Solution focused therapies are founded on the rationale that there are exceptions to every problem and through examining these exceptions and having a clear vision of a preferred future, client and counsellor, together, can generate ides for solutions.?Solution focused therapists are competency and future focused. They highlight and utilise client strengths to enable a more […]
Counselling
Starting Your Counselling Practice: Attitudes, Behaviours and Mindsets
Starting any new business can be an exciting but challenging time. As a counsellor, your forte may be in helping clients make changes in their life but may be unsure of where to start when venturing out on your own in the business world. This post is particularly useful for those counsellors (or other mental […]
- March 12, 2009
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Child Abuse and Neglect: Case Planning and Review
With the assessment complete, the next step to ensure that the needs of the child and family are met is case planning. Essentially case planning is the process of setting goals and building in strategies to meet those goals. The counsellor must work with the child and/or family to decide upon the goals that are […]
- February 2, 2009
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- Children & Adolescents, Counselling Theory & Process, Relationship & Families
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Child Abuse and Neglect: Intervention
There is not a clear cut off line from where the assessment ends and the intervention begins in child and family work. Following is a number of approaches to intervention that have been selected because they are consistent with values of self-determination, respect, dignity empowerment and social justice: values commonly drawn upon in child and […]
- January 28, 2009
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- Children & Adolescents, Counselling Theory & Process, Relationship & Families
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Child Abuse and Neglect: Assessment
Assessment is the core function for counsellors in child and family services. It begins with efforts to engage a child and family in order to build a working relationship where you as the counsellor can encourage participation rather than resistance. The assessment requires the counsellor to make sense of all the information sh/e is given […]
- January 23, 2009
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- Children & Adolescents, Diagnosis & Treatment, Relationship & Families
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Recognising When a Child is at Risk
There are behavioural cues that alert the counsellor to the possibilities of a child being abused; different indicators are associated with the different abuses. Remembering that the indicators mentioned here are not absolute and that one behaviour that the child displays may not mean they are abused or neglected. There are four recognised forms of […]
- January 13, 2009
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- Children & Adolescents, Relationship & Families
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Supporting Children Victims of Abuse and Neglect
Identifying and reducing the stressors that put a family at risk can be important opportunities to assist families in overcoming the abusive home environment. While it has already been mentioned that the stressors of socio-economic status are a major underlying contributor in some families due to the added stresses of poverty, isolation and drug and […]
- December 24, 2008
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- Children & Adolescents, Relationship & Families
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Consequences of Abuse and Neglect for Children
Whatever the cause of the abuse and/or neglect, it can have long-standing consequences for the child. The younger the child, and the more vulnerable they are, the more serious the consequences are likely to be, however, with early intervention children can recover from abuse and neglect. When the abuse is ongoing or long term it […]
- December 20, 2008
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- Children & Adolescents, Relationship & Families
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Series: Working with Children at Risk
As stated in The Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2004 edition of Identifying and Responding to Child Abuse and Neglect, the sad facts are: There are four recognised types of child abuse: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional/psychological abuse, and neglect. Children and young people are most often abused by a parent or a carer. The […]
- December 16, 2008
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- Children & Adolescents, Counselling Theory & Process
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Planned vs Unplanned Terminations in Counselling
Not every end is the goal. The end of a melody is not its goal, and yet if a melody has not reached its end, it has not reached its goal. A parable.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche It’s almost a paradox, but the goal of a successful counselling relationship is to, eventually, come to an end! […]
- December 8, 2008
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- Counselling Theory & Process
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Book Review: Conflict Resolution for the Helping Professions
Barsky, A. E. (2007). Conflict resolution for the helping professions (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole. 364 pages. ISBN: 0-495-09225-8 Conflict Resolution for the Helping Professions offers a comprehensive coverage of the fundamental principles associated with conflict resolution. Specifically the author focuses on the areas of negotiation, mediation, group facilitation and advocacy across a broad […]
- December 2, 2008
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- Book Reviews, Counselling Theory & Process
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Relationships: Love Is All You Need
Love is a particular kind of need and expectation in a relationship. For many people approaching marriage, love will be the foundation of their entire future together. Committed and passionate love is an important predictor of a relationships success and satisfaction (Hecht et al., 1994). The relationship between passionate and erotic love and satisfaction, along […]
- September 3, 2008
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- Counselling Theory & Process, Relationship & Families
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Relationships: Myths and Expectations
Separate to the issue of needs and wants, a counsellor may find that clients are expressing unrealistic notions about married life. Strong correlations have been found between certain unrealistic notions that are believed or maintained by married people and their levels of marital dissatisfaction (Tysoe, 1994). It is worth looking at some of these areas […]
- September 1, 2008
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- Counselling Theory & Process, Relationship & Families
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Relationships: Needs and Wants
In 1972 Carl Rogers surveyed the changing marriage scene of his day and said “It is becoming increasingly clear that a man-woman relationship will have permanence only to the degree to which it satisfies the emotional, psychological, intellectual and physical needs of the partners”. He went on to quote the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard , saying […]
- August 29, 2008
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- Counselling Theory & Process, Relationship & Families
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Goals of Pre-Marriage Counselling
To achieve a ‘satisfactory outcome’ a counsellor will need to establish a goal with the clients at the outset of counselling, but the goals will generally fall into one of three categories: For those that are very certain about getting married, giving them the understanding and the tools necessary to be able to negotiate the […]
- August 27, 2008
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- Counselling Theory & Process, Relationship & Families
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