What is Counselling and What Skills Must a Counsellor Have?


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A lot of people will, at some point in their lives, find themselves as a counsellor without even having a true understanding of what counselling actually is or what role a professional counsellor can play in one’s life. There is in fact a huge difference between an experienced and professional counsellor and a person who makes use of some counselling skills as part of their role, for instance their role as a colleague or a friend. A professional person is a well trained individual who can use various kinds of counselling approaches with their customers.

Counselling is thus:

  • The method, which takes place when a customer and a counsellor sets aside some time to explore the difficulties that may include the emotional or stressful feelings of the customer.
  • The act of helping customer to see things from a different perspective
  • A relationship of faith and belief. Confidentiality is the main thing of counselling. Professionals usually explain their policy on privacy. However, counsellors can still disclose the information if they think there is risk to the life.

It is by no way giving advice, being judgemental, looking at the problems of a client from one’s own viewpoint, getting emotionally attached with the customer or encouraging a customer to behave in a manner in which in which the counsellor had behaved when faced with the same problem in his or her own life.

However, not everyone who wants to help others can become a professional counsellor. In order to become a good counsellor, there are a few skills that one must possess. Given below are a few skills of a good counsellor.

  • The person must be trustworthy. You are sharing some confidential and personal feelings of your life with the professional. So, you would definitely not want to make it public or a mocking issue. The person must thus be able to maintain privacy and secrecy.
  • The person must be able to understand what you are trying to say. The professional must understand your point of view when conversing with you.
  • They should have faith in their patients that they will be able to change for betterment. They must have the confidence in your ability to change or give you a solution, which is going to work for you.
  • When you are discussing your problems with the professional, the person must listen to you very keenly with his or her full and undivided attention.
  • In a counselling session, it is the patient who talks much. The counsellor only talks 10%.
  • The person must be calm, caring, sensitive, patient, open and concerned.

Jade is a professional counsellor in Bondi Junction, Australia possessing all these skills. But she only deals with women and couples. If you are one of them and facing any kind of problem that you think can be solved by counselling sessions, definitely get in touch with her.

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