Andragogic counsellors and their competency profile

According to Kubr (1994, p.18-19), counsellors may be physical persons or organisations, fulfilling four criteria:

• Counsellors offer and provide something that the clients do not have or what they would like to gain in various fields of knowledge, vocational abilities, experience or know-how. While working for one client, counsellors should devote all their attention to the given problem;
• Counsellors are specialists who know how to cooperate with clients and help them identify and resolve their problems. They are aware of the fact that clients may have various needs and that they represent various personalities and have various experiences with counsellors. Counsellors make use of various methodological tools to help their clients. Apart from vocational skills, they also possess certain psychological, sociological and communication capabilities;
• Counsellors are independent and objective advisors. They must be able and willing to tell clients the truth and offer them a quite independent and impartial standpoint. They must be independent of the client, any superior body, organisation or people with vested interest in the client; and
• Counsellors are persons willing to follow the rules of professional ethics and conduct.

Průcha and Veteška (2012, p.29) perceive counsellors as fulfilling one of the traditional roles in andragogic vocation and later Veteška (2016, p.186-187) states that from their position they have influence over other individuals, groups and organisations but it is not in their authority to change or implement anything directly. Although they are accountable for their qualified recommendations, they still do not bear responsibility for their practical fulfilment. Oravcová (2013, p.153) defines counsellors in general as persons whose role, profession or mission is to help people in need. It is ideal if counsellors define themselves as types of people wishing to help; on the other hand, it is less ideal if they were placed in this position by someone else – they were forced to be in a helping vocation. Self-definition, an image of oneself as a helper, forms an inevitable prerequisite for successful counselling work. Andragogic counsellors according to Mayer (2017, p.67) are professionals who by means of counselling activities may facilitate clients’ decisions concerning education, self-fulfilment, and development of their potential (education being the determining factor of socialisation, personalization, professionalisation, the concept of one’s own identity, self-reflection and value-orientation). Svobodová (2015, p.81) correctly notes that counsellors acting as providers of counselling intervention should not consider themselves as experts on life and should lose a false belief in their omnipotence. Counsellors should be aware that no linear causality will ever exist in clients’ lives since the same reason leads to similar consequences.

Counsellors and clients are the central figures of counselling support. The basic areas of problems that need to be explored (in relation to andragogic counsellors) are as follows:

• The definition (comprehension) of andragogic counselling activity performed by the counsellors;
• Counsellors’ prerequisites for performance of andragogic counselling activities;
• Counsellors’ tasks to be completed during performance of andragogic counselling activities;
• Approaches (principles) applied by the counsellor in the process of andragogic counselling intervention for clients;
• Tasks to be fulfilled by the counsellors during the andragogic counselling process;
• Ethical aspects occurring in the work of andragogic counsellors; and
• Counsellors’ competencies to be mastered in order to attain quality, professional andragogic counselling activity.

Andragogic counsellors are qualified persons offering counselling services to adults (typically in the role of a vocational or career counsellor or as a learning counsellor). The scope of activities provided as a part of andragogic counselling dwells in support of the docility potential through counselling intervention if clients’ problems  could be resolved by learning (in various working conditions and environments). The general requirements imposed on andragogic counsellor are close to other counselling specialisations of helping professions (pedagogic, psychological, social counselling, etc.). These are personal prerequisites (abilities and qualities) and the level of vocational preparation (degree and type of qualification).

Dryden (2008, p.8-10) states requirements of counsellors’ personalities:

• To be of benefit to the client;
• To show respect and acceptance;
• To listen to and understand any mental pain as viewed by the clients;
• Therapeutic communication skills;
• Training of the capabilities needed to conduct the counselling process with clients; and
• Personal prerequisites and any shortcomings.

Svobodová (2015, p.82-83) describes the basic types of roles that counsellors need to undertake:

• Assessing – lead and evaluate clients in a directive manner (criticism and praise) and make decisions about the course of the counselling process;
• Interpreting – commenting on clients’ problems and striving to understand and interpret them, even though it is complicated and may be incomprehensible for the clients;
• Supporting – supporting the clients, helping and protecting them, to take over their own responsibility and at the same time having them depend on counselling intervention;
• Being a good listener – listening to the clients, collecting information even about topics unrelated to their problems even if clients are exposed to large number of irrelevant questions;
• Being active – motivating the client to perform activities but not providing them with an abundance of opportunities to think through their own behavioural strategies;
• Being reflexive – making it apparent to the clients that they understand but avoiding one’s own interpretations, leaving the initiative and independence up to the clients and not taking over their responsibilities;
• Being practical – operating with a large number of pragmatic experiences from counselling practice and not trusting only theories;
• Being a technical expert – finding their way around counselling technologies based on relevant research and its practical application so that interaction with a client is impersonal; and
• Being a facilitator – understanding that there never is just one correct answer to clients’ questions and problems, thus using a holistic approach and encouraging the client to engage in critical reflection.

Gabura (2005, p.102) and Juríčková (2008, p.34) point out several mistakes occurring in counsellors’ counselling activity in relation to their personal qualities, such as dogmatism, dirigisme, exaggeration or trivialization (belittlement) of clients’ problems, moralising, monologuing, making a hasty diagnosis, engaging in excessive rationalisation or empathy, incomprehensible abstraction, projection, protectionism, and loyalty presented to clients who tend take blame for their situation and others. Well-known are counsellors’ typologies depending on dominant features, e.g., engagement/non-engagement (Kopřiva 2006, p.14), directiveness/non-directiveness (Gabura – Pružinská 1995, p.70-71), mediator/therapist/ administrator (Řezníček 1994, p.57-58) or agent/expert/therapist (Oravcová 2013, p.156-160). Through analysis of several resources, Langer (2017, p.32) outlined requirements for counsellors’ proficiency (distinguishing between general and specific). As for general, he means formal vocational education, informal educational activities, former counselling practice, including supervision, membership in vocational association and chambers, further certificates, licences and attestations documenting proficiency, reputation and sound name. Specific requirements encompass: knowledge of particular methods pertaining to counselling specialisation, knowledge of the further education market, legislation and ways of financing educational activities  in cooperation with providers.

Processes leading to standardisation of vocational competencies may acquire an international nature even in helping professions. A proposed framework of career counsellors’ vocational capabilities results from the work of an international professional team (CEDEFOP 2010, p.61-71) and contains basic capabilities, capabilities focused on communication with the client and support capabilities. The European network NICE (Network for Innovation in Career Guidance and Counselling) established standards (six areas with hierarchically integrated competencies) for professions in career counselling, applied in several countries. Within one standard there are three functionally and hierarchically distinguishable professions in career counselling (Grajcár et al. 2016):

1. Career guides/consultants seek, collect and process information to be provided to clients needed for study selection, choice and change of profession in Slovakia as well as abroad; while such information mainly tackles modes of education, finding and maintaining a job, information on necessary skills, general capabilities, practical experience and other prerequisites and requirements expected for performance of particular professions; they also help clients seeking vocational career counselling services and career development, provide vocational assistance when study application needs to be submitted, and help to draft a CV, motivational letter, job application, etc., partake in career training of future and present labour market participants, including enhancement of their skills allowing clients to chart their own educational and vocational pathway.

2. Career counsellors lead clients to independent and responsible decision making during initial, additional and life-long education, choice of profession, selection and change of employment and finding and maintaining a job via vocational counselling methods, procedures and techniques. They practically operate in various sectors and their dominant occupational approach is to offer individual and group career counselling. Such activity helps clients get a clearer picture of their own knowledge, skills and capabilities, leading to their independent decision making concerning their own educational and professional pathway.

3. Career specialists take part in creating, regulating and controlling the system of career counselling services based on stipulated strategic objectives and priorities. Furthermore, career specialists analyse a target group’s needs, draft counselling programs, monitor their course and assess their results and outputs based on current counselling trends. Moreover, they may provide support in formation and implementation of educational programs and vocational preparation of career guides/consultants and service career counsellors.

Oravcová (2013, p.236–239) states that counsellors must join the relationship with a client as humans,  incorporating their wishes and needs into this interaction while striving to satisfy them. Self-awareness, being conscious of one’s needs and their separation from the clients’ interests and needs which are preferential in counselling, perception of clients as full-fleshed, autonomous individuals with the right to make decisions about themselves forms the essence of ethics guiding the work with clients. Key requirements safeguarding the ethics of counselling dwell in counsellors sufficient knowledge, skills, experience, protection of clients’ dignity, removal of prejudice, maintaining clients’ full authority to make decisions and expression of continued interest in clients. The Code of Ethics also contains professional responsibility, accountability for the standard nature of services and cooperation with others, while preserving confidentiality. Among the principles guiding the counsellors work with clients, we consider the following: respect towards clients, conviction of humans’ social nature and faith in each individual being capable of positive change, growth and self-perfection.

CEDEFOP (2010, p.54-55) – The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training  (established in 1989) has developed an Ethical Code. CEDEFOP is an organisation of professionals working in small counselling agencies or even large companies, typically established in the private sector. They offer services to employers, such as career management for employees, services needed when employees are being laid-off, assessment, coaching, maintaining talented employees and organisational-consulting services. Alongside, members offer services to individuals seeking a job, assistance required for career management strategies, personal and professional development, career-related changes, entrepreneurship or retirement.  Members of the association commit to honour its Ethical Code, which at the same time reveals the nature of this professional group:

• Constantly enhance professional skills, competencies and knowledge to provide top quality services to organisations and individuals;
• Comply with laws, articles and regulations, concerning commercial activities and relationships while providing services;
• Openly admit any conflict of interests that could occur throughout their professional practice;
• Report any illegal activity of their employers, co-workers or business partners to respective institutions;
• Clearly define offered services and make sure that such services do not cross boundaries of their knowledge and skills, while providing only services and tools, techniques or devices for which they are qualified through education, vocational training or experience;
• To market their services matter-of-factly, without lies, misinterpretations, faking unachieved professional qualifications and consciously introducing services that they are unable to offer;
• To administer or interpret only those evaluation tools for which they are adequately qualified;
• Offer results of a third-party evaluation only if it is suitable and only after obtaining an individual client’s written consent;
• Observe confidentiality of information by notifying an individual client that the organisation paying for the services may (if the organisation requires it) receive general information about the client’s progression without providing any personal or confidential information;
• To adequately respond by informing any third, endangered party and respective authorities when having a justified suspicion that the individual client, ordering company, or someone else is threatened by a clear and immediate hazard;
• Never offer any financial remuneration to employees of an ordering company for provision of reference, and equally to not accept any inappropriate gifts; and
• Never support, help, engage or benefit from violation of these rules.

Competence profile of andragogic counsellor as a central professional feature

Counselling serves an important social role. It is deeply connected to a high level of responsibility to clients, while it cannot be standardised as an individual service based on communication. In the light of aforementioned, an andragogic counsellor is expected to have gained a high level of competence (hereinafter only as “counsellor”) and a respective system of expertise and professional ethos (maintaining values and commitments). Professionality in counselling is based on the defined professional competence of the counsellor that is transparent and comprehensible for all counselling stakeholders (counsellor, counselling organisation and client). Delimitation of competencies reflected in counsellors profiles serves as a reference system, e.g. for counsellors in order to safeguard their further vocational education and self-evaluation, for counselling organisations in order to choose the counsellors well and for provision of quality, for clients as a checklist to identify counselling professionality and quality, for experts (researchers) as a starting point for further research in the counselling field (e.g., preparation of tools, materials suitable for diagnostic and didactic purposes). Considering this background, counsellors are expected to exhibit a certain professional “habitus“ in contact with the client, as well as with other relevant stakeholders. Engagement of counsellors is based on a professional context, e.g., membership and participation in professional associations, further vocational education including supervision should facilitate professionalisation of andragogic counselling.

Theoretical bases of andragogical counsellors’ competence profile

Counsellors’ personalities play a central role in andragogic counselling practice, even if we may presently witness a shift of responsibility for one’s own development to a learning individual. Counsellors’ competencies and responsibilities are delineated by the process (working with a client’s problem in a counselling relationship) and accountability; however, the counsellor is not responsible for the client. Adult clients are in charge of their decisions and changes caused by learning. One of the ways to describe the structure of counsellors’ vocational competencies is to rely on the model of so-called essential competencies (e.g., Dehnbostel, 2008; Münch, 2003; Pahl, 2010):

• Professional competency represents counsellors’ capability to intentionally, adequately, methodologically-correctly and independently resolve the tasks and problems and to assess the result.
• Methodological competency is characterised by the capability of a purposeful, planned approach while processing tasks and problems, e.g., planning individual work-related operations.
• Social competency means a capability to perceive and comprehend social relations and interests, to be responsible in a relationship with others, to get along with them, to work in a team and resolve problems cooperatively. This mainly involves social responsibility and adequate solidarity.
• Personality competency defines a capability to reflect one’s own development and make further progress in line with individual and social values. It entails qualities such as independence, ability to accept criticism, self-confidence and reliability, as well as a sense of accountability and duty.

In this chapter, we have applied a systematic counselling model as a starting point for establishment of a counsellor’s competence profile, authors of which are Schiersmann et al. (2008), see also Schiermann, Weber (2013). Before we go into detail description of its individual components, we find it important to explain the way in which we understand andragogic counselling, for whom it is meant, what are its goals, specifics and what aspects it takes into consideration.

We believe that the counselling process is built around two systems: counsellor and recipient of counselling/advice, and client, such as a learning adult, group of adults and/or organisation(s). For the purpose of the aforementioned we perceive andragogic counselling  as a service of an educational nature offered to adult individuals, groups and organisations with the aim of transforming their problems into problems which could be resolved by learning – laying the grounds for the general nature of andragogic counselling oriented on various topics and target groups. Focusing on the results, this type of andragogic approach generates developmental as well as preventive and stabilising potential.

Specification of andragogic counsellors’ competence profile

Andragogic counsellors’ competence profile – the essence of this subchapter – is based on the above-mentioned systematic, context-based counselling model introduced by Schiersmann et al. (2008). The following groups of competencies lay down its fundamentals:^[1]

1. Transversal competence. They dominate other groups of competence since they represent subordinate premises for counselling as a professional activity. Independent of counselling offers, justification and context, it is of utmost importance to regulate the clients’ requirements and options, transparently open the entire counselling process, follow the Ethical Code and take part in constant improvement of counselling quality.
2. Competence related to formation of the counselling process. They take care of requirements for counsellors’ professionality in relation to establishing the counselling process. Its steppingstones are building a potential counselling relationship, explaining counselling requirements and contract establishment, situation analysis, clarification of clients’ abilities and potential and elaboration of prospective solutions.

Andragogic counselling is comprehended as an interactive process oriented on results and objectives between the client and counsellor as a result of active cooperation between both parties.

1. Competence in relation to the client. Within the counselling process, they are oriented towards the use of andragogic and psychologic expertise. The aim is to support clients in generating their own educational and professional biographies and developing their self-organisational skills.
2. (Self)reflective competence. Aims as development of a professional attitude in the counselling context. They point to permanent interaction of self-reflection and enhancement of professional activities.
3. Competence related to co-formation of the organisation. They define requirements imposed on counsellors in regard to organisational framework conditions. Counsellors co-create organisational strategies and effectively enforce them in practice, partake in building an agile organisational culture and support its enhancement, facilitate efficient and sustainable use of organisational resources, cooperate with specialists and other relevant stakeholders and, last but not least, build networks.
4. Competence related to society. They define demands imposed on the counsellors, emphasising the importance of a relevant social framework (e.g., profession or labour market) and support of generally accepted social objectives (e.g., reinforcement of clients’ self-organisation, increasing their participation in further development, the labour market, etc.), minimising individual and socially-mistaken investments, increasing social participation, social inclusion, etc.

1. A) Transversal competence

1) Client oriented approach

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of focusing all their counselling related efforts on clients’ needs, requirements and possibilities.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Respect their clients as autonomous individuals with their own social and cultural background while putting them in the centre of their counselling activities; and
• Take into consideration their clients’ interest even if they fail to comply with social or organisational

2) Making counselling offer and counselling process transparent

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of organising the counselling process so that with regards to its structural conditions it would still be transparent for all its stakeholders .

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Act in a way that objectives, contents and other counselling categories would be easy to comprehend and accessible for all target groups;
• Clearly explain all substantial criteria of their counselling offers such as accessibility, forms, costs, timeframe, quality, etc. to the clients and other stakeholders; and
• Comprehensively explain the framework in which a particular counselling offer takes place to the clients and other stakeholders.

3) Acting in compliance with the Ethical Code

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of performing all counselling activities in line with Ethical Code.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Within the frame of their activities, they exhibit positive stands towards areas vitally important for their clients, such as work, education etc;
• Their basic attitude towards their client is emphatic and supportive;
• View their clients as individuals firmly rooted in their own lives, having their own rights and interests;
• Provide confidential advice, respect personal data protection, and are impartial;
• Act in a way that the Ethical Code guides their counselling practice so it is transparent for all stakeholders;
• While fulfilling their tasks, they comply with the Ethical Code and act professionally; and
• Reflect their professional action vis-à-vis the Ethical Code.

4) Participation in quality enhancement

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and able to focus their counselling activities as well as activities concerning the organisation based on a quality concept and at the same time take active part in its further development and enforcement.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Focus their counselling activities based on defined criteria or counselling quality standards;
• Transform quality criteria into particular counselling steps corresponding with respective work orders;
• Reflect and evaluate quality criteria and partake in their continuous development; and
• Regularly contribute to safe-guarding the planning, implementation and documentation of activities and improving quality.

1. B) Competence related to counselling process formation

1) Creating an acceptable counselling relation

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and able to build a relationship corresponding with a particular counselling subject and framework. They also strive for establishing active and worry-free cooperation with clients.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Actively support formation of acceptable relationship, e.g., with regard to clients’ structural and emotional safety;
• Show respect to clients and act in a way that clients feel safety and a genuine interest in their problems;
• Create an environment corresponding with previously communicated framework conditions;
• Show an effort to make tasks, roles and functions relevant for counselling transparent. As part of counselling process, they initiate changing roles, make use of feedback and metacommunication, as an inseparable part of building the counselling relationship;
• Shape the counselling process so that it is clear and comprehensible for all clients and encourage their active participation;
• Act congruently and authentically on all levels of communication (verbal, non-verbal); and
• Maintain a professional balance between a close and distant relationship with their clients.

Note: The counselling process in general is all about communication between clients and counsellors. It is therefore key for counsellors to build up a tailored relationship for a particular counselling need. Building a plausible relationship between a counsellor and the client form a key prerequisite for a successful counselling process. E. M. Verová et al. (1999) analysed in their study how the formation of a counselling relationship is affected by similarity or dissimilarity between clients and counsellors. Their findings claim that if the initial phase went well, clients tended to introduce more similarities between themselves and counsellors. However, should this phase be rather disappointing, clients had a tendency to emphasise the differences between counsellors and themselves.

Counsellors are responsible for their relationship with the client; however, they are not accountable for their clients’ views. They guarantee what needs to be done, possibly also for what they forgot to do. Unfortunately, no one can learn responsibility. It is an utmost personal decision of a counsellor to guarantee whatever needs to be done.

With regard to the fact that stabilised stereotypical patterns are being shattered while resolving the clients’ problems, one of the most important counsellors’ competencies is to create stable framework conditions needed for the change process to take place and facilitate clients’ structural and emotional security. This process entails all the measures aimed at forming a so-called “safe place”, such as a pleasant counselling environment^[2], counsellors’ offering to explain planned procedures and thereby make them transparent, etc. As part of this framework, counsellors need to be able to decide whether they can be helpful in resolving a given issue.

2) Explanation of requirement and conclusion of counselling contract

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and able to conduct dialogues with their clients in which they could explain requirements and expectations. Together, they agree upon the counselling approach and conclude a contract.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Make use of adequate and effective techniques along with methods for conducting an interview to clarify the needs, requirements and expectations of their clients;
• Harmonise demands and expectations of their clients with the counselling offer (identifies whether the counselling offer may satisfy the clients’ needs);
• Take various specific, institutional, legislative and other relevant aspects into consideration while concluding a counselling contract and explaining them if necessary;
• Respond sensitively to clients’ needs which might trespass the counselling contract and explain the limits and potential of counselling; and
• Notice whether clients’ expectations and objectives transform during the counselling process and, if relevant, to decide to conclude a new contract.

3) Situational analysis and clarification of possibilities

Characteristics: Together with their clients, counsellors are qualified and capable of identifying their expectations and support reflections allowing them to reassess situations as well as achievements of their stipulated objectives.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Together with their clients they identify patterns of their thinking and behaviour, attitudes, feelings, motivation, biographical prerequisites, etc., relevant for fulfilment of their stipulated objectives;
• Together with their clients they identify environmental factors relevant for achievement of their stipulated objectives;
• Along with their clients, they identify their options and competencies;
• While working with their clients, they apply scientifically-proven and effective diagnostic procedures;
• In a dialogue with their client, they interpret results of diagnostic procedures or competency analysis in a comprehensible manner; and
• Hand in hand with their clients, they strive to reveal and clarify potential incompatibility in their expectations.

4) Outlining perspective solutions

Characteristics: Together with their clients, counsellors are qualified and capable of elaborating perspective solutions or actions leading to fulfilment of stipulated counselling objectives.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Provide support to their clients while identifying and evaluating information;
• Along with their clients, they generate effective strategies containing solutions and actions to achieve defined objectives, such as feasible tasks and activities;
• They are helpful in navigating obstacles and problems;
• They offer advice needed to develop potential and capacity with the aim of increasing their clients’ chances for success, e.g., on educational grounds or the labour market;
• (Taking the counselling process into consideration) they check whether their counselling offer fits achievement of stipulated objectives, or whether it is necessary to make use of additional counselling activities, including external ones; and
• At the end of the whole counselling process, they summarise the course and results of counselling in cooperation with their clients.

Note: The perspective of expounding plays a central role in the counselling process while potential changes on the part of clients require their radically active approach. In the light of aforementioned it is the counsellors’ ability to generate conditions supporting motivation, activate resources, as well as to elaborate the emotional and motivational significance of objectives, requirements and perspectives of clients themselves. The whole process should lead to fascination, identification with objectives and modes of transformation while at the same time avoiding fear from (excessive) performance pressure, to recognize and appreciate (interim) results, to strengthen one’s self-awareness and to support clients’ accountability and actions.

Counsellors’ chief aptitude dwells in their skill to create accommodating conditions for the clients, allowing them to acquire desirable types of competencies. The aim is to destabilise (disturb) existing cognitive and behavioural schemes. Achieving such objectives requires counsellors’ expertise in regulating and employing adequate techniques such as role playing, behavioural experiments, elaborating new meanings and interpretations (“reframing”), confrontational and provocative procedures. At the same time, initiated learning processes need to be strengthened, new stimuli should be identified, transformed meanings should be supported along with language games and interpretation. Counsellors’ ability to make adequate use of assessment tools and procedures, identifying competencies plays a vital role as well. Furthermore, counsellors must be equipped with tools necessary for clients seeking information on ways for their further education and development as well as enhancement of their capacity to handle information.

In the following stage of the counselling process aiming at achieving particular changes, counsellors should be able to help transform jointly stipulated objectives and potential options into particular actions^[3]. If the counselling process manages to achieve positive cognitive, emotional and behavioural schemes, they need to be stabilised.

1. C) Competences regarding counsellor-client relationship

1) Integrating biographically and professionally-oriented knowledge

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable to include knowledge on personal transformations and life stages conditioned by developmental processes into their counselling.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Incorporate knowledge on personal changes and transformations into their counselling process (including vocational education, changes in employment, job termination, returning to the job after maternity leave, developmental processes conditioned by individual life stages) and duly focus their counselling activities;
• Support their clients while performing vocational changes and development; and
• Help their clients to reinforce their self-organisational abilities, such as the ability to plan and handle complicated tasks within the context of their own learning and educational biography.

2) Integrating knowledge on personal development

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable to implement their knowledge on personal development in relation to individual personal qualities of their clients and ways in which they behave into their counselling activities.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Take knowledge about individual personal qualities and behaviour of their clients into consideration in their counselling processes (accumulated via interview or diagnostic methods), such as motivation, interests, readiness to learn, ability to adopt decisions, ability to cooperate, etc.; and
• May manage to adequately and responsibly react to individual qualities of their clients, their worries and needs as well as to identify crisis and critical situations.

3) Considering clients’ social environment

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of taking the particular social environment of their clients into consideration – life conditions, education, connection to communities, family situation and vocational environment.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Identify relevant aspects of family, educational, vocational, corporate and other parts of clients’ social environment;
• Review external resources, requirements or restrictions related to their clients’ social environment; and
• Handle information in a discreet and accountable manner, while initiating changes induced by clients’ specific situation.

4) Managing diversity

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of enforcing relevant knowledge and experience corresponding with diversity.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Are aware and respect peculiarities of their clients, referring to their age, ethnic and cultural identity, gender, socioeconomic status, etc.;
• Depending on the particular counselling situation, they focus on their socioeconomic, developmental-psychological and cultural background;
• Identify values steering their clients’ thinking and actions;
• Support their clients’ reflection and potential revision of their values; and
• Analyse their own attitudes, while enforcing a motivating and respectful approach.

Note: Counsellors need to have mastered competency, helping them to naturally integrate knowledge on educational, professional and life journeys into the counselling process. Such approach assumes knowledge of various personality theories, dynamics of individual behaviour, e.g., concerning motivation, self-reflection, self-efficacy, interests, decision making and learning process as well as development of competencies.

Apart from that,  counsellors need to adapt to the diversity of their clientele, e.g., considering the age, ethnic identity, gender, socioeconomic status and integrate specific knowledge on target groups into the counselling process, encompassing various ways for their support. For this process to be successful, counsellors should also demonstrate a certain level of social and intercultural sensibility. For counsellors, it should be equally significant to take the social background of their clients into consideration, either as a variable affecting the counselling process or to make use of it in a practical way.

1. D) (Self)reflexive competences

(Self)reflexion of counselling activities

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of reflecting on their counselling activities even in the scope of society and organisation.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Integrate reflection as an immanent part of each counselling process and constantly assess their professional performance with regard to the needs, capacities and expectations of their clients while also considering relevant framework conditions;
• Taking into consideration criteria or quality standards and current vocational discussions, they reflect their counselling competencies and quality of their counselling;
• Plan their further professional development and stipulate their objectives;
• Strengthen their counselling competencies, e. g. by means of coaching, supervision or well-chosen further education;
• Focus on topical vocational discussions, information techniques, etc., important for counselling, take an active interest in their application and test their use in the counselling process; and
• Critically reflect their uncertainties or potentially incorrect judgements and learn about their boundaries.

Note: In their counselling practice, counsellors incorporate features of their individual educational, professional and lifelong trajectory. Regarding the attempt to act professionally  a self-reflective competence needs to be noted. They need to be able to constantly reflect upon their actions, be aware of their blind spots, and last but not least to perceive their own performance potential and boundaries. In order to do so, counsellors are expected to take regular part in further education, supervision, as well as exchange of experience in teams, groups of colleagues and professional associations.

1. E) Competences related to joint establishment of the organisation

1) Initiating development of policies and strategies

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of initiating and enhancing counselling policies, offers and strategies in their organisations.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Steer their counselling activities based on organisational policies and strategies;
• Take part in enforcing, verifying and further development of counselling policies and offers in their organisation;
• Clarify counselling policies and strategies to their clients depending on the situation; and
• Actively discuss counselling policies and strategies with other stakeholders, e.g., with partners with whom they cooperate, educational institutions, sponsors, etc..

2) Establishment of formal organisational structures and processes

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of taking part in establishing formal organisational structures and processes as well as steering their activities based on valid structures and processes of their organisations.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Regularly compare their vocational roles, functions and responsibilities with day-to-day tasks; and
• Stipulate necessary adjustments of structures and processes while considering interests of their clients, and if needed, formulate proposals for optimization of their actions within the organisation.

3) Further development of organisational culture

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of supporting transparent and lively organisational culture while actively co-creating a constructive culture of communication, decision-making, cooperation and conflict resolution.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Through their behaviour, they contribute to a positive organisational culture;
• In their communication, they apply predetermined or jointly conceived rules of internal and external communication;
• Make considerate use of the space for counselling activities and ways to make joint decisions in their organisation;
• Apply informal and structured discussions with colleagues dealing with significant counselling topics, mutual support, as well as maintaining and improving counselling quality; and
• Make use of “feedback” structures related to counselling and organisational activities, e.g., talks with colleagues, supervision, interview with clients and other counsellors, etc.

4) Considering resources

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of delineating and aptly justifying framework conditions significant for professional counselling: objectives, content, target groups and duration, including parameters such as consulting hours, premises and equipment.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Make adequate use of material and financial means to improve working conditions and achieve strategic counselling objectives;
• Within the frame of their competencies, they cooperate with other stakeholders to pool resources necessary for maintaining or extending counselling offers; and
• Within the frame of their competence they strive to make efficient use of allocated resources.

5) Cooperation and interaction with the professional and social community

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of applying and further developing their own professional networks along with the broader social environment in relation to material and specific information, cooperation and mutual links.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Monitor relevant external offer for their target group ;
• Establish and maintain contacts with partners and stakeholders in the counselling field;
• Use their network to respond to important changes; and
• Propose relevant activities, options and forms of cooperation helping to achieve stipulated objectives.

1. E) Competencies in relation to society

1) Take social framework into consideration

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of considering social conditions relevant for expectations of their clients and for further development of counselling offer.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Deal with importance of social conditions or effects in the light of further developing counselling offers and programs;
• Bear in their minds benefits for counselling and their clients, thus they actively participate in evaluation and application of knowledge on social framework conditions;
• Take social framework conditions into consideration in case they are relevant for clients’ particular needs and expectations (e.g., labour market, further education system);
• Make sense of socially relevant knowledge-based areas (e.g., labour market, economy, educational system, typology of professions, professional, competence related and qualification requirements, etc.);
• Comprehend social trends (e.g., globalisation, growing complexity, demographic transformation, life-long learning and diversity); and
• Know respective databases, source of knowledge and procedures of knowledge-based management.

2) Considering social objectives

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of considering, within the frame of their activities, various categories of objectives (such as facilitation of information and knowledge, support of competencies needed for responsible composition and development of educational and professional biographies, increasing participation in further education and labour market, minimization of individual and socially erroneous investments, social participation support, inclusion of stereotypically disadvantaged groups, etc.).

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Discuss socially relevant objectives with regards to professional and career counselling;
• Deal with impact of counselling activities on society;
• Integrate their experience and knowledge from counselling to social processes (e.g., on local level or on the level of vocational associations);
• In their organisations they take part in defining relevant categories of objectives for particular counselling offers (these can be applied e.g., during evaluations as output criteria);

Support their clients with the intent to establish meaningful harmonisation of their individual objectives and final social representations;

• Acknowledge social objectives related to educational and vocational counselling (e.g., support of self-organisation, social participation and social including);
• They are well aware of approaches supporting abilities needed for self-organisation, social participation and social inclusion; and
• They acquired knowledge of problematic areas in educational systems, employment systems etc. (e.g., disadvantages, ways of participation) and measures for their handling.

Deliberations on andragogic counsellors’ personality

As mentioned above, counsellors’ personality plays a central role in the andragogic counselling practice. It is personality which encompasses all groups of competencies introduced in the part devoted to the competency profile. In elaborating on counsellors’ personality it is clear that it is their attitude which matters the most. No one goes through life without an attitude; right from birth we are influenced by education and adaptation, the social environment shapes our values and wherever you go there are rules, restrictions, various role-models, etc. Counsellors’ attitudes are not present from the actual start; instead, it gradually takes its form. Such a process takes place through repetitive comparison of preceding personal experience e.g., as part of self-experience activities, coaching, supervision, further education, etc. All counsellors are expected to choose a suitable form of self-reflection. In this way, they should be able to handle basic personal conflicts. Moreover, counsellors should be aware of the influence that their personal schemes might have on the counselling process and know how to reflect it as well as to incorporate them as a working tool. To quote Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics, consciousness and knowledge of one’s own affects and emotions is in terms of individual attitudes (valid also for counselling process) equally defining reflection of their own convictions, prerequisites, values, prejudices, sympathies and antipathies. Considering so-called transference and countertransference, along with the work engaging these two phenomena, takes a central position within the course of the counselling process.

Repeated reflection in counselling gradually creates and also re-evaluates attitudes. Therefore, it may happen during the counselling process that settings and convictions applicable so far become doubtful and subsequently are replaced by others. Reflections of this type are desirable in order to answer the question: what is the system that the client and counsellor live in. Such ability to reflect maintains one’s existing counselling attitude. The counselling attitude may be acquired in touch with mentors, practitioners or supervision. It also requires mastering of vocational knowledge and various competencies, introduced in this subchapter. To shape the personality of an andragogic counsellor, the requirement of wisdom could be inspirational and G. Egan (2002 in Hvozdík, 2010, p. 44-45) described it in relation to helping individuals as follows: self-knowledge, knowing life commitments and objectives. Understanding cultural conditions and courage to admit mistakes and learn from them. Psychological and human comprehension of others and understanding human interactions. Capability of seeing beyond the facts and situations. Capability to comprehend the significance of events. Tolerating diversity and the ability to handle it. Being capable of preserving their inner balance while being in touch with a lack of order and a problematic case structure. Understanding the mission and being of individuals. Openness to events that are not in line with the logic of traditional categories. Capability to frame the problem, reframe information and avoid stereotypes. Holistic, open and contextual thinking. Meta-thinking or ability to think about thinking. Capability to increase consciousness, revealing relationships between diverse factors, pinpointing errors in solutions, synthesising, resolving problems and the capacity to act in a mixed position; on one hand as someone who offers help and on the other hand as someone who challenges, which may be frustrating. Finally, it is the need to comprehend spiritual dimensions of life.

We shall conclude our short deliberations on the personality of andragogic counsellors with characteristics identified by  G. Corey in his study Case approach to counselling and psychotherapy (2001) since we believe that they apply to counsellors as well:

• They possess their identity. They know who they are, who they may become, they know what they expect from life and what is important;
• They value who they are. They help and draw energy from feeling of their own value and strength;
• They recognize and accept their own power. In the company of others, they feel they are in the right place and they wish that others feel well with them;
• They are open to changes. They are courageous enough to abandon the safe and known place if they are not satisfied with the qualities they have. They are able to make decision about the way they would like to change and how to become the person they desire to be;
• They make decisions, shaping their life. They are aware of decisions they made in the past in their own lives and the lives of others. They do not sacrifice anything as a result of these decisions since, if needed, they are ready to revise their consequences;
• They feel full of life and their decisions are focusing on life. They are convinced that it is necessary to live and not just exist;
• They are authentic, generous and happy to learn. They neither hide behind a mask nor are they building defence walls;
• They have a sense of humour. They can laugh about things that happened in the past and still distance themselves from these events;
• They can admit mistakes that they made without trivialising them and without closing themselves into the feeling of unhappiness;
• Most often they live in the present without being stuck in the past or in the future;
• They respect cultural influences. They are aware of the way their culture affects them. They appreciate the variety of values built up by other cultures;
• They are genuinely interested in others’ wellbeing;
• They are engaged in their work and they draw value from it. They accept rewards related to their work but they are not enslaved; and

They can maintain healthy boundaries. They are not carrying their clients’ problems with them. If they are not working, they are resting. They know how to say “no”, helping to keep a healthy balance.

^[1] Closer specification of the individual group of competence dwells on results of findings by working groups Qualitätsmerkmale und Kompetenzen Kompetenzprofil für Beratende (2012) and the work of Petersen, C., Schiersmann, Ch., Weber, P. et al. Professionell beraten: Kompetenzprofil für Beratende in Bildung, Beruf und Beschäftigung (2014).

^[2] Formation of “a pleasant counselling environment“ means decorating places and premises where counselling takes place with aesthetic elements. Counsellors should be aware of the fact that humans prefer places that are aesthetic and nice to look at. Being aware of various bottlenecks, related to “beautiful” as a highly subjective category, aesthetic elements in counselling could serve as certain corrective, utilitarian and economically focused formation of desirable competencies and qualifications.

^[3] Actions form an inherent part of counselling. Counselling interviews may instigate deliberations on new contents, i.e., new ideas, feelings, and life concepts. However, as long as these contents remain only in consciousness, they can never acquire the actual dimension. The inner human world becomes external reality only through actions. Counsellors should therefore make sure that together with those with whom they provide advice that they also elaborate an activity plan and monitor its implementation. Meanwhile, it should be emphasised that inactivity is actually also an activity. Humans need balance between physical activity and resting time; otherwise, they will fail to achieve mental balance. Talking about actions, one should not omit the fact that our knowledge significantly influences our course of actions. In fact, if we intend to treat ourselves and the world around us responsibly, we need to learn to take responsibility for what we know and for how we perceive the world.