Lecture 9 Part 3 Non-directive counselling

Part 3: Non-directive counselling.
From a psychological perspective the objective of non-directive counselling is to present the
client with options and underlying facts without judgement and imply preferences.
The Christian Counsellor views life from a Biblical paradigm but remains sensitive and silent
until directed to share.
In the process, it is necessary for the counsellor to avoid impressing his or her values and
beliefs on the client. Not only does it provide autonomy to the client to make decisions that are
appropriate for their own circumstances, but it is holistic in nature as it deals with a problem by
focusing on the client in his or her specific context.
Client-centred counselling.
The psychological approach requires that the counsellor acts as a facilitator who asks
discerning questions, restates ideas, clarifies feelings, attempts to understand underlying
factors and alerts the client to insights that they may have missed or are reluctant to
acknowledge.
The counsellor does not impart his or her own opinion on the client and adopts a nonjudgmental, non-confrontational and non-adversarial attitude.
Christian counsellors always depends upon the Holy Spirit to provide guidance and insight
Non-directive counselling is also called value-neutral counselling, which refers to the fact
that the counsellor does not attach value to any choices that are at the client's disposal, but
merely informs the client of the facts and explores the consequences of each in the client's
unique case.
Christian counsellors’ breath God’s Grace into the counselling endeavour but cannot be valueneutral as all values are derived from God’s Word.
According to a 1997 editorial by Barbara Bernhardt from the John Hopkins Medical Institution in
Baltimore, Maryland, the level of directiveness is measured in terms of advice. The counsellor
states what he believes the best option is for the client.
Evaluation
The counsellor expresses views about the client's situation and reinforcement. The counsellor
selectively affirms or rejects the client's thoughts, emotions or behaviour.
Non-directive counselling is especially useful when the client's problem involves options
pertaining to an emotional and controversial issue that is highly situational specific, has valid
arguments for and against and is likely associated with life-changing consequences. Some
examples are abortion, end-of-life decisions and suicide.
Again, from Christian perspective ungodly behaviour comes with consequences. God loves us
and wants to protect us. If we follow Biblical statutes, we will protect ourselves and others
around us.
In counselling 101 we don’t train Christian counsellors to be abrasive and judgmental, but a
clear line should be visible as far as compromising is concerned.
At this time, it should be clear that such a non-directive position may play strain on the
counsellor if he or she has a particular moral or ethical view on the subject. In such
circumstances, the counsellor may opt to refer the client to another professional rather than act
against his or her moral character or unduly influence the client in their decision-making.
Another similar interviewing practice was developed from non-directive counselling methods,
namely motivational interviewing. This approach is also goal-oriented and client-centred
and does not attempt to prescribe to the client the changes that they should make. Instead,
the counsellor assists the client to envisage improved well-being, which motivates them to
act in order to achieve their goal.
As such, motivational interviewing is more change-oriented than decision-oriented and
attempts to subtly but indirectly persuade the client to change their behaviour in order to
conceptualise and resolve issues that are often ambivalent in nature.
By building rapport and active listening, the counsellor engages and focuses the client to evoke
motivation for change in a planned and structured way. It is again a non-directive and selfdetermination approach that is applied to foster insight, but to motivate behavioural change in
the client instead of facilitate decision-making as is the primary objective in non-directive
counselling.
From the outset the counselee must understand the difference between Christian Counselling
and psychological counselling. As mentioned, those who do not believe in God will experience
difficulties accepting Biblical intervention and possibly resist Biblical Standards when
presented.