Counseling intake interview questions and Answers

In the simple word, Counseling is the method of helping the individuals’ problems of their life. In this Counseling intake interview questions and Answers, usually, there is the involvement of the two people that includes someone seeking help and someone capable or trained, willing to give support. For Counseling, the environment was set in such a way that it allows helping to be given and received.

In other words, Counseling is the process in which the counselor and the client decide the time to explore the problems of the clients, such as about the emotional feelings and stressful situation of the client related to their personal life, career, and relationship problems and so on.

Counselor is the individual who holds the professional degree for Counseling and highly trained, who sets a series of formal sessions for Counseling the client issues and feeling by using various counseling approaches. Counselors eventually listen to the client’s problems and get a suitable solution by encouraging them. The counselor emphasis the client on seeing the problems more finely from the different viewpoint and influence positive change for their feeling behavior, experiences.

Counseling intake interview Problems

Counselors not only counsel the individual but also involve the couples, families, and groups to deal with the enormous difficulties they face.

The following are the problems of the client in the base which the counselor counsel their clients:

Emotional or feeling problems such as anxiety and depression
Family problems like quarrel and disharmony
Marital or relationship problems like divorce or infidelity
vocational difficulties like performance problems, work pressure or procrastination
social issues like homelessness and prejudice
environmental issues such as natural disaster (flood, earthquake, disease outbreak)
Biological problems like chronic illness or infertility

There are different types of counselor which is required in various fields and they are:

Marriage and family counselor
Guidance and career counselor
Rehabilitation counselor
Mental health counselor
Substance abuse counselor
Educational Counselor

As the counselor graduated from the university, they have to come out to the real world and work as their specialists. Meanwhile, they have to give the counseling intake interview to entry for the job as a counselor. They have been wondering about the counseling intake interview questions they will ask you.

You don’t have to be tense for the interview as you only need to prepare for the intake interview questions. After you make the counseling intake interview questions, you will feel confident and ease to answer, and there will be high chances to get these job opportunities as you are hoping for.

Intake interview questions and Answers

The major ambition of this counseling intake interview question is to make you familiar with the question and provide relevant information about the types of questions asked in the counseling intake interview. Preparing for the interview will obviously give you positive results afterward as it aids you to answer those questions as the interviewer wants or desired to listen.

The following are some of the counseling intake interview questions and the pros answer that will help you boost your confidence level and make you eligible for the given posts:

1. Tell me why you are here?

“Why this company and Why do you want to work for us?” is the common question connected with the above question. The main reason for asking this intake interview question is the interviewer wants to know your passion, interest, and goals in this position. They want to see whether you are the eligible and right candidate for this position or not. If you answer this question as you need a job despite your interest, you probably lose it. The motive of this intake interview question is to discover your eagerness to stay in the post and sincerely work productively. The answer depends on what types of Counselors are you?

If you are a mental health counselor: I am here because I am interested in this position as I love the persistent interaction with the people, and helping with their problem gives me satisfaction. The increasing number of stress leads to too many people suffer from mental issues. So, I want to use my ability as a counselor to solve the client’s mental-related problems.

How to answer? If you are Educational, Substance and Marriage Counselor

If you are an educational Counselor: I am here as I love to spend time with the students and solve the students’ related educational problems. As the career is a tough decision in everyone’s life, through my specialist, I want to provide quality career counseling to the student for their better tomorrow.

If you are a Substance abuse counselor: I am here as I want to withdraw everyone from the harmful substances. As a Substance abuse counselor, I like to contribute my knowledge by helping the substance abuser.

If you are Marriage and family counselor: I am here as I want to stop the misunderstanding, and conflict arises between the family members. As a counselor, I want to solve every problem of the family by using various approaches.

2. What is the key to success when communicating with clients or the public?

This type of intake interview question is the behavioral types of problems. Your answer provides the interviewer your judgmental capacity. You can start to answer this question by reflecting on the interaction of the importance of communication in counseling.

Communication plays a broad role in counseling, as with the help of appropriate communication, I get to know the clients’ problems. Through discussion, counselors establish an excellent interpersonal relationship with the client helping them to explore their issues.

Communication is the only option to make the client comfortable and ease to share their problems. Only the counselor and client’s proper communication helps to sort out the issues by discussing the appropriate solution. If there is a communication gap between them, the client will be unable to open their problem, and the problem remains unsolved.

So, there is an excellent contribution to the communication regarding the success in the role of the counselor in finding the solution to the clients’ issues.

3. Describe a time when you successfully provided personal assistance to a coworker or patron.

It is another most common intake interview question asked during the interview. It is also the behavioral type of question.

The main theme of this intake interview question is to determine your ability to work as a part of a team or your role as a team player in a specific organization. In a particular crisis, your helping hand is necessary to work productively. They also aim to know your work experiences with coworkers in a working environment. In this question, verify how you see the coworker needs your help. Behavioral types of questions will be appropriate to answer by applying the STAR methods, which are as follows:

STAR methods stand for

S stands for Situation: In this question, you have to describe the coworker’s situation facing difficulties with the work and why you are in a position to help.
T for Task: After a specific job is created, say your role in the coworker problems. Describe the condition that the coworker wants to achieve and the ultimate advantages to the organization?
A for Action: Action or steps you started to help your coworker. What was your Action towards it?
R for Result: what was the Result after you improve your coworker? What was the advantage to the company through your actions?

You can answer this intake interview question this way when a new counselor was hired at my last job. It was obvious that he was having some trouble as the Manager was so busy that he could not help him in that situation. A lot of work was pending and was not completed. so whenever I had some time, I used to help him to finish the work timely. I provided some information and techniques to him related to the counseling so he could perform productively. I give some information about the clients and counseling method to make him easy to work. And I motivated him not to give up and do hard work. As he was an energetic team member, he was working through all his tasks after a month, and he gets promoted after some months for his contribution.

4. Share an experience you had in dealing with a difficult person and how you handled the situation.

This intake interview question is the situational type of question. The main target of this intake interview question is to know how you can deal with this situation with the client. No matter how tough these situations make you uncomfortable, you have to handle this situation anyhow. The client gets them into the troubles that make us a difficult time. So it would help if you placed yourself in their places so to understand the circumstances they are going through.

Yes, I have experience dealing with the problematic client as there was a client who had come for counseling as he is a drug abuser. The client wants to solve these problems, but he disagrees with the solution that I had to recommend—He always says that this kind of solution never gets me out of this addiction. He also argues with me and doubting to my decision. And I apologize and recommend him with a better solution, such as referring them to a specialist who has excellent experience with their particular situation. In this situation, I control my emotion and try to make him understand the effectiveness of these alternatives.

Tips to Handle in Difficult Situation

You can handle troublesome one in the following ways:

Listen— you have to be a good listener since they are arguing with you because they are more concerned about their problems. You should use good, normal active listening techniques to solve their problem.
Give time to the client to talk—give some time to them to talk as they are having a hard time. It’s better to share their feeling with you. After some minutes when they are tired then it’s your chance to say on behalf of it.
Don’t agree—if they are complaining about the services and facilities you provide to them, and then don’t agree with them. They don’t respect your judgment while solving their problems then argue with you on behalf of your decision.
Don’t stay silent—if you don’t talk back then it seems that you had made a mistake. Silences reflect your acceptance of their judgments or complain.
Do switch extremes into facts—Negative people have always negative to say. They always say “never” and “always.” Your first goal is to switch them into positive ones.

5. What are your expectations from us?

Through this intake interview question, they want to know the environment you need to perform comfortably in the organizations. You need to describe what you expect from this company. The following are the tips to answer this intake interview question reasonably to pass this interview:

Understand and determine the true question
Give answer honestly
Give a positive answer
Answer directly with reliable details

The following are the expectation I hope from this company

To provide a working environment
To provide support and involvement in the decision making
Expecting the team which help me in certain circumstances
To give chances to grow through the challenges
To instruct me in the growth of the organization
The expectation of the satisfied salary

6. What is your desired outcome?

The interviewer asks this intake interview question to know your contribution to the organizations. These intake interview questions aim to see whether you understand your responsibilities, job description, and your qualifications degree to meet the targets of the company post or not. This question was prepared to check whether you are a successful and eligible candidate or not for this post.

I have completed my master’s degree in counseling, and I had two years of experience working as a counselor. I feel worthy enough to fulfill the role and responsibility for this post. As far as I reviewed the job description, I can work productively in this post and give the desired outcomes. According to the previous job, I had proven my ability to meet expectations, satisfy the client’s needs, and solve their problems by maintaining good relations with clients.

7. Share an experience when you applied new technology or information in your job. How did it help your company?

This is the situational type of question. The primary goal of this intake interview question is to know your smartness and cleverness to use the techniques and resources properly in the organization. You have to answer this question in such a way that it will satisfy the interviewer.

Yes, I had the experience of using the new technologies and information in my late job and had practical consequences. The following are the technologies and information which is applied in my previous post:

In the beginning, the client has to come to the office for counseling, although they have a busy schedule. I now applied the telephone for the advice as it is flexible and comfortable for the client, which is active in their works. After a month, with the help of telecommunication number of clients has increased rapidly.
I applied social media to counsel the client as it makes the client comfortable to confess their feelings and problems without hesitation. The effectiveness of this technology is natural to access communication and easy problem-solving techniques.
I implemented the plan of educating the masses about the importance of counseling by launching the camping and awareness program. Most of the people came for advice after analyzing the importance of advice.
I researched the method of advice and found the effective one who has solved the clients’ problems. With the help of research, effective’s techniques help the individual with expected outcomes.

8. Share an effective method you have used to answer applicants’ questions about benefits and claim procedures.

This intake interview question also comes under the situational types of questions. In every client’s problem, counselors used their skills like Listening, Attending, Perceiving, Responding, Initiating, and Summarizing for the appropriate solution. The following are some of the effective methods to answer the clients’ queries with the benefit and procedure of this method:

Offering various alternatives to their problems: if you are an educational counselor, then the client asks you a question to you which career I should choose? In this situation, give them various options for their problems like placing a different career that matches their skills, education, qualification, and interest. This helps individuals comfortable and easy to make decisions and support them to meet their goals.
Providing relevant information to the client about a suitable career for them is the counselor’s key role. Information includes what types of career is this, positive sides, qualification required for this post, success probability. This method benefits them to decide on their career and relief the burden they had felt for the decision.
Give advice: suggest them among the alternative, which is the effective one, and you think you will work on them. Suggest career to them which fit their interest, educational, and their ability. Counselors also motivated individuals to choose the career which they think is right for them. This kind of advice is key to success in the coming future, which aids them in selecting the career which.

How do you prepare for an intake interview?

After you get a call for an interview, you have to make a plan for the preparation of the intake interview questions. As this interview is the perfect timing to show yourself eligible for this post and chances to show them you are unique from the other candidates. The following are the ways to prepare for the intake interview:

Preparation for the discussion: develop the different types of questions they are probably going to ask you. Gather some knowledge about the question and prepare the answer as well. Practice it from time to time and get some ideas to answer them accurately. After that, you surely boost up your confidence level and increase the high chances of success rate in passing the interview.
Do some research:

Research in the organization- search about the organization on the website and gather some information about the organization’s goals, types of organization, services they provide, and so on. Search positive things about the company.
Research about the employer –search about what kinds of employer work there, what job sector they operate, what is their roles and responsibilities, they are satisfied with their job or not, and so on.
Research about the role: go through the job description of the following post you applied for. Review what types of roles and responsibilities they are expecting from the candidates. Find out your strengths, goals, weaknesses, skills, qualifications, experiences to tackle the position needed for this post.
Research about the interviewer – gather some information about the person who will take your interview. Find out what types of personality does he have, his interests, and his professional experience. This helps increase your confidence by connecting you with the interviewer, reflecting a positive concept about him.
Research about the question: search some of the common questions usually asked in the interview. Be familiar with the question makes you able to give a quality answer in the interview.

3. Practice some interview:

Gather some intake interview questions and prepare the relevant answer for them. Practice this question by recording in the mobile, analyzing yourself in the mirror, asking some friends to ask questions, and so on. Find out your mistakes as well as a drawback and practice it again and again.

4. Prepare for the technique to impress the interviewer:

Be punctual: punctuality is the first impression and decreases your stress level. Be earlier at the interview place or at the given time to avoid the wrong impression.
Positivity and enthusiasm – you have to be polite and use formal languages. During the interview, respond to the interviewer showing your interest and enthusiasm with definite answers. Be positive about your interview. This will avoid nervousness.
Body language and facial expression – body language and facial expression play a vital role in the discussion. Be in a straight body posture as it shows you are active and attentive toward the conversation. Eye to eye contact is critical, as well. It shows you are listening to the questions and understanding the problems. Smile is also necessary as this helps to create a healthy environment and reduce your nervousness.

What is the purpose of an intake interview in counseling?

There are many purposes while taking an intake interview by asking intake interview questions. Some of them are listed below:

It helps the interviewer to find out the candidate for the post of the counselor.
It helps the interviewer to find the eligible candidate for the welfare and growth of the organization.
Through this interview, individuals get chances to increase their confidence level and get experiences of the questions asked in the interview.
It focuses on the criteria of the organization, like the job description, protocol of the organization.
It aims to match the qualification, skills, and experiences with the job description needed for the counselor’s post.
The organization receives the quality and experiences of candidates who can contribute to the company.
It helps them to take time for an interview and gives a calm environment for an interview.
It provides opportunities for the interviewee to get a job and show their ability to contribute to the company’s growth.
And It helps to get detailed information about the candidate applying as a counselor.
It reveals the methods and processes used by the individual as a counselor to treat the problem of the client effectively.

With the interview’s help, the interviewer gets chances to know the judgmental ability of individuals by asking a situational and behavioral question.

What is the intake process in counseling?

The intake process of counseling is the set of procedures that involve counseling the clients. The following are the counseling process that helps the counselor expect good progresses through preparing interviews with a client:

1. Preparation

It is the first step in the counseling intake process. The counselor prepares the sets of questions for the initial. The main aim of this interview is to make the client comfortable to explore their problems. This provides a calm and quiet environment for the client, making them easy to communicate with the counselor.

2. Introduction

The counselor starts the counseling session with a simple introduction, like greeting, giving a self-introduction, and so on. The counselor takes some of the client’s information, such as their name, age, occupations, address, mobile number, and so on. The main target of this part is to build good interpersonal relationships with clients. This aids in creating trust as a well easy way to start communication and reflect counselor interest in solving their problems.

3. Structure and explore the problems

It is the main process in counseling. Now the counselor gives some time to the client to talk about their difficulty. The counselor tries to understand their troubles and ask some questions regarding their problems. For example, you are the Substance abuse counselor and your client visit you saying he/she is using the drugs (drugs abuse) and want to stop it, now you have to ask the following questions:

When did it begin to take drugs?
How often does to take it?
How longer happen, you start to have it?
Can you think of a time when you didn’t experience the problems?
How severe does it get?
How have you coped with it before?

This helps you get detailed knowledge about the client’s problems and make you easy to make a solution.

4. Make a decision together

Now you have a clear concept about the problems of the clients and their causes. Suggest the client with an effective solution to the issues and give them time to think about it. The counselor provides him/her with some alternatives to reduce the problems by changing the desirable behavior. After decision making, the counselor helps them create or set the goals and behavioral objectives for behavior change. An effective plan was established to sort out the problem and reach objectives with the counselor’s help. Implement the action according to the program and get some feedback from it to know the effectiveness of decision

5. Create mutual awareness about the problem

Mutual awareness is very important as an individual will not get a solution without knowledge of the problems. Both the counselor and the client have to be aware of the issues, so they come with an effective option to get a ride from it.

What are the five stages of counseling?

There are five stages of counseling, and they are as follows:

Establishing a relationship

Establishing a relationship is the core and primary stages of counseling. It affects the progress of the advice and builds trust between the counselor and the client, acting as a curative agent.
Following are the approach while establishing the relationship:

-Begin with adequate social skills like greeting each other

-give your introduction

-listening is a very important skill. Listen attentively, and patients don’t forget the name of the client.

-Always address the client by his/her name.

-get physical comfort

-Please do not interrupt the client while he/she is talking to you

-Observed nonverbal communications

Assessment

Assessment is done in between the communicating with the client problems. It is the stages in which counselors ask questions, collect information, seek his/her views, observe, and possibly help the client share his/her problem.
The following are the data collection phase and involves several specific skills, such as:

-Observation

-Recording

-Inquiry

-Recording of information should be done systematically and promptly for making a decision

Setting a goal

Setting goals is the 1^st step or intervention towards the problems of the clients. The ambition of this stage is to give direction to the individual and counselor.
It involves making the goals to improve the client’s condition, a course of action, implementation, or an outcome.
The counselor instructs the client if they are having trouble in setting goals.
With their collaboration and understanding, they establish the goals and make a plan on it. It requires the following skills.

-The skill of understanding the problems

-Differentiation

-assist them in planning and decision making

-Teaching individual to think rationally and realistically

Intervention

Intervention is the steps the counselor motivates the client to take action against their problems. It is the action taken by the client to get free from the issues. And It may include behavioral changes.
Intervention should be done according to the plan sets while making the goals.
It is the approach applied by the counselor, the problem, and the client to solve problems.
If this intervention won’t working or not effective, then chose the other alternative or change the response.

Termination and follow up

It is the last and final stage of counseling.
Follow up is an essential stage in counseling.
It reflects the effectiveness of your decision, goals, plan, and intervention
Did you solve your problems or not, this question is answered by the help of follow up.

Follow up should be done, so it’s easy to determine whether to use other alternatives or not.

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