Study unit 3: holding the cracks

Question 1

what is positive regard

Answer 1

being able to show a positive and unconditional
regard for people can help in forming a successfully progressive relationship
between people.

This unconditional way of being present is the basis from
which people can explore thoughts, feelings and experiences, and develop a
sensitivity and acceptance of diversity.

Unconditional positive regard creates an opportunity to
explore change, and provides a client with acceptance and genuine caring.

Question 2

discuss warmth and understanding

Answer 2

Showing empathy and genuineness encourages the development of trust.
Maintaining warmth and understanding, without being judgmental, provides
a comfortable foundation from where the counselling relationship can develop.
Conveying warmth through body language – using posture, maintaining eye
contact and personal space – encourages the development of trust as it provides
reassurance.

Question 3

provide some listening skills

Answer 3

• Trying to fully understand the point of view of
the help-seeker
• Repeating what the help-seeker has said and asking if you
understood it right
• Summarising at the end what you have understood
• Exploring the emotional side of the problem well
• Trying to find solutions together with the helpseeker,
not for the help-seeker

Question 4

what are the different types of support needed by individuals

Answer 4

basic services
includes basic services and security necessary for wellbeing
of all persons, such as food, shelter, water and health care. If these basic needs
are disrupted, a lay counsellor may help distressed people connect with these
kinds of services

community and family
Community and
family support includes helping people to activate their own social support
systems. This may include strengthening community support through women’s
groups and youth clubs, helping people to find loved ones after a disaster through
family tracing and reunification, or communal mourning or healing events after
a disaster

focused non specialised
Focused, non-specialised support includes individual, family
or group psychosocial interventions by trained helpers, such as lay counsellors.
This kind of support includes emotional support for people facing significan
life stressors or who have been exposed to critical events, and can include
psychological support.

specialised
lay counsellor is not a professional, and so his/her role would be to connect
people who need this specialised support with the appropriate specialists, such
as professional counsellors, psychologists or psychiatrists. This can include people
who are still experiencing significant suffering and are unable to cope despite the support provided in the other three layers of the pyramid

Question 5

what are structurally caused problems

Answer 5

Structurally caused or co-caused problems refer to widespread pathological and
exclusionary ways of relating, like sexism, racism, genderism, ethnocentrism,
xenophobia, elder-neglect, and other ‘difference-based’ behaviours and
norms.

Structural consequences include labelling, stigma, exclusion and
disenfranchisement.