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2. Counseling means relationship
(Page 2 of 3)
Change is helped along by relationship—the presence of another human being who witnesses and supports our goal-oriented striving. Therefore, the main advantages of counseling over self-help include:
- Clarification: Clients usually recognize when something isn't right in their lives, but are often unable to articulate exactly what's wrong. Counseling can clarify a client's concerns.
- Focus: When a man sets aside time each week to work with his therapist on problem-management, he is much less likely to get side-tracked from his goals by day-to-day distractions.
- Accountability: People are more likely to follow through on commitments made to others than to themselves. Counseling therefore keeps a man honest. On his own, it is much easier to procrastinate or allow personal goals to slide away. In therapy, a man knows he will be asked about his commitment at the next session. This prospect encourages follow-through.
- Creativity: Two heads are almost always better than one. Together, a client and counselor can generate more effective and original solutions than could each in isolation.
- Alliance: A counselor
is committed to
his client and will strive to help him succeed.
In few other non-familial relationships is one person as
focused on another's well being as in a counseling relationship.
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