…turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding Proverbs 2:2
In thinking about my role as a counselor, I decided to make a little list for my readers, perhaps some of whom are not familiar with counseling. This list of roles is in no particular order, and we don’t do all of these tasks every session or with every client. These are simply some general categories.
I will put them in a bullet point list, with brief explanations. In the future, I will expound on each of these areas. Remember, this is the briefest of descriptions for each category, but it might be a good overview. Here is the list:
- Encourager
- Accountability Person
- Giver of Objective Feedback
- Resource Provider
- Tool Provider/Teacher
- Safe Space
- Diagnostician
- Teacher
Today I start with the first three categories, and I will continue down the list in coming days. Hope you find this helpful.
Encourager– Typically, people who come to counseling need a sense of hope that things can and will get better for them. Our job as counselor is to give honest encouragement, not false hope. But we do start with the premise that there is a solution for every problem, and that the client has the capacity to be successful in the counseling process.
Accountability Person– I almost always give homework to clients, knowing that the real work will be done outside of our one-hour session. I will ask the client about their progress in having done the homework. I will ask what barriers they had if it were not completed, and encourage them to give me feedback about the success of the homework to see if we need to make some changes. Often too, clients set forth their own disciplines that they want me to hold them accountable for by asking them each session what their progress is.
Giver of Objective Feedback– Clients come to counselors wanting some help with life areas which may currently be a struggle. It is my job to speak truth (what I see as the truth) of the situation in a loving and kind manner, even if that truth may be hard to hear. It follows the Biblical principle of “speaking the truth in love”. Friends may or may not give such feedback, but counselors are free to simply give an honest assessment without risk of losing relationship.
Prayer: Lord, we thank you for the opportunity and privilege to engage with others on their life journey, Amen
Reflections of a Counselor 