COUNSELING SKILLSINTRODUCTION TO COUNSELING AND CHILD PLAY THERAPYJohn McGuiness (1998) defines counseling as a helping profession that uses the safety engendered by a particular type of relationship to help individuals access more of their resources as a way to respond to the challenges in their lives. It uses specific skills and techniques in this area to help people become more competent, more satisfied and more innovative. The counseling is not aimed primarily at the mentally ill but at normal individuals facing all the difficulties linked to domestic, professional and social life. It's about helping people grow in emotional distress and health. From the above definition, we can draw the following conclusions: - That advice generally aims to help (it is a helping profession). It involves a relationship, a process with specific skills. Some of the specific goals of counseling are to help the individual access more of their personal resources, to help individuals become more competent, more satisfied and more creative, to help people manage their fitness emotional and their health. RELATIONSHIP This is a professional working relationship between the counselor and counselee. This relationship must be based on mutual trust. The counselor must ensure that the relationship is established, otherwise therapy will not take place. Rogers (1961) says, “If I can provide a certain type of relationship, the other person will discover within himself the capacity to use that relationship to grow or change. » .The counselor needs three basic attitudes called fundamental conditions by Rogers to maintain the relationship. The conditions are authenticity, empathy and unconditional positive regard. THE PROCEDURE...... middle of paper ......g trauma eg Death of a loved one, pet, all forms of abuse.• Painful or frightening medical procedures.• Be witnessing a crime, violence or abuse of other children • Disasters such as accidents, bomb blasts and floods • Terminal illness, disability, living with a terminally ill parent. • Divorce/separation from parents• Parent-child relationship• Relationship conflicts, for example between child and parents, siblings, teachers, peers. • Change of environment, for example school, residence and country. • Developmental issues like sexuality, self-concept during teenage pregnancy, puberty. REFERENCES Axeline Virginia. (1969). Dibs: In search of yourself. West, Janet (1996). Child-centered play therapy (2nd ed.). Great Britain: Arnold: Rogers, Carl. (1961). Becoming a person: A therapist's perspective on psychotherapy. London: Constable. McGuiness J (1998). Advice in schools. London: Cassell.