Life counseling

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In German-speaking countries, life counseling refers to measures for psychosocial support in life crises , family issues and problems in the world of work. However, the term does not describe any particular methodology or specific procedure.

If life counseling focuses on psychological issues, it is legally classified as a measure from the field of psychological counseling . Life counselors are not allowed to treat illnesses unless they are qualified and authorized to do so as psychotherapists , doctors or alternative practitioners .

In Germany

In Germany, the term life counseling denotes - often in connection with a city name or the name of a church district - many integrative counseling centers of the Protestant church . For people of all ages seeking advice, professional help and support from specialists from the psychological , educational , medical, legal and theological fields is offered. The Catholic Church also has a network of comparable advisory services, often sponsored by Caritas .

As a rule, the employees of the Protestant counseling centers have special additional training in "Integrated Family-Oriented Counseling - IFB" from the Evangelical Central Institute for Family Counseling in Berlin . Psychoanalysis and depth psychology as well as systemic concepts are fundamental to the church's counseling work . In some cases, gestalt and behavior therapy concepts are also used. During the training, theoretical knowledge, advisory practice, method training and personal development are permanently related to one another. After three years of training with six two-week intensive courses at the institute (at least 500 hours of teaching including 120 hours of self-awareness), five half-year internships in a multidisciplinary team at a recognized counseling center, at least 180 hours of documented counseling practice and at least 50 hours of individual and 40 hours of team supervision, the further training concludes after examinations with the diploma in IFB.

The reasons for counseling in Protestant counseling centers are above all problems with one's own behavior and experience, relationship problems and questions in connection with separation and divorce ; in children and adolescents also developmental problems or school problems. Around ten percent of clients suffer from severe mental disorders, but they cannot find appropriate, timely psychotherapy offers in the health sector and in the meantime use the life advice centers.

In the case of adult clients, inquiries from women clearly predominate (approx. 70 percent of registrations), with children up to the age of 12 more boys than girls are registered, with young people then again more girls. The proportion of older people over 70 is still low, but it is increasing steadily.

Life counseling is understood as a temporary form of help and support; it is above all help for self-help. In contrast to concrete “advice” from friends, acquaintances or relatives, professional advisors do give information, but they usually try to open up new space for change on the basis of a counseling theory; the decisive steps remain with the client. Consultants differentiate between “conflict-centered” and “solution-centered” work, which can be used depending on the problem.

Most consultations (approx. 60 to 70 percent) are over after one to five discussions, only approx. 15 percent of all consultations in Protestant counseling centers require more than ten interviews. The tendency towards short consultations is certainly also due to the great pressure of demand and the development of special concepts for shorter consultations. For this church form of life counseling, which is also seen as a form of pastoral care, there are no alternatives from the state and no legally regulated financial support. In many counseling centers, clients therefore contribute to the costs in the form of fees or donations.

A resource-oriented perception and way of thinking predominates as the basic attitude of the consultants. Life coaches assume that people seeking advice often still have enough resources of their own, even with severe problems, that can be used to clarify and cope with critical life situations. In this context, the professional advisor is more of a clarification helper, stimulator and supporter.

Important quality criteria include a. The free, low-threshold and unbureaucratic access, regardless of denomination , nationality or income, the multi- professional team, strict obligation of confidentiality (§ 203 StGB), obligation to regular training and supervision as well as orientation of the counseling work exclusively according to the rules of professional ability. So far, there has been no generally applicable counseling theory and the profession of life counselor is not yet legally protected in Germany.

The professional association at federal level is the Evangelical Conference for Family and Life Counseling (EKFuL); There are representatives at the regional church level, e.g. B. in the Landeskirche Hannover the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Lebensberatung (AGL) and the main office for life counseling (HSt) (responsible for supraregional tasks, further training, coordination etc.); Regional life advice centers can be found on the website of the professional association or the main offices and on site in directories of the districts and municipalities or the parishes.

Nationwide, the professional association is involved in the German Society for Advice (DGfB), which has set itself the task of providing the professional public, politics and consumers with an orientation framework for the quality of advice services. It acts as an umbrella organization for various relevant professional associations (e.g. German Society for Supervision (DGSv), German Society for Pastoral Psychology (DGfP)) and a. a common cross-association quality standard is available.

In Austria

In Austria, the life and social counseling industry is strictly regulated. In order to be allowed to call oneself life and social counselors or qualified life advisors or to be allowed to work as such, one must complete a five- to six-semester training course and provide evidence of relevant internships. The training consists of at least the following elements

  • 120 hours of self-awareness in a group
  • 240 hours of methodological competence , 68 hours of fundamentals, 80 hours of crisis intervention , 4 p.m. of ethics , 24 hours of business basics, 4 p.m. of legal fundamentals
  • 30 hours of individual self-awareness
  • 750 hours of practical work, including the creation of at least 100 consultation minutes and at least 100 hours of supervision

Life counselors in Austria are not allowed to treat any psychological disorders that are significant as defined by ICD-10 . Her counseling activities are limited to the social area, sexual counseling , questions of family and partnership, as well as to the world of work.

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