Aged care counsellors perform a vital role in Australian society, as they provide mental health and well-being support for the growing elderly population. It’s a position that takes a certain type of person, as the work involved is quite unique, with those pursuing a career counselling seniors facing challenges that are unlike anything else in any other profession.
So, if you’ve given some thought to joining the industry, you’ll want to know whether you’ve got what it takes. That’s what we address here as we take a closer look at the skills you’ll need to be a success in geriatric counselling, as well as how counselling courses can help you obtain them.
Skills #1: Great Communication Skills:
Your interpersonal skills are essential when it comes to geriatric counselling, as excellent communication is something of a must. Communication in this field is highly nuanced, as you’ll often be speaking to people who may not even be interested in talking. In this respect, you’ll encourage people to open up and disclose their innermost feelings, so gentle, but clear communication is required.
Skills #2: A Non-Judgemental Attitude
As a counsellor of any kind, it’s not your place to judge anyone. Whatever your own beliefs and values are - as counselling courses clearly show - the process is all about helping find ways to feel happier and more content in their situation, so the last thing you should be doing is lecturing them on what they ‘should be doing'. Your sole aim is to support their well-being - nothing else.
Skills #3: An Empathetic Nature
Counsellors find themselves guiding people through some of the worst moments in their lives, so a level of understanding is necessary to provide the right advice. Having empathy for others and being able to put yourself in the shoes of another truly allows you to connect to the person you’re helping on an emotional level, so they get to feel heard and understood.
Skills #4: Rapport-Building Skills
The knowledge you get from completing counselling courses will take you so far in this profession, but what’s also needed is the ability to build rapport with people. Trust plays a big part in allowing people to talk about their inner fears and anxieties, so the way you interact needs to have this in mind. Great rapport leads to trust, and that’s when the most effective work happens.
Develop Your Counselling Skills With Flexible Online Short Course
Aged care counselling can be challenging but highly rewarding from a professional point of view, but it requires certain abilities like those we’ve mentioned here. The great news is that the skills necessary for this position can be gained via flexible, CPD-approved training like our Introduction to Relationship Counselling course.
This, like all of the training we provide at OCA, is video-based for easy digestion, modular - allowing you to fit it around your current obligations and able to be paid for in manageable instalments. To learn more about this or any of our training that covers over 20 different industries, visit us today at www.onlinecoursesaustralia.edu.au.
However, if you’d like to speak to us directly about enrolling in one of our counselling courses or anything else, just call us on 1300 611 404, and we’ll be happy to tell you what you need to know.