Preparation of effective and professional financial counselors and coaches requires 1) rigorous standardized training on substantive content such as budgeting, how to repair credit and debtor protection regulations, 2) a focus on counseling and coaching skills, and 3) experiential learning opportunities such as role playing and case studies, where the participants can apply the substantive content, and the counseling and coaching skills learned.

 

Formal training on how to counsel and coach should be an integral part of the training for all financial counselors and coaches. The people hired to fill counselor or coach positions often have no formal education or training on counseling or coaching.

 

Reliance on intuition and “people skills” of individuals does not fulfill the stated goal of ensuring the quality of counseling or creating professionalized and uniform standards for financial counseling. Our counselors must master counseling and coaching skills, know what the difference is, and when each is appropriate for the client interaction. Moreover, these skills are essential for client recruitment, client retention and ultimately, client empowerment and success.

 

Background

In 2009, I was asked by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs to design a 45-hour curriculum and content for the training offered to Financial Empowerment Center counselors, and other community based organizations. The impetus for this was a one-week financial information hotline created in collaboration between the New York City Mayor’s Office and Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA), the City University of New York (CUNY), and the New York Daily News. Call-in lines were staffed by volunteers from CUNY faculty and staff, government offices, and professional organizations, all of whom I trained. In addition, multi-lingual panels of experts were available to handle more complex issues. Over 9,000 calls came in during that week. It became clear that there was a need and a hunger for reliable, professional financial guidance. The City realized that if it were to provide this guidance to the public, it also had the obligation to ensure high quality, accuracy and professionalism. Since 2009, my team of instructors and I have delivered the training to over 500 counselors in New York City. With funding from the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund), the training has been replicated in over a dozen cities throughout the United States. This program has proven so successful and highly regarded that I have fielded requests from and provided training to community-based organizations in another half dozen cities that have used their own funding.

 

The course includes a module on counseling and coaching skills. Experiential learning, incorporating role plays and interactive exercises with case studies are infused throughout the training program.

 

Opportunities for experiential learning and practical application of the substantive financial knowledge, counseling and coaching skills, such as role playing, followed by a facilitated debriefing is essential to honing the skills learned, and creating the qualified, well-trained professionals we seek to develop.

 

In the trainings I have conducted in New York City, many of the counselor trainees request additional role playing exercises during class, explaining that the role playing gives them a chance to think through the process, and builds their confidence since they have not actually counseled or coached previously.

 

Counseling Skills

Clients are often encountering counselors for the first time when they are in crisis, for example, facing imminent eviction.  It is necessary for the counselor to address the immediate crisis, but s/he will also want to try to establish a rapport with the client, and encourage the client to return after resolving the crisis. This creates the opportunity to address underlying financial issues so that the client does not repeat the financial behaviors that may result in future eviction threats.

 

A counselor’s job is to work with the client to move him from financial crisis to financial stability, instilling confidence and empowering the client. The relationship can then evolve from counselor to one of coach. The end goal is the empowerment of the client, and spurring the client’s personal financial health.  The following counseling techniques are just a few examples of skills that help to build trust and a rapport with a client. The rapport is the basis for client retention, and successful outcomes for the client:

• Attending – A counselor is emotionally present for the client, showing empathy, using body language that indicates engagement with the client; examples are eye contact, facing the client, and being attentive to potential cultural issues;
• Asking the right types of questions -- By using open and closed ended questions at the appropriate times, a counselor can elicit the needed information from the client and motivate the client to communicate; and
• Diffusion – A counselor applies this technique when he encounters a difficult situation; he identifies the client’s distress, helps to calm and re-focus the client to the issues at hand.

 

By providing counselors with training on counseling techniques, the quality of the counseling we offer clients will be substantially enhanced because they know how to facilitate and guide a client on the substantive information within a counseling context.

 

Ensuring the quality of the counseling and coaching services offered will require not only standardized training on financial issues, maintaining a system for updating information and continuing education for the counselors, but training on how to counsel and coach as well. This training will make for more effective counselors and coaches, as they establish rapport with clients for recruitment, retention and the success of clients.