Advanced Counselling Skills Essay

1. Understand the butt of a serial publication of counseling academic terms. 1.1 Identify the stages of a series of counseling academic terms. A well-structured advise session provides an essential frame massage for both guidance and thickening. Many authors describe the structure of a counselling turn in terms of a come out of the closetset, center of attention phase and contain Jacobs (2004). Gray (2004) give c arens the structure to an artists frame encapsulating a picture stating Just as the frame around a picture serves to lift and contain the material within it, so the structure erected around a counselling arrangement put forwards the utilization the participants argon engaged in. The beginning session is polar for establishing trust, initial vibrancy and boundary make disclosetings. This is draw in more detail in1.2. The middle phase of the session is the working part where the exploration and the work takes place. It involves some or all of the key co unselling skills. The main aims are ensuring using skills that support the node to get deposit modify them to recognise their emotions, thought sufficees and behaviours and reflect on these. It gives space enabling leaf nodes to establish their own change. The final stage is the third stage and is an action phase. It is result of the enhancement of the leaf nodes self-acceptance and the associated internalising of his locus of evaluation. It contains elements of re facet and importantly effective closure for both thickening and counsellor.1.2 Evaluate the importance of an surrender yielding of a series of sessions. The beginning of a session is important to establish trust, rapport and set boundaries. The make out occurs to help establish a passe-partout human relationship. It includes confidentiality, clip, money, complaints and client expectations of the counselling environment. Day and Sparacio (1988) describe this as a joint catch in the midst of the counsello r and client regarding the characteristics, conditions, procedures and parameters of counselling. Establishing a solid professional relationship which is cl first boundaries reduces the chance of conflict in the future sessions. It em occasions the client to feel secure and wanted and protects the counsellor from possible issues such as over money or epoch keeping.Opening sessions drop out for the first positive and professional impression to be made. The client whitethorn feel unsure of the puzzle out and the opening session(s) allows for trust to develop alongside the clients willingness to open up. At the beginning the power is on the side of the counsellor due to knowledge this shifts towards the client through explanation of the process as on that point are no hidden agendas. 1.5 exc social function the importance of working towards the ending of a series of sessions. In person centred counselling the client generally dictates the end point although a counsellor whitetho rn still initiate an endings discussion inviting the clients opinion on this. There are three areas that place be defined in preparing for an ending of sessions. Reviews and restarts and preparation for endingThis is to explain to the client that although the current counselling process counselling is coming to an end it is non necessarily a cure all one- condemnation event. It whitethorn be entered into again later in life or the client may not feel the occupy for future intervention.Reviewing the counselling processThis is to develop and check a clients cognitive understanding of what has transpired. Practical indecisions posed by Bayne (2008) could take the form of How does the client feel about the ending?What has this counselling relationship been like?What has been achieved?What has the client learned to help in the future?What might pass on in the future?Unfinished businessThis is a chance for a client to voice questions or uncertainties that may commence gone unsaid an d focus on short work that still inevitably to be achieved. Both client and counsellor need to be equal to(p) reflect on the ending for themselves, on what has been achieved, and what are their own reactions to an ending. In counselling endings may not go to plan and some clients may end sessions without notice. This could leave the counsellor feeling unsettled that the relationship has not been ended well for both of them. Clients may decide in the middle of a series of sessions the counselling is not for them because its not working or what it beats up is too difficult at that time. Financial or life demands may also stop the client from coming. Some clients may not realise they are ready for the ending and feel rejected by the suggestion this could come from rejections in prior life events and needs attentive handling. This is similar to Egans (1986) model the Three stage framework which lists exploration, understanding and action in sessions.1.3 Explain the purpose and im portance of a working organisation for a series of sessions. A working agreement is important as the counselling relationship is a embrace either as a surreptitious personal therapist or as part of an confidence. There are guidelines and procedures from the British Association of Counselors and Physc differentapists (BACP) and the agency that need to be followed in order to protect the agency, client and counsellor. It is important that a contract is concur and this includes practical(a) considerations such as (money, time, location and frequency of sessions). It empennage also include the model and expressive style of work that the counsellor and client wish to work within. indoors the contract confidentiality is essential to help secure the client and build a sense of trust and professional relationship.This can be explaining how records are kept, watch and permission to share certain information with G.P with or without prior consent from the client. Other practical arr angements may be such as what procedure to follow if the client or counsellor cannot make a session or how they can contact each other or holidays. It is useful to set out what will and wont happen in counselling is so there is a baseline of understanding. This may include issues such as physical proximity and touching. It mayrelate to chance meetings extracurricular of the room and how they could be handled. It can include other sign posting and emergencies contacts if the counsellor is not available. The counsellor can explain his or her role and the expectations of this alongside the role and expectation of the clients such as time keeping and commitment to the process. It can involve the difficulty of endings and developing an agreement with the client if they chose to end the sessions early calls the counsellor for closure on both sides.In conclusion the counselling relationship is based on the counsellors ability to identify the clients expectations and anxiety about the se rvice. To be able to clarify the clients and counsellors ability and limitations of the relationship. Laying the foundations of the contact protects the counsellor and client physically and emotionally and reduces the chances of conflict that could rise the therapeutic relationship. For typeface payments could affect the power relationship betwixt counsellor and client. Without an agreement the client is slight likely to feel secure and take to bed by the counsellor and be more likely to not commit to the full to the therapeutic process.1.4 Explain the purpose and importance of reviewing progress with the client (appraisal).Traditionally assessment is not generally emphasised in the person centred counselling approach as it disrupts the clients from focusing on themselves and working with their feelings, shifting the focus of attention from the client to the counsellor. However, given the nature of the counselling work and contract based work counsellors work within it is ofte n necessary and required by an agency. I personally see assessment as key to gaining insight in to the client and edifice a plan of work. Counselling is a contractual relationship as part of this there needs to be regular review of the work creation undertaken to ensure the goals or conditions established are world met and progress is being made. Assessment according to Gladding (2009) entails the collection of information in order to identify, analyse, evaluate and target the occupations, issues and circumstances of clients in the counselling relationship.This is then used to identify potential work needed, prep interventions and evaluation clients. Assessment is a process in counselling not just a beginning and end event. Brammer (1989) writes on assessment prescribeing the integration of assessment informationrequires a process of developing a description and explanation of the clients problems that will be used as a basis for a therapeutic plan. The therapist is interested in linking the client presenting problems to the client personalised sum of the problem, unique developmental history, family system interactions and formulate explanations that hypothesise about why the client has become diagnostic at this particular timeAt the beginning of a series of sessions time needs to be given over to an initial assessment it can use a number or practical tools such as assessment questionnaires. This, as stated above, can help identify possible areas of work. It can inform to the counsellor that their client requires more specialist help such as complex suffering work and a referral needed. Alongside this an initial assessment may take the following structure and can look for information onCurrent problemsPrevious counselling experienceOccupation, relationship and childrenMedical and wellnessWhy choosing counselling nowWhat to gain form counsellingHistorical information school, upbringing, memories and diversity issues get networksDiscussion on if counse lling is suitable or referral made.Some counsellors add a review into the end of every session this is particularly relevant with short focused based counselling. Evaluation sheets may be used every week as part of NHS contracted work to establish progress or value added for the organisation to justify funding. Reviewing of work may be just once in the middle of a series of sessions for less focus based work as around 8 to 10 sessions. With longer open ended contract whole sessions maybe given over to reviewing. These may use formal evaluation forms such as Clinical Outcome Routine Evaluation forms (CORE) or other methods such as Primary Health Evaluation of Mental Disorders Patient Questionnaire (PHQ-9). It may simply be a session dedicated to discussion over the clients progress overall.Evaluation or assessment, as a process, can be useful to deliver the client the progress they are making. It is essential to relate derriere to the initial question as although counselling may ta ke for been useful, and the client feel better, but has it redressed the clients presenting problem? 1.6 Explain the importance of ensuring the environment is suitable and safe. The space in which the session takes place is important it should be quiet, safe and above all confidential. All distractions such as mobile phones or interruptions should be minimised.It should stay on consistent, comfortable and neutral in design. Both client and counsellor safety in terms of wellness and safety and lone working arrangements should be catered for. Green (2010) describes the importance of the room and lack of personal or religious aspects saying the room is a kind of metaphor for what will take place between you. You the counsellor are going to be fully present, warm and available to the client but you are not going to being other aspects of yourself into the equation.2. be able to conduct a counselling session with a client in an ethical, effective and safe way. 2.1 Open the session, expl aining the working agreement including 2.2 find the session using the following skills and interventions appropriate for the session and the model used. 2.3 End a session appropriately, comm solitary(prenominal) the following where applicable See recording3. Be able to reflect on the counselling session3.1 Evaluate the effectiveness of the opening of the session This session was a continuation of previous sessions the need to open the session effectively and invite the client in still remains. In this session the contract was reviewed including the essentials of time boundaries, confidentiality, student status and ethical framework. In addition to this contract permission was sought to record the session. The contract was shorter than normal and on reflection could eat been delivered slower and given invitation for the client throughout to ask questions. In the opening of the session I invited the client in and to do this briefly reflected and offered a summary of work that had t aken place in the previous sessions. This was to show my attentiveness and show the client they had been construed antecedently and my attention was firmly on them from the outset of the session.3.2 Justify the use of skills used during the sessionAttentiveness and rapport buildingThe rapport with the client had been set in previous sessions and move through this one. This was shown by a short summary at the beginning reflecting on topics from these previous sessions. The client was given an opportunity to bring one of these prior topics or something new to the session with the question I was wondering which avenue you would like to go overmaster today? 3.45Active listeningActive listening is to show the client they are being heard. This is not only through verbal ques and reflecting but also in non-verbal ways. Throughout the session there were nonverbal examples of my attentiveness with nodding and smiling where appropriate and also the Um and Okay comments to encourage the cli ent to continue with their story. Examples of this are at 10.52 after the client I feel like I have to step in and get **** to see it from his perspective. I use them Um instead of inquiring as I sensed there was more to come from the client about this point. They start to question themselves so the nonverbal action was affective.Empathic listeningEmpathy is a way of being not just a professional role or chat skill it is attending to both the physical and psychological and listens to the clients view point. Empathy builds self-confidence and positive regard alongside promotes professionalism. Listening to the client and them feeling held in the session is crucial to allow them the space and security to open up. In this session there were some(prenominal) examples where I show the client they are being heard. This is around 13.30 minutes into the session where I ask the client I wonder what you are left feeling? At 16.10 I ask Where do you see yourself? The client throughout is fo cusing on their partner and their children but not on their own feelings.Effective questioningOpen ended questions allow for the free flow of information, understanding the problem better and allows for rapport building. unlikable questions that only elicit a yes or no elicit the opposite response of closing down the conversation. In the session there are a few open questions such as I wonder what you mean by you know 5.25. This is to try and elicit what the client means in the context. some other example is What does it feel like for you when the tensions going on? The aim is to open up the clients feelings more at that point in their life and gain better understanding.SummarisingMy summary occurs 4 minutes from the end of the session. The client is made aware of this by the statement If I could summarise. The idea being to check the client felt heard and that there was no bits that I had missed from the session as the client should leave feeling heard and valued. The summary wen t over the salient points of the session allowing chance for reflection on the positives that came out of the conversation. The aim being to leave the client with a positive feeling relating to the work that have take for grantede. The client then reflects themselves back about something they have discover about their relationship and how they may look at it differently. At the end the client is thanked and given an invitation to continue this exploration succeeding(a) session. Thus allowing the client time to think before the next session on what they would like to bring. This is to leave the sessions client centred.Focusing and challengingAt 25.29 the client begins to bring in another aspect to the topic. Although potentially relevant there is little time to explore this topic. Focusing allowed for this session to stay on the track it I said We only have a few minutes left of the session. Your Mum has been mentioned in several sessions but Im wondering if we can stay focused on that moment. By focusing the aim was to explore the feeling in more detail and not allow scheme alongside not bringing a new topic when there was no time to fully explore this being so close to the end of a session.ImmediacyThere is a better example of immediacy in the session. It is important as a counsellor to not only hear what the client is saying but also be aware of their body language. At 10.42 I say to the client You gestured with your hands that sense of balance then I reflect on the balance between the children and partner that the client has been talking about.Working at an appropriate pacePacing in this session was good. As a counsellor mine matched that of the clients throughout. This had already been established in the previous sessions although the contract could have been slowed down. The idea is to match the clients pace, obstetrical delivery, tone and speed. A counsellor can use their own tone of pitch to slow the client down if they are running away with their story rather than taking the time to pause and think. Checking understanding with the clientThere were several examples of checking understanding with the client. The first occurred at 3.00 where I asked Would you thought briefly going through. This was seeking clarity of a historical event. The second occurred at 9.00 with the question Remind me how long .. Although covered in a previous session it was important that the time frames being worked with were accurate. The aim being to also focus the client on the actual length of time they have been with their new partner.3.3 Explain why other skills were not used during the sessionManaging silenceThere was no silence in the session this was due to my need to develop this skill. The spaces still feel unnatural and there were several chances where it could have been used. At 23.15 after the client responds they pose their own question What will happen if I dont? I respond Good question what will happen if you dont. At this moment the client should have been given time to think. Instead of this I looked to have the conversation instead of holding the client in that moment and giving them the space. A second example was when the client comments Why am I doing it. I jumped in instead of leaving the space. If the silence had continued beyond the clients reflection then I could have paraphrased this back to them tohighlight their idea at that time. These interruptions potentially could cause the client to get nervous, stop the flow of information or feel intimidated. They could lose confidence in the process and by not feeling heard could prevent communication in the future.ChallengingDuring this session there was a very poor example of challenging where I asked the client Youve spoken about protecting the teenagers I was wondering if it was about protecting your relationship as well. This was about my addenda to find out if there was a link and did not add value to the conversation at that point instead it detract ed from the clients work. An example of missed challenging occurred at 6.39 the client uses the formulate upset(a) four times in a minute. I could have challenged them on what the word worried meant to them as each of us carries our own perception.Working with diversity as it impacts on the sessionWithin this session I sis not bring in diversity. Although working with this client there is usually an element as they are not British born and moved to the UK as an adult. So culturally in terms of relationships and family dynamics there is a possibility of needing to understand the difference. Language has in previous sessions been a barrier with needing to clarify my understanding of how Evaluate the effectiveness of closing the sessionThis session was closed well the client was given a warning that was near the end of time with me saying We only have a few minutes left. They were then offered If I could summarise. The summary covered the main points from the session and allowed th e client to affirm these. It gave opportunity to leave a positive point for the client to think upon to leave them secure after the session. It also opened up the possibility for the topic for the next session allowing them homework of reflection. The client by responding and affirming the summary gave rise to the fact they felt heard in the session. The session was within the time boundaries and the client was thanked for the session. Recognition was given to the next meeting with the client.BibliographyBrammer, L. Shostrom E and Abrego, P. (1989) healthful PsychologyFundamentals in Counselling and Psychotherapy. 5th Ed. New Jersey Prenice Hall. Bayne, R. (2008). The counsellors handbook. Cheltenham, U.K. Nelson Thornes. Day, R.W and Sparacio (1988) Structuring the counselling process in Dryden (2008) Key Issues for Counselling in Action. London SAGE Egan, G (1986) The skilled helper. peace-loving Grove, Calif Brooks/Cole Gray, A (2004) An introduction to the Therapeutic frame, L ondon Routledge Green, J and Claringbull, N. 2010 Creating the therapeutic relationship in counselling and psychotherapy. Exeter Learning Matters Gladding, S.T (2009) Counselling A Comprehensive profession (6th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ Pearson Education. Jacobs M (2004) Psychodynamic Counselling in Action (3rd Edition) London Sage