Enhancing the Counseling Process: The Significance of Counselor's Personality Traits

This paper examines the significance of counselor's personal qualities in the counseling process. The research highlights the impact of counselor's personality on counseling attitudes and behaviors, emphasizing the counselor's role in establishing a strong counseling relationship. The study draws on a literature review of selected articles and scientific papers to explore the relationship between counselor's personal qualities and the effectiveness of counseling services. The findings indicate that the success of the counseling process is highly dependent on the counselor's personal characteristics, which include empathy, respect, acceptance, appreciation, and honesty. Furthermore, the quality of the counseling relationship, characterized by the interaction between the counselor and the individual seeking guidance, plays a pivotal role in achieving positive counseling outcomes. The research underscores the importance of counselor's personal qualities in shaping the counseling experience and highlights the need for counselors to possess desirable character traits. The implications of this study extend to counselor training programs and professional development, emphasizing the significance of nurturing and enhancing counselor's personal qualities to provide effective counseling services.


INTRODUCTION
Professional guidance and counseling personnel, including counselors or guidance teachers, have the characteristics of a professional who aims to provide the best and most sincere services.Good and genuine service serves as a reference for understanding the purpose of the profession.The service is intended as assistance provided to individuals in need of personal development and problem-solving (Kushendar et al., 2018).By mastering good personality competencies, counselors can serve as good role models for their clients, and furthermore, counselors who possess good personality competencies support the success of counseling services (Andrian, 2015).
Counseling, as a process, revolves around the relationship between individuals, namely the counselor and the client, which is the most important aspect to be considered.This relationship is a professional process that involves two equal and synergistic parties working towards a common goal.Counseling is a special relationship between the counselor and the client, which can be conducted face-to-face, through telephone, letters, or other electronic means for specific purposes.The quality of the relationship between the counselor and the client appears to be most helpful in fostering growth between them (Hariko, 2017).Counseling is also defined as a helping profession, which forms the basis for the role and function of a counselor (Wibowo, 2017).Counseling is a way to bring about fundamental changes, such as positive changes in attitudes, thoughts, perceptions, and feelings (Nurhafiza, Fitra Herlinda, et al., 2023).Therefore, the personality of the counselor is essential in facilitating such changes by building a relationship between the counselor and the client to achieve counseling success.The counselor's personality is the most important aspect in counseling.The counselor's characteristics are criteria that apply to all aspects of personality and are crucial in determining the counselor's effectiveness in education (Haolah, 2018).Corey explains that being an effective counselor is the most important part of counseling.Several studies conducted by counseling experts clarify that the counselor's effectiveness is strongly influenced by their personal characteristics (Putri, 2016).The counselor's personality is a balance between knowledge of behavioral dynamics and therapeutic skills.When the foundation is strong, knowledge and skills go hand in hand (Fitriana, 2019).The success of counseling does not solely depend on the counselor's knowledge and skills, but the personal qualities are the most powerful factors that lead to effective counseling.The management of academic competencies should be supported by the management of personality competencies, so that counselors are not only able to communicate effectively but also required to have greater empathy and the ability to serve as role models for clients.The counselor's behavior is a reflection of their personality that can influence the counseling outcomes.Indirectly, the counselor's attitudes and behaviors are observed by the client, particularly regarding the counselor's daily activities.A warm and simple counselor provides comfort to the client more easily (Makhmudah, 2017).To be a good counselor, namely an effective counselor, one must know oneself, understand the client, and master the counseling process (Evi Aeni Rufaedah & Muhammad Ikhwanarrafiq, 2022).Directing knowledge and skills alone is not enough without supporting personality, as mentioned by Holrick.Lastly, service effectiveness is highly influenced by knowledge, skills, experience, and personality traits.Counselors' attitudes and behaviors must: 1) establish a supportive relationship and environment in service provision; 2) demonstrate objectivity towards the trainee; 3) identify psychological problems in the counselor; 4) possess competence, frameworks, or cognitive devices.Counselors particularly need strategies to change irrational beliefs and self-blaming feelings that interfere.6) provide insight into patterns and needs for new behavior in the counselor's daily life; 7) serve as an example with healthy and appropriate attitudes and behaviors; 8) be aware of mistakes and risks; 9) know how to maintain confidentiality; 10) enhance self-esteem; and 11) demonstrate loyalty to their profession (Aniswita, Neviyarni, 2021).
The counselor's personal qualities serve as a benchmark for achieving the success of counseling services.In addition to broad insights and skills, a counselor must have quality personality traits as they affect the client's problem-solving success.Counseling as a profession is required to meet professional standards, where counselors possess a number of qualities and skills that must be demonstrated in their work, including personality competencies (Sagita, 2022).With good counselor personal characteristics, the desired counseling goals can be achieved and supported by academic, actor, and professional abilities.The counselor's personal qualities are one of the determinants of effective counseling, capable of creating dynamic, harmonious, creative, and convincing relationships, thereby driving the success of guidance and counseling (Nurhafiza, Karneli, et al., 2023).Competence and expertise are crucial for becoming an effective counselor.There are several competencies and basic skills that counselors must possess in order to work and provide effective counseling services (Ervinda, 2022).As explained by research (Fransisca, 2014), the most important personality competency of a counselor is the counselor's personal qualities.As individuals, counselors must be able to present their identity with excellence, accuracy, and meaning.An important tool used to guide their work is the counselor as an individual, as with good support, personal qualities determine positive outcomes in the counseling process.Another study (Putri, 2016) indicates that counseling effectiveness is largely determined by the counselor's personal characteristics.The counselor's personal qualities are the most important competencies of the counselor and an instrument that determines positive outcomes in the counseling process.Since the core of the therapeutic process in counseling is the relationship built between the counselor and the client, the counselor's personal characteristics are essential in achieving the goals of the counseling process.Based on the above discussions, the objective of this study is to determine the importance of the counselor's personality in relation to the success of the counseling process in establishing a relationship between the counselor and the client, thus enabling the counselor's attitudes, skills, and personal characteristics to be realized and guidance and counseling services to function optimally.
The novelty of this research, compared to previous studies, lies in the methodology.The method used in this study is a literature review, while previous studies mostly employed quantitative descriptive methods.The title of this research article also represents an update from previous studies, as this study uses a title related to the urgency of the counselor's personality in the success of the counseling process in establishing a relationship between the counselor and the client, whereas other studies mostly discuss what personality a counselor should possess.

METHOD
The research methodology employed in this study is a comprehensive literature review.This approach involves a systematic examination and analysis of existing scientific literature related to the topic of interest.The researcher carefully selects and reviews various relevant references that discuss the significance of the counselor's personality in relation to the effectiveness of counseling.The literature review process includes collecting relevant literature materials, thoroughly reading and taking notes on the key findings and concepts, and synthesizing the information gathered from the research materials (Aniswita, Neviyarni, 2021).(Ahuja et all, 2018) Figure 1.Process of literature review By conducting a literature review, the researcher aims to gain a comprehensive understanding of the existing knowledge, theories, and empirical evidence regarding the importance of the counselor's personality in the counseling process.This method allows for the exploration of various perspectives, conceptual frameworks, and research findings from different scholars and experts in the field.The analysis and synthesis of the literature will provide a solid foundation for the research, enabling the researcher to identify patterns, trends, and gaps in the current knowledge, and to develop a conceptual framework for the study.The literature review process involves critical evaluation and interpretation of the selected literature, which helps to identify key themes, theoretical perspectives, and research gaps.By drawing upon the existing literature, the researcher can build upon previous studies and contribute to the existing body of knowledge.Additionally, the literature review allows the researcher to identify potential research questions, hypotheses, or areas for further investigation.Through a comprehensive review of the literature, this study aims to provide valuable insights into the significance of the counselor's personality in achieving successful counseling outcomes.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Results obtained from several articles selected for review, research describes in this section to answer the research focus that has been set previously based on data obtained through various sources.Here are the details of the articles / scientific papers reviewed in this article.Based on the selected articles for review, it is evident that the success of the counseling process is highly dependent on the counselor's personal qualities.The counselor's personality serves as a crucial factor in shaping counseling attitudes and behaviors.While counselor training encompasses the acquisition of theoretical knowledge and practical skills, the quality of their personality emerges as the most significant requirement for effective counseling.Furthermore, the quality of the counseling relationship, which entails the interaction between the counselor and the individual seeking guidance, plays a pivotal role in the counseling process.The counselor's personality acts as a key determinant in establishing and nurturing this relationship, striking a balance between knowledge and skills in the realm of counseling leadership (Nursyamsi, 2017).
Various experts have offered insights into the desirable qualities of a counselor.Rogers, for instance, highlights the essential aspects of a counselor's personality in the counseling relationship, including empathy, respect, acceptance, appreciation, and honesty.C. Gilbert Wrenn asserts that a caring attitude forms the cornerstone of counselor quality (Haolah, 2018).Putri A. emphasizes the significance of a counselor's personal characteristics in their daily attitudes and behaviors, as these factors greatly influence the effectiveness of guidance and counseling.While techniques certainly play a role, the attainment of counseling goals primarily hinges on the counselor's high-quality personal traits.Thus, the counselor's personal qualities assume critical importance (Putri, 2016).Brammer further underscores the counselor's personality as the most crucial element in building a fruitful counseling relationship.It is posited that counselors should possess specific personality traits, such as care, empathy, warmth, freedom, comfort, and flexibility (Brammer & Shostrom, 1982).
To fulfill their professional responsibilities and provide effective counseling services, counselors must possess a range of personal qualities.Fatmawijaya (2015) outlines several aspects of personal qualifications, including faith and devotion to the Almighty God, which reflect righteous and faithful personality traits.Additionally, counselors should demonstrate respect and appreciation for human values, individuality, and freedom of choice.Exhibiting integrity and strong personality stability is crucial, exemplified through qualities and virtuous actions such as warmth, honesty, patience, sensitivity, empathy, concern for the interests of others, openness, and flexibility.Counselors must also exhibit high-quality performance, showcasing intelligence, innovation, creativity, independence, enthusiasm, productivity, and pleasantness (Fatmawijaya, 2015).The counselor's personality assumes a central role in the counseling process, and their personal traits and characteristics significantly influence the efficacy of counseling outcomes.
According to Rogers, empathy, respect, acceptance, appreciation, understanding, and honesty constitute the vital aspects of a counselor's personality within the counseling relationship.Rogers also suggests that personality plays a more significant role than counseling techniques (Yeni Karneli, 2021).Thus, counselors must possess commendable character traits.Guidance and counseling services revolve around the development of client behavior and personality.These efforts yield optimal results when led by individuals with commendable character traits.When counselors exhibit appropriate behavior, possess exemplary personal traits, and possess the ability to evaluate their performance, they demonstrate character competence (Andrian, 2015).In light of these findings, it becomes evident that counselors must possess favorable personal qualities to enhance the success of the counseling process.The effectiveness of counseling is highly contingent upon the counselor's personal characteristics.The counselor's personality assumes paramount importance in establishing a strong counseling relationship.It is not solely the counselor's knowledge and skills that determine the success of the counseling process; rather, their personal qualities significantly contribute to achieving positive counseling outcomes.

CONCLUSION
The literature review highlights the significance of the counselor's personal qualities in the success of the counseling process.The selected articles demonstrate that counselors with favorable personal characteristics positively impact the effectiveness of counseling services.Empathy, respect, acceptance, and honesty are identified as essential qualities for building strong counseling relationships.Additionally, the counselor's personal qualities, including integrity, warmth, and flexibility, contribute to positive counseling outcomes.These findings underscore the importance of developing and nurturing the counselor's personal qualities to enhance the effectiveness of counseling services.

Table 1 .
Details of Research Results