In this lecture, you will gain from counsellor and trainer Emma Chapman an understanding of the pros and cons of using assessments in counselling, and the opportunity to explore different assessment tools.
On completion of this lecture, you will:
- be able to explain what an ‘assessment’ is in the counselling setting
- understand why a counsellor might complete an assessment with a client
- know the pros and cons of assessments in a therapeutic setting
- be aware of various different assessment tools used in counselling settings.
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Emma draws on her own knowledge and experience – and on the writings of a number of key figures in the field of counselling and psychotherapy – to define ‘assessment’, explore the types of information that you might wish to gather in a holistic counselling assessment, and look at the reasons for collecting this information (how it can help both the client and the counsellor).
Assessment can be an uncomfortable concept for counsellors, especially perhaps those in the person-centred tradition. Through this lecture, you will have chance to reflect on your own feelings about assessment and to examine its potential pros and cons.
Having described then various quantitative tools used in counselling assessment, Emma suggests how we can add a qualitative aspect to the process.
She also revisits each of the potential cons of assessment and provides a fresh outlook on how to counteract these by adapting the assessment process to fit your own style and modality.
Emma sets this within the context of agency counselling too, acknowledging and identifying solutions to the challenge of balancing organisational policy with our own preferred way of being.
To take your learning further, you will be given a list of eight references for further reading on this topic. Assessment in counselling is relevant to all qualified counsellors – and to counselling students who wish to prepare for interviews and for their future in practice.
About the Lecture Presenter
Emma Chapman is a counsellor and trainer working in private counselling practice in Cheshire. In her Northwich office, she works with adults, young people and couples.
Emma believes that having good mental health is the key to having a fulfilled and happy life. As a passionate advocate for mental health, Emma also delivers mental health training to a variety of audiences across the North West of England.
Emma is a qualified teacher who came to counselling later on in life after 15 years of working in the public sector and charity roles. During this time she worked with vulnerable children, adults and families in teaching, family support, safeguarding and pastoral roles.
After so many years working with children and families who often struggled to manage day-to-day life, Emma began to observe that poor mental health and trauma played a huge part in keeping people stuck in damaging patterns of behaviour.
This conclusion led her to further training in mental health, and she started her counsellor training in 2014 at Mid-Cheshire College studying part-time. In 2018 she completed an MA in Clinical Counselling at Chester University.
Emma has experience working in an NHS IAPT setting but decided to work privately in order to work with her clients more creatively.
After a short spell teaching counselling at a local college, Emma continued to put her teaching skills to use and further develop some training packages for fellow counsellors, educational settings and businesses.
As a mother of two children, Emma struggled with her own mental health after becoming a Mother. In 2019 she had her research into maternal mental health published in the journal of Crisis, Illness and Loss*. She now specialises in working with mothers experiencing perinatal mental health difficulties in her private practice.
Following some time working at a charity dedicated to the prevention of suicide, it became clear to Emma that there was little therapeutic support for those experiencing suicidal ideation.
In her private practice, she also works with people who are experiencing Suicidal Thoughts and delivers suicide awareness training to counsellors and other organisations across the North West.
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Assessment in Counselling lecture overview