Counselling in a Social Services Area Office: The Practice behind the Theory

Abstract

Counselling is something that many practitioners and students have an interest in. Post-qualifying courses in counselling are popular. However, social workers frequently see counselling as an activity which it is difficult, if not impossible, to undertake in their day-to-day work. Consequently some are to be found in a voluntary capacity working for counselling projects that cater for specific groups such as the bereaved, young people and families. They argue that it is only within such settings that counselling is properly valued. In busy area offices or child-care teams counselling is pushed aside by other roles and demands, by the need to deliver resources or undertake depersonalized bureaucratic tasks. Yet the belief persists for many social workers that counselling is the most desirable mode of intervention, it is the way they would like to work if only time and space allowed.