The counselling process is an expedition in which the client is guided by their therapist to discover feelings, concerns, opportunities and goals.
McLeod (2003) articulates that a counsellor’s competence depends upon their ability to utilise specific skills appropriately; while Burnard (1999) maintains that the quality of the relationship between counsellor and client exceeds the importance of any skill application during the process.
Considering counselling operates “primarily through the formation of a relationship” (McLeod, 2007, p.110), establishing a relationship between client and helper is a critical skill in the helping process. Relationship-building is successfully achieved through the use of techniques such as empathy, rapport, reflecting, listening and respectful questioning.
Empathy
Empathy is a vital element of the therapeutic relationship (Mearns & Thorne, 2007), and is not only a skill (Cole, 2000), but also one of Carl Rogers’ (1967) core counselling conditions.
Rapport
Rapport, described by Heaton (1998) as the “vibrant, engaging sensitivity to each other” (p.94), is the foundation of any therapeutic relationship (Stewart, 2001), and should be developed early on to enable clients to feel a sense of security, comfort and trust in their association with the counsellor.
Reflecting
Reflecting is a skill which directs clients towards heightened self-awareness and encourages the client to deal with their deep-rooted concerns which may be locked away (Young, 2005). According to Bolton (1986), a client is the counsellor’s best judge of rating how effective their reflective response was; seen in the way the client receives and applies it.
Listening
The skill of listening involves employment of techniques including paraphrasing, perception checking and attending (Brammer &MacDonald, 2003). A paraphrase, according to Bolton (1986) is a “concise response to the speaker which states the essence of the other’s content in the listener’s own words” (p.51). Perception checking is a method of clarifying precision of communication and involves asking clients to confirm the accuracy of what was communicated by the counsellor (Brammer & MacDonald, 2003).Verbal attending is often achieved through a simple comment such as “hmm”, and helps to encourage the client to keep talking (Ivey & Ivey, 1999).
Questioning
Application of open-ended questions is a skill which if used successfully, leaves clients “free to explore and take the interview where they wish” (Brammer & MacDonald, 2003, p.78), and helps direct clients to delve into their issues. Nelson-Jones (1997) recommends counsellors to ask questions with caution, as they can be extremely confronting and can cause clients to feel as if they are facing an interrogation.
Confronting/Challenging
Verbal confrontation is a structuring skill which challenges the client to confront issues they may be unable to recognise or are avoiding (Hackney & Cormier, 2005), and is also referred to as challenging. According to Berenson & Mitchell (1974), challenging should not be offered in the initial few sessions, but later on in the counselling process when trust and a working union has been firmly established (as cited in Egan, 2001).
Goal-setting
Goal-setting is vital skill in counselling, and helps to provide clients with a sense of direction (Egan, 2007). Hackney & Cormier (2005) caution that counsellors who prescribe advice or possible solutions to their client’s problem are likely to be ineffective in their helping. When assisting a client to explore their options, Geldard (2001) recommends counsellors to encourage their client to explore each possible option individually and to discuss the pros and cons of each idea.
The process of counselling is a journey in which the helper guides their client to explore feelings, concerns, opportunities and goals. While skills and techniques help to facilitate this process, it is ultimately the relationship between client and counsellor that determines whether skill application is effective or not.
Sources
Bolton, R. (1986) People Skills: How to Assert Yourself, Listen to Others, and Resolve Conflicts. New York: Prentice-Hall.
Brammer, L.M. and MacDonald, G. (2003) The Helping Relationship, Process and Skills. (8th edn.) Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Burnard, P. (1999) Counselling Skills for Health Professionals (3rd edn.) Cheltenham, UK: Stanley Thorne.
Cole, K. (2000) Crystal Clear Communication (2nd edn.) Sydney: The Penguin Group.
Egan, G. (2001) The Skilled Helper: A Problem-Management and Opportunity-Development Approach to Helping (7th edn.) Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.
Egan, G. (2007). The skilled helper: A problem-management and opportunity-development approach to helping (8th ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Geldard, D. (1998) Basic Personal Counseling: A Training Manual for Counselors. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Geldard, D. (2001). Basic personal counselling: A training manual for counsellors (4th ed.). Sydney: Pearson Education.
Hackney, H.L. and Cormier, L.S. (2005) The Professional Counselor. (5th edn) Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Heaton, J.A. (1998) Building Basic Therapeutic Skills. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Ivey, A. E., Ivey, M. B., & Simek-Morgan, L. (1995). Counselling and psychotherapy: A multicultural perspective (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Ivey, A.E., and Ivey, M.B. (1999) Intentional Interviewing & Counseling: Facilitating Client Development in a Multicultural Society (4th ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
McLeod, J. (2003) An Introduction to Counseling. (3rd edn) Philadelphia, PA: Open University Press.
McLeod, J. (2007). Counselling skill. Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press.
Mearns, D. and Thorne, B. (2007) Person-centred Counselling in Action. (3rd edn) London. Sage Publishing.
Nelson-Jones, R. (1997) Practical Counselling and Helping Skills (4th edn.) London: Cassell.
Rogers, C. (1967) On becoming a person: A psychotherapist’s view of psychotherapy. London: Constable & Co.
Stewart, W. (2001) An A-Z of Counselling Theory and Practice (3rd edn.) Cheltenham, UK: Nelson Thornes.
Young, M.E. (2005) Learning the Art of Helping, Building Blocks and Techniques. (3rd edn) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill
