The Goals are Based on the Needs of the Person - Case Study Example

Running Header: counseling skills Evaluating the counseling skills used by the counselor Name School Date An overview of the session This is a counseling session between the Rose (the client) and Dr. BG Berenson (the counselor). This session involve the Doctor helping Rose who is having problem with her daughter. Rose has a problem with her 5 years old daughter whom she describes as not liking the idea of sleeping in her bed and who normally like to come over to her Rose’s bed where she find sleep. This has infuriated Rose as the daughter often used wake up at 3.00 am in morning every day and starts to cry so that she can be taken to the mother’s bed. This has gone on for many years as i quote Rose words’ Rose: … and of course I had done this for many years. um I’d just pick her up and bring her ou…my bed and two seconds later she’d be asleep, and if brought her back to her bed, we ‘re at it again only a few minutes later’ (Berenson,1968).     According to Gerard Egan, in the Skilled Helper (1998) he has argued that helping involves two basics goals. Each of the goals is based in the needs of the person seeking help.  The first goal relates to the counselor helping the client mange specific problems. It is to ‘help clients manage their problems in living more effectively and develop unused or underused opportunities more fully (1998:7). The second helping goal looks to the client’s general ability to manage problems and develop opportunities.   It is to help ‘clients become better at helping themselves in their everyday lives’ (Egan 1998:8). So in general, the session is based on Dr. Berenson helping Rose with a problem. Identification of the skills used by the counselor The counselor is using the listening skills. The skills are helping him to attend, receive and understand the message that Rose is trying to tell him. This is shown where he is answering ‘mmm’ to show that he is listening. Relatively, he is able to form hypothesis about what they are both saying and as well as what they are omitting. This is helping in giving Rose undivided attention. Relatively, Dr. Berenson is giving the client a lot of concentration and he is also following her verbal expression as he seems to finish some of her sentences meaning that he is reading her mind to know what she is trying to say. This is expressed well when he says ‘…that that that had to be very frustrating for you because every time you made some progress…. Another skill that the doctor is using is reflective skills. This is where he is able to build trust and encourage exploration in what Rose is saying. He is able to track the clients thinking to check that he has understood what she is saying. This is expressed well where he is offering back to the client using his own words by restating and summarizing what she is saying. The following is an example of reflective skills in the conversation, ‘Rose: That’s right. Back to square one again, then its like what can I do this time to make it work. Ah, so she was with day care while I work and the teachers are very very helpful and supportive, ah, so I’ve talked with them about this and um, anytime she would get a good report in the morning they would, you know, they be thrilled and she would get prizes from them and of course from us a home and the reinforcement was always there, so then this would happen. It was like you would know, what can I do to make it work. Berenson: it there, when there are these lapses, then it leaves you feeling kind of helpless. (this is summarizing) Rose: right. That exactly what it is.... ’ The doctor is using Restating skills by repeating back to client either in single word or in phrases. This prompts further discussion with the client. This is expressed in the conversation, Rose: ‘but I felt that, that was not important , and ah, so ,would get up, u would go stay in next to her , or she’d want her back rubbed , fine , and then i would just want to get back to bed, she would start all over again, so I would spend many nights just going back and forth from her crib to my bed, and then it came to a point where, when I didn’t pick her up and brought her in, and she felt comfortable there and everything was okay. Berenson: you were on, you were on her schedule. (Restating) Rose: yes.um This encourages further response from rose and enables the doctor to provide minimal direction to the client. This also helps both of them to maintain focus in the session. The doctor is also using empathy as he is interpreting Rose’s feelings. He is putting himself into Rose’s situation and by so doing he is able to understand what rose is explaining. Empathy is a skill and an attitude and not a feeling (sympathy is a feeling). He is able and willing to understand the client from her own point of view, without his own thoughts, feelings, opinions and judgments getting into his way of this understanding. This is helping to build the relationship between him and the client as it is helping the client to label his feelings and also is helping him to understand how the client is thinking. Berenson is expressing the basic empathy. Basic empathy is when the counselor says back to the client what their client is feeling. The example of the conversation below shows basic empathy that the doctor has expressed: Rose: you think she understands that she’s being doing this for so long now, why am I stopping , why am I putting a stop to all this when its been okay for all of this time. And which is true , but um, it still doesn’t the issue doesn’t get resolved that way. Berenson: and, and it, it partly you feel some guilt. Rose: (laughs) that’s the main issue. The doctor is showing empathy by answering what she is feeling. The feeling of guilt that is within the client. Evaluation of the counselor’s application of the skills and their impact on Rose, including verbatim examples The counselor is based his counseling session in stages. During the beginning stage, he has built a relationship with the client by listening actively. His aim being to establish a working relationship with her. This has gave him the energy to have a conversation with her and allowed him to know her more. At the beginning of the session the conversation, ‘Rose: Um, I have a five year old girl, and um, up until recently, or since she was born , or up until recently she has very seldom slept in her own bed through the whole night. Berenson: mmm Rose: ah up until (she continues to talks….’ Berenson has been able to define and clarify problems as this is important to both of them to understand issues and the concerns that the client is having. This is effective as it make the counselor to get clearly what is bothering Rose as she is uncertain of where to start. Relatively, the counselor is able to make an assessment of the problem and formulate hypothesis about what the client is sharing with him. In the second stage which is the middle stage, the counselor is able to help the client reassess the important shift in the counseling process away from problems and towards solutions. This helps Rose to develop a different way of looking at the problem and supports her movement towards goals and action. This is expressed well in the conversation, Rose: how much more reinforcement will I get once I go back to my good nights , um and I don’t know how much , ah, I mean, so far we’ve just taken it. Berenson: one night at a time and hoping for the best. (laughs) Berenson: but you really have to struggle for something more than that. Rose: Right …. (She continues to talk) Berenson: you want very much something, to have, like a stable solution for this. Rose: oh. Yes that would be nice. Rose is able to have her own view on her concern and have more empowering perspective towards the problem. They are both able to maintain a working relationship which helps them to contain the anger and distress that Rose is having. The counselor develops a strategy of enabling perspectives that brought rose into counseling. He gives her a challenge by telling her in the conversation that, Berenson: All I am going to say to you is.. Rose: mmmhm Berenson: there is always going to be conflict here, this is what you are telling me. I am just processing it. There’s always going to be difficult here as long s you have to compromise, ah, what your heart tells you with what your head tells you. Rose: mmhmum Berenson: and until you put it together, your baby is going to sense that. Rose: ok By challenging Rose, he is able to provoke a deeper exploration in her meaning that she is able to explore what she has been unaware or what she may have been overlooking or avoiding. He is able to make the client reflect on how the situation is. The third stage is the ending stage. This is expressed where the counselor take an effective action. He has shown the client that if she was to make changes, then she needs to know what changes to make to the daughter so that she can change. And eventually what to expect of the changes. Also he has showed her how to implement the change. This is also the stage where the client feels satisfied with the session as it’s exhibited in rose thanking the counselor for the session. He has applied this skill in the conversation, Berenson: Thank you for sharing that with me Rose: Thank you it was my pleasure and it was nice to have the opportunity. Berenson: It was my privilege Rose: Thank you. (Giggles) In conclusion of the session, Rose has been able to be helped by the counselor. She will apply the techniques that she has been helped with to the daughter and this will assist her in coping with the problem at home. Works cited Bond T., Culley S. 2006 Integrative counseling skills in action (2nd ed.)  Sage publications. Egan, G. (2010). The skilled helper: A problem management and opportunity-development approach to helping (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.re, Read More

Berenson: you were on, you were on her schedule. (Restating) Rose: yes.um This encourages further response from rose and enables the doctor to provide minimal direction to the client. This also helps both of them to maintain focus in the session. The doctor is also using empathy as he is interpreting Rose’s feelings. He is putting himself into Rose’s situation and by so doing he is able to understand what rose is explaining. Empathy is a skill and an attitude and not a feeling (sympathy is a feeling).

He is able and willing to understand the client from her own point of view, without his own thoughts, feelings, opinions and judgments getting into his way of this understanding. This is helping to build the relationship between him and the client as it is helping the client to label his feelings and also is helping him to understand how the client is thinking. Berenson is expressing the basic empathy. Basic empathy is when the counselor says back to the client what their client is feeling. The example of the conversation below shows basic empathy that the doctor has expressed: Rose: you think she understands that she’s being doing this for so long now, why am I stopping , why am I putting a stop to all this when its been okay for all of this time.

And which is true , but um, it still doesn’t the issue doesn’t get resolved that way. Berenson: and, and it, it partly you feel some guilt. Rose: (laughs) that’s the main issue. The doctor is showing empathy by answering what she is feeling. The feeling of guilt that is within the client. Evaluation of the counselor’s application of the skills and their impact on Rose, including verbatim examples The counselor is based his counseling session in stages. During the beginning stage, he has built a relationship with the client by listening actively.

His aim being to establish a working relationship with her. This has gave him the energy to have a conversation with her and allowed him to know her more. At the beginning of the session the conversation, ‘Rose: Um, I have a five year old girl, and um, up until recently, or since she was born , or up until recently she has very seldom slept in her own bed through the whole night. Berenson: mmm Rose: ah up until (she continues to talks….’ Berenson has been able to define and clarify problems as this is important to both of them to understand issues and the concerns that the client is having.

This is effective as it make the counselor to get clearly what is bothering Rose as she is uncertain of where to start. Relatively, the counselor is able to make an assessment of the problem and formulate hypothesis about what the client is sharing with him. In the second stage which is the middle stage, the counselor is able to help the client reassess the important shift in the counseling process away from problems and towards solutions. This helps Rose to develop a different way of looking at the problem and supports her movement towards goals and action.

This is expressed well in the conversation, Rose: how much more reinforcement will I get once I go back to my good nights , um and I don’t know how much , ah, I mean, so far we’ve just taken it. Berenson: one night at a time and hoping for the best. (laughs) Berenson: but you really have to struggle for something more than that. Rose: Right …. (She continues to talk) Berenson: you want very much something, to have, like a stable solution for this. Rose: oh. Yes that would be nice. Rose is able to have her own view on her concern and have more empowering perspective towards the problem.

They are both able to maintain a working relationship which helps them to contain the anger and distress that Rose is having. The counselor develops a strategy of enabling perspectives that brought rose into counseling. He gives her a challenge by telling her in the conversation that, Berenson: All I am going to say to you is.. Rose: mmmhm Berenson: there is always going to be conflict here, this is what you are telling me.

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