Counselling Skills - Case Study Example

Counselling Skills Counselling skills is not a set of rules that can be learnt and then applied to a range of settings instead it is concerned with how to face a person, listen to the speaker and support the person in their problems. There is no direct and easy solution to many processes. A solution can be obtained only through a supportive process because counselling is required by individuals where specific political and social conditions cannot be changed. Counselling is a process of reassuring hope. It is a process where the client is assured of someone to listen to their woes and in most cases listening is the most essential part of counselling. The ability to be patient and listen to the client silently is one of the best methods of counselling (Burnard, P. 1999 p.viii). Listening and attending skills From my experience I have learnt that attending and listening are the most essential factors in a counselling process. One of the best counselling processes is described as one where the counsellor remains a listener. However, most of the counsellors feel it is an obligation to respond to the speaker. If the counsellor remain silent and pay maximum attention to the speaker then a better support can be provided to the person. It is necessary for a counsellor to draw a distinction between listening and attending to bring about an effective outcome to the counselling process. Attending skills Attending is the task of sincerely focusing on the speaker during counselling. It is the process of consciously involving in the conversation and creating a self awareness of what the speaker is speaking and what the speaker is trying to communicate. The attention of a counsellor can be explained through three hypothetical zones. Zone one represents the state of attention in when the counsellor is completely engaged in listening to the speaker and gives attention to the non verbal as well as verbal cues. Zone two represents the state of attention out when the counsellor diverts the attention into self feeling and thoughts and pays only partial attention to the speaker. Zone three represents a state when the attention is diverted completely towards my fantasy by fabricating theories about the speaker and by interpreting the related conditions (Burnard, P. 1999 p.104). Attending skills can be improved by the counsellor by practicing to move from one zone to another as mentioned above and finally the counsellor will learn to give complete attention to the client / speaker. These skills have to be practiced through a conscious effort to ensure an effective counselling. By practicing attending skills by moving from zone one and two, the counsellor gains control over the self by not drifting between various zones of attention while the client is speaking. A counsellor can learn to keep the attention with focus and precision by practicing to stay in zone one. Only when the counsellor trains in this method to consciously control attention, he / she can notice clearly on what the client is saying. The drifting of my attention to zone three involving fantasy affects the outcome of the counselling process. By drifting to zone three, I make interpretations and believes and thinks about the client in my own way irrespective of the facts. These interpretations evolved from my fantasy will not have any direct relation to the counselling process. The internal dialogue leads me to think about the client in all sorts of way without asking actual details to him/her. I should overcome this fantasy process and ask the details to the client instead of making my own conclusions. This can be developed by practicing attending skills otherwise I may make improper assumptions about the situation and will end up asking questions based on the assumption rather than the actual facts related to the client. An assumption based counselling will have less clarity and the client will be confused. Therefore, I am required to check facts with the client to ensure that the interpretations made from the client are correct and continue the conversation only after confirmation (Burnard, P. 1999 p.105). I have found that the interpretations and assumptions gathered during the fantasy phase of the conservation interpret my own awareness during the conversation with the client. The awareness of staying attentive and the drift between the zones has implication on all types of counselling. I believe that a counsellor with the ability to pay attention for long duration would be more observant and accurate than a person who does not pay much attention. A clear awareness to differentiate between various zones of fantasy and thought will also enable me abstain from hastily arriving at conclusion based on assumptions instead of facts. I have learnt that I should focus directly on the client (zone one) and occasionally move into my feeling and thoughts (zone two) and should avoid shifting into the world of fantasy (zone three). By following this method, I have trained myself to accept the client as a blank slate and ask questions to them when required to take a clear stand before suggesting solution to a specific problem. In this method, there are no assumptions but I tend to listen carefully to the person and clarify the various intuitions that may arise during the counselling process. Advantages of following the three zones: I can maintain a therapeutic distance by staying attentive as in zone one. I can differentiate the client’s problems from my thoughts. The three zones helps me to practice to stay focused on one zone and to create self awareness when there are complex situations that demand me to stay focused instead of drifting between zones. Practical application A health visitor can disassociate herself / himself from the previous client’s thoughts and fantasies by practicing attention out between counselling and by taking a short break. This enables the counsellor to pay full attention to all clients without being preoccupied by previous sessions (Burnard, P. 1999 p.107). Listening skills Listening is the method of hearing the speaker. Listening not only involves what the speaker speaks but a set of other factors of communication. During listening, I give maximum continued attention to the speaker because people communicate in different ways. There are three factors that requires the attention of the counsellor. Linguistics factor relates to the actual words used by the client, phrases chosen and the metaphors used to convey their feeling. Metaphors are of significance because they convey the depth of the feeling when compared to the normal language used to communicate. Paralinguistic is associated with the factors of speech other than words such as pitch, volume, timing and accent. These factors have given me the opportunity to understand the intensity of the client’s feelings (Burnard, P. 1999 p.107). Non verbal factors of communication are normally called body language. Clients express themselves by using the body. Some of the gestures used by clients to reveal their internal state are use of gestures, facial expression, movement, body position and thes proximity to the counsellor can be effective used by the counsellor by following attentively. These gesture should also be clarified with the client and the assumptions arising out of these gestures should be considered blatantly. Clarification is required from the customer because people tend to express differently depending on their personal style, relationship and preference. Therefore the interpretation of body language has to be reconfirmed before deriving the conclusion (Burnard, P. 1999 p.108). For example, I can directly ask the client what it means from the way he is frowning and folding his hand. The counsellor can also directly ask questions like I see that your arms are folded and you are frowning, what do feel at the moment.. I use several levels of listening during the counselling process. I have learnt to resist the pull to interpret what I hear from the client. The first level is concerned with mere listening to what the client says and there is no close relationship and the relationship will not progress much further. The second level relates to a condition where I develop free floating attention to grab an overall idea about what the client is saying (Burnard, P. 1999 p.109). I also listen to the paralinguistic and non verbal behavior of the client that indicate the feeling and thought of the client. My deeper listening makes the client more comfortable to reveal further and I enter into the client’s frame of experience. I also develop a third listening level when I develop free floating attention by noticing paralinguistic and non verbal communication and also taking note of the body sensation, feelings and thoughts of the client. On reaching a deeper relationship with the client I completely understand the feeling of the client. At this point, I recheck certain details with the client. This method is called resonance where the counsellor gets into the condition of the client. Resonance however requires careful judging. Resonance does not involve interpretation but offers a certain close type of listening that can ensure the client that he/she is listened and completely understood. The final outcome of resonance is a deeper listening level with an empathic relationship that ensures mutuality where both the counsellor and the client is well communicated intuitively and rationally. I have learnt that I can give a continuity to the conversation and assure the client that I am listening by showing my attentiveness through occasional ‘mm’s, ‘yes’ s and nods by taking care that I don’t overdo it lest the client may get annoyed (Burnard, P. 1999 p.110). Questioning skills Questioning helps the client to clarify, explore and understand their internal references and frames. Questions help me to identify the problems of the client and break the details into components where it is appropriate. On question I acquire more information in cooperation with the client and enable me to develop hypotheses on the problem. In a counselling process there are several information that lies below the general reference to a problem. My effective questioning process has assisted client to give additional information to clarify, identify and break down the actual problem. I have found that there is further information related to a problem which the client gives out only on question. Questioning is required to extract further information because the client will not be aware of its significance to solution or are unwilling to disclose. I have found that the extraction of further information is not guaranteed in all cases. I have found that question is of importance because there are certain unconscious and private information related to a problem (Jones, R.N. (2005 p.151). I have found immense requirement to acquire questioning skill during the counselling process to identify the root of the problem. A single problem may have several roots. Therefore, I have found that I should ask the client to focus on one of the relevant roots and continue to question the problem based on that root. This usually gives a detective sort of atmosphere for the client and me. Using questioning skills, the clients are encourage to cooperate to identify and breakdown the problem to lead the counselling process to further questioning. The detective nature of questioning is related to systematic enquiry as well as sniffing for information. I have found it essential to question the client in an emotionally safe and controlled environment to make the client comfortable to deliver information spontaneously without being question for every single detail. Questioning skills should include a vibrant approach to extract relevant information. Some of the factor to be included while questioning are purpose of the question, amount of topics included in the questioning, present versus past, amount of information, timing, level of intimacy, confirmatory question and the number of questions to be asked during a session. I have found it useful to apply different types of questioning to acquire desired information. Open ended questions give the freedom to elaborate details while close ended questions restricts the answer to yes or no (Jones, R.N. (2005p.153). Capacity to stay with the client I have gained the confidence to stay with client and ensure continuity to the counselling process by creating an openness and honesty while listening to the client. This requires bravery and goodwill from my side and the client’s side. I have also experienced that transparency is most important that the brilliance to recall and the capacity to record facts correctly. It is a reflexive understanding of the theory presented by the client (Papadopoulos et al p.269). I have learnt to train my mind to adopt a tough mind though hold a helping mentality while listening to patients. I am continuously training myself to remain hopeful and generate a sense of hope in the client by encouraging them to feel more worth and goodness in their self. While showing concern for the client, it works wonders and assures them that they are heard. This ensures the client that there is life after the counselling process and then move on with a changed life (Tschudin, V. 1995 p.71). I have experienced that the relationship between the client and the counsellor is based on an agreement to cooperate and work together. I first ascertain whether the client is confident about my counselling skills and then continue to delve into an extensive counselling process. This enables me to stay in the conversation and move through the process comfortably because the client places trust on me (Jacobs, M. 2004 p.72). Skills are essential to conduct a detailed and comfortable counselling process and stay in conversation with the client. Careful handling of the client’s emotions and at the same time gather adequate information to find a solution is the essentials of a good counsellor. Reference Burnard, P. 1999 Counselling Skills for Health Professionals (Ed: 3) Glos: Nelson Thornes Jacobs, M. 2004 Psychodynamic Counselling in Action (ed.3) London: SAGE, 2004 Jones, R.N. (2005) Practical counselling and helping skills: text and activities for the lifeskills counselling model (ed: 5) London: SAGE Papadopoulos, L., Cross, M.C. & Bor, R. 2003 Reporting in Counselling and Psychotherapy: A Trainees Guide to Preparing Case Studies and Reports Philadelphia: Psychology Press Tschudin, V. 1995 Counselling Skills for Nurses (Ed: 4) London: Elsevier Health Sciences, 1995 Read More