Life skill Counseling

 Counseling

Counseling is a process which enhances the social behavior, discrimination- well being, adaption and various other skills. Counseling is a Psychological process. Counseling is a relationship a repertoire of interventions, a psychological process.

Counseling is an interactive process characterized by a unique relationship between the counselor (one who counsels) and the counselee (one who is counseled), that leads to a change in one or more areas - behavior, beliefs, values and level of emotional distress (Elizabeth & Patterson, 2005).

According to Rosemary (2002) Counseling is a confidential relationship and this relationship demands counseling for problem solving at the onset of adolescence. The need of adolescents counseling in this hour is special focus and particular attention in the form of counseling in the area of socialization (Lee & Richard, 2003).

Types of Counseling

In Counseling there are two types

1. Individual Counseling

2. Group Counseling

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Individual Counseling

In individual counseling there is a counselor and a client who face each other in the interview.

In group counseling a counselor is available for a group of 5 to 10 clients. In group counseling there will be an interaction between the counselor and client and the group also influences the activities of the client. In the present study group counseling is being adopted.

Group Counseling

The main goal of counseling is to enhance an individual‟s self strengths, to increase the awareness about one‟s own strength and to provide the necessary information and the necessary skills to realize one‟s own self strengths and capabilities. In a group counseling a counselor encourages the group in practical learning and to learn the necessary skills for life. The group provides a social situation in which it becomes easy for them to learn social skills.

Group counseling provides an opportunity where there are more number of individuals can be given counseling in an appropriate way. Group counseling is also good from the view point of the time management. In a group as the whole group and the counselor do work together, it provides a different kind of learning experience.

Good counseling relationship has to be necessarily being effective with clients. Some counselors regard the counseling relationship as not only necessary, but sufficient for constructive changes to occur in clients (Rogers, 1957). Counseling can be defined in the way it involves stipulating central qualities of good counseling relationship. There are certain qualities offered by counselors, they are sometimes

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called as “core conditions”. They are empathetic understanding, respect, and acceptance for clients, congruence and genuineness. Counseling or helping relationship also involves „active listening‟ and „reward listening‟. Those viewing counseling predominantly as a helping relationship tend to be adherents of the theory and practice of person centered counseling. (Rogers 1961; Raskin & Rogers, 2005).

Counseling as a repertoire of interventions

Most of the counselors believe that the counseling relationship is not sufficient in itself to bring constructive client changes. Counseling methods are also called as a repertoire of interventions or helping strategies. Counseling process involves a counselor to select proper intervention depending upon the need of the client and to carefully consider which interventions need to be used, with which client and also with what probability of success. Success of counseling interventions reflects the theoretical orientation of the counselor. Psychoanalytic counselors use psychoanalytic way of interventions, behaviorists use behavioristic approach of counseling, rational emotive behavior counselors use rational emotive behavior interventions. Counselors belonging to Gestalt approach use Gestalt way of counseling interventions. There are a number of counselors who use an eclectic way of counseling based on different theoretical perspectives. Corsini & Wedding (2005) has come to believe that what counts in Psychotherapy is whom does it and how and to whom it is done, what he calls the “who how whom factor”, further he suggests that counselor personality and counselor-client match is also important, along with the specific interventions.

Counseling as a Psychological process

Counseling relationship may be characterized by core conditions or a repertoire of interventions which comes from different theoretical approaches,

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whichever approach it follows counseling is a psychological process. The goals of counseling involve the concept of mind in it. All counseling approaches focus on altering, how people feel, think and act so that they may live their life more effectively. The process of counseling is purely psychological. Counseling involves movement; it is not a static process. It involves movement in the mind of both counselors and clients. Much of the process of counseling takes place with client‟s minds between sessions and when clients help themselves after counseling sessions. The underlying theories forms which counseling goals and interventions are deprived are psychological (Corsini & Wedding, 2005., Dryden, 2002., Nelson-Jones, 1995).

Goals and clients for counseling

The goals of counseling depends upon the needs of the clients. Different counselors have different goals with different clients. It may be to assist a client to overcome emotional problems, manage tensions and stress, help to make better decisions, managing crisis, and preparing for future, developing specific strategic skills, learn new techniques, learning and developing specific life skills. Counselors decide remedial goals, growth oriented goals or developmental goals for the needs of their clients. There is a very thin distinction between remedying weakness and developing strengths. The goal of counseling is not only to help the client solve the present problematic situation but also be well equipped to handle various kinds of situations in future.

The main goal of counseling is remedial, but it still mainly focuses on development of skills, or life skills needed to handle the developmental task which occurs in the various situations. Developmental tasks are those tasks which is faced by each and every individual in the growing years, becoming independent, achieving

intimacy, learning to handle one‟s own emotions, adjusting with new friends, making

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new relationship, adjusting to the changes of puberty, adjusting to the physical and psychological changes occurring during growing years in adolescence. Developmental tasks often involve both managing negative qualities and fostering positive qualities. At its highest level counseling‟s focus is on helping clients to develop skills or life skills in ways that assist their process of being full human (Nelson-Jones, 1995).

The counselors may vary in the theoretical approach of their counseling but the goal of all counseling process is to increase the client‟s personal responsibility in creating and ordering their lives. Clients have to learn new ways of making choices which would enable them to feel, think and act effectively. Clients need to develop the capacity to experience and express feeling, think rationally, take effective actions to attain their goals. The ultimate goal of counseling process is to enable the clients make more independent and confident in making decisions, and making them capable to handle the present and be prepared to handle future situations and become the best counselors for themselves.

Life skills Counseling

Life skills are those skills which are needed to manage and live a better life. Life skills help us to accomplish our goals and ambitions and also to lead our life with satisfaction and full potential. Life skills are those skills, strengths and capabilities which helps the individual to face the challenges and problems of everyday life with a positive attitude. It makes the individual effective and efficient to face the problems of life. According to United Nations Children‟s Fund UNICEF, Life skills refers to a behavior change or behavior development approach designed to address balance of three areas: knowledge, attitude, and skills.

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Life skills refer to a multiplicity of psychosocial and interpersonal competencies. According to Goleman (1998) competencies are coordinated bundles of habits.

Different counseling approaches for counseling has different processes or progression built into them. A counseling process model explicitly explains and articulates the stages of counseling and therapy process. The life skills counseling model has three major stages i.e., relating, understanding and changing. Each stage is further divided into three phases. Life skills counseling model provides a framework or set of guidelines for counselor choices. Life skills counseling model is useful in managing and solving present problems it also addresses to the underlying problematic skills and makes the individual to handle the situation in a better manner.

Life skills will help an individual to make good decisions. Communicate effectively; develop coping skills and management skill which will help an individual to lead a healthy and productive life. Life skills are very essential for today‟s rapidly changing world. Life skills help us to lead to success in life.

WHO defines Life Skills as “abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life”. They represent the psycho-social skills that determine the valued behavior and include reflective skills such as problem solving and critical thinking, to personal skills as self-awareness and interpersonal skills.

Life skills counselors

Life skills counselors hold humanistic values either within or outside of religious frame works (Kelly, 1995). Life skills counselors possess certain important

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values. “The values include respect for each individual, acknowledgement of human fallibility, belief in human educability, belief in the human potential for reason and social living and a sincere desire for a better world”. Life skills counselor possess a theoretical frame work that integrates essential humanistic cognitive-behavioral psychology.

Life skills counselors are practioners, researchers, they constantly make, implement and evaluate hypothesis about helping clients change. Counselors are enlightened and inspired by four sources of knowledge. First they attend to the theoretical knowledge. They do continuous updating of knowledge in the light of new knowledge about human development and change. Second, life skills counselor keep in track with the relevant research findings into the process and outcomes of Life skills counseling. They focus on pertinent research literature when they are working in a specialty area. Third, life skills counselors do keep learning from their counseling experience. They do evaluate their own counseling and actively try to counsel more effectively wherever necessary by modifying what they are doing. Fourth, life skills counselors are very alive and vibrant human beings who learn from their personal experience outside of counseling. This is very important in life skills counseling as both the counselors and clients require the same skills of living. The counselor who acquire, maintain and develop good mind skills and communication / action skills are likely to be better placed to help clients.

Life skills counselors are developmental educators. They look at the readiness, expectations and skills level of each client, and according to that they flexibly use both relationship and training skills. The main goal of life skills counseling is to include nurturing and healing of vulnerable clients, assisting clients

with specific problems, decisions, help them to learn crisis management, develop

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preventive and developmental life skills training. Life skills counseling can be done to a single individual, a group or an organization.

Life skill counselor‟s posses better counseling skills. They generally care for the growth and development of their clients. Life skills counselors do not do their clients work. They encourage their clients become independent. They help their clients to make better choices to do the best in their unique life circumstances.

According to Jacobs et al (1998) Group counseling is more effective compared to individual counseling for two reasons. As the groups are more capable and more amount of resource is available in a group it provides more amount of possible solutions for an existing problem. There are a number of other reasons also like a similarity is the feeling of a belief that others are also there with me an opportunity to impart the useful behavior of other individuals in a group the individual gets useful criticisms and analysis about one‟s behavior by the members of the group. It also provides an opportunity to listen to others problems when being discussed to observe the various possibilities for one‟s own problems by an insight.

According to Gladding (1996) group counseling is more effective for those individuals who are experiencing similar problems, worries as it is less cost effective and it is very effective in itself. According Cooney, et al (1997) he stresses on the very essential capabilities counselor or a psychotherapist should possess in 21st century. He stresses on the functioning of counseling groups and community development groups need to function for a smooth functioning of group counseling. According to Kother (1994) the individuals who have same kind of psychological problems if come together their necessities can be fulfilled. In a group the individuals can learn the very necessary new behavior skills and practice it in a group setting

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which are very important in day to day life. Due to this there will be a fast progress in the adaptive behavior of an individual. In a group as the individuals do share their responses, suggestions and opinions on the spot immediately, it would be very effective.

Life skills are the abilities that help promote well-being and competence in young people to face the realities of life. Life skills enable an individual to explore alternatives, weigh the pros and consequences and make rational decisions in solving problems. Life skills counseling is done in groups. The main goal of giving life skills counseling to high school students is to help these young children, who are in a transitional stage, who do lack confidence, to provide them the necessary skill and lay a strong solid foundation to build a healthy personality and more responsible young adults.

Life Skills counseling done in groups do provide an opportunity for young people to share their ideas, who are coming from different socio-economic status, caste, culture, and who have different social values. All these provides a micro-social system, opportunity to learn to accept, value, and do respect others opinions and thoughts regardless of all the said differences. It also facilitates for the development of unconditional positive regard for everyone. These serves as a good basic foundation for growing young adults.

Life Skills are not totally alien to individuals. The high school students do have an awareness about the presence of these skills, but in actuality they lack the information about the importance of these skills, the ability to learn and adopt these skills in their daily life. Life skills counseling will provide all these and also makes the individual capable of utilizing these skills to their maximum extent and get the

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benefit in handing one‟s emotions, relationships, to have better communication and to be socially interactive and confident individual to face any kind of challenges of life. It helps in the development and strengthening of one‟s personality qualities. It helps in making the individual‟s personality more attractive and appreciable. Life Skills serves as a solid foundation for life it enables the individuals to live a healthy, happy and fulfilled lives.

Life Skills Education

Life Skills Education (LSE) teaches generic life skills through participatory learning methods like brainstorming, games, role plays, debates, group discussion, etc., .The individual learns though participatory and experimental learning in an encouraging and non threatening situation. This kind of learning will provide the learner a range of alternative and creative ways of solving problems. These skills are very much important in real life to gain control over the situation.

Benefits:

Life skills filed suggests that there is a core set of skills that are at the heart of skills based initiatives for the promotion of health and well being of children and adolescents. (Life skills education in schools, programme on mental health, Division of Mental Health and prevention of substrata abuse World Health Organization.

Developing life skills in younger age would help the individuals to translate knowledge, attitude and values into healthy behavior, it would help the individuals to acquire the ability to reduce special health risks and also to adopt a healthy life behavior which would improve their lives in various aspects like planning ahead for

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future, decision making, career planning, ability to form positive relationships develop good social relationships etc.,

Life Skills makes an individual to translate the knowledge, attitudes and values into actual abilities “what to do and how to do it”, it helps an individual to behave in health ways, it provides that desire and also gives the scope and opportunity to behave in healthy manner.

A number of studies conducted to study the impact of like skills counseling on young individuals have revealed important information that the following effects were seen after life skills counseling intervention., i.e., lessened violent behavior, improved social behavior, decrease negative and self-destructive behavior, an improved future planning, ability to make good decisions, find effective solutions, an improved self-image, self respect, self-awareness, emotional and social adjustment, increased acquisition of knowledge, ability to handle interpersonal problems and coping and managing stress in a healthy way etc.,

Life skills involve thinking skills, social skills and emotional skills. It makes the individual learn to manage oneself, one‟s own feelings emotions, stress and it makes the individual capable of handling relationships, develop proper methods of communication. Young people are in very much need of these skills.

An individual should possess the ability to act responsibly. Life skills enable an individual to translate the knowledge, attitudes and values into a more meaningful way in reality.

Today‟s young people, high school students have an enormous amount of information surrounding them, a number of distractions trying to catch their attention,

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and a various number of risk behaviors like alcoholism, drug abuse, rebellion behavior, peer pressure all trying to deviate them. A number of psychological factors which are negative on young mind like inability to bear emotional pain, conflicts, frustrations, stress, and anxiety about the future are at risk pushing young people towards negative behavior. To overcome all the psychological and environmental barriers the young people, high school students need to be oriented and trained to inculcate life skills which will enable them towards self control and success. Life skills taught at young age mainly to 10-18 year old would be more effective.

Life skills are those skills, strengths and capabilities which helps the individuals to face everyday problems with a confidence and positive attitude and deal with them very effectively. Like skills counseling helps an individual in the growth and development in the growing years. It is more effective for young people as it teaches them to lead their present as well as future life effectively and efficiently.

The World Health Organization (WHO ) has identified and given a list of the most fundamental life skills which needs to be inculcated in the young people. They are 1. Self-awareness 2. Empathy 3. Decision Making 5. Problem solving 5. Communication skills 6. Interpersonal relationship skills 7. Creative thinking 8. Critical thinking 9. Emotional management 10. Stress Management.

Life skills counseling are defined as those skills which help in life management, problem solving, involves personally responsible choices, mental wellness, and various learning processes which helps an individual to attain full human potential and become well equipped to deal with the changes throughout life span.

Life skills counseling is a psychological and developmental task based an positive human values, making good adjustment, it relates with the study and handling human

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relationship, Work, leisure and all areas of a life in a multiple dimension. Life skills counseling teaches an individual the competence skills which involves enhancing self- esteem. Self-confidence, good communication, cooperation, ability to use information, conflict management, problem solving, decision making, creative thinking. Self management and promoting physical and mental health. Life skills counseling involves some guidance and counseling and self heeling skills. The goal of life skills counseling is to prepare and equip an individual to improve quality of life in a more holistic and inviting way. It also helps developing an individual in a more holistic way in a society. Life skills offer self empowerment in relating to self and others while providing coping strategies for understanding the past, managing the present, and creating the future. It is essential for a person to acquire life skills and take charge of one‟s own life (Nelson-Jones, 1995., Hopson & Scally 1981; Leider, 1994; Corey, 1995 & Eagan, 1998).

According to Nelson-Jones (2000) the founder of Life skills counseling, the term life skills is neither positive or negative. Life skills may be strengths or deficits depending on whether or not they help people both to survive and to maintain and develop potentials. Life skills may be defined as “Life skills are sequences of choices affirming psychological life that people make in specific skills areas”. Different life skills are required by individuals depending upon the developmental tasks and specific problems of living. Life skills empowers an individual to become more competent, caring, confident, productive and a contributing member of a society. Life skills increase happiness and fulfillment by assisting an individual in making responsible choices.

Life skills counseling involves the processes of thinking, feeling and acting to

develop an attitude which will favor the positive change, the knowledge to reveal how

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to change, and the skills to realize the desired changes. Life skills counseling focuses on various problems faced by an individual, the potential of an individual, the strengths in the hope and the change and through it, it will lead to self development.

Life skills counseling is also known as life skills therapy or life skills helping. It is an educational approach which helps an individual to face the problems of ordinary living.

In life skills counseling process the behavior change process is understood mainly by looking and analyzing the individual‟s behavior with specific focus on thinking and dealing with problems in terms of life skills strengths and deficits. It focuses on action skills and thinking skills. Feelings are also important. Feelings represent people‟s nature and it is not a skill in itself. People can influence their feelings for good or ill through their use of thinking and action skills (Nelson-Jones, Richard 2000).

Life skills counseling involves action skills and thinking skills.

Internal skills of an individual explains how an individual thinks and feels what happens within him or the individuals thinking skills and feelings are considered as internal skills. How an individual express himself as how he reacts those acting skills are considered as external skills. Thinking and feelings are internal processes and actions are external processes. External/ action skills‟ Action skills do involve the observable behaviour. More than what an individual feels and thinks how an individual does anything is considered as action skills. Based upon its application the changes in the skills takes place. Ex: the action skills can be exhibited in five different ways in interpersonal relationship formation.

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Action Skills:-Action skills involve the observable behaviors in an individual. Action skills refers to what we do and how we do it, rather than what and how we feel and think. Action skills vary from one area to another. The action skills messages are sent in five main ways.

1. Verbal Messages: The messages are sent through words Ex: I do like you or I hate you

2. Voice Messages: Messages are sent through voice Ex: intensity of voice, pitch, pressure, speed pause and even silence.

3. Body Language: Messages are sent through body language life skills and gestures Ex: Eye contact, facial expression, posture etc.

4. Touch Message: This is a special way of expression in body language. Messages are sent through touch. Ex: How an individual‟s touches another, whether soft or harsh, whether the individual has agreed or not.

5. Action Messages: The message is sent to an individual without face-to-face contact. Ex: Letters, reminders etc

The goals of life skills counseling insure providing emotional support, making

the individuals capable of managing specific problem situations, handling stress- conflicts, improving the poor skills that sustains problems. Life skills counseling is very effective in preparing the individuals to handle the present and be prepared for the future. It may be areas of self confidence, public speaking, having good interpersonal relationships, dealing with negative performance stresses attached with changing environment, making realistic goals and various others. It is very effective for young people, adolescents or high school students who are preparing themselves for future life.

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Thinking Skills:- Thinking skills involves unobservable behaviors. A number of factors influence the personality of an individual, but the life skills counseling assumes that individuals do create their thinking. Individual possesses skillful and unskillful thoughts, or sometimes a mixture of both.

Internal thinking skills: An individual is influenced by his genetics, learning, environment and socio cultural factors but still he constructs his own thinking patterns. This is strongly believed by life skills counseling each individual possess the ability of skilled thinking skill less thinking or sometimes a combination of both these. A brief explanation about the 12 life skills has been given below:

There are twelve main thinking skills areas given by psychiatrists and psychologists.

1. Understanding how you think, feel and act: depending upon how we think how we react physically and behave how we influence our feelings based upon this we develops an insight. By this insight we would be able to understand how our feelings and behaviours do influence our thoughts.

2. Taking responsibility of our choice: Each individual understands the importance of knowing how he/she is feeling Ex: An individual recognizes one‟s desires and wishes and having the ability to convert them into opinions.

3. Knowing one‟s own feelings: An ability to understand one‟s own feelings.

4. Ability to use coping self talk: we should be able to talk positives regarding the skills we have the potentialities to make our self cam and help our self to

console.

5. Ability to choose realistic rules: Individual should be able to choose and think

realistically, if not it will create a pressure and others. Ex: I should always be

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praised others should never make a mistake; these kind of unrealistic rules would create stress. Instead of that realistic thinking can be practiced. Ex: I would like to be loved by everyone. But it is not possible to expect as it is unrealistic.

6. Ability to perceive accurately: We should not jump into conclusions based upon our positive or negative thoughts rather we should look into the facts and clear our doubts and then as much possible perceive accurately.

7. Ability to understand the cause accurately: We should be able to understand the cause of an event rather than internalizing and saying that everything went wrong because of me or externalizing and saying that it was others mistake we should understand the events cause accurately without we becoming completely responsible for it.

8. Ability to predict realistically: by predicting realistically we can be realistic about the future events (winning-losing). We should be able to assess the dangers accurately. Unnecessary positivism/ negativism should not influence us.

9. To set realistic goals: Should be able to set realistic achievable goals.

10. Ability to use visualizing skills: To protect one‟s calmness of mind and to

reach our goal successfully we should keep ourselves away from bad habits

and try to visualize things which would create positively in is.

11. Ability to make realistic decision: Should be able to take decisions and face

them in a realistic way.

12. Ability to prevent and manage problems: should be able to guess the problems

we are going to face and prepare ourselves with thinking and action skills should set attainable goals and be able to plan its implementation.

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Significance of the study

The present study tries to bring out the various problems present in high school students. Whether it is psychological, adjustment problems, lack of self confidence, and problems of various personality traits. It highlights the deficit personality traits and through the life skills counseling intervention it enhances the personality of high school students. According to the previous discussed studies Life Skills counseling intervention at this age would be highly beneficial for the proper growth of personality of an individual.

The present study has significance for Psychological counselors, high school students, parents, teachers, educationist, social reformers, and policy makers. The findings from this present study would be made best use by the educationists, educational psychologists, counselors and psychologists to implement the Life skills counseling at high school level for a very good and overall development of the personality of an individual. The present study results would enable the educationists, policy makers to adopt the life skills counseling promgramme for high school students. It would also help for the policy makers to implement life skills counseling intervention to promote the good overall development of personality for high school students and thereby improve their academic performance and also make a good foundation for the future development of young people. Enhancing the personality would directly influence the academic performance, adjustment patterns, interpersonal relationships and a good future planning for themselves in young people. The present young generation would be the future citizens of the country. Hence, it is most suitable and recommendable for young people as they are the future of our country and making their personality well developed would directly lead to a happy and

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healthy, progressive nation. The present study is most applicable for the young people‟s overall development and a better future for the society.

By adopting the life skills counseling interventions we can enhance the personality of an individual in an effective way. This will help the individual to face the day-to-day life challenges in an effective manner. It will also help the individual to realize one‟s own capabilities in a more realistic manner. Life Skills counseling would help an individual to develop communication skills, problems solving skills, stress management, emotional management, it would help to improve one‟s logical thinking, creative thinking and critical thinking. It increases assertiveness, decision making ability; improve one‟s interpersonal relationships and various other capabilities. It makes an individual strong enough to face the challenges of everyday life more effectively.

Life Skills counseling Intervention would be the most suitable and apt one in building confidence, improving social skills, enhancing self awareness, and preparing the individuals to face the present and future situations with more awareness and effective ways. Life Skills counseling would be the best intervention to bring a more balanced, mature and effective skills in this age group and prepare them to face the challenges of life. It will also help these high school students to create a protective shield for them to resist the negative peer pressure and to make good decisions in selecting the right choices.

Life Skills counseling interventions will provide this adolescence the skills to learn assertiveness to communicate better with parents, teachers, adults and one‟s own peer group. It makes to understand and learn the importance of saying No, to negative peer pressure. It enables the individuals to learn to control one‟s emotions

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and attain emotional stability. It makes the individual capable of learning to make good decisions, set appropriate boundaries and have an acceptable behavior, it develops the ability to develop and maintain relationships, learn to be responsible for one‟s actions and it inculcates a behavior of adopting a healthy life style.

To summarize, the adolescents face a lot of situations where they do not know „what to do‟, a lack of information and skills make them feel less confident. There are certain other situations where the individual knows „what to do‟ but do not now „how to do‟ and this shows that the individual has the information but lacks the skills to carry out certain activities be it emotional management, decision making, having good interpersonal relationship, communication skills, etc. Life Skills counseling prepares an individual with enough amount of knowledge and skills to face these problems, in fact, it can also be said that Life Skills counseling plays a role of „capacity building‟ in these high school students.