Consultation is a helping relationship in which mental professionals either work with individuals or groups in various settings to help them work more effectively or face a certain problem that might be of concern to them. In the consultation process, there are usually three parties that are involved: the consultant, consultee, and the client. These people play different roles in the consultation process, as it is indicated below.
The role of the consultant is to understand the stages thoroughly in consultation, such as: how to identify the problem, how to analyze the problem, and also how to assess and treat the problem, among other factors, and then guide the consultee through these steps. The consultant achieves this by providing a standardized interview format during the interaction with the consultee. The consultant provides the required pertinent information and makes resources available to the consultee. Other roles of the consultant are usually less explicitly defined. It is important to note that the consultant does not exercise direct authority over the consultee, nor does he or she establish a direct relationship with the client. However, it is always the role of the consultant to ensure that the consultee provides service that will benefit the client.
The consultee engages in four kinds of activities during the consultation. The role of the consultee involves several activities, which include: specifying the problem to the consultant and then describing the problem as this form the initial process of evaluating the decision-making process of the problem at hand. The decisions are usually those related to whether or not a satisfactory solution has been obtained to provide to the client. While the consultee consults the consultant, the client consults the consultee. Thus, the consultee works with the client in implementing the program. The consultee also supervises the activities of the client to see how he or she is responding.
The client’s main role is usually changing the direction of the goals established during the consultation process. In this case, the client is expected to participate in establishing the goals of consultation and also in designing and implementing plans, which can aid in the achievement of the goals.