On 25th November, 2008 the EQ team provided social workers, psychologists and ancillary workers from Ruse’s social welfare complex with a day-long introduction to the gentle art of professional counseling.

The main objective was to demonstrate how practical interventions in the lives of clients, although often essential, seldom lead to personal change. In fact, if repeated or prolonged, intervention can result in dependency or a situation in which the client takes advantage of social welfare resources. A system that is coercive towards the client is self-defeating as is the tendency to convey the sense that someone capable will take charge of events if a person is unable or unwilling to do it for himself / herself.

On the other hand, counseling is rooted in a faith in the human capacity to change. The training provided an overview of counseling philosophy and some of the main techniques used in the development of self-awareness and the desire for personal transformation.