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3: Strategies for Assisting Self-Awareness and Growth in Counseling

DOI:

10.1891/9780826162144.0003

Abstract

This chapter presents the elements of counseling that can influence self-awareness and growth among children and adolescents. It builds on the basics and offers guidance to enhance counseling effectiveness. Children and adolescents thrive within the context of responsive relationships and these relationships are central to emotional growth. A good counselor balances the child or adolescent’s need for support and the necessity of independence in self-reflection. The fields of motivational interviewing (MI), self-determination theory, and counseling with children and adolescents are filled with specific techniques to encourage growth and change. Accordingly, the chapter highlights key elements of counselor action. Of equal importance, there will be instances in which being present, in absence of action, will create space for the child or adolescent to experience and consequently increase awareness of his or her own self—a critical foundation for growth and change.