Lecture
The counselor's personality is highlighted in nearly all theoretical systems as the most important healing instrument in the counseling process. The effectiveness of a counselor is determined by personality traits, professional knowledge, and specific skills. Each of these factors ensures a high-quality counseling contact, which is the core of psychological counseling.
Unfortunately, there is no single, unambiguous answer regarding which personality traits contribute to effective counselor performance. Various researchers emphasize such qualities necessary for a professional counselor as a deep interest in people and patience in dealing with them (M. Buber (1961) described this factor as an interest in people by virtue of their being, not because some of them are schizophrenics or psychopaths), emotional stability and objectivity, the ability to inspire trust in other people, respect for the values of another person, good self-understanding, attentiveness, the ability to listen, and others.
R. Kochyunas proposes examining in more detail several fundamental personality factors of a counselor's success: authenticity, openness to one's own experience, development of self-knowledge, strength of personality and identity, tolerance for uncertainty, acceptance of personal responsibility, depth of relationships with other people, setting realistic goals, and the capacity for empathy.
Authenticity – the ability to fully recognize the present moment; to choose a way of living in that moment and to accept responsibility for one's choice (J. Bugental, 1965). Authenticity encompasses many personality traits. Above all, it expresses sincerity toward the client. An authentic person longs to be, and is, themselves both in their immediate reactions and in their overall behavior.
Openness to one's own experience - is understood as sincerity in perceiving one's own feelings. An effective counselor should not suppress any feelings, including negative ones, since repressed feelings become irrational, a source of uncontrolled behavior. Awareness of one's emotional reactions makes it possible to choose one way or another of behaving in a situation. Only in this way can one successfully control one's behavior. A counselor is able to facilitate positive changes in the client only when they show tolerance for the full diversity of others' and their own emotional reactions.
Development of self-knowledge. Limited self-knowledge means limited freedom, while deep self-knowledge increases one's range of choice in life. The more a counselor knows about themselves, the better they will understand their clients. A counselor is more effective the better they understand their weaknesses, and the better they know their strengths, the resourceful sides of their personality.
Strength of personality and identity. The counselor must know who they are, who they might become, and what they want from life. They constantly test their own values. A counselor should act guided by their own inner position, which will allow them to feel strong in interpersonal relationships.
Tolerance for uncertainty. A counselor absolutely needs self-confidence in situations of uncertainty. Conviction in the correctness of the decisions made and the ability to take risks help one bear the tension created by uncertainty during frequent interaction with clients.
Acceptance of personal responsibility. Since many situations in counseling arise under the counselor's control, they must bear responsibility for their actions in these situations. Understanding one's own responsibility allows one to make choices freely and consciously at any moment of counseling. Personal responsibility helps one accept criticism more constructively.
Depth of relationships with other people. The counselor must pay attention to the feelings, views, and distinctive personality traits of other people. An effective counselor is able to freely express their feelings in front of other people, including clients.
Setting realistic goals. An effective counselor must understand the limits of their own capabilities. In reality, no counselor is able to build the right relationship with every client and help all clients resolve their problems. An accurate assessment of one's own capabilities allows one to set achievable goals.
Empathy – the ability to empathize with and understand another person on the level of feelings, is one of the most important personality traits of an effective counselor.
An effective counselor is, above all, a mature person. The more varied a counselor's style of personal and professional life, the more effective their work will be. In counseling, as in life, one should be guided not by formulas but by one's own intuition and the demands of the situation.
+The counselor's system of values. The counselor's system of values determines the initial premises of counseling. The counselor must clearly know his or her own values, must not hide them from the client, and must not avoid value-related discussions during counseling sessions, since many problems are hidden precisely in the value conflicts of clients or in their misunderstanding of their own value system. However, a clear value stance on the part of the counselor does not imply moralizing or preaching. The counselor should be value-neutral and should not impose his or her own life philosophy and value system on the client. It is important for the counselor to know what influence his or her values exert on the course of counseling, so that he or she can remain authentic and nevertheless avoid imposing his or her own attitudes on clients. The life philosophy of every person and his or her values are unique.
In the process of counseling we must help clients to identify their system of values as fully as possible and, on that basis, to make an independent decision as to how they might change their behavior or even the values themselves. Consequently, the counselor raises questions, and the client seeks and finds the answers to them on the basis of his or her own values. The counselor, drawing on his or her own system of values, also helps the client to better understand the consequences of certain decisions and actions for his or her own life and for the well-being of those close to him or her.
Psychological counseling and psychotherapy are classified among professions that require a heavy emotional load and a high degree of responsibility, and that have quite ambiguous criteria for success. Practitioners of these professions are at risk of "burnout syndrome" (Paine, 1981; Maslach, 1982; Corey, 1986). "Emotional burnout syndrome" is a complex psychophysiological phenomenon defined as emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion resulting from prolonged emotional strain. This syndrome can manifest as a depressive state, a feeling of fatigue and emptiness, a lack of energy and enthusiasm, a loss of the ability to see the positive results of one's work, and a negative attitude toward work and toward life in general.
Factors that can help prevent emotional burnout syndrome include an active life stance, internality (accepting responsibility for one's life choices); ongoing professional development and self-education; cultivating other interests not connected with counseling (Szasz, 1965) — for example, combining work with study, research, and writing scientific articles; introducing variety into one's work, creating new projects and implementing them without waiting for authorization from official bodies; maintaining one's health, keeping to a regular sleep and eating schedule, mastering meditation techniques; a satisfying social life; having several friends (preferably from other professions) with whom the relationship is balanced; striving for what one wants without expecting to win in every case, and the ability to lose without unnecessary self-deprecation or aggression; the capacity for self-evaluation without relying solely on the respect of others; openness to new experience; the ability not to rush and to allow oneself enough time to achieve positive results in work and in life; carefully considered commitments (for example, one should not take on greater responsibility for the client than the client takes for himself or herself), and so on.
One of the most important requirements of professional ethics is the counselor's competence. The counselor is required to complete the mandatory academic program of general scientific training (which includes the minimum body of scientific knowledge required of a professional psychologist in any field), as well as to master a number of branches of psychology involving specialization in the relevant professional area — in this case, the area of psychological counseling. A counseling psychologist must have a solid knowledge of general psychology, personality psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, the psychology of family relations, the fundamentals of psychopathology, and theories of psychological counseling and psychotherapy.
In addition to theoretical scientific training, the counselor is required to complete a course of practical training and to work a certain number of hours under the supervision of a qualified specialist. In training for psychological counseling, alongside the need to acquire the appropriate theoretical foundation under qualified supervision, the importance of deepening the counselor's self-knowledge is often emphasized.
In addition to theoretical and practical professional knowledge, the counselor must have a good understanding of his or her own personality. The development of self-knowledge is facilitated by an extensive and intensive course of individual and group therapy, especially in groups oriented toward personal growth.
Every counselor, before beginning professional practice as well as during the course of their work, should undergo personal therapy — that is, work through their own problems with the help of an experienced professional. Self-observation under the supervision of another professional regarding one's experience of significant life events is very beneficial for a counselor. This does not mean that one must get rid of all problems and internal conflicts before beginning to counsel. What matters is understanding the essence of these conflicts and how they affect relationships with clients.
+Consulting with a fellow professional is also valuable at the start of one's professional career, since constant encounters with the diverse problems of clients often bring old conflicts and repressed feelings to the surface. A beginning counselor is often troubled by a feeling of professional helplessness. This, too, calls for a certain kind of help from colleagues. In this situation, it can be very useful for a counseling psychologist to work under the guidance of a more experienced counseling psychologist-supervisor.
It is very important that, when beginning a conversation with a client, the counseling psychologist is able to communicate with them easily and freely, without experiencing difficulties. Since in real life practically everyone, including fairly experienced counseling psychologists, encounters difficulties in communicating with people, a beginning counseling psychologist is advised to undergo communication training themselves.
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