Compare Three Counselling Skills
I’m learning that there are different ideas and approaches to counselling, but there are generic qualities and active listening skills required that can be used by helpers in different sorts of helping relationships and environments (in the work place, personal situations and professional counselling sessions), to build and establish a helping relationship with the speaker. These qualities and skills enable the speaker to share and explore their feelings and to have more understanding of their issues or problems.
“Hobson (1985) has suggested that the bond between counsellor and client grows from the creation of a shared ‘feeling language’, a way of talking together that allows expression of the feelings of the client” (J. McLeod, 1998 p 348).
In this assignment I intend to identify the 3 counselling skills: reflecting, immediacy and summarising and show how they can be used in a helping relationship.
Reflecting
I think Pete Sanders describes this skill succinctly and well when he says: “Reflection is the basic skill of emphatic understanding and at its most simple involves reflecting the content of the other person’s utterance back to them.” (2011, p 108). I’m discovering that you need to employ your active listening skills fully to pick up the key aspects (content and/or feelings) of the speaker’s story or issue and offer them back to help clarify a point or issue. This can help acknowledge and show understanding of where the person is at so they can move on or elaborate a point.
Very recently, during my second experience in trio work as counsellor, I could have used reflecting more effectively at the beginning of the session, to help me understand and establish the client’s story/content: the client was describing a fairly complex background to a family situation that was upsetting her and she felt uncertain about what to do. To start with I didn’t understand the situation fully and felt a bit confused with her story. The client was feeling upset
“Hobson (1985) has suggested that the bond between counsellor and client grows from the creation of a shared ‘feeling language’, a way of talking together that allows expression of the feelings of the client” (J. McLeod, 1998 p 348).
In this assignment I intend to identify the 3 counselling skills: reflecting, immediacy and summarising and show how they can be used in a helping relationship.
Reflecting
I think Pete Sanders describes this skill succinctly and well when he says: “Reflection is the basic skill of emphatic understanding and at its most simple involves reflecting the content of the other person’s utterance back to them.” (2011, p 108). I’m discovering that you need to employ your active listening skills fully to pick up the key aspects (content and/or feelings) of the speaker’s story or issue and offer them back to help clarify a point or issue. This can help acknowledge and show understanding of where the person is at so they can move on or elaborate a point.
Very recently, during my second experience in trio work as counsellor, I could have used reflecting more effectively at the beginning of the session, to help me understand and establish the client’s story/content: the client was describing a fairly complex background to a family situation that was upsetting her and she felt uncertain about what to do. To start with I didn’t understand the situation fully and felt a bit confused with her story. The client was feeling upset