. 2009. p. 30) We are actually encouraged each other
and share our mistakes, so that we could aware and improve our counselling sessions.

Finally, training courses need to cover professional and ethical issues, such as maintaining
confidentiality and using supervision or consultative support. (McLeod, & McLeod, 2011.p.8) In
addition of the counselling sessions, it always taken place in the structuring skill. Most of the time,
we always reminded by our beloved lecturer on dos and don’ts during the counselling session in
professional settings at the end of the class presentation. Sometimes, there were stimulation
examples on certain topics to cover that professional and ethical issues and how we should dealing
with it.

Other than that, I also challenged by dealing with a client who lack of commitment during
the counselling session. It really challenged me in attempt to building rapport or exploring her
actual problems. As stated by Corey, G. (2019), in working with involuntary clients it is especially
important to prepare them for the process; doing so can go a long way toward lessening resistance.
After this, I should do more practice on how to deal with this kind of client in order to ensure a
smooth discussion. In addition, the relationship between the client and the counsellor is very
important aspect in developing and building rapport. As in career development, it is also important
to take into consideration a good relationship and rapport with everyone in your work settings.
Justeru itu, masalah yang berkaitan dengan hubungan dengan sesame manusi perlulah diambil
perhatian yang serius dan diperbaiki jika anada ingin berjaya dalam kerjaya. (Aziz, A. R. 2000. p.
177)

Moreover, in defining my role as a counsellor, this is one of the challenges in clarifying my

professional role. There are many different roles of counsellors that are related to those counselling
theories. Keep in mind that the professional roles you assume are likely to be dependent on factors
such as client populations with whom you are working, the specific therapeutic services you are
providing, the particular stage of counseling, and the setting in which you work. (Corey, G. 2009.
p. 33)

CONCLUSION________________________________________________________________

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 Theories are not enough of being a good counsellor. Being a counsellor is not an easy
task hence it needs professional skills in order to gain trust and providing the clients with varies
solutions. Learning counselling skills and how to be a good counselling practitioner are not
enough by not practicing those particular requirements.

One of the basic issues in the counselling profession concerns the importance of the
counsellor as a person in the therapeutic relationship. In professional work, we are always asking
people to take an honest look at their lives and to make choices concerning how they want to
change; therefore it is also essential to us to do this in our own lives. The objectives has to be
achieved and we always improving ourselves to be a better person especially in practicing the
counselling.

Those who believed in their own capacity to meet work requirements were more positive
and acted more competently. (Ismail, M., Krauss, S. E., & Ismail, I. A. p.15) Based on this
statement, I believe that with essential counselling skills helps me to be more confident and
positively affected my performance in career development. Lack of those counselling skills may
create negative perceptions amongst the colleagues and the clients prospectively. I hope that I
will master all the counselling skills and techniques through the experiences in more counselling
sessions. More practices will helps to become a good counsellor.

In conclusion, I believe that everyone not only the counsellors should always seek
opportunities to improve their skills in order to achieve job satisfaction. Besides being reactive,
they should be more proactive in ensuring their own personal and career development via in-
house as well as external training. (Ismail, M., Krauss, S. E., & Ismail, I. A. p.17) Therefore, I
am struggling to enhance my counselling skills in order to upgrading myself as well as my career
development.

Prepared by:

Rasean Helisma binti Hamzah

GS56412
Master of Education
Guidance & Counselling
Semester 1 2019/2020

REFERENCES________________________________________________________________

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Arulmani, G., & Nag-Arulmani, S. (2003). Career counselling: a handbook. West Patel Nagar,
New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited.

Aziz, A. R. (2000). Pekerjaan dalam kehidupan manusia. Petaling Jaya, Selangor: Prentice Hall.

Corey, G. (2007). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy. Eight Edition. Belmont,
CA: Brooks/ Cole Cengage Learning.

Ismail, M., Krauss, S. E., & Ismail, I. A. (2007). Career development: advancing perspective
and practice. Serdang, Selangor: Penerbit Universiti Putra Malaysia.

McLeod, J. & McLeod, J. (2011). Counselling skills: a practical guide for counsellors and
helping professionals. Second Edition. New York, USA: Open University Press.

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