The Importance of Time and Space in Counseling
The Importance of Time and Space in Counseling
Introduction
Life is full of challenges that often seem to overwhelm ones ’personal abilities to cope. In such cases, people look for advice, counsel or even just a listening ear. In counseling this opportunity is called counseling space. It is a privilege where another person opens up his personal emotions, feelings ad perplexities that come as result of the problems of living. According to Mcleod(2007) a counseling space requires two key feature that are of extreme importance namely: a boundary and the rules for what can happen inside the created space. This paper is a discussion of the importance of time and space in counseling.
In order to create meaningful space, a counselor needs to understand the purpose of the space, the personal relationship within which the space exists, the physical quality of the space and the moral significance of the space(Christopher 1996).In the absence of the above, it will be difficult to appreciate the role of the space and it may lead to harm rather than help.
It is suggested by (Thampi 1998) that counseling space requires a clear establishment of values. Some of the core values include respect for the client, affirmation and authentification and that human beings are experts of their own lives.
Another importance of space is that it creates an environment of trust and confidentiality. This underscores the need for morality and ethical behavior on both the client and the counselor. It is important to point out here that dual relationships can destroy trust and have a risk of breaching confidentiality.
Space in counseling is also significant because it opens up responses to empathetic opportunities. When space is safe, clients will find it easy to give way to emotions including the long suppressed feelings and emotions. In the safety of the space, the vague emotions are given a voice.
Once the counselor has opened space, it is important that an indication of the duration be
Introduction
Life is full of challenges that often seem to overwhelm ones ’personal abilities to cope. In such cases, people look for advice, counsel or even just a listening ear. In counseling this opportunity is called counseling space. It is a privilege where another person opens up his personal emotions, feelings ad perplexities that come as result of the problems of living. According to Mcleod(2007) a counseling space requires two key feature that are of extreme importance namely: a boundary and the rules for what can happen inside the created space. This paper is a discussion of the importance of time and space in counseling.
In order to create meaningful space, a counselor needs to understand the purpose of the space, the personal relationship within which the space exists, the physical quality of the space and the moral significance of the space(Christopher 1996).In the absence of the above, it will be difficult to appreciate the role of the space and it may lead to harm rather than help.
It is suggested by (Thampi 1998) that counseling space requires a clear establishment of values. Some of the core values include respect for the client, affirmation and authentification and that human beings are experts of their own lives.
Another importance of space is that it creates an environment of trust and confidentiality. This underscores the need for morality and ethical behavior on both the client and the counselor. It is important to point out here that dual relationships can destroy trust and have a risk of breaching confidentiality.
Space in counseling is also significant because it opens up responses to empathetic opportunities. When space is safe, clients will find it easy to give way to emotions including the long suppressed feelings and emotions. In the safety of the space, the vague emotions are given a voice.
Once the counselor has opened space, it is important that an indication of the duration be