Page 142 - Nutrition Counseling and Education Skills: A Guide for Professionals

performance changes.
As in nondirective counseling, managers must attend to the supporting nonverbal behavior throughout the

interview. The spatial dynamics of the location should allow the two people to feel close, since feelings are
being shared and help is being given to solve the problem. The manager needs to act, talk, look, and gesture in
a manner that allows the subordinate to infer that the purpose of the counseling session is to change a
problem behavior, not to reject or punish. Finally, the manager has to remember to allow adequate time for
full expression of thoughts and schedule multiple sessions when appropriate.

Measuring the Outcomes of Counseling

The outcome of successful counseling is attaining the desired goals or changes in behavior. These goals may
be those of the employer, counselor and, most important, the clients or employees. The measurement may be
short-term or long-term. Beyond individual client or staff outcomes, practitioners systematically need to assess
the results of their counseling to determine effectiveness. Questions, such as the number of counseling
sessions generally needed to create change, are essential to determine recommendations for care and confirm
outcomes. Self- and periodic evaluation of one’s counseling skills will assist in your professional counseling
skill development.

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