Objectives:- To recognise the importance of open questioning

1. Aims:- To discuss questioning techniques and the use of silence in a counselling contextTo practice skills in a given setting Objectives:- To recognise the importance of open questioning To identify when questioning is appropriate and inappropriate To discuss silence in relation to counselling skills To apply skills within a practice session

2. Silence Sometimes one can communicate interest and concern through silence and non verbal behaviour

3. Silence can help. • Encourage or facilitate a client/discloser to speak further. • To assure the client/discloser that the listener is waiting, interested and concerned about what may be said. • In the process of identifying a particular feeling or emotion.

4. Listener needs to ‘stay back’ and allow the silence. • Not attempt to ‘rescue’ the client from discomfort. • However it is not a power struggle either – who will be the first to break the silence? • This then becomes non-therapeutic • Listener needs to be genuinely tuned in to that space, this therefore calls for sensitive judgement.

5. Use of Questions • Are questions necessary? • Why do we use questions? • (a) PROBING • (b) INFORMATION • (c) CHECKING UNDERSTANDING • (d) CHALLENGE • (e) MOVE FORWARD

6. Questions that help clients talk more freely and concretely • Helpers often ask too many questions. When in doubt what to say or do, inept helpers tend to ask questions, as if amassing information were a goal of the helping interview. But questions, judiciously used, can be an important part of your interactions with clients.

7. Do not ask too many questions. • Ask questions that serve a purpose • In asking questions, keep the focus on the client • Ask open-ended questions that help clients talk about specific experiences, behaviours and feelings.

8. The use of ‘open’ and ‘closed’ questions • Once you start questioning, you are often trapped into continuing to ask questions. • ‘Closed’ questions are those that can be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. • ‘Open’ questions are better, such as: • What sort of things happened to bring you here? • What’s worrying you most at the moment?

9. It feels as if you’re finding it very difficult to talk, what would be the easiest thing to start with? • It feels as if you’re debating something in your head, can you try putting it into words? • You’re looking very fed up / upset / annoyed, what’s going on in you’re mind?

10. Egan suggests a useful rule is always paraphrase an answer to a question. • You can also follow a paraphrase with a question this will inevitably end up being an open question. • (example) Cllr: What is it that you like about the counselling course (open question) • Client: I feel that I’m learning a lot of new things that I didn’t know before so that I feel better about myself. • Cllr: So you feel that the course is very positive for you? In what way would you like to take these skills further?

11. Exercise • In Pairs - Practice asking open questions by turning the questions on the sheet from ‘closed’ to ‘open’