Communication And Psychology In Counseling And Coaching ✓ Solved

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Communication and Psychology in Counseling/Coaching C. J. Student Liberty University Literature Review Clinton and Ohlschlager tell us that life is an ongoing journey full of ups and downs. Often people are searching for something in their life and they have a hard time finding what exactly it is they are searching for (Clinton, & Ohlschlager, 2002). Despair overcomes people and because they are discontent in their life, they begin to look for someone who can guide them out of their troubles (Clinton et al., 2002). The people who are overwhelmed by past hurts and want to move forward into the future often seek counselors (Clinton et al., 2002). The individuals who have a goal in mind but are unsure of how to accomplish that goal, seek out the help of a life coach (Collins, 2009). Whether they are stuck in the past or they are focused on the future, they are both looking for the same thing: guidance from a person who is more experienced and wise than they are. These people are looking for competent counselors or coaches who can lead them to find more success in their life. It has been found that building bridges between the fields of communication and psychology, and allowing psychology and communication to work hand in hand during the counseling process leads to more successful outcomes (Ivey, & Daniels, 2016). Communication is a process where people are able to infer and create meaning through message exchanges. Those messages can either be verbal or nonverbal. The third edition of Human Communication in Society defines human communication as "a transactional process in which people generate meaning through the exchanges of verbal and nonverbal messages in specific contexts, influenced by individuals and societal forces and embedded in culture" (Alberts, Nakayama, & Martin, 2012, p. 9). Verbal communication is instrumental which means that people use verbal communication to get what they want or need. Verbal communication is also regulatory, which means it is used to control others' behaviors (Alberts et al., 2012). It is also informative so it reports facts and sends information from one person to another (Alberts et al., 2012). It is also heuristic and is used to acquire knowledge and understanding of the message (Alberts et al., 2012). Verbal communication is interactional, so it helps to establish relationships and define them (Alberts et al., 2012). It is a personal language, which means people are able to express themselves through verbal communication (Alberts et al., 2012). Nonverbal communication is present in every interaction and social experience. It involves the face, the body, and the voice without the words and it relates heavily to the behavior of a person. Nonverbal communication involves the process of encoding and decoding nonverbal cues. To encode is to take ideas and thoughts and convert them into a message that can be easily understood by the receiver of the message (Hall, Horgan, & Murphy, 2019). Decoding requires an interpretation of the meaning of the message received (Hall et al., 2019). Nonverbal cues help to express emotion. Behind every verbal interaction, there are nonverbal cues that counselors should pay close attention to in order to fully understand the message that is being sent by their client. Another key component of effective communication and effective counseling/coaching deals with listening and responding. Experts say that people spend 55 percent of their time listening, 16 percent speaking, 17 percent reading, and 11 percent writing (Alberts, et al., 2012). By those statistics, it is easy to see that listening is the most frequent part of communication. Improving listening skills can lead to better client relationships. Every person is unique and has their own set of needs, goals, fears, desires, and stressors, etc. It is necessary for coaches/counselors to accommodate these differences between people and help them move forward in the direction they want to go (Collins, 2009). Allen E. Ivey from the University of Massachusetts and Thomas Daniels from Memorial University of Newfoundland say that it is absolutely critical for counselors to be trained with an emphasis on diversity and that they must also be aware of the different backgrounds of each individual, and be able to change in accordance to those individual differences (Ivey et al., 2016). This adjustment takes skill and must be done with care. Allen E. Ivey and Thomas Daniels also share that the two skills/fields that are very important to the counseling process are the fields of communication and psychology (Ivey et al., 2016). Developing bridges between the fields of communication and counseling psychology changes the brain of clients and helps to develop new and improved neural networks (Ivey et al., 2016). The involvement of listening skills and effective communication is crucial for clients well being, mental health, and growth (Ivey et al., 2016). Furthermore, the use of effective communication in counseling psychology leads to a multicultural understanding that can improve relationships in the counseling process (Ivey et al., 2016). Every act of communication leads to the activation of neural networks, and the creation of new neural networks for both parties in the counselor-client relationship (Ivey et al., 2016). The involvement of communication in counseling psychology rewires the brain and allows the client to grow, change, and progress (Ivey et al., 2016). This shows the interdisciplinarity within the counseling process which involves the bringing together of distinctive components of two or more disciplines (Nissani, 1995). Counselors and coaches usually possess some level of emotional intelligence (Odaci, DeÄŸerli, & Bolat, 2017). A person with high emotional intelligence is able to evaluate their own feelings and the feelings of others (Odaci et al., 2017). Then they are able to use their feelings to direct their thoughts, actions, and behaviors (Odaci et al., 2017). In order to understand the feelings and behaviors of another person, counselors have to understand the human mind and its functions (Odaci et al., 2017). Studying those topics is the study of psychology. Once a counselor can comprehend the motivation behind a person's behavior, they are more likely to help their client understand what needs to change to move forward in a given situation. Every counselor has a different approach and a different set of specialized skills, however, each counselor and life coach should have the basic understanding of the human mind, and communication (Odaci et al., 2017). Understanding and awareness of the function of the brain are necessary for success in the counseling process (Odaci et al., 2017). Developing effective listening skills, empathic approaches, supplying feedback to the clients, and fostering coach/counselor-client relationships also leads to success (Odaci et al., 2017). The purpose of this literature review was to consider how counselors and coaches use the areas of communication and psychology together during the counseling/coaching process and whether or not the counselor/coach and client find more success if communication and psychology are interwoven during the sessions. In studying this topic regarding counseling and coaching, it is important to note the gap in scholarship pertaining to the study of psychology. More information is needed on which areas of psychology are most helpful in the coaching and counseling process. References Alberts, J. K., Nakayama, T. K., & Martin, J. N. (2012). Human communication in society (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Pearsonon. Clinton, T., & Ohlschlager, G. (2002). Competent Christian Counseling. Colorado Springs, Col.: Waterbrook Press. Collins, G. R. (2009). Christian coaching: Helping others turn potential into reality. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress. Hall, J. A., Horgan, T. G., & Murphy, N. A. (2019). Nonverbal Communication. Annual Review of Psychology, 70, 24.1-24.24. Retrieved December 9, 2018. Ivey, A. E., & Daniels, T. (2016). Systematic Interviewing Microskills and Neuroscience: Developing Bridges between the Fields of Communication and Counseling Psychology. International Journal of Listening, 30(3), 99-119. doi:10.1080/.2016. Nissani, M. (1995). Fruits, Salads, and Smoothies: A Working Definition of Interdisciplinarity. Journal of Educational Thought, 29(2), 29-39. Odaci, H., Değerli, F. I., & Bolat, N. (2017). Emotional intelligence levels and counselling skills of prospective psychological counsellors. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 45(5), 526–538. doi:10.1080/03069885.2017.1312911