Increasingly diverse populations with a wide range of needs are served by counsellors today. A mental health professional who has honed a core set of competencies will be successful.
1. Genuine Interest in Others
Although it isn’t technically a skill, this one is crucial to a career in counselling.
Do you have the motivation and stamina to be there for people during their best and worst moments when you first wake up? Can you fully listen to your clients’ stories, no matter how complex or drawn out they may be? Will you still be around in ten years?
A successful and fulfilling career in mental health requires a long-term dedication to encouraging positive change and human connection.
2. Self-Reflection
An effective therapist is aware that it’s equally crucial to examine oneself as it is to pay close attention to others.
A successful education and career in mental health are fundamentally based on the concept of “Self as Instrument.” It is taught to counselling students to feel good, think good, and act good. A therapist can relate to and empathise with clients better if they are feeling well.
Thinking critically, conceptualising the client in theoretical terms, and displaying strong academic abilities are all examples of thinking well. Acting properly entails conducting oneself in a way that benefits the customer, the community, and the workplace.
Counselors can relate to clients more effectively and promote change by using the self as an instrument.
3. Ability to Listen – On Multiple Levels
Although it might seem obvious, being a counsellor requires a nuanced understanding of how to listen effectively.
A counsellor must pay attention to not only what is said, but also how, why, and what it means in the context of that specific client. Consider the delivery, content, and context.
In other words, a counsellor needs to be able to listen “between the lines” for what isn’t being said. In a session, what a client withholds can be just as telling as what is said aloud.
Most importantly, a counsellor should be able to listen without passing judgement or making any conclusions. Clients will come to you with challenging and complex issues, and they will need to feel comfortable speaking openly and without fear of embarrassment or feeling as though their counsellor has made assumptions.
Being non-reactive and understanding the distinction between observation and evaluation will help you as a counsellor make accurate assessments and build rapport with your clients.
4. Accessibility & Authenticity
In order to earn a client’s trust, a counsellor needs to be approachable, but perhaps even more crucially, a counsellor needs to be sincere and sympathetic in their interactions with clients as well as in their professional persona.
The foundation of a successful counselor-client relationship and the key to progressing in the therapeutic process is forging an empathetic connection with each client.
5. Flexibility
A competent counsellor is adaptable in their worldviews and has a thorough grasp of multicultural issues in clinical practise.
Each client will differ in terms of their history, experiences, and level of participation in the therapeutic relationship, so it is important to develop the ability to switch between perspectives based on the client.
Another crucial aspect of flexibility is understanding when a client and counsellor may not be a good fit. One quality of a good counsellor is their ability to communicate when something isn’t working and then offer to refer the client to another professional who might be able to help them more effectively.
A good counsellor should avoid trying to satisfy all of their clients’ needs.
6. Sense of Humor
Counselors listen to some gruesome, challenging, and frequently traumatic tales. However, it’s acceptable for both counsellors and clients to laugh while going through the process.
Timing is crucial in situations like these, of course, but developing a rapport with someone to the point where a sense of humour is shared is a skill that shouldn’t be undervalued.
Humor is a useful tool in the therapeutic setting, and its uses should be carefully considered.
