The Counseling Process, Essay Example

While case management and counseling are both important in providing services to improve the health of others, they have different roles.The primary role of a counselor is to provide therapy, evaluate needs and provide referrals.The primary role of case managers is care coordination, assessment facilitation, treatment planning and client.Case managers may give advice or engage in certain therapeutic activities.However, this is not their emphasis but something done in an effort to oversee the overall care of the individual.In contrast, a counselor’s primary job is proving therapy for their clients.They may conduct assessmentsif trained to do so or, if not, refer clients out for an evaluation.They expect the client to attend the evaluation and arrange for records to be sent to the counselor.Counselors may also obtain the clients consent to speak to the individual who conducted the assessment. However, a counselor’s role is more circumscribed than that of a case manager.The case manager will do what it takes to ensure that the needs of the client are met in all areas of the client’s life, assuming much the responsibility needed to achieve this outcome.This may involve evaluation of needs, psychoeducation, limited counseling, nutritional intervention, transportation to appointments, rehabilitation and skills training.They also coordinate care for areas for which other provider are responsible.Counselors do not coordinate overall care for patients, they are part of the care plan.

While my friend first started talking, I focused on my facial expression and non-verbal communication.I noticed that since I couldn’t take notes and was worried about remembering everything that my body was tense.I tried to smile and look like I was listening but it seemed forced.I to show I was interested but was not sure of what would convey this.I found that by focusing so much on my physical presentation I was missing a lot of what she said.I frequently asked her to repeat or clarify something.I lost count of the number of times I stopped her to learn what I had missed and couldn’t try to rephrase what she said until close to the end of her story.The first few times I tried to confirm the accuracy of what I had heard, she told me I was incorrect and repeatedherself.Towards the end of the interaction I felt more comfortable, and even though it took a lot of repetition on her part, I was certain I had heard everything she said.When recounting her story, however, she informed me I had missed six points, two of which she felt were very important in understanding why the event was meaningful to her.

It seemed like my friend became frustrated by my inability to remember and relate back what she said.I felt self-conscious about her reaction even though she was a friend and cut back on asking her to repeat what she said, instead trying to rephrase her comments.As I was usually incorrect in what I thought she had related, it was clear that I still wasn’t hearing her.I realized I was stillfocusing on my own internal discomfort and refocused on her comment. The exercise was somewhat upsetting for me since, I thought I overcame my discomfort enough to be able to hear and remember my friends story.When I learned that I hadn’t actually done better towards the end and my friend told me how much I had missed including things she though would help me understand what the situation had meant to her, I wondered if I’d ever get better at this.

My friend told me she couldn’t understand why I wasn’t able to remember what she said and that she felt I wasn’t listening.She said it was strange how uncomfortable I seemed since we were friends and I was someone she would turn to about problems.My self-confidence in pursuing counseling wavered after her feedback and I wondered if everyone felt this way when starting to practice counseling skills.

I thought if I came across as not listening and uncomfortable with a friend who knew this was just an exercise, how much worse it would be with a client.I knew that I could hurt someone who came to me for therapy if they disclosed personal information experienced and didn’t think I was concerned enough to listen to what they said.I also realized that by cutting back on asking for clarification I was making things worse.