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Introduction to Counselling principles and practice. Debbie Whitehead. 2013. What is counselling?.
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Introduction to Counselling principles and practice. Debbie Whitehead. 2013
What is counselling? • Many people will, at some point in their lives, find themselves in the role of a counsellor without having a true understanding of the concept of counselling or what the role of the professional counsellor entails. • There is a big difference between a professional counsellor and a person who uses some counselling skills as part of their role, for example their role as a friend or colleague. • A professional counsellor is a highly trained individual who is able to use a different range of counselling approaches with their clients. A Definition: The process of assisting and guiding clients (or others) to resolve personal, social, or psychological problems and difficulties.”
Counselling is Not: • Giving advice. • Judgemental. • Attempting to sort out the problems of the client. • Expecting or encouraging a client to behave in a way in which the counsellor may have behaved when confronted with a similar problem in their own life. • Getting emotionally involved with the client. • Looking at a client's problems from your own perspective, based on your own value system.
Values & Skills • Building the client-counsellor trust relationship • Self awareness - Counsellors need to be aware of their motivation because this will influence their effectiveness. • Establishing the same goals. Client expectations may differ and some ask for direct advice and solutions to their problems. • Empowerment - aim to help clients become self-sufficient and discover their own solutions rather than be dependent on some one else’s advice. • Goals of the counselling process include working collaboratively with the client to help sort out their problems and discover solutions. • Helping the client to change their thinking and/or behaviours, empowering the client to become self-sufficient, and helping the client to feel better.
Communication Skills • Necessary Qualities & Attitudes • Joining & Listening • Reflection of content (paraphrasing) • Reflection of feelings • Reflection of content & feeling • Use of questions. • Summarising • Creating comfortable closure
Questioning techniques • Open questions • Closed questions • Questions that are useful for specific purposes Dangers of too many questions: • The counselling session may become more like an interrogation. • Thee counselling session may deflect the client from the real issue by controlling the direction of the session. • The client may stop exploring their own world and instead wait for the counsellor to ask more questions.
Video Counselling skills - The 5 min training course from Richard Barton (3.5min) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9RuMujWhXY How to help a colleague with a problem. Want more? Find '21 Ways to Build Relationships' on Amazon and more Five Minute Training Courses on YouTube