Essay on Part 2 Of Advanced Counselling Skills

Words: 2205
Pages: 9

Advanced Counselling Skills

For this part of the assignment I am using examples from a 50 minute session recorded within the learning environment. I play the role of the counsellor, and another student plays the role of the client. In order for me to answer the learning outcomes, I have watched the DVD recording.

2.1 - Open the session, explaining the working agreement including the following:-
What is on offer?
Limitations
Time boundaries
Ethical boundaries in line with professional code

What is on offer?
At the beginning of the session I introduced myself by first name to the client before outlining the counselling contract with her. I felt it was important for the client to know
…show more content…
In reference to Stewart and Sutton ( 2008 ) ''Open questions hand the reins of communication to the client and are designed to help clients think, reflect, focus or to be more specific in expressing their thoughts and feelings''. ( p.103 )

Paraphrasing and Summarising
During the session I did paraphrase to the client the concerns she had and how she felt, but in my own words. Paraphrasing provides a good way of checking understanding with the client but using your own words. It provides an effective way of demonstrating to the client that you are following their story. I did not paraphrase a lot during the session and that is because I did not want to interrupt the client unnecessarily. Providing a summary at the end of the session gave me the opportunity to re-cap on the main theme and the clients feelings and thoughts. Ensuring time is available at the end of the session to go over the main themes ensured that the session was ended sensitively.

Focusing and Challenging
One of the ways I challenged the client was by asking her ''What is the worse thing that can happen, sitting with a client?'' This really had an impact on her as she was then able to come up with a solution that was not as scary as she had first thought. Challenging a client in this way