Education and equipping are vital to clinical excellence in counseling …

Not everyone who makes an appointment with a therapist wants to change. Probably everyone who visits with a counselor does want their current circumstances to change in some way, but they may not want to change themselves.

In most cases, it just doesn’t work that way.

When a counseling client identifies certain changes they want and/or need in their life, chances are accomplishing that goal of change will require something about them to change.

That’s a fact you’ve likely seen trumpeted via meme on a social media site, with messages like:

… or perhaps …

Finally, a couple memes with some truth to them!

In order for you to change your life, you’re likely going to have to make some personal changes.

That reminds me of a story about a dad and his young son spending some time outdoors together.

Being the curious type, the boy asked, “Dad, why does the wind blow?”

“I don’t know, son,” his father replied.

“Dad, where do the clouds come from?” the boy inquired.

“I’m not sure, son,” the dad answered honestly.

Undaunted, the boy then asked, “Dad, what makes a rainbow?”

“No idea, son,” the father admitted.

The boy asked a different question, “Dad, do you mind me asking you all these questions?”

“Not at all, son. How else are you going to learn?”

Asking questions is a good way of learning, and to affect change in your life, you may have to learn to think differently, or regulate your emotions differently, or behave differently, or all of those things … and possibly more! But the reason why people find themselves in counseling offices is often because they don’t know what changes need to be made, or how to accomplish them.

Your therapist may not be able to answer every question you ask, but vital to providing clinically-excellent counseling is the ability for a therapist to educate and equip their clients to make the changes that are needed and/or wanted in their lives and relationships. Without gaining the necessary skills to make necessary changes, change won’t happen!

For example, let’s say a new client visits with a Christian clinical therapist and the intake assessment includes the following information:

• • Spiritual anemia.
  • Habitualized cognitive distortions. These deeply rooted patterns of irrational thinking heighten stress, generate anxiety, and are sometimes the cause for depressive episodes.
  • The person has recently experienced a panic attack.
  • The person is also overweight, borderline obese, has a poor diet and no regular pattern of physical activity or exercise.
  • The person complains of sleep disturbance and admits to poor sleep habits.

This person can be helped to have a joyful, fulfilling, peaceful life, but only after a lot of education about what are the root issues to his multiple troubles and both education about what he needs to do differently to bring about permanent change, and equipping with the new skills to accomplish those changes.

Without the education and equipping, counseling is just a lot of talk. Talk is good, but not enough to bring about the change most clients need or want.

So, a final point: When selecting a counselor or therapist, make sure the person is competent to provide the education and equipping you will need for them to really be able to help you change your life. Depending on your needs, your counselor may need to work with your physician or other specialists to provide you with the treatment, education, and equipping you need to accomplish your change goals and needs. If a counselor or therapist doesn’t personally have all the skills and training needed to serve you, they will need to be able to refer you to other professionals to contribute their expertise as part of an overall treatment plan. Each person involved in serving you needs to be able to provide you with their portion of education and equipping.

Remember, you can’t expect to see change if you never do anything differently, and you’ll need some education and/or equipping to gain new skills to do things differently.

Scotty