Best Three Types of Counseling
Directive, non-directive and participative counseling are the best three types of counseling process. These three types of counseling process are discussed below-
Directive Counseling
Directive counseling is the process of listening to an employee’s problem, deciding with the employee what should be done, and then telling them motivating the employee to do it.
Directive counseling often performs the counseling function of advice, but it also may reassure, communicate, give emotional release, and to a minor extent clarify thinking. Reorientation is seldom achieved in directive counseling.
Non-directive Counseling
Non-directive counseling is also called client-oriented counseling. It is at the opposite end of the continuum. It is the process of listening to a counselor efficiently and encouraging him to explain the annoying problems, to understand them and to find the right solution. It focuses on the counselee rather than on the counselor as judge and adviser; thus it is client-oriented.
Nondirective counseling was developed concurrently by two groups: Elton Mayo, Fritz Roethlisberger, and others at Western Electric Company and Carl R. Rogers and his colleagues.
Throughout the counseling relationship, it is important for the counselor to accept feelings rather than judge them, offering blame or praise, because judgement and evaluation may discourage an employee from starting true feelings. The basic idea is for employees to openly discuss feelings, explore solutions, and make wise decisions.
Read more: Employee Counseling: 6 Steps to Effective Employee Counseling
Participative Counseling
Participative counseling is also called cooperative counseling. It is a mutual counselee-counselor relationship that establishes a cooperative exchange of ideas to help solve a counselee’s problems. It is not entirely counselor-centric or fully counselor-centric. Rather, counselors and counselors mutually apply their different knowledge, perspectives, and values to the problem. Therefore, it is a balanced compromise that combines many advantages of both instructional and non-instructional counseling and avoids most of their disadvantages.
Participatory counseling begins with the listening technique of non-direct counseling; But as the interview progresses, participatory counselors can play a more active role than non-directive counselors. They offer bits of knowledge of the organization, thus giving an employee a different view of the problem. In general, participative counselors apply the four counseling functions of reassurance, communication, emotional release, clarified thinking.
