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| Encouragement for the self |
I am going to discuss the differences between encouragement versus praise, furthermore when it is appropriate to use the two during a counseling session. Encouragement according to Sweeney “seeks to modify motivation rather than behavior (2009).” The purpose is to allow the client to develop faith within them by focusing on the positive aspects of life. Encouragement in a counseling session is to motivate, inspire, and instill confidence in an individual. Praise is used “to maintain or strengthen a specific behavior (Witmer 1985).” Praise is used to compliment a specific trait the clients demonstrates. However, “praise can put the counselor in a judgemental role which prevents damper the helping process between the client and the counselor (Young, 2017).”
Praise is used to focus on
the individual's behavior which creates a sense of approval from others instead
of the individual's strengths but also focuses on the individual's successes
within their life. Encouragement focuses on building autonomy within the
individual in which helps to create a sense of pride. The client will become self-reliant
because they can focus on their autonomy while relying on their strength to
achieve their desired goals and outcomes in their life. Praise reinforces the
behavior of the individual creating a desire for approvals from others. While weakening
the individual from focusing on their strengths, they hold within the self.
Wong stated, “Encouragement positively affects the therapeutic relationship
(2015).” Essentially praise should be used very seldom in a counseling session.
Also, a counselor needs to focus on encouragement in their session to help
their client have positive experiences while creating a healthy relationship
that promotes growth for the client.
References:
Picture Reference: Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/en/self-confidence-self-confidence-2121159/
Sweeney, D. S., & Landreth, G.
L. (2009). Child-centered play therapy. In K. J. O’Connor & L. D. Braverman
(Eds.) Play therapy: Theory and practice
(2nd ed.; pp 123-162). New York, NY: Wiley.
Witmer, J. M. (1985). Pathways to personal growth: Developing a
sense of worth and competence. Muncie, IN:
Accelerated Development.
Wong, Y. J. (2015). The psychology
of encouragement: Theory, research and applications.
The Counseling Psychologist, 43,
178-216.
Young, M. (2017). Learning the art of helping, 6th
edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
ISBN: 0-13-416578-0
It can become very harmful when interacting with a client and giving them praise rather than encouragement. As you said, praise can be seen as judgmental and because of this, it can either build walls or cause a client to become too attached. Imagine that there is a client who needs to feel validated and he or she does not get that anywhere. When a counselor praises an aspect or trait of the client, he or she might take offense to that or learn to focus on that in order to get that validation from the counselor. I interviewed a counselor a while back and he said that despite how proud he would be of a client making progress throughout their journey, he would always tell them “look how far you’ve come” or “look what you did.” With language like this, the client gets all of the focus and can have their own sense of pride that comes from what he or she did, and not what someone else saw was of worth or value.
ReplyDeleteMoments of encouraging can be extremely beneficial for clients. I always think well "what would the client do if I were to die between now and our next session?"( I know sort of drastic). But, in all reality, what if something were to happen and we had to discontinue counseling? Would the client be able to make sound resolutions to their problems? It is important in counseling that we encourage our clients so that they have motivation to progressively overcome difficulties, when they are not in counseling. The reality of counseling is it prepares each client to face the world in a better way than they did before they came to our counseling office. Praise can sometimes make the client feel like "oh I did a good job, now its over". In reality, there are always new hurtles in life to jump over. In contrast, encouragement says "keep going, there more to accomplish. There is greater." Overall, encouragement pushes our client's forward versus leading them to stand still.
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