A Registered Counsellor is a professional who provides counselling services to individuals, couples, families, and groups. They are trained to help clients deal with a wide range of emotional, psychological, and behavioural challenges. Registered Counsellors are registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) and are required to adhere to a strict code of ethics and professional standards.
They are trained to assist within a primary intervention capacity.
Primary Intervention refers to the initial and crucial support provided in the community for psychological well-being. It serves as the first line of defense, offering preventive measures and counseling services across various levels of society. The primary goal is to identify and address the underlying causes of problems, or to contain and prevent the worsening of emotional distress through secondary intervention. Additionally, activities are designed to alleviate stressors and help individuals develop effective coping mechanisms.
Psycho-education and mental health promotion play a vital role in this intervention, involving the planned and proactive transfer of information to enhance psychosocial well-being for individuals, families, groups, and communities. The aim is to reduce or prevent future harm by equipping people with knowledge and tools to navigate challenges and promote their overall mental health.
Primary Prevention focuses on promoting mental health and well-being within the community context. It involves proactive measures such as psycho-education and mental health promotion, aiming to enhance the psychosocial well-being of individuals, families, groups, and communities. The focus is on providing information and resources to empower individuals and communities to thrive and prevent future harm. By equipping them with the necessary knowledge and support, primary prevention efforts seek to reduce the occurrence of mental health issues and create a healthier and more resilient community.
A registered counsellor can provide the following services:
Let’s look at each category in depth:
Counsellors are trained for primary psychological intervention.This includes any preventative, screening, maintenance or trauma counselling.
Preventative counselling encompasses any type of counselling that is meant to prevent psychological distress i.e. major life adjustments, daily stressors or gaining adequate coping skills. It can be seen as a service that allows you to optimise your daily mental, physical and emotional functioning.
Screening or evaluation happens in any type of counselling session with a registered counsellor. Registered counsellors are trained to screen for signs of mental health disorders and other signs of concern that require referral to another medical or mental health professional.
This type of counselling focuses on acute or urgent circumstances such as individuals affected by crime or violence, accident victims, and those in need of immediate emotional support. Its primary goal is to relieve distress during these critical situations.
Maintenance counselling can be seen as counselling to prevent a relapse to previous unhealthy behaviours. This includes substance abuse counselling, marriage counselling or returning to a counsellor to seek additional support or coping techniques for daily stressors.
Counsellors are trained to assist with individuals that have experienced trauma in the past. They are the first line of support for communities and offer valuable tools to help individuals process their trauma in a healthy way.
Counsellors can work in community contexts which includes environments such as police stations and military services, schools, Early Child Development Centres, NGOs, TVET Colleges, Correctional facilities, Employee Assistance Programmes, Primary Health Care Centres, District Hospitals, Hospices and NPOs.
Counsellor’s can do individual and group counselling. They are trained in the dynamic interaction between individuals, couples, families, groups, communities and society. Therefore, they are able to provide counselling to these groups.
A registered counsellor can perform basic Psychometrics that are approved by the HPCSA. The list of tests they can perform are as follows:
Counsellor’s undergo rigorous training and are required to stay up to date with current theory and practice. They are required to complete CPD points on an annual basis with the HPCSA to stay registered.
Disclaimer: All articles are reviewed and edited for quality control by a HPCSA Registered Counsellor. However, this content is intended to be used for educational and/or entertainment purposes and should not be taken as medical advice. Please reach out to a medical professional if you have concerns regarding your mental health.
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