Caption: Have You Tried the Spiced Chai?
URL: http://journeyofbecoming.blogspot.com
Avoid Advice Giving
As we aspire to learn strategies that empower clients and
assist them in self-exploration, it is important that we are aware of normal
conversational attributes that may hinder this process. If we compare a social
interaction to a professional interaction, we can see that there are huge
differences that distinguish counseling as a profession. One distinction that
empowers clients and sees the client as their own expert is avoiding advice
giving. The ACA Code of Ethics (2014)
states the values of autonomy and justice, making it clear that every client
has the equal right to control the direction of their own life. As counselor’s
it is important to remember, that we have a certain role and therapeutic relationship
to establish. Our role is not to “fix” or feel responsible to “help” clients,
but to help clients understand themselves (Meier & Davis, 2011). It is important
to understand that there is a power differential in the counselor client
relationship. This makes advice giving very dangerous, as the client may easily
accept and cling to a counselor’s solution as opposed to finding their own.
Advice giving can easily be seen as a course of action to take for a client who
may be wanting someone to give them the answers to their problems (Couture
& Sutherland, 2006). In addition to inconsideration of autonomy and self-direction,
Gaylin (2000) expresses how advice giving may reveal judgment and the imposing of
values of the counselor onto the client. Other rationales for avoiding advice
include the dependency of the client on the counselor, blame for unsatisfactory
advice, a client not desiring advice, and a misinterpretation of the advice
that leads to negative outcomes (Couture & Sutherland, 2006). All this
being said, it is important for counselors to understand strategies and
techniques that facilitate self-exploration for clients as well as uphold
ethical guidelines.
References:
Couture, S. J.,
& Sutherland, O. (2006). Giving advice on advice-giving: A conversation
analysis of Karl Tomm’s practice. Journal
of Marital and Family Therapy, 32(3), 329-344.
Gaylin, W. (2000,
May). Nondirective counseling or advice? The Hastings Center Report, 30(3),
31.
Meier, S. T.,
& Davis, S. R. (2011). The Elements
of counseling. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.
Kahl, I really enjoyed reading you blog. I, being an aspiring mental health counselor, appreciated your words and will try to implement them into my future profession. I find it rather hard at times to deviate from the traditional style of conversation and properly administer the therapeutic one. I guess I’ll just have to trust the educational process. I liked that you focused on the avoidance of advice giving. I say that because I still struggle with thinking that I am supposed to “fix” whoever is in front of me, when that is not the case. Knowing that is very relieving.
ReplyDeleteHey Kahlil,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post.. This is such an important concept to address. I, too, feel the need and desire to "fix" people who are hurting. I know now that it is not in our our job descriptions to be magical clinicians, but it often feels natural in the helping profession to want to take the clients pain away. Thankfully, it takes some of the pressure off of us because we do not have to have all the answers. As you stated, we are encouraged to stay away from advice giving. This concept seems so strange to me at first because I have always told people I want to join this profession to help other people. Good thoughts Kal.. I'm looking forward to learning more skills to help my future clients come to personal revelations. I am excited to come along side of them to help them find wellness.
Khal, that was a great post. I like how you stated that avoiding advice giving empowers the client and sees them as the expert. I have never thought about that before; however, it makes sense. When you seek to give advice, it makes it seem like you know how they should live their life. I also love how you stated that our role is not to fix the client. Rather, our role is to help them understand themselves so that they are able to make the choices that will help them grow. With this in mind, counselors should develop the skills and techniques that encourage autonomy so that the client feels like they are the expert.
ReplyDeleteKhal, Tyler, Jenna, and Joseph,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you all resonated with the theme of wanting to help people by providing some solutions or fixes. I think this is a normative response and the intention to provide relief and solutions come from a good place, and it is helpful to have that awareness to keep from falling into the trap of advice giving. Even through, it is uncomfortable it is helpful to stay with the client and walk alongside as they find their own solutions. I have a video that you will really enjoy. It really drives home the point of how difficult it is to avoid fixing when we seem to see a very clear solution, but the client needs to be heard first! Have you seen the brief video clip, called, "It is not about the nail"? Here is the link: let me know what you think! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4EDhdAHrOg
Thank you for sharing that video Dr. Knight. I think it really gave a humorous depiction of what I was trying to hit on in my original post. I think that it is really interesting to see that it is natural for us to want to give people advice. The thing is, that when we give our advice, we are imposing our values and looking at someones problems from our point of view. This is why it is so important to listen, so that we can begin to build the empathy required to truly be present for someone. I, for one, am thankful that I will not have to have every answer to every problem that someone discloses to me. I thin that we have the ability to help the client come to a better understanding of their situation and that they can them begin to take actions toward their own desired solution.
ReplyDelete