Page 34 - PartA

Counselling Skills

Agreeing objectives could be difficult at the start of the relationship because:

• The client’s view of what they want to achieve may not be realistic

• The helper may not know enough about the client to ascertain what help
the client really needs.

In the first instance therefore, objectives may be loosely set.

The objectives that are set should be negotiated between the client and the helper,
taking into account:

• What the client says they want from the helping relationship

• What their long-term aim is – if they have one

• The time and resources available to the helper

• Any boundaries that have already been agreed.

Look at the following example.

C Case Study: Agreeing objectives

Jack goes to see a debt counsellor because he has huge debts
and can see no way out apart from leaving the country. However,
he has a wife and young child that he does not want to leave.

He asks the counsellor if she knows of a way that he can get a
large loan to pay off the debts.

The counsellor doesn’t think that this is realistic so she has to
convince Jack that this is a problem that they can work through
together, but they must negotiate a time period and a basic plan
for tackling the problem. These are the initial objectives that must
be agreed, and if Jack does not agree to negotiate a realistic plan
the relationship will not work.

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