Counselling is all about helping clients. It is a unique relationship where someone shares the most intimate details of life with you. And you help that person work through their problems. As a good counsellor you listen, support, encourage and challenge your client to bring their life into balance.

Would you be a good counsellor?

Becoming a good counsellor requires you to have the right personality, education, training and hands-on experience. How can you know if you would be a good counsellor? Here is a list of ten traits that are typical of a good counsellor:

1. You listen attentively without inserting personal beliefs
2. You encourage clients to express themselves freely
3. You remain non-judgemental
4. You avoid clichés and instant advice
5. You confront and challenge the client’s statements if necessary
6. You acknowledge their fear and pain
7. You maintain confidentiality
8. You are available and accessible to clients
9. You are committed and motivated to serve and assist clients.
10. You appropriately handle your own stress and your work/life balance

Exercise: Assess Yourself

Are you interested in becoming a counsellor? Using the list of traits presented here, rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 for each trait. 1 = least like you, while 10 = most like you.

If you score yourself as a ‘7’ or higher for at least seven of the traits on this list, you are probably a good fit for the counselling profession.

As I said earlier, if you score yourself as a ‘7’ or higher for at least seven of the traits on this list, you are quite likely to be a good fit for the counselling profession.

How did you do? Write and tell me at [email protected]