Imran Manzoor Level 4 Diploma in Counselling Leeds City College Assignment Unit Title: M/601/7633 Advanced Counselling Skills 1. Understand the process of a series of counselling sessions 1.1 Identify the stages of counselling sessions A counselling relationship is likened to being on a journey - a beginning, middle and end (Smallwood, 2013). During the beginning phase the client develops sufficient trust in the counsellor and the relationship ‘to explore the previously feared edges of his awareness’ (Mearns and Thorne, 1988, p.126). According to Mearns and Thorne (1988) the middle period is characterised by: intimacy, when the client experiences the counsellor as showing complete understanding, trust …show more content…
It is important, during these final stages, that the counsellor and client can resolve any unfinished business and have time to consider the complex feelings about endings. According to Dryden and Feltham (1994), ‘a fear of loss may cause some clients to cling on to relationships in life and this will obviously have some bearing on the therapeutic relationship.’ As the counsellor, I need to be aware of what an ending might signify for the client, and for me, and manage these ethically and with the guidance of my supervisor. 1.6 Explain the importance of ensuring than an environment is suitable and safe As Bond (1993) states, we must protect the client from any harm caused by attending counselling. To ensure emotional and physical safety, practitioners are strongly encouraged to ensure the counselling room is a comfortable, quiet calm room at the just the right temperature, free from interruption (Julie, 2006). If the client’s privacy is invaded through unwarranted interruptions, it may leave the client feeling unvalued and emotionally and physically unsafe. The chairs should be comfortable and arranged so as to help the client/counsellor relax and not feel tense. Neither occupant should be in a domineering position, adding emotional security. The counsellor should be mindful about where they position themselves in terms of their own physical safety e.g. close to the
Establishing an efficient relationship between client and counsellor is one of the key aspect in counselling. Every therapeutic session starts with the process of building up a therapeutic alliance. Bob Shebib defines the therapeutic alliance as a time limited period of consultation between a counsellor and one or more clients for assisting the client in achieving a defined goal (Shebib, 2014). However, to achieve successful results, a partnership that primarily focuses on the clients’ needs and goals is required. The therapist must be eager to help the clients with care and compassion while the patient also need to
The nature of the client centred approach is based on the idea that the client is the expert on their life, and have a natural ability to find solutions to their problems. The relationship between the counsellor and client is on a person to person level. By building a good rapport with the client and providing the core conditions of congruence, unconditional positive regard and empathy, the client is able to work through their issues. The counsellor does not solve problems, or give direct advice. The client is encouraged to be confident in their own ability, and not be dependent on others to solve their problems.
When comparing and contrasting the differences in the three approaches, I will review the relationship between client and counsellor. I will attempt to discover how the relationship is formed and how it is maintained during the therapeutic process. Once this has been established, I will then look at how the changes occur in the therapeutic relationship and which techniques will be used. I will compare and contrast the approaches of Carl Rogers, Sigmund Freud and Albert Ellis. I will look at how their theories have impacted on the counselling processes in modern times and throughout history.
Another key aspect of any counseling relationship is that a helper be self-aware and non-judgemental when using counselling skills. It is imperative that one’s own views on race, class, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation and so forth are put aside and not translated into prejudices. This can be quite a challenge given some of these views can be deeply-rooted. Saunders (2011, 36-38) argues the importance of acknowledging differences between people, which gives them their identity. Understanding an individual’s identity and behaviour, which is ultimately a manifestation of values, beliefs and attitudes, can help counsellors to develop strategies in how they can best support them (Aldridge, S., Rigby, S. 2011, 63-82). When some counsellors offer their clients a couch to lie down on during their therapy sessions, it can often provide an extreme way of behaving in a non-judgmental way: the client does not have a view of the counsellor’s face and therefore cannot interpret changes to the counsellor’s facial expression as any kind of judgement.
The following essay will aim to explore two developmental theories. It will also look at how they have become relevant in counselling and psychotherapy practice, how they should be helpful and offer support when a presenting issue occurs from a client, and how the counsellor will work in partnership with the client. The chosen theories are based on John Bowlby’s attachment theory and David Winnicott’s developmental theory.
Although the counselor-client confidentiality agreement exists and must be held with utmost importance, it is imperative for professional therapists and counselors to remain cognizant of the limitations to this rule. Confidentiality must be at the very core of the therapeutic relationship in order for the rehabilitative process to be successfully effective, which is the cornerstone of the counseling profession. When trust is broken or the confidentiality has been compromised, providing that breaking this agreement falls within its limitations, the expectancy of failure of the relationship is likely to ensue (Capuzzi & Gross, 2011). In this paper, I will attempt to
A key aspect of counseling is the relationship between counselor and client. This can be defined as the feelings and attitudes that participants in counseling have each other and the way they are expressed. The author describes a therapeutic or positive relationship like a sense of connection, respect and trust from the client to the counselor combined with similar feelings of this towards the client. The better the relationship, the client will appear inclined to share the problems with the counselor. The client will also cooperate and actively participate in the processes of assessment and intervention. Counselor and client should feel a sense of connection and form a team and a partnership in working together towards achieving counseling
Counseling sessions are intimate emotionally and psychologically, it is imperative for the client to understand that the client and counselor have a professional relationship instead of a personal one. Interactions will be constrained to paid sessions with the counselor. Between session exchanges via email will be discussed in advance and acknowledged that they may not constitute an actual therapeutic session. Clients are best served if the client-counselor relationship remains strictly professional and if our sessions focus completely on the client’s concerns.
My first goal is to remind the student about the ending process at least four weeks before the last session. I will let the client know that we have (number of weeks) this more time to work together. My second goal is to review with the client significant moments of the relationship, and what we both learned about them. My third goal is to analyze the effectiveness of the intervention by reviewing data, and asking the client regarding his perspective of the treatment. My last goal is to explore both my client’s and my feelings in regards to the termination process. The exploration of feelings is very important because I don’t know how the client feels with ending a relationship. My goal is to educate the client with a good example of how to say goodbye to someone in a healthy
Licensed professional counselors have a unique occupation in that not only do they interact with their clients on a highly personal level, but they also momentarily share their client’s burdens, worries, and concerns. This vicarious aspect of counseling creates the possibility for a counselor to continue sharing the client’s troubles long after the session has ended. According to Norcross and Guy (2007), “The person of the psychotherapist is inextricably intertwined with treatment success” (p. 2) meaning that if we desire more positive outcomes than negative ones we must figuratively become one with our clients. Due to this fact, “self-care is not simply a personal matter but also an ethical necessity, a moral imperative” (p. 6). If we fail to leave work at work at the day’s end, then other facets of our lives are in jeopardy of becoming tainted.
The profession of counselling psychology has developed hugely during the past decade, this paper aims to provide a concise and general exploration of the nature of counselling psychology, it’s development history, where it stands among other traditional approaches, and how disciplines of psychology is linked with a range of models of psychotherapy.
I will discuss how very often counselling can arouse strong emotions that draw from other aspects of one’s own life. Couple counselling can give rise to deep personal issues from one’s own life be it as a participant or as the counsellor themselves. Although the particular conflicts within the couple
In counselling and psychotherapy there are more than 400 distinct models with methods of practice ranging from one to one counselling, group therapy, couples or family therapy, online therapy and over the telephone counselling. Depending on which school of thought the therapist is following, each therapy engages the client from a different angle. Each school has its own rationale and specific techniques but there are common components which are shared across all approaches
Q. “In a counselling room, when a counsellor gets to peep into the private lives and into the minds of people, how can they remain ‘objective’? Can you remain objective?”
3.2. I have divided this phase into first 4 sessions because it is in the 4th session that the client seemed to develop trust and move on in the therapy. As suggested by Mearns and Thorne (2013) that the ‘beginning’ phase of the counselling process involves the client developing sufficient trust in the counsellor and the relationship to start exploring the previously feared edges of his awareness.