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ABSTRACT
Psychological counseling is the process of helping an individual in search of resolution for his difficulties adjust to the
demands of life situations and make adequate decisions. Adjustment should be voluntary and painless for the client.
Psychological counseling should not be confused with therapeutic intervention, in which the individual is supposed to
return to a normal condition after being under stress due to negative changes in his life situation. Instead of changing
the condition of the individual, counseling focuses on the efforts to ensure harmonious matching of the individual’s
level of functioning with age-appropriate requirements. In this sense, counseling is a frontier between psychotherapy
and pedagogical intervention. The concept of the counseling mechanism is popular in studies of educational, social,
and psychological counseling. It includes features of individuals, conditions, and processes that define the role of
counseling in bringing about changes in personal development and behavior. The content of mechanisms reflects the
structure and functional aspects of a phenomenon under study, the latter being viewed as a system. Psychological
counseling is a complex multi-level system reflecting various social, psychological, and personal relations. In broad
terms, it includes a subject, object, conditions, and processes of interaction between the counseling agent and the
counseling recipient.
Multiple approaches may be employed to conduct psychological counseling. They will be reviewed and analyzed here
in regard to their psychological basis and the features of their application. Three of the most significant approaches
Research Article
FEATURES OF THE MECHANISMS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELING
INDIVIDUALLY AND IN SMALL GROUPS
Submission Date:
October 13, 2024,
Accepted Date:
October 18, 2024,
Published Date:
October 23, 2024
Crossref doi:
https://doi.org/10.37547/ajsshr/Volume04Issue10-24
S. Z. Makhmudova
Mirzo Ulugbek National University of Uzbekistan Jizzakh branch of Kazan Federal University co-educational,
Uzbekistan
ORCID: 0009-0003-4202-529X
Journal
Website:
https://theusajournals.
com/index.php/ajsshr
Copyright:
Original
content from this work
may be used under the
terms of the creative
commons
attributes
4.0 licence.
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are the psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and humanistic. Significant attention is focused on the first two
approaches since they are the most popular in the perspective of the countries of the former Soviet Union.
As a basis of the psychodynamic approach, the role of the unconscious is emphasized, and it utilizes defense
mechanisms. Numerous psychotherapeutic techniques are developed, mainly of a verbal nature, designed to bring
the unconscious content of conflicts and desires into consciousness. These techniques are used both in monological
and dialogical forms. An essential part of the dialogical techniques is free association, and a key monological technique
is interpretation. The clinical terminology of the psychodynamic approach is extensive and systematically elaborated,
including concepts of conflict, drive, impulse, symptom, resistance, transference, counter-transference,
interpretation, regret, and gloom. All these concepts were created on the basis of clinical observations of various
forms of behavior of subjects and are logically organized in the theory of personality.
KEYWORDS
Psychology, psychological counseling, psychotherapy, clinical terminology.
INTRODUCTION
In terms of cognitive-behavioral psychological
counseling, the behaviorist and cognitive approaches
are presented together since they are closely
connected, and the strict separation of them is not
justified. Historically, with the advent of behaviorism,
cognitive
therapy
was
also developed
that
acknowledged the importance of cognition in
producing behavioral changes. These approaches
might have appeared independently and based on
fundamentally different beliefs about the nature of
psychological phenomena that constrained the
explanation of human behavior. Thus, the behaviorist
approach postulated that cognition was not a subject
of scientific research and rather treated it as
consequential phenomena. On the other hand,
cognitive therapy rested on the assumption that the
mind could cause behavior independently and with the
creation of internal mediators. An essential part of the
cognitive-behavioral therapies is the multi-stage
change of one of the three levels of human
phenomena: response, cognition, and belief from the
simplest to the most complex. Based on the learning
theory, the conditioned responses for various stimuli
are advocated, followed by psycho-emotional
reactions and cognitions explaining these psycho-
emotional reactions. Each level aims to demystify and
reveal distorted cognitions, followed by cognitive
techniques to change distorted cognitions and
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resulting emotional and behavioral alterations. An
important part of cognitive therapy is cognitive
structuring, emphasizing the role of cognitive
distortions in the etiology of adult psychiatric
disorders.
The psychodynamic approach to psychological
counseling is rooted in the belief that behavior is
influenced by motivations that operate outside of
consciousness. Psychotherapy is a method that
enables individuals to express these unconscious
motivations in thought and action, and thus become
aware of the reasons behind their behavior, enabling
them to change. One of the most notable features of
the psychodynamic approach to individual counseling
is the role that transference plays in the treatment
process. Transference describes the development of
feelings toward the therapist, usually of a past
significant figure, most commonly a parent, that are
incongruous to the actual nature of the relationship.
This new set of feelings is said to be of a 'displaced'
nature, in that they arise from the re-experiencing of
previous significant relationships from childhood. In
the instance that the client develops positive feelings
toward the therapist, this is referred to as 'positive
transference', often experienced as feelings of love,
dependence, or trust toward the therapist. Conversely,
if feelings of hostility or anger toward the therapist
develop, the term 'negative transference' is applied.
Regardless of the nature of the transference, the
therapist is thought of as a catalyst or trigger for past
experiences, feelings, fears, and wishes previously
buried in the unconscious. Since these feelings are now
projected onto the therapist and experienced in the
present moment, they are capable of being made
conscious. Ultimately, the goal of therapy is to analyze
the transference, making the patient aware of their
feelings toward the therapist, in order that its
significance can be explored.
Another of the more distinguishing features of the
individual psychodynamic approach is the way in which
the counseling session is undertaken. Typically,
psychodynamic counseling occurs as a one-on-one
meeting between the counselor and the client. The
majority of classical approaches adopted by
psychodynamic therapists direct the client to lie on a
couch with the therapist sitting behind, out of the
client’s vie
w. The way in which the classical techniques
are employed by psychodynamic therapists also adds
to the uniqueness of this approach. As with
preventative methods, one of the most unique
features of psychodynamic counseling is the extensive
interpretation and analysis of dream material.
The cognitive-behavioral approach is a specific theory
of personality, examining the relationship between
cognition, emotion, and behavior. Understanding the
role of cognitive representations in psychological
functioning enables more effective psychotherapy
techniques
and
approaches
in
psychological
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counseling processes. Social learning theory posits
that behavior is a consequence of observation,
inhibition, and constructive adoption. It describes two
types of cognitive representations: cognitive maps,
representing external conditions, and schemas or
scripts, representing a knowledge build-up about the
world. Knowledge, as generalizations about the world,
organizes the effect of individual experiences and links
them to external conditions. Generalizations vary in
scope and influence cognition and behavior. Schemata
have an interpretative role, affecting the perception of
reality, decision-making, situational assessment, or
anticipation.
Inappropriate
schemata
lead
to
maladaptive thoughts and generate negative feelings
and ineffective behavior. Cognitive-behavior therapy
addresses
thinking,
perception,
information
processing, and their influence on feelings and
behavior. It aims to identify, modify, and change
maladaptive schemata, with cognitive interventions
preceding behavioral changes. Cognitive restructuring
influences feelings and subsequent changes in
behavior. Counseling tasks depend on the counseling
goals. Exploring knowledge representation includes
examining schemas, cognitive distortions, cognitive
styles, monitoring maladaptive emotions and
thoughts, and identifying critical situational issues.
Counselor interventions involve reframing, disputing,
modification of distorted beliefs, altering cognitive
focus, and skill teaching. Cognitive-behavioral
techniques and approaches improve the effectiveness
of psychological counseling processes. They can be
exclusively cognitive, purely behavioral, or combined.
The humanistic approach to personality offers a
different view than psychodynamic and behaviorist
approaches, as it focuses on "the bright side of a
human being." Adherents of this view try to
understand personality mainly in terms of experiences
and culture, environmental influences and their
interpretation, life goals, and an inner desire for self-
actualization and development. The first theorists who
can be referred to as humanists are, among others, the
psychologists and philosophers.
According to Rogers, people are born good and are
capable of changing their lives for the better. People
want to keep growing and self-actualize. However, the
process of self-actualization cannot be realized
without a favorable environment. The environment
must be such as to offer support and conditions that
encourage growth and development, as well as
freedom and liberty. There are inner and outer, social
and individual factors that prevent self-actualization.
The greater the incongruence between the
experienced and ideal self, the more restrictions there
are for self-development. The discrepancy should not
be larger than some critical measure; that is, conditions
of worth must be wider than real conditions. The sense
of self-worth can be changed through the process of
individuation.
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Maslow proposed a pyramid of needs that must be
satisfied in order to move to higher levels. These needs
are the following: biological, safety, social needs, ego
needs, and the need for self-actualization. People who
come to a psychologist are usually those from the
middle of the pyramid. In order to advance further up
the dimensional scale, it is important to satisfy the
conditions of self-actualization, where only a small
percentage of individuals can be found. Self-
actualization is a contact with reality and acceptance of
facts about individuals and the world. It includes
autonomous
growth,
synesthetic
experiences,
deepening of relationships and emotions, and the
feeling of the presence of the mysterious. These
characteristics of the self-actualized person would
prove to be the basis of the characteristics of a healthy
personality, and thus, of psychotherapeutic goals.
Active listening is a fundamental technique in
psychological counseling that involves fully focusing,
understanding, and responding to a client's verbal and
non-verbal communication. It is an interactive process
in which a counselor engages a client to create a
therapeutic connection, promote self-exploration, and
encourage deeper analysis of issues. Active listening
helps clients feel heard, valued, and accepted,
fostering a safe environment for open expression.
The active listening process consists of five stages.
First, it entails attending to the client to establish
rapport. This can be achieved through non-verbal cues
such as maintaining eye contact, nodding, and
facilitating comfortable silence. Verbal techniques
include using the client’s name, asking open
-ended
questions, and reflecting feelings without judgment.
Attending should occur instantly and in a non-
distracting manner. During this stage, the counselor
should avoid self-interruption or allowing themselves
to be sidetracked by background noise.
The second stage involves observing the client’s verbal
and non-verbal communication, which can provide
insight into the client's overall functioning or behavior
and relate it to their words. Verbal communication
refers to the use of language, while non-verbal
communication includes div movements, gestures,
postures, eye contact, facial expressions, tone of voice,
physical proximity, attendance, and gestures.
The third stage is interpreting. This step involves
decoding and interpreting the content and form of the
client’s communication. The counselor analyzes the
essential thoughts and feelings in the client’s words,
considering repetition, frankness, tentativeness,
omissions, distress signs, grouping, and non-verbal
mirroring. The counselor then clarifies these thoughts
selectively.
The fourth stage, probing, entails inviting the client to
expand or elaborate on a remark and maintain
spontaneity and privacy. This can be achieved through
open
questions,
prompting
topics,
focusing,
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encouraging descriptive remarks, and encouraging
feelings. The counselor must remain respectful and
avoid embarrassment.
The fifth stage is reflecting, a technique that involves
summarizing the essence of the last remark and
returning it to the client for validation. An accurate
reflection will promote comprehension and add depth
to the exploration of an issue. Reflections can be
simple or complex. This technique allows the client to
acknowledge their expression, check its accuracy, and
identify their own feelings correctly.
Empathy and rapport-building skills are widely
recognized as critical foundations in most, if not all,
professional helping relationships. Human beings are
social animals, and most people thrive on connecting
with others. It is through these connections that they
learn about themselves and their environment.
People’s interests, values, and lives can be explored
and understood through the conscious attentiveness
of another human being. In this calming, assuring, and
respectful social situation, people are free to really be
themselves. They dare to reveal their thoughts and
feelings in unguarded ways. Even deep or shame-filled
secrets can be entrusted to such a safe relationship.
Empathy is so profound that it may allow people to
experience the thoughts and feelings of another
person as if they were their own. This level of
experiencing another human being allows knowledge
to bloom that was never conscious before. Through
shared knowing, secrets become not secrets anymore,
and the isolation of shame is broken. Empathy takes
away the fear of shame and alienation, and it leads to
healing action. Empathy is very likely the most potent
primary mechanism of treatment for any human
difficulties.
In the context of helping and counseling, rapport is
understood as the degree of trust or comfort with
which the two parties choose to relate to one another.
Building rapport or trust with others is a very normal
process of getting to know someone. It is
characterized by a gradually rising degree of mutual
familiarity or shared knowledge about each other. In
building rapport, there is generally a shift from
impersonal and superficial topics to more intimate
concerns. In this gradual development, others respond
more positively as they feel more comfortable and
confident that they will be accepted, respected, and
understood without condemnation or harm.
Historically, the term rapport was first used by British
social psychologists in 1936. They suggested that it is a
prerequisite of personal influence or leadership. In
1965, the term was used in clinical psychology to
describe the establishment of mutual emotion; that is,
coordination, attunement, or convergence of feelings
and understanding between the person distressed and
the professional helper. Since then, that behavioral
approach has been largely neglected.
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In this mechanistic view, rapport is perceived as a
strictly behavioral matter of synchronizing presence,
movement, posture, voice, expression, and breathing.
Behaviors are interpreted decontextualized, outside of
humans acting, in terms of rules for learning or social
physiological impacts. Such accounts engender a
technical, simplistic, and behavioristic understanding
of an intricate empathic bonding and co-experience
mechanism. Rapport is understood with a focus either
on unity between one or two parties or, more saliently,
in terms of degrees of intimate knowledge about
another person. Building rapport is linked with
specifically social topics of shared expectations and
common interests to promote comfort in a
professional
helping
setting.
The
rapport
consideration of cultural differences is related either to
unequal access to social estimation or unequal social
positions of modeling expectations.
In essence, goal setting and action planning are the
most essential components of counseling. They
provide a focus for the individual and ensure
subsequent work is relevant. These elements are
fundamental in individual sessions and in groups,
although in groups the procedures may be slightly
adjusted. This section describes the goal setting and
action planning processes and techniques in individual
and small group sessions. During the second session,
clients establish realistic goals for the counseling and
plan the first steps towards achieving them. Clients
may arrive with a fairly developed goal, or they may
need help in defining the goal. In the latter case, some
questions are asked to assist in the specification of the
goal. To begin with, clients are prompted to identify
broad goals. Broad goals may be expressed in one of
the following ways: "to feel better; to have a better
relationship with people; to stop feeling depressed."
Then, clients are asked to make each goal more
specific. As a general rule, good goals are those that
pass "the who, what, where, when, and how" test. For
instance, the broad goal "to stop feeling depressed"
may be specified in the following way: "to tell my
girlfriend how I feel (what), before the end of the week
(when), so that she may understand me better (why)."
This specification process is crucial given that goal
achievement depends on developing clear goals. In
response to some questions, clients are also
encouraged to convert indirectly expressed goals into
more explicit goals. The procedure used for planning is
similar to that used in other counseling techniques. The
plan of action is presented in a series of steps and
clients are asked questions about each step. Working
out an action plan with a client requires consensus
regarding (1) the first step towards achieving the goal
including details of where and when it will take place;
(2) the way the clients will work on it; (3) how clients
may know they are progressing towards a goal.
The birth of group counseling as a specialized field
within psychology occurred in the 1930s, and its
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subsequent development paralleled advancements in
the discipline of educational and clinical psychology.
Theoretically, this budding field flourished largely due
to the work of Kurt Lewin in social psychology with the
founding of the Group Dynamics study. Group
Dynamics is concerned with the influence of groups on
individual behavior in the social as well as mental
domains. In 1939, in a newly proposed model for
diabetics, Lewin's Homeostasis, the role of the group
in maintaining individual equilibrium had been
introduced. This perspective was eventually adapted
to the realms of interpersonal relations and behavior
change. Several factors for the rapid acceptance of
counseling groups include: (1) the individual’s
attachment to and consideration of group values, (2)
the group’s ability to influence behavior and encourage
new concepts, (3) the group’s assurance of support
and security in response to danger, (4) the social
comparison afforded by the group, and (5) the group’s
being a source of pressure for action change.
Subsequent to the formation of small social units and
the early action research in group counseling,
testimony to the demand for group work in
educational institutions is given. There is evidence that
continuing professional development for counselors
and group leaders is a priority, and further research is
necessary to improve counseling outcomes and
efficacy, particularly in conducting group counseling
worldwide.
The Interpersonal Process Approach for Group
Counseling is the most comprehensive perspective yet
developed on the dynamics that shape life within
groups and their implications for therapeutic change.
It is based on a dynamic, relational, and complex
systems view of human behavior, and it is supported by
various theories. The central concept is that members
join groups for different, often conflicting reasons,
which leads to a complex set of simultaneous and
interrelated dynamics. Understanding and working
within this socio-emotional system is necessary for
promoting generalization of insights, growing
personal understanding, and achieving therapeutic
change.
Group dynamics is a term widely used to identify the
forces at work within small groups that can affect the
behavior of the individuals within the group. When
groups of two or more people come together to
achieve a common goal, emotional factors rather than
rational considerations come into play. Personality
characteristics and behaviors of group members,
relationships between group members, and the nature
of the task combine to exert pressures on individual
behavior. As a result, each person's experience in the
group differs from her experience outside the group.
Psychological counseling in small groups (up to 8-10
people) has advantages compared to individual work,
despite the obvious limitations of confidentiality and
attentiveness. The very inclusion of other participants
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introduces new ideas, other points of view regarding
the client’s situation, mutual support, and the
possibility of being a helper for someone even in a
difficult position. Under certain conditions, small
groups can become a source of energy, motivation,
and stimulation of change.
Discussion groups and support groups are public or
semi-public settings, while therapy groups are a private
setting. Therapy groups and task groups often use the
term 'group dynamics,' which refers to the interactions
between group members and how these interactions
can affect individual and group behavior. Group
dynamics is a field of study of great importance to
those interested in working with groups. Management
by groups of processes instead of by individuals can
offer new and promising ways of problem-solving.
Understanding group dynamics allows the counselor
to keep in mind the differences between group work
and
individual
counseling
and
the
unique
characteristics of group process that would differ from
the process of each person alone with the counselor.
The interpersonal process approach to group
counseling is concerned with how the participants
interact with each other, or how the "group processes"
operate. Group members discuss their thoughts and
feelings about others in the group, disclose personal
information to group members, react to comments
made by others, and hold name-calling or argument
accords within the group. Contributing to these
dynamic processes is the basis of the interpersonal
process approach. The objectives of group counseling
are to enhance self-understanding of participants,
increase understanding of others, assist participants in
learning and practicing new interpersonal behavior,
change behavior that is problematic in the social world
outside of the group, and do all of this in a context that
is supportive and helps to deal with the anxiety of
engaging in an intensive exploration of self and others.
Interpersonal process group counseling can be
provided with mixed-gender and same-gender groups.
Mixed-gender groups are a chance for participants to
observe and experience interpersonal processes
across gender. Same-gender groups are a chance for
the exploration of issues specific to gender, where
participants may experience security in the absence of
the "opposite" participant. The effectiveness of
interpersonal process group counseling has been
supported, particularly for self-understanding. Effects
on self-understanding, self-disclosure, perceived levels
of group process, and concern over social evaluations
were examined.
Interpersonal process group counseling is a planned
series of group activities, which can be face-to-face or
online, conducted by one or more trained counselors
or facilitators with the intention of bringing about
change in participants. Participants are usually adults,
but interpersonal process groups are also held with
older
adolescents.
Arrangements
depend
on
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participant
characteristics,
with
groups
of
homogeneous characteristics feared to create a more
supportive group context. The main focus of
interpersonal process group counseling is on the
experience within the group, rather than on the
external world situation of participants. Group
members are encouraged to focus on their reactions to
the comments of others, their thoughts and feelings
about others, and the behaviors they observe in others
and in themselves during interactions.
Psychological counseling can be carried out at a
number of levels. The presentation of the counselor's
voice, virtually close to the client's ear, is more
personal than situational counseling in public places.
Individual and group counseling are the types of
counseling most frequently applied. Within the domain
of mental health support, it is essential to comprehend
how group counseling and individual counseling are
both similar and yet distinctive practices. Group
counseling comprises a diverse assembly drawn
together by a common concern regarding difficult real-
life issues, such as grief, divorce, social anxiety,
obsessive-compulsive disorder, or addiction. Individual
counseling is uniquely focused on the client's
experiences, allowing for a comfort zone and a time
context dictated by the counseled individual.
Furthermore, there are several means and nuances in
the research of psychological counseling, both at the
level of the subject and the epistemic and
methodological levels of scientific inquiry.
However, group counseling lacks certain nuances
inherent in individual counseling. It is impossible to be
sure that the attention of the group is drawn to the
individual, or that the individual fully succeeds in
articulating their concerns. Moreover, in a less
compassionate or skillful group, there is the potential
danger that everything may seem naive, socially
indiscreet,
or
unreasonable,
intensifying
the
anachronistic experience of being vulnerable and
orphaned. It is also important to notice that the
peculiarities of the distress under discussion may
extend to the group membership and strangle the
engagement. Unlike individual counseling, group
counseling is open to criticism and questioning from
other group members, who have only a limited context
for further inquiries. Despite the context offered by
other group members, the status and subjective stance
of the individual remain as an object of interpretation
and assessment for the others, rather than as an equal
subject of one and the same valid approach.
In individual counseling, it is ultimately the counseled
individual who decides how to make sense of
themselves based on the presentation, interpretation,
and
questioning
applied
by
the
counselor.
Furthermore, the phenomena of trust, loyalty,
disinterest, and defensiveness stand for specific
dispositions and modes of agency in a dialogical
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exchange and shed light on the differences between
the person-to-person and one-to-many forms of caring
engagement. Individual psychological counseling can
be described as reconstructive activities that take
place between two agents.
To be considered valid, each of the approaches used
for counseling must have an established degree of
efficacy and/or effectiveness. Such a determination is
difficult; nevertheless, it is important to consider the
different variables involved in counseling and their
implications for the consumer. The situations and
conditions under which counseling effectiveness is (or
is not) considered important are known as counseling
efficacy. Counseling effectiveness is concerned with
whether the facet of individual and group counseling in
question
"works"
under
defined
conditions,
procedural outlines, and how it is actually practiced.
For the purposes of consumer protection in the mental
health field, efficacy studies are particularly helpful in
determining what facets of mental health treatment
lead to positive outcomes for the client. On the other
hand, one particular procedure may vary greatly from
therapist to therapist, with the same being true of
therapist
characteristics
and
client
profiles.
Nevertheless, a focus on this area has some value for
the general mental health consumer.
There is a great deal of research on the efficacy of
individual and group counseling, particularly relevant
to college student populations. Most of the research
appears to indicate that individual and group
counseling are both effective in helping clients.
However, results vary depending on the outcome
measures being utilized. For example, clients have
been shown to report a greater amount of satisfaction
with individual counseling, and in general, individual
counseling cases appear to be more severe than
counseling group cases. Nevertheless, research studies
utilizing the same measures of outcome indicate that
the amount of change is comparable between the
conditions.
In recent years, a growing interest and demand for
counseling and social services are evident in various
spheres of everyday life. There are several orientations
for solutions to be employed in advisory work;
employing an active method of interaction between a
specialist and an individual or a group to be counseled
is one of the most important ones. Under the guidance
of a specialist and at their initiative, individual, family,
and group forms of counseling have been successfully
implemented in different sectors, institutions, and
establishments. Due to taking into consideration the
rapidly changing circumstances of life, the constantly
emerging problems and life situations, and the needs
of each group beforehand, these forms often require
the application of modern, active, and sometimes non-
standard methods of counseling. Recognizing that
there is a growing demand for social services, social
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American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research
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OCLC
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Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
workers have to successfully present their services to
different groups of people subject to tension, stress,
conflicts, misunderstandings, dissatisfaction with the
existing situation, or failed attempts to make a
decision. Consequently, there is a need for recognition
on the part of professional advisors of the specific
features, possibilities, and limitations of their advisory
work using such methods as brainstorming or
counseling groups, thereby drawing attention to the
application of the ethical principles and norms of
counselor conduct. Also, the employment of advisory
work is based on creating conditions for successful
decision-making, acting, and resolving existing
problems by increasing self-awareness, awareness of
situations or roles in them, and increasing the
orientation toward the future that guarantees the
maximization of decisions or actions undertaken.
Even though the choice is mostly on the part of
individuals, the role of advisors is crucial in every
situational and consequential aspect of socially
oriented advisory work. Aiming at constructive and
creative advisory work, one of the first tasks of a
professional counselor is to identify the needs,
interests, demands, preferences, fears, hopes, and
expectations of clients. The second task is to create a
climate of safety and trust through mutual
acquaintance, socializing, and team-building exercises.
The results of the first interaction can be very diverse;
in many cases, taking the next steps is dependent on
mutual knowledge and trust. There are various
frameworks for introducing basic ethical issues in
group discussion and deliberation with regard to the
social influence of professions. The outline of such a
framework consists of basic concepts such as
'professional', 'ethics', and 'social responsibility', on
the basis of which particular ethical aspects in group
deliberation about core competency areas can be
discussed. Those areas are professional secrecy,
inequality, the professional's social contribution, the
social
quality
of
the
professional's
work,
discrimination, and integrity. In the examining group,
participants with various professional backgrounds
point out a variety of moral challenges that are
professionally oriented, dispersively distributed, and
not unique. Recently, there is a growing concern for
ethical questions in scientific research and a call for
public debate about the ethical issues raised by new
developments in the life sciences. There is a need for
social responsibility and an ethical code of conduct.
In recent years, there has been a growing awareness of
the importance of cultural factors in the counseling
process. Culture influences individuals’ development
of frames of reference and worldviews. These variables
can impact thoughts, feelings, and behaviors if left
unassessed and unaddressed. In a highly diverse
society, the unmet needs of culturally different groups
are magnified in counseling endeavors. Culturally
diverse groups may present completely different
Volume 04 Issue 10-2024
312
American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research
(ISSN
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2771-2141)
VOLUME
04
ISSUE
10
P
AGES
:
300-315
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
worldviews and experiences, such as different ways of
conceptualizing health and illness, time orientation,
and the helpers’ roles. In order
to provide culturally
sensitive counseling, counselors need to be aware of
their own cultural values and attitudes, and whether
they are relevant to those of the culturally different
clients. Cultural competence has been proposed as one
of the major strategies in addressing the normalization
of the culture-bound assumptions, attitudes, beliefs,
and values of counselors in professional practices.
Cultural competence refers to a set of congruent
behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together
in a plan, or system of operations, to enable those in
operations to work effectively in cross-cultural
situations.
Cultural
competence
requires
the
integration of four elements: a) awareness of one’s
own cultural worldview; b) attitudes towards cultural
differences; c) knowledge of different cultural
practices and worldviews; and d) cross-cultural skills.
The literature on multicultural counseling has been
largely devoted to providing frameworks for achieving
these elements. One-on-one cross-cultural counseling
can have serious ramifications if cultural competency is
not carefully integrated into the practice. The same is
particularly true when a homogeneous group of
culturally different individuals is brought together to
address their needs or issues. In group settings where
members present their worldviews through narratives,
cultural worlds are in conflict. One voice may drown
out many others if care is not taken to allow different
voices to be heard. When the voices that are heard
reflect the dominant culture, participants may begin to
think their cultural world is the only one that exists.
Under such influence, they might be drawn to adopt
beliefs, attitudes, and practices that are consistent
with the dominant culture. The group process might
cultivate
disempowerment,
self-doubt,
self-
disparagement, and cultural confusion among
participants. In order to avoid the above-mentioned
dangers when conducting a culturally diverse group, it
is essential for group leaders to carefully examine
potential cultural influences on the themes, dialogues,
interactions, group environment, and exercises in the
process, and to integrate culturally sensitive features
into the proposal, design, or facilitation of the group.
Technology is rapidly transforming both everyday life
and
professional
counseling
scenarios.
The
introduction of innovations allows for the efficiency of
knowledge retention, interaction, skill acquisition, and
practice. Many
educators, psychologists, and
economists agree that no matter the level of
sophistication in terms of tools and methods, personal
communication remains the most effective. In this
regard, many psychologists are faced with the
question of whether technology has any advantage
over the traditional approach to one-on-one
interaction. Individual psychological counseling, paired
psychological help, and psychological counseling in a
small group setting are no longer a novelty, as
Volume 04 Issue 10-2024
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American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research
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VOLUME
04
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P
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:
300-315
OCLC
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1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
illustrated by numerous examples of everyday
thoughts and experiences made public. Despite the
growth of popularity in group settings, traditional
individual psychological counseling is still in demand.
Isolation of group attendees, their personal lifestyle,
development, skills, and even wealth largely affect the
group’s efficiency and hence the quality of life of each
member in that group. Nevertheless, socializing in
protected groups of individuals sharing similar
concerns is still the only affordable way of receiving
professional counseling for many people. As to the
provision of individual psychological help, here too it
seems to be impersonal due to the changing role of
media in the development of emotions and interaction
practices. The growing speed of communication
fosters the development of urban life and lifestyle in
big cities, which often makes it impossible to conduct
eye-to-eye communication with new acquaintances,
potential friends, or even family members. Online
chatting and dating, social media, and the like, though
not universally accepted, have already affected the
way people perceive and investigate personalities in
both personal and professional dimensions.
Taking into account the diversity of individual
counseling methods and means used by different
specialists, the present work proposes a classification
to establish the range of topics applicable and possibly
interesting for future innovations and technological
advancement in the domain of individual online
counseling. The classification, however, does not
pretend to be exhaustive and is rather an attempt to
cover the most significant and common areas of
individual psychological problems that can be
undertaken by individual counseling or advice. The
prospective methods of provision of technological
advisory settings that spring from the diversity of
individual counseling topics are offered. These
methods can be implemented in the early stages of
website development. It is believed that though they
may be quite challenging to represent technologically,
here lies the key for enhancing the new and significant
role of the internet in psychological counseling chains.
Although individual one-on-one counseling is, perhaps,
the most challenging sphere for the implementation of
technology, innovative settings to guarantee that it is
still developing as traditionally intended with respect
to profession, specialists’ personal t
raits, and
recipients’ expectations of its provision are proposed.
Further discussion of each of the proposed domains
and areas of improvement, implementation of
technological innovations, or design of online services
in the field of work and life counseling is strongly
anticipated. Admittedly, the provision of technological
advancements in the domain is going to be inevitable,
either on the basis of scenarios of changes
extrapolated from the existing practices or as a
response to the rapid change of circumstances
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OCLC
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Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
connected most likely with altered public perception of
both cities and human interaction.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, this monograph only attempted to
summarize the empirical material on some of the most
important mechanisms of psychological counseling.
The characteristic features of the realization of the
mechanisms described should, in principle, be
considered universal in the psychological counseling of
various goals. The conventionally assumed differences
in the goals, subjects, and conditions of the use of
counseling seem to lead to different implementations
of the same mechanisms.
It should be remembered that the mechanisms of
psychological counseling are not this optimistic.
Psychological counseling does not provide answers to
all questions posed by the client, and it is unlikely that
it can effectively answer questions that reduce human
existence to the level of animal, species-specific
behavior and emotions. The effectiveness of
counseling depends on the emotional-receptive and
emotional-building prerequisites necessary in the
client. Goals, means, time, and results of psychological
counseling, as well as its social outcomes, are
extremely conditional. Differences in views, goals, and
tasks are related to different approaches to human
nature, its content, development limits, and
possibilities.
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Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
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