{"id":376,"date":"2015-11-09T20:40:21","date_gmt":"2015-11-09T09:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ici.edu.au\/blog\/?p=376"},"modified":"2023-06-07T12:03:59","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T02:03:59","slug":"is-counselling-and-psychology-the-right-career-path-for-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ici.net.au\/blog\/is-counselling-and-psychology-the-right-career-path-for-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Counselling and Psychology the Right Career Path for You?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"shutterstock_282305666\"<\/p>\n

If you enjoy listening to people, helping others and making a difference, counselling may be the career for you. But if you want to get into the field, you\u2019ll need more than just good ears.<\/p>\n

Being a counsellor requires a combination of personality traits and skills so you can provide the right amount of support for clients. It\u2019s also about knowing how to adapt those levels to suit individual needs.<\/p>\n

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What you\u2019ll need to consider<\/h2>\n

Are you a good listener?<\/em><\/h3>\n

This goes without saying. However, it\u2019s the ability to listen without interrupting, giving the people space to talk and permitting the silence that\u2019s more important. It\u2019s also about being able to listen effectively. Being a counsellor, you\u2019ll need to listen to what a client is saying and identify key phrases, words or explanations that may help you to help them. Being an effective listener is also about picking up body language and asking the right questions to encourage a client to talk more freely.<\/p>\n

Are you a people person?<\/em><\/h3>\n

Psychology and counselling is a people industry, and you don\u2019t get into the field unless you can get along with others. You\u2019ll need to be approachable – clients will want to open up to you and feel comfortable. You should never come across as superior to your client. While you are a person of authority and there to help, a client or patient should always feel as if they are on the same level as you.<\/p>\n

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\n Find Counselling & Psychology<\/strong> Courses with ICI<\/strong>\n <\/div>\n
Learn More<\/div>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>

Are you naturally inquisitive?<\/em><\/h3>\n

A good counsellor will guide the session using their own questions to best understand their clients and patients. Astute observers who like to ask follow up questions and are genuinely interested in the answer will suit a career in counselling.<\/p>\n

Do you have good self-awareness?<\/em><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s important to never let your own personal beliefs or problems get in the way of a counselling session. To be successful as a counsellor, you\u2019ll need to take into account any natural biases (and yes, these do occur), education, background, social status and religious beliefs. You\u2019ll also have to have a grip on your own problems so they don\u2019t trickle into a client\u2019s session.<\/p>\n

Are you a good communicator?<\/em><\/h3>\n

Being a counsellor is not just about listening. It\u2019s about understanding and helping. A good counsellor will use what he or she has learned during their education, and communicate it in a way that the client understands. A young adult is not going to necessarily understand things in the same way that a middle-aged man is. Alternatively, someone going through the death of a family member is not going to understand things the same way that someone going through depression may. You need to listen to the client, adapt what you\u2019ve learnt and then communicate it effectively so that each individual understands.<\/p>\n

Are you comfortable speaking to all types of people?<\/em><\/h3>\n

As a counsellor, you\u2019re never going to get the same type of people walk through your door. Rather, you\u2019ll see people from a range of cultural, religious, socioeconomic and political backgrounds. While you don\u2019t necessarily have to agree with a client\u2019s views, you need to be empathetic to them and you\u2019ll need to have the interpersonal skills to hold conversations with every personality type.<\/p>\n

Puzzles, riddles and creativity<\/em><\/h3>\n

Just because you\u2019re not an artist, doesn\u2019t mean you won\u2019t need to be creative. A good counsellor will have to think quickly on their feet, and creatively to be able to empathise and talk to a range of different people. People go to a counsellor to help them, and you\u2019ll need to find creative and flexible ways to help clients see through their issues to a possible solution.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll also be expected to decipher a lot of information from sometimes-limited information. You may have to piece together information from a number of different conversations to find the root cause of the patient\u2019s situation. Not every person who comes to see you will be as open and honest as you may think.<\/p>\n

Flexibility and boundaries<\/em><\/h3>\n

Often, counsellors will need to work outside of \u2018normal\u2019 hours to accommodate clients\u2019 schedules. However, it\u2019s important to set boundaries. Sometimes, clients will expect access to you 24\/7 so you\u2019ll need to be able to switch off and leave work at work\u2019s door. It\u2019s also just as important to set boundaries for yourself and understand when to take time for yourself.<\/p>\n

If after asking yourself these questions you still feel that a career in counselling and psychology<\/a> is good for you, contact ICI today to enquire about how their courses could get your career started.<\/p>\n

If you enjoy listening to people, helping others and making a difference, counselling may be the career for you. But if you want to get into the field, you\u2019ll need more than just good ears.<\/p>\n

Being a counsellor requires a combination of personality traits and skills so you can provide the right amount of support for clients. It\u2019s also about knowing how to adapt those levels to suit individual needs.<\/p>\n

If after asking yourself these questions you still feel that a career in counselling and psychology<\/a> is good for you, contact ICI today to enquire about how their courses could get your career started.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Find Counselling & Psychology Courses with ICI Learn More If you enjoy listening to people, helping others and making a difference, counselling may be the career for you. But if you want to get into the field, you\u2019ll need more than just good ears. Being a counsellor requires a combination of personality traits and skills […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-career-advice","category-health-careers"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ici.net.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ici.net.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ici.net.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ici.net.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ici.net.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ici.net.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1862,"href":"https:\/\/ici.net.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376\/revisions\/1862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ici.net.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ici.net.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ici.net.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}