Dr Thelma Tlhaselo-Majela: A life skills and peace building specialist

Her experience as a Counsellor has shown her time and time again that within each individual lies courage, strength, resilience, beauty, and the desire to love and be loved and connected to both oneself and others. In this first instalment Dr Thelma Tlhaselo-Majela talks to RACHEL RADITSEBE about her noble profession.

Tell us about yourself and your background?

I originate and grew up in Ramotswa from Goo Madisa Ward and am a mother of two grown-ups (Girl and Boy) and one granddaughter. I studied and graduated from St Conrad’s Primary School in Ramotswa in 1975 and did secondary education at Moeding College from 1976 to 1980.

How did you become interested in Counselling in the first place?

I started interacting with Counselling when in 1984 I was selected as the Guidance and Counselling Coordinator at Ipelegeng Junior Secondary School in Lobatse. I produced one of the first School Guidance Programme models at Junior Secondary level and this qualified my transfer as a Guidance and Counselling Officer to manage the establishment of the Guidance and Counselling Programme in Junior Secondary Schools within the Ministry of Education in Botswana.I then progressed to become the Head of the Guidance and Counselling Division in the Department of Curriculum Development and Evaluation in the Ministry of Education. While all this was on-going, I got a scholarship where I completed BA in Psychology and MEd in Counselling from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, Virginia - USA. I later attained a Commonwealth Scholarship in the UK to do my PhD on applied research in Counselling from University of Surrey in Guildford. I was later transferred on secondment to the Guidance, Counselling and Youth Development Centre for Africa (GCYDCA) in Lilongwe, Malawi as Director of Programmes. It is a role that included strategic designing and implementation of counselling as well as psychosocial and related human and youth development programmes for three years. The role supported member countries in developing comprehensive guidance and counselling service delivery at different levels.Then I joined UNICEF – South Sudan country programme as a Life Skills and Peace Building Specialist, managing the Peace Building, Education and Advocacy (PBEA) for four and half years.

All counselling specialists need to participate in clinical internships. Talk about your experience doing an internship. What was it like?

What did you take away from it that you still use today? I did my practical work in preparation for the real life counselling practice in schools with young people including parents and the community. It was interesting to experience the complex nature of issues that young people experience given that a school is essentially a microcosm of the society. The internship experience opened my eyes to in-depth understanding that application of theory is not a simplistic process. One requires personal and professional integration of knowledge, skills, attitudes and most of all a mature level of self-awareness and character. One needs a high level of intuitive capability and adaptability in thinking on the ground and to be able to use yourself as a helper as an integral part of the therapeutic process for change. Counselling is a highly interactive process demanding mature application of theoretical concepts and yet recognising the need for socio-cultural dynamics with specific contexts.

Lessons applied today include the need for:

Multi-cultural awareness and its mature application through reflective practice. Developing the strong sense of intuitive discernment as we apply integrated theoretical approach to inform my personal counselling practice.

Respecting ethical decision making throughout is constantly evolving in the counselling process especially confidentiality.

The critical role of supervision from a mature counselling practitioner to support one in processing personal and emerging cases.

What advice would you offer to people who are considering pursuing a career in psychology/counselling?

Establishing your personal motivation for pursuing the counselling profession is critical in knowing what drives your decision making process.

Ensuring that you have genuine love for helping other people in need of help from within your heart from a genuine vantage view instead of pursuing externally motivated personal motives and or drives.

Allowing trainees to deal with deep seated personal struggles, tensions, prejudices and complexes is critical to reduce or avoid personal unresolved issues coming into the counselling process.

If you were trying to get someone interested in this field today, what would you say?

Counselling - psychotherapy is a field that is well established in developed countries like USA and UK and has well established standards and guidelines that protect the practioners. Botswana has a great future given that people are slowly beginning to appreciate the need to seek professional support for psychosocial support needs and its worthiness/value in promoting family and socio-psychological adjustment. Equally standards and guidelines for proper professionalization of the field are being instituted through the Botswana Counselling Association and other international bodies and there is awareness of the necessity for its worth and relevance in Botswana especially in this global village. Going into the Counselling field at this time will open extensive careers and job opportunities in diverse human support working environments. This amongst others includes Schools, Mental Health Institutions, Hospital Settings, Corporate and Business Organizations, Private Practice, Churches, Community Life skills Centres, Sports and Volunteer Social Clubs.