Mental health articles

The quality of the interactions with consultees is crucial to the success of consultation,
just as the quality of interactions with clients is crucial to success in therapy.
Gallup (1998) listed several qualities that characterize a good consulting relationship:
a workable rapport, compatible problem-solving style, integrity, open communications,
clear goals, and reasonable outcome measures. Successful consultants have the following four characteristics:
1. Responsibility: Consultants should assume all the responsibility in their own thinking, but must also work to build a sense of responsibility in the consultee to resolve the challenges being faced.
2. Feelings: As mental health providers, consultants know the power of emotions, and the importance of managing the consultee’s feelings as well as the consultant’s own reactions.
3. Trust: To build trust, consultants must always deliver on what they promise. This
means being careful about what they promise, and being quick to admit whe trouble develops in delivering those promises. Sometimes the difference between success and failure is strong follow-through.
4. The right of consultants to their own needs: Consultants must be aware of their own desires and needs for acceptance, inclusion, validation, access to the company, and support from management, and must recognize how these desires will influence their work.

Tags: consultant