- What is counselling? Counseling is a service provided by a professional called a counselor, a service that aims to provide support to people who want to make changes in their lives using certain specific methods that are mainly based on communication.
- How can a counselor help me? The advisor, as a professional in developing the potential of his clients, supports them in identifying their own options, in exploring the identified solutions and making the most appropriate decisions. All this in a specific security and confidentiality framework.
- What are the key elements of the counseling process?
It is a service offered at the client’s request when he wants to make a change in his life;
It is an opportunity to identify the meaning of individual circumstances;
Presupposes support from a counselor to identify alternatives to the desired change;
It involves providing support to people during the implementation of the change;
It aims to develop the client’s abilities to successfully cope with subsequent changes in his life.
- Where does counseling take place? Do I have to lie on a couch? The counseling sessions take place, most of the time, in a comfortable room, where only the counselor and his client/clients (if it is a group session) have access during the counseling session. This room is physically delimited, it can be located in a premises that belongs to a private or public counseling office.
- How is a counseling session conducted? Counseling can take place in the form of individual sessions, couple sessions, group sessions, sessions with all family members, face-to-face, but also online sessions, depending on the issue and the client’s choice.
Counseling sessions take place in time intervals established by mutual agreement between the counselor and the client. The standard duration of a counseling session is 50 minutes and may vary depending on the problem and the client’s needs.
- Every time I’m in trouble, will I have to call a counselor? The general objective of counseling sessions is to help the client develop self-confidence, self-esteem, independence and autonomy. Therefore, it is assumed that, following the process, the client also develops skills to face future difficult situations. If, however, there are certain new specific situations and the client feels that he needs support, he can turn to counseling again.
- Where can I find a counselor? Use ACROM information sources or other sources. It is important to find out about the professional training, experience, competences of the counselor you are going to approach and whether he is a member of any professional association. Membership in such an association can bring an extra guarantee regarding the quality of the service offered and compliance with professional standards and ethics.
You can contact us if you want us to put you in touch with an advisor in the area where you are located.
- How can I be sure that the specialist adviser identified by me is qualified for what he does? The advisor must be able to present documents attesting to his training. Some counselors may offer support to clients experiencing a diverse range of situations, and other counselors may be specialized and offer counseling in certain specific areas (eg: career).
- What can I do if I am a disabled person? You will need to identify a counselor who has experience and can intervene in the respective case. Contact us to find the best option for this case.
- If I tell something to the counselor, can someone else find out? Everything discussed at counseling sessions remains between you and the counselor. In other words, it is confidential. There are some legal and ethical exceptions to this rule, the counselor has the obligation to clarify them from the beginning of the process, in the first counseling session.
- How much does it cost to seek counselling? The fee per counseling session, in private practice, is between 30 – 190 lei and may vary depending on the counselor’s specialization, the degree of complexity of the client’s problem and the counselor’s pricing policy. Depending on the issue addressed, you can also benefit from free counseling services, generally offered by non-governmental organizations or public institutions that have such attributions or programs.
- What do I do if I am not satisfied with the counselor’s services? From the very first meeting, the client needs to be prepared to evaluate the situation regarding the possibility of developing a relationship of trust with his advisor. Trust is the key to the success of the counseling process. If you are not satisfied with your advisor, look for another advisor. Remember that you are the customer.
If rules that you established together were violated by the counselor, you have the right to complain to the professional association of which he is a member.
If you have questions to which you could not find an answer, do not hesitate to contact us.