Skills of Counselling Flashcards
What are the 6 skills of counselling?
- REFLECTING
- PARAPHRASING
- CLARIFYING
- OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS (OEQ)
- CLOSED-ENDED QUESTIONS (CEQ)
- SUMMARIZING
What is reflecting?
THE PROCESS OF RESTATING BOTH THE FEELINGS AND WORDS OF THE SPEAKER
SHOWING THAT YOU HAVE NOT ONLY ‘HEARD’ WHAT IS BEING SAID BUT THE FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS.
LIKE HOLDING UP A MIRROR TO THE CLIENT, REPEATING (REFLECTING) WHAT THE CLIENT SAID.
What is the purpose of reflecting?
TO ALLOW THE CLIENT TO ‘HEAR’ HER/HIS OWN THOUGHTS AND FOCUS ON WORDS AND FEELINGS
TO SHOW THE SPEAKER THAT YOU ARE TRYING TO PERCEIVE THE WORLD AS THEY SEE IT AND THAT YOU ARE DOING YOUR BEST TO UNDERSTAND THEIR MESSAGES.
TO ENCOURAGE THEM TO CONTINUE TALKING.
What is paraphrasing?
…RESTATING A MESSAGE, BUT USUALLY WITH FEWER WORDS. WHEN THE LISTENER RESTATES SUCCINCTLY AND TENTATIVELY WHAT THE SPEAKER SAID - CONVEYING EMPATHY, ACCEPTANCE AND GENUINENESS.
…TO COMMUNICATE THAT YOU ARE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS BEING SAID. IF YOU’RE SUCCESSFUL, PARAPHRASING INDICATES THAT YOU ARE FOLLOWING THE SPEAKER’S VERBAL EXPLORATIONS AND THAT YOU’RE BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND THE BASIC MESSAGE.
What is the purpose of paraphrasing?
TO CONVEY THAT YOU ARE UNDERSTANDING THE CLIENT
TO HELP THE CLIENT BY SIMPLIFYING, FOCUSING AND CRYSTALLIZING WHAT IS SAID
TO ENCOURAGE THE CLIENT TO ELABORATE
TO PROVIDE A CHECK ON THE ACCURACY OF THE COUNSELLOR’S PERCEPTIONS
What is clarifying?
CLARIFYING MEANS USING QUESTIONS TO MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT IS BEING SAID SO YOU ARE NOT CONFUSED AND THE CLIENT FEELS FULLY UNDERSTOOD.
IT IS A PROCESS OF BRINGING VAGUE MATERIAL INTO SHARPER FOCUS. IT IS TO CLARIFY VAGUE OR AMBIGUOUS THOUGHTS, FEELINGS OR BEHAVIORS BY ASKING THE CLIENT TO RESTATE WHAT S/HE HAS SAID OR BY STATING TO THE CLIENT WHAT THE COUNSELOR HAS UNDERSTOOD THE CLIENT TO HAVE SAID
What is the purpose of clarifying?
- TO UNTANGLE UNCLEAR OR WRONG LISTENER INTERPRETATION.
- TO GET MORE INFORMATION
- TO HELP THE SPEAKER SEE OTHER POINTS OF VIEW
- TO IDENTIFY WHAT WAS SAID
What are close-ended questions?
CLOSE-ENDED QUESTIONS ARE THOSE WHICH CAN BE ANSWERED BY A SIMPLE “YES” OR “NO,”
Close-ended questions
USED TO FORCE A BRIEF, OFTEN ONE-WORD ANSWER BY ASKING FOR SPECIFIC INFORMATION
SIMPLY REQUIRE A ‘YES’ OR ‘NO’ ANSWER
CAN REQUIRE THAT A CHOICE IS MADE FROM A LIST OF POSSIBLE OPTIONS, FOR EXAMPLE: ‘WOULD YOU LIKE BEEF, CHICKEN OR THE VEGETARIAN OPTION?’, ‘DID YOU TRAVEL BY TRAIN OR CAR TODAY?’
CAN BE ASKED TO IDENTIFY A CERTAIN PIECE OF INFORMATION, AGAIN WITH A LIMITED SET OF ANSWERS, FOR EXAMPLE: ‘WHAT IS YOUR NAME?’
What is the purpose of close-ended questions?
TO OBTAIN SPECIFIC INFORMATION
TO IDENTIFY PARAMETERS OF A PROBLEM OR ISSUE
TO NARROW THE TOPIC OF DISCUSSION
TO INTERRUPT AN OVER-TALKATIVE CLIENT
What is summarizing?
SUMMARIES ARE LONGER PARAPHRASES WHICH CONDENSE OR CRYSTALLIZES THE ESSENCE OF WHAT THE CLIENT IS SAYING AND FEELING.
SUMMARIES USUALLY COVER A LONGER TIME PERIOD THAN A PARAPHRASE WHICH CAN BE USED AFTER A FEW SENTENCES.
A SUMMARY MAY BE USED AFTER SOME TIME : PERHAPS HALF-WAY THROUGH A COUNSELLING SESSION, OR NEAR THE END OF A COUNSELLING SESSION.
THE SUMMARY ‘SUMS UP’ THE MAIN THEMES THAT ARE EMERGING.
When is summarizing frequently used?
RECALLING THE HIGH POINTS OF A PREVIOUS SESSION TO STRUCTURE THE BEGINNING OF A SESSION.
THE CLIENT’S PRESENTATION OF A TOPIC HAS BEEN EITHER CONFUSING OR JUST PLAIN LENGTHY.
A CLIENT SEEMS TO HAVE EXPRESSED EVERYTHING OF IMPORTANCE TO HER OR HIM ON A PARTICULAR TOPIC, AND SUMMARIZING PROVIDES CLOSURE.
PLANS FOR TAKING THE NEXT STEP
What is the purpose of summarizing?
TIE TOGETHER MULTIPLE ELEMENTS OF CLIENT MESSAGES
IDENTIFY A COMMON THEME OR PATTERN
INTERRUPT EXCESSIVE RAMBLING
END A SESSION
START A SESSION
PACE A SESSION
REVIEW PROGRESS
SERVE AS A TRANSITION WHEN CHANGING TOPICS
Usefulness of summarizing
TO CLARIFY EMOTIONS FOR BOTH THE HELPER/COUNSELLOR AND THE CLIENT.
TO REVIEW THE WORK DONE SO FAR, AND TO TAKE STOCK.
TO BRING A SESSION TO A CLOSE, BY DRAWING TOGETHER THE MAIN THREADS OF THE DISCUSSION.
TO BEGIN A SUBSEQUENT SESSION, IF APPROPRIATE.
TO START THE PROCESS OF FOCUSING AND PRIORITIZING ‘SCATTERED’ THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS
TO MOVE THE COUNSELLING PROCESS FORWARD.
