Course: 107- AGuidance And Counselling

Topic: Counselling for Parents

-ANJU SOMANROLL NO. 90

(w.e.f. Parents of Special Children)

Counselling

"An effort to help the client engage in those types of

behavior which will lead to a resolution of the client's problems"

(Krumboltz, 1965)

Definition:

What is Counselling?

Counselling is the service offered to the individual who is under going a problem and needs professional help to overcome it.

Meaning:

Counselling the Parents of Children with special needs

• The parents of children with special needs have to adjust to a wide variety of emotional and psychological problems .

• Counselling is a formal procedure or transaction in which both counselor and parents aim to find a mutually acceptable plan of adjustment.

• Counselling should be a continuous process, in which the parents can learn to accept the child as a different rather than a lesser person

Helping parents accept their child's disability

Stages of Adjustment :

Stage one

The parent may be shocked, and he or she may cry or become dejected. Sometimes parents may express their feelings through physical outbursts or, occasionally, inappropriate laughter.

Stage two

This is an extension of stage one, and some parents may deny their child's disability or try to avoid that reality in some other way.

Stage three

At this stage, parents may feel anger. They may demonstrate their anger outwardly,

in the form of rage, or become withdrawn Verbally attacking anyone

If the parents are feeling angry, guilty, or both, professionals must understand this stage is a very positive point to reach in the process of adjustment and not become defensive if attacked.

Stage four

Parents become resigned to the fact that their child has a disability.

For a few parents, retreating, accompanied by an attempt to hide the child, especially from friends and persons during organized or routine social encounters may be the first sign that they have begun to accept the fact their child has a disability.

Stage five

This is the stage of acceptance, meaning the parents have achieved an unconditional positive regard for the child.

Parents not only begin to understand and appreciate their child.

• Reaching this stage is highly correlated with the school inviting parents to become team members in a program with caring professionals, and often paraprofessionals, that is designed to meet all of the child's needs.

Stage six

Parents are able to put their lives back together and enjoy living, imagine a future, and talk of their child free of undue emotion.

The school's responsibility to parents

Because schools accept students with disabilities, they have a responsibility to provide support or see that appropriate support

The school may provide parent- to-parent support groups, which are divided by disability and facilitated by school personnel such as a school psychologist, counselor, or teacher.

REFERENCE• http://www.ldonline.org/article/5937/

• http://www.zeepedia.com/read.php?introduction_counselling_journals_definitions_of_counselling_theory_and_practice_of_counselling&b=97&c=1