Value Conflicts in Counseling

Introduction3

Discussion3

The Concept of Value3

Values in Counseling4

Values in Counseling Philosophy and Theory6

The Communication of Values by the Therapist7

Value Conflict and Its Resolution8

References11

Introduction

This paper is based on the analysis of a controversial psychological issue. The psychological topic has been analyzed through empirical research methods or psychological theory. In this paper, the current legal status of the issue has been discussed. The paper will also discuss the relevance of topic in the context of political, religions, and other related perspectives.

The topic that has been chosen for this research paper is value and value conflicts in counseling.

Discussion

The Concept of Value

The concept of value is broad because of various definitions presented by various authors. Generally, the concept of values can be defined as the concept of desirables which have an impact of the selection of an action as well as the choice for the methods or ways for an action. Values provide a code or standard that remains persistent over a longer period of time. In other words, values provide a framework to organize the system of action. Values are critical to place different things, actions, and behaviors in the continuum of approval or disapproval. However, the concept of values include more than approval-approval continuum. The other definitions of value define it as an explicit or implicit standard of choice. In order to expand the definition of value, other words such as society and culture have also been added to the definition (Bondi, Judith and Colin, 2003).

The relationship or difference between values and morals is ambiguous. Morals can be defined as class of values related to interpersonal relations. Moral values are distinguished from general values in a way that they only include attitudes and behaviors towards individuals and actions that affect them. Therefore, the definition of morals is more specific than that of values (Bondi, Judith and Colin, 2003).

Values in Counseling

Values play a critical role in the area of counseling. Counselors are required to deal with the problems of values and value conflicts on a daily basis. They deal with different issues that are brought to them by clients. In many cases, counselors do not accept or approve of the values of clients. However, the disagreement with clients' values does not imply that counselors are not accepted as individual human beings. The way in which counselors deals with the values and value problems of customers constitute an important issue in counseling (Marion and Judi, 2012).

The Values of Counselors

In the beginning of this century, the nature of the position of counselor's values was based on orthodox psychoanalysis. The counselors were required to act as blank screens. The clients were expected to project their beliefs or perceptions on that blank screen. In other words, counselors were considered to be neutral and their values were not involved in the process (Marion and Judi, 2012).

The Imposition of Values by Counselors

An important issue associated with the orthodox psychoanalysis was the belief that the counselor is required to remain neutral. The imposition of values by the counselor is ...