ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to discuss a holistic approach to counselling in general practice. The medical setting can clearly affect both the counsellor’s view of themselves and of their client. Clearly the counsellor needs a methodology out of which to operate, although such principles need to be constantly available for deconstruction or re-appraisal. Central to the author’s own practice in general practice currently are the ideas of: Assessment and time-conscious counselling: phenomenological exploration, field theory, dialogic relationship, contact functioning and body process and creative experimentation. Some counsellors struggle with the concept of assessment, as it appears to be part of the medical model where the counsellor is seen as constructing themselves as an ‘expert’. A counselling practice which adheres to holistic principles within a time-conscious frame clearly requires considerable skill and sophistication on the part of the counsellor as all the various elements within the therapeutic field are held.
