Equalizing the counseling relationship

Suggests procedures intended to increase the likelihood of positive outcomes in counseling by equalizing the counseling relationship. A relationship becomes equalized when there is mutuality and balance in the contributions of each of the participants to their joint goals, process, and outcomes. Precounseling procedures that counselors can utilize to promote equalization are (a) orienting clients toward what to expect in an equalized counseling relationship, (b) encouraging the voluntary involvement of the client in the counseling relationship, (c) presenting counseling as a relatively simple process that need not involve mystification and intrigue, (d) developing an image of the counselor as a facilitative person, and (e) adopting a theory of counseling that allows equalization. In-counseling attitudes of the counselor that can promote equalization include (a) authenticity of response to the client, (b) empathetic attunement to the client's feelings that manifests an existential and focused sense of presence, and (c) a sensitivity to the process of emergence, which allows the client the right to be and to hold values different from those held by the counselor. (15 ref)