Introduction to Counseling: An emerging concept in Clinical Social Work Practice

Abstract

Counseling is part of every culture, either formal or informal. But new trends have emerged to transform the structure and role of family which has reduced the capacity to serve as the safety net for people who are not capable in handling the stressor for any reasons. Professional counseling is a lot of advanced social aptitudes or abilities in which focus is encourages the client's change in the therapeutic process. It depends on the client's, strength, their qualities, their convictions, their uniqueness with their entitlement to self-assurance. The counseling in social work requires intense training and develop understanding regarding human nature, behavior, and explicit therapeutic potential, ethical and healthy professional boundaries. This type of training incorporates mindfulness, evaluation of social and cultural impacts, advancement, abilities, religion, social character, gender role, socio-economic status, and nationality. Counselors basically value such differences and stay away from discrimination. It includes interacting and intervening with current issues, addresses crises situations, either short term or long-term solutions, depends on the nature of crises. It very well may work with individual, couples, families or groups. Counselors utilize the enhanced capacity and the self effectively in therapeutic environment. In this article, researcher trying to explore counseling i) the meaning and concept of counseling in social work, ii) clinical social work practices , iii) assessment tools, iv) counseling skills, v) related theories, vi) utility of counseling and emerging role and challenges of counseling in contemporary society.

Key Concept: Counseling -Clinical Social Work- Therapeutic relationship -interpersonal process of counseling-assessment tools & skills- contemporary practices.

DOI: 10.7176/JESD/10-12-16

Publication date:June 30^th 2019