| Abstract: | The role of the receptionist in the intake/therapeutic process has been largely ignored in the literature. However this role has been demonstrated in practice to have considerable importance. On the one hand an administrative position, the receptionist in a counselling agency is also required to talk with and to some extent “manage” people in crisis, elicit some information and yet not get into the client's request in detail. It is argued that because of these additional, specialised, potentially stressful tasks, the role and training of receptionists in counselling agencies should be reconsidered. Given the recent introduction of the Training Guarantee Legislation (1990), the welfare sector now has the opportunity to re-assess carefully the training and support needs of reception staff with a view to improving the counselling service as a whole. |
