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Emotional Impact of a Sudden Job Loss

Fri Jul 3 21:25:22 CDT 2009

Unfortunately, ‘organisational restructuring’ and ‘downsizing’ are common events in today’s workplace. For those individuals who suddenly lose their job, financial pressures can be overwhelming. Most support individuals receive focuses on helping them to plan financially. However even under the best conditions where someone has ample savings and decent job prospects, suddenly losing a job is an emotional ride.

The emotional stress that individuals and their families experience is the least discussed effect of unemployment. For many people work is a central component to their identity. When their employment status changes, so too can their self-concept or sense of identity. This, together with financial strain, can mark a very stressful and negative time.�

The experience of sudden unemployment can propel an individual through the troughs of despair to the peaks of hopefulness and back again. The role of a counsellor, during this journey, is to recognise and effectively respond to the client’s ever-shifting emotional undercurrent.

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Watch motivational speaker Nick Vujicic

Fri Jul 3 21:25:22 CDT 2009

“If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you got a problem.� Everything else is inconvenience?.� Robert Fulghum

Life is full of stumbling blocks, and you are constantly put to test as you progress through its stages. And on the face of adversity, we can only do our best to overcome imminent challenges and move forward towards our goals ? whether they are reflected in financial success, happiness, love, friendships, life balance or something else.

But how often do you REALLY show your best? Or how often do you ?finish strong??

We recommend that you watch the video below, from motivational speaker Nick Vujicic, and reflect about your approach to life?s daily challenges and your disposition to overcome them. It?s a great inspirational journey, reflected by a person who deeply believes in our capacity to rise to unprecedented heights.

Click on the PLAY button to watch Nick:

Next time you are faced with overwhelming challenges, remember to never give in and never give up. Or in Winston Churchill?s astute words, ?if you’re going through hell, keep going.?

What are Mastermind Groups?

Fri Jul 3 21:25:22 CDT 2009

In 1908, the richest man in the world at the time, the famous steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, commissioned Napoleon Hill to interview and study the 504 most successful people of the day. The objective was to distil which attributes these highly successful business pioneers had in common.

Hills resulting book, “Think and Grow Rich”, came out in 1937 and remains one of the best selling, most influential business books of all time. In the book, Hill outlines ‘13 Principals’ which his long research identified as being common to all successful people.

One of those principles was that of the Mastermind Group. Hill demonstrated that no successful person does it alone. All are surrounded by people who can help them, advise them, criticise them, encourage them, motivate them, inspire them and spark them to be better than they could ever be on their own.

Napoleon Hill defines a Mastermind as:

“Coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose”…

…”This form of cooperative alliance has been the basis for nearly every great fortune. Your understanding of this great truth may definitely determine your financial status.”

He goes even further to suggest that people with a mastermind group around them can tap into an intelligence that is beyond themselves - that the coming together of multiple minds focused on a single purpose creates a fusion of intellect that can never be achieved by the individuals on their own.

How to Start Your Mastermind Group: The first thing you should do is start your search for appropriate mastermind members.� You can start within your circle of business associates or colleagues, or you can go outside to people who you do not know.�

For your first mastermind group - aim for 3-5 people.

This will be enough to start your group as it develops some longevity. The biggest problem with a mastermind group is making it stick together and happen on a consistent basis. People get busy and let other things get in the way, causing missed meetings, missed commitments, and lack of accountability to the group.

If you find a good solid group, and make the group a regular get together (once a month is the perfect timing for phone meetings - once a quarter for full day events), you can find a unique combination that lasts for years to come.

One other way to ensure everyone takes the mastermind seriously is to find a paid mastermind group (typically facilitated by someone else). When money is on the line, people tend to be a little more serious about doing business and keeping their commitments.

Rules of your Mastermind:

Show up every time, and on time.
Commit to helping everyone in the group grow their business.
Commit to helping everyone in the group become a better person.
Do what you say you will do - and always follow up on the commitments you make to the group.
Contribute - your ideas are valuable and necessary to making the Mastermind work.
As a group, commit that you will all do whatever it takes to get in the right creative mood to start your meeting.
Everyone should contribute ideas to others, and should expect ideas from everyone else.
Show up prepared and focused on maximum contribution.
Everything that gets discussed in a mastermind meeting is confidential information and must be treated so.

Depending on how far you want to take the rules, you can also have a 3 strike law in effect and the group can have voting power to ask 3 time rule-breakers to leave the group. Negative people, energy or feedback can destroy the positive intentions of a group. Choose your group carefully.

Keep in regular touch with your Mastermind members outside of your meetings.�

Various Ways to Run Mastermind Groups

Each person gets equal time - sharing your recent successes, challenges, missed deadlines, and biggest areas in need of help.
Shared lessons from all.� Have each person go around the room and share their greatest successes and lessons from all areas of business (marketing, advertising, finance, employees, payroll, operations, etc).
One person per meeting goes through their business in detail and only one business is focused on per meeting.
Critical priority - mixed from the above. Groups meet and do short introductions to what is happening in their business - those with critical issues express their need for help and they get priority status for help from the group.

For your first meeting, set aside more time than usual - at least 20-30 minutes per person. Go though the basic rules, and follow the system laid out here (talk about success, challenges, and top priority issues that need addressing now).

Masterminds can be a powerful force to help you live life more effectively.

Source: www.coachingclub.com.au

Evoking Change in a Client

Fri Jul 3 21:25:22 CDT 2009

There are several therapeutic approaches which are useful to improve clients? readiness to change. It is important, however, to realize that all these strategies are based on the same suggestion: motivation to change is elicited from the client and not imposed from without.

Using coercion, persuasion or constructive confrontation will achieve little if the client is simply ?unready? to change. It is the client?s task to articulate and resolve his/her own ambivalence in relation to change.

Stages of Change

Prochaska & DiClemente (1983) proposed a framework which comprised various stages of change. Putting such stages into the counselling perspective may help the counsellor understand the challenges within the process of change. Six stages were proposed, along with particular characteristics and techniques to support the client in moving forward:

Pre-contemplation: the client is not yet considering the option of changing his/her life. Useful techniques in this stage include: validating lack of readiness; encouraging re-evaluation of current behavioural patterns; encouraging self-exploration and progressive thinking; understanding the risks and limitations involved in the process of change.

Contemplation: the client is undecided about changing. Immediate change is unlikely to occur, however, it could occur within a month or so. Useful techniques in this stage include: clarifying to the client that the decision is his or hers; encouraging evaluation of benefits and disadvantages; promoting accountability; visualising positive outcomes.

Preparation: change begins to develop, and the client is testing the environment in order to ?get a feel? of the whole process. Useful techniques in this stage include: assisting problem-solving and identification of obstacles; developing supportive networks through family, friends and others (particularly if the process of change is radical); verifying the client?s skills towards change; encouraging self-reward and gradual development.

Action: this is the critical phase in which the client will change or return to his/her old habits. It usually lasts between 3-6 months. Useful techniques in this stage include: assisting the client in become more effective in the changing process and in conducting the behaviour; assisting the client overcome feelings of loss and nostalgia, whilst underlining the long-term benefits of the process.

Maintenance: this stage refers to the continued commitment to sustaining the new behaviour. It is the classic period where new habits develop into routinely tasks. Useful techniques in this stage include: follow-up and motivational support; overview of values and benefits derived from new behaviours; discussing coping with relapse.

Relapse: in this stage, old habits and behaviours resume which may affect the client?s self-confidence and beliefs. This usually involves a trigger, such as meeting an old friend from the period prior to change, or doing an activity which is perceived to have been part of the ?old lifestyle?. Useful techniques in this stage include: evaluating with the client was triggered the relapse; reassessing motivation and establishing further goals and motivational sources; planning more effective coping strategies.

Motivational Interviewing

Motivational interviewing is a recent technique which aims to improve the client?s motivational levels, with an explicit focus on encouraging accountability and action from the client. This technique?s desired outcome is to make the client proactive and decisive towards change.

Five general principles of motivational interviewing include: expressing empathy, developing discrepancy, avoiding argument, rolling with resistance and supporting self-efficacy. By using these principles, the counsellor aims to develop the client?s self-confidence and ability to cope with the process of change. This is done both through the development of micro skills (similar to the coaching process) which are aimed to create efficient and effective behaviours, and the development of emotional awareness which well support the client in overcoming challenges as a result of change.

A crucial aspect of this technique is keeping constant focus on the positive side of things. Once this becomes a routine task, it is easier for the client to develop a positive mindset in order to achieve pre-set goals. Motivational interviewing strategies are particularly useful when integrated with the stages of change model.

Client-Centered Approach

Developed by Carl Rogers in the 1940s, this approach has proven useful for effective and constructive communication. It focuses on the client?s capacity for growth and change, using unconditional acceptance as a motivator (which encourages the client to also develop unconditional positive regard).

?The primary technique of client-centered counselling is to actively listen and reflect the client’s statements in a non-directive, nonjudgmental manner, thereby providing a safe environment for the client’s self-exploration. Client-centered counseling hinges on the development of a counselor-client relationship based on unconditional regard, often over multiple hour-long sessions. This relationship enables the counselor to clarify the client’s feelings without imposing external assessments or values.? (Sheon, 2004)

One of the aspects of this kind of counselling relationship is the perspective that the client and the counsellor are partners, moving together towards a common goal. This perspective of a partnership in the therapeutic process is a popular approach in life coaching and it has direct benefits to the client?s motivation and the relationship?s rapport building.

Video Workshop on Relationship Breakdown

Fri Jul 3 21:25:22 CDT 2009

Check out this video workshop with Louise Whitehead (BSc (hons) Psych), a project officer here at the Institute, discussing relationship breakdown and strategies to cope with it. Louise?s video was presented at the 2009 Mental Health Super Summit.

This presentation discusses the various areas in which relationship breakdown can occur within a partnership. The overall theme is communication, which generally underpins most relationship breakdown. After covering potential areas of conflict or breakdown, solutions are given in the form of various self-reflective questions for anyone who is going through relationship difficulties.

Once the relationship has broken down completely or the partners have decided to permanently leave, the important decisions to be made afterwards are explored, including how to deal with a break up where children are involved. The content of the presentation is a broad view of relationship problems that covers from the honeymoon period to the end of the relationship or the decision to reconciliate.

�

Would you like to access more videos?

Over 28 video workshops, 45 online courses and a range of educational resources including articles, PowerPoint presentations and free reports are now available from the Counselling Academy website, exclusive to unlimited access members.

All courses and video workshops are approved for OPD points by the Australian Counselling Association (ACA). Video workshops are also approved for PD points by the Australian Psychological Society (APS).

To find out more information, visit www.counsellingacademy.com.au.��

Solution Focused Techniques

Fri Jul 3 21:25:22 CDT 2009

Solution focused therapies are founded on the rationale that there are exceptions to every problem and through examining these exceptions and having a clear vision of a preferred future, client and counsellor, together, can generate ides for solutions.

Solution focused therapists are competency and future focused. They highlight and utilise client strengths to enable a more effective future. In this article, we will look at commonly utilised solution focused techniques.

Basic Assumptions

The following assumptions provide the framework on which solution focused therapy is founded:

There are significant advantages in focusing on the positive and on solutions for the future. Focusing on strengths and solution-talk will increase the likelihood that therapy will be brief.
Individuals who come to therapy do have the capacity to act effectively. This capacity, however, is temporarily blocked by negative cognitions.
There are exceptions to every problem.
Clients tend to present one side of the problem. Solution focused therapists invite clients to view their problems from a different side.
Small change fosters bigger change.
Clients want to change, they have the capacity to change and they are doing their best to make change happen.
As each individual is unique, so too is every solution.

Source: Corey, G. (2005). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy. (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

The Miracle Question

The miracle question is a technique that counsellors can use to assist clients to think ‘outside the square’ in regard to new possibilities and outcomes for the future.�

“The miracle question has been asked thousands of times throughout the world. It has been refined as practitioners have experimented with different ways of asking it. The question is best asked deliberately and dramatically.

Now, I want to ask you a strange question. Suppose that while you are sleeping tonight and the entire house is quiet, a miracle happens. The miracle is that the problem which brought you here is solved. However because you are sleeping, you don’t know that the miracle has happened. So, when you wake up tomorrow morning, what will be different that will tell you that a miracle has happened and the problem which brought you here is solved?” (de Shazer, 1988, p. 5.)

Asked this way, the miracle question requests clients to make a leap of faith and imagine how their life will be changed when the problem is solved. This is not easy for clients. It requires them to make a dramatic shift from problem saturated thinking to a focus on solutions. Most clients need time and assistance to make that shift. (De Jong & Kim Berg, 2002)

Exception Questions

Having created a detailed miracle picture, the counsellor has started to gain some understanding of what the client hopes to achieve and the counsellor and client can begin to work towards these solutions. This is achieved through highlighting exceptions in a client’s life that are counter to the problem. This helps empower clients to seek solutions.

Exception questions provide clients with the opportunity to identify times when things have been different for them.

Examples of exception questions include:

Tell me about times when you don’t get angry.
Tell me about times you felt the happiest.
When was the last time that you feel you had a better day?
Was there ever a time when you felt happy in your relationship?
What was it about that day that made it a better day?
Can you think of a time when the problem was not present in your life?

“When exploring for exceptions, be aware that such questions can be phrased to ask for the client’s perception of exceptions (individual questions) and the client’s perception of what significant others may notice (relationship questions).

Examples of each follow.

Elicit - So when the miracle happens, you and your husband will be talking more about what your day was like and hugging more. Are there times already which are like the miracle - even a little bit? If your husband was here and I were to ask him the same question, what do you think he would say?

Amplify - When was the last time you and your husband talked more and hugged more? Tell me more about that time. What was it like? What did you talk about? What did you say? When he said that, what did you do? What did he do then? How was that for you? Was else was different about that time?
If he were here, what else might he say about that time?

Reinforce - Nonverbally:� Lean forward raise eyebrows, take notes. Do what you naturally do when someone tells you something important. Verbally: Show interest. (Was this new for you and him? Did it surprise you that this happened?) And compliment. (Seems like that might have been difficult for you to do, given everything that’s happened in the relationship. Was it difficult?)

Explore how the exception happened - What do you suppose you did to make that happen? If your husband was here and I asked him, what do you suppose he would say you did that helped him to tell you more about his day?

Use compliments - Where did you get the idea to do it that way? That seems to make a lot of sense. Have you always been able to come up with ideas about what to do in difficult situations like this?

Project exceptions into the future - On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 means every chance, what are the chances that a time like that (the exception) will happen again in the next week (month, sometime in the future)? What will take for that to happen?)

What will it take for that to happen more often in the future? Who has to do what to make it happen again? What is the most important thing for you to remember to do to make sure that _________________ (the exception) has the best chance of happening again? What’s the next most important thing to remember?

What do you think your husband would say the chances are that this (the exception) will happen again? What would he say you could do to increase the chances of that happening again? Suppose you decide to do that, what do you think he would do? Suppose he did that, how would things be different for you…around your house… in your relationship with him?”�

(De Jong & Kim Berg, 2002, pp. 302-303)

Scaling Questions

Scaling questions invite clients to perceive their problem on a continuum. Scaling questions ask clients to consider their position on a scale (usually from 1 to 10, with one being the least desirable situation and 10 being the most desirable). Scaling questions can be a helpful way to track coachees’ progress toward goals and monitor incremental change.

“To use these types of questions, the therapist begins by describing a scale from one to ten where each number represents a rating of the client’s complaint(s). The therapist might say, “On a scale of one to ten, with one being the worst this problem has ever been, and ten being the best things could be, where would you rate things today?”

Once a therapist is given a number, he or she explores how that rating translates into action-talk. For example, if the client rates his or her situation at a three, the therapist asks, “What specifically is happening to indicate to you that it is a three?” The next step is to determine the goals and preferred outcomes. To do this the therapist asks the client where things would need to be for him or her to feel that the goals of treatment have been met or that therapy has been successful.

We aim for small changes that will represent progress in the direction of goals and preferred outcomes.” (Bertolino & O’Hanlon, 2002, pg. 4)

Examples of scaling questions include:

…You said that things are between a 5 and a 6. What would need to happen so that you could say things were between a 6 and a 7?

…How confident are you that you could have a good day like you did last week, on a scale of zero to ten, where zero equals no confidence and ten means you have every confidence?

Presupposing Change

When clients are focused on changing the negative aspects (or problems) in their lives, positive changes can often be overlooked, minimized or discounted due to the ongoing presence of the problem.

The solution focused approach challenges counsellors to be attentive to positive changes (however small) that occur in their clients’ lives. Questions that presuppose change can be useful in assisting clients to recognise such changes. Questions such as, “What’s different, or better since I saw you last time?” This question invites clients to consider the possibility that change (perhaps positive change) has recently occurred in their lives.

If evidence of positive change is unavailable, counsellors can pursue a line of questioning that relates to the client’s ability to cope.

Questions such as:

How come things aren’t worse for you?
What stopped total disaster from occurring?
How did you avoid falling apart?

These questions can be followed up by the counsellor positively affirming the client with regard to any action they took to cope.” (Geldard & Geldard, 2005)

References

Bertolino, B., & O’Hanlon, B. (2002). Collaborative, competency-based counseling and therapy. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Corey, G. (2005). Theory and practice of counselling and psychotherapy. (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.
De Jong, P., & Kim Berg, I. (2002). Interviewing for solutions. (2nd ed). Pacific Grove, CA: Wadsworth.
de Shazer, S. (1988). Clues: investigating solutions in brief therapy. New York: Norton.

Free access to 38 Video Workshops? for 7-days only!

Fri Jul 3 21:25:22 CDT 2009

We?ve got excellent news for you.

As we?re all about promoting PD to the mental health industry, the committee of the 2009 Mental Health Super Summit (which includes AIPC staff) has generously decided to open its event?s doors to the general public. For 7-days only you can now access 38 video workshops, review chat session transcripts and download a range of educational resources.

But you must hurry ? this fountain of knowledge will only be available for the next 7-days.

At the end of the 7-days, the video workshops and ?downloadables? will be accessible exclusively via the Counselling Academy website (www.counsellingacademy.com.au) to CA?s unlimited access members.

You can access the content right now at:

www.mentalhealthsummit.com.au/blog

Important Notice: Whilst you are welcome to explore the entire content, note that if you did not initially register for the Summit you will not be able to claim PD points from video workshops.

Hear what some Summit participants had to say…

?Thanks for the availability of the Mental Health Summit. Thankfully I have remote wireless broadband allowing me to access the topics online, while travelling. The range of topics was valuable and usable and I have already been able to utilise the knowledge for a friend going through some difficult times with her teenager. Well done team!!� Being able to utilise points for OPD (Ongoing Professional Development), was an added benefit. Thanks again and great to see the money go towards a much needed area…our youth.? Marie-Clare De Vere

?I want to say ?thank you very much? to everyone who made this event possible. At first I was sceptical, due to my personality fears, but stepping through them, I was so thrilled what was beyond my fears (never real) accessible lectures at my convenience, at a price I was comfortable with at this time, at my venue, informative and easy to listen to, supportive, encouraging, and easy to use!! Thank you so much, will be happy to recommend to others next time.? Juliana Simons

?Thanks team for providing an opportunity for us to receive dynamic and current professional development from the comfort of our own homes! I am enjoying the summit so far and am learning for my own personal as well as professional development. I am a counsellor who has been working in private practice for just on a year now so I am still on a steep leaning curve and relish opportunities such as the Summit provides.? Liz Chard

?We would like thank everyone who took part in the Summit. With your support, more than $55,000 has been raised for Kids Helpline to help young Australians who are facing mental health challenges. Kids Helpline is the nation’s only free telephone and online counselling service specifically for 5 to 25 year-olds. Each year, our counsellors speak with more than 300,000 children and young people and undertake almost 5,500 counselling sessions about mental health issues and a further 3,289 sessions regarding thoughts of suicide. Your support will truly help us to be there for these young people when they need us the most.? Wendy Protheroe, Kids Helpline

Developing the Right Mindset

Fri Jul 3 21:25:22 CDT 2009

Developing a business mindset means knowing how to think like a successful entrepreneur, by adopting an optimistic yet pragmatic attitude in order to make the right business decisions. Let?s look more closely at how your mind works when it comes to minding your business.

Are you a worrier ? dwelling on worst-case scenarios, feeling down about your lack of success, rejecting possible ideas because you assume they won?t work? Are you a planner ? making a mental list of what to do next, staying focused and motivated? Are you overly optimistic ? seeing many opportunities, not able to prioritize, needing direction? Are you a procrastinator ? coming up with good ideas but never feeling ready to start?

How you think about your business influences your abilities and your actions? Negative beliefs and critical self-talk hamper your efforts, while constructive, optimistic yet pragmatic thinking helps you to take big steps. Developing an entrepreneurial mind-set? the combination of thinking, feeling and sensing that is the hallmark of successful business owners? is the next step in your business education.

Counsellors often have a part of this mindset developed, but need to activate additional elements. For example, we are often very skilled at sensing, and can read subtle cues and unspoken signals. This is good and can be very helpful in business situations.

But we must also learn to use the linear, unemotional thinking that is necessary in business. Successful entrepreneurs tend to display the following six qualities in their thinking:

Given a set of challenges, successful entrepreneurs see opportunities. Counsellors face particular challenges just from being in a profession that is not well understood by those who could benefit from its practices. To deal with this, you need to see the opportunities inside each challenge and keep an optimistic yet pragmatic attitude. Can you see the opening in every rejection, the break in each obstacle?

Given a problem, successful entrepreneurs are both optimistic and pragmatic. Being a successful entrepreneur means that you can balance dream with reality. Can you stay upbeat and at the same time assess the truth of a situation? Taking right action when you are in a challenging situation means that you have the skill of combining a confident stance with levelheaded expectations.

Successful entrepreneurs expect a lot from themselves and others. They want a lot for themselves and other. Expecting a lot from others ? those who work with you, be they staff or clients ? means having clear boundaries around your requests with clients or staff. Express your needs and wants directly.

Expect those around you to come from the best in themselves, and hold yourself to this expectation as well. Wanting for others means that you can hold a big vision and goals for those around you.

When one of your clients sets a goal, you will support the achievement of the goal by staying interested, by brainstorming, and by celebrating when it is met, but you don?t demean the client by reminding or nagging about the goal. You are there as a very interested party for your clients to report to, but not for babysitting goals.

Successful entrepreneurs operate from a state of abundance. When you, as an entrepreneur, begin to feel that there is a profusion of resources in your environment, it is easier to hold a big vision for your clients and yourself as well. You come to believe that there is enough in the world for each client you see to have a meaningful life, satisfying work, enough money to live well, love and happiness.

Successful entrepreneurs are persistent. Business is not for the faint-hearted. It takes effort to land a contract, set up a thriving counselling practice, identify and cultivate referral sources, fill a workshop, land a training contract, get a book deal. It?s nothing personal when your goals take more effort than you thought they would. Can you find it within yourself to stay with your goal long enough to get results? If so, you have persistence.

Successful entrepreneurs enjoy making a profit. As an entrepreneur, your developmental task is to develop an adult relationship with money. You need to understand that as a business person, making a profit from your�counselling practice is as much part of your job as being a counsellor.

Assessing Attitudes and Behaviours

Fri Jul 3 21:25:22 CDT 2009

?What type of business to start…A good starting point in deciding what type of business you should start, or if you should consider starting a business, begins with understanding who and what you are. In a society such as ours, few people understand themselves-a fact borne out by the number of counsellors and psychiatrists employed. Most people are running to satisfy expectations and demands placed on them from the outside. They never stop long enough to spend time with themselves to get to know that person inside. To get to know that person inside generally requires a degree of isolation and quiet. Our world is one of overstimulation, where most people hide from themselves, constantly in a state of overstimulation. Surrounded by people and noise even when alone, the television, stereo, or radio are on: something, anything, to drown out the quiet.

A period of reflection and meditation in solitude to acquire a degree of personal understanding is often required before making life-altering changes. Without a sense of self, the tendency exists to continually chase that ?something out there.? ?I want to go into business to get rich.? ?I want to make a lot of money.? Such reasoning is dangerously superficial. Begin with the right reason for you; go into business if doing so will bring a sense of fulfilment to you.

Every person brings himself or herself into business. Personal strengths and personal weaknesses within the context of a level of skill and talent will tend to create for the entrepreneur a realm of opportunity and a realm of constraints. One?s personal strengths need to be strong enough on which to base a workable business concept, and personal weaknesses must not be such that they could cause the business to fail. For some people, the entrepreneurs always knew the type of business they wanted to start.?

Source: Urlacher, L.S. (1999). Small business entrepreneurship: An ethics and human relations perspective. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Simon & Schuster.

In the next post we’ll start to investigate some of your attitudes and behaviours to help you identify relevant business opportunities. By looking at your attitudes and behaviours, we can begin to compare them to those of an entrepreneurial mind-set. The entrepreneurial mind-set may be used and/or developed to contribute to your success in the business world.

Please note: You may notice that this particular reading is talking specifically about ?coaching?. Due to the similar nature of professions, the information in this reading is applicable to counselling.

Beginning Your Own Practice

Fri Jul 3 21:25:22 CDT 2009

Starting any new business can be an exciting but challenging time. As a counsellor, your forte may be in helping clients make changes in their life but may be unsure of where to start when venturing out on your own in the business world.�

This series�is particularly useful�for those counsellors (or other mental health professionals) who are thinking about starting their own practice but have limited understanding on how to go about doing this.

There are many aspects that the counsellor/business starter will have to consider. In this series, the following topic areas will be covered to help you set-up your own business:

Assessing your own entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviours - By examining your attitudes and behaviours, we can begin to compare them to those of an entrepreneurial mind-set. The entrepreneurial mind-set may be used and/or developed to contribute to your success in the business world.

Generating business ideas and defining your concept - Business opportunity ideas are those ideas that may create profit or assets, and/or develop or advance the business.

Enjoy!