Unit 5: Building Counselling Relationships Flashcards
The characteristics of a client that affect the way the counsellor views the client. Clients come in all shapes and sizes, personality characteristics, and degrees of attractiveness.
Client qualities
Counsellors most enjoy working with clients who they think have the potential to change
The most successful candidates for traditional approaches tend to be YAVIS, what does this acronym stand for?
Young, attractive, verbal, intelligent, and successful
Less successful candidates for traditional approaches are seen as HOUNDs, what does acronym stand for? What about DUDs?
Homely, old, unintelligent, nonverbal, and disadvantaged
Dumb, unintelligent, and disadvantaged
A question that requires a specific and limited response, such as yes or no. Often begins with the word is, do, or are
Closed-ended question
Quite effective in eliciting a good deal of information in a short period of time. But it does not encourage collaboration that might also be helpful
A question that usually begins with who, what, where, or how. It requires more than a one-or two-word response
Probe
A question that typically begins with what, how, or could and allows the client more latitude to respond. Encourages more client talk.
Open-ended questions
A response the counsellor uses to be sure he or she understands what the client is saying. These requests require the client to repeat or elaborate on material just covered
Request for clarification
A technique that can assist clients in gaining initiative. In this procedure the counsellor simply points out to the client exactly what the client is doing, such as being inconsistent.
Confrontation
The client must take responsibility for responding to the confrontation and may deny the behavior, accept all or part of the confrontation as true, or develop a middle position that synthesizes the first two
The characteristics of the counsellor such as self-awareness, honesty, congruence, ability to communicate, and knowledge
Counsellor qualities
The characteristics mentioned previously, self-awareness, honesty, congruence, ability to communicate, and knowledge should be possessed by a counselor.
Three characteristics that make counsellors initially more influential
Expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness
The degree to which a counsellor is perceived as knowledgable and informed about his or her specialty
Expertness
A function of perceived similarity between a client and counsellor as well as physical features
Attractiveness
Related to the sincerity and consistency of the counsellor
Trustworthiness
The counsellors ability to “enter the clients phenomenal world, to experience the clients world as if it were your own without ever losing the ‘as if’ quality”.
Involves perception and communication
Empathy
A sensitivity wherein the counsellor perceives the cultural frame of reference from which his or her client operates, including the clients perceptual and cognitive process.
Culturally sensitive empathy
May help bridge the cultural gap between the counsellor and client. A counsellor who can accurately perceive what it is like to be the client but cannot communicate that experience is a limited helper
The ability to respond in such a way that it is apparent to both client and counsellor that the counsellor has understood the clients major themes. Conveyed through nonverbal communication and various verbal responses
Primary empathy
A process of helping a client explore themes, issues, and emotions new to his or her awareness. Usually inappropriate for an initial interview because it examines too much material to quickly. Clients must be developmentally ready for this to be beneficial
Advanced empathy
In the final part of building a counselling relationship, the counsellor helps the client explore specific areas and begin to identify _____ that the client wants to achieve
Goals
Goals that are not identified, too broad, or not prioritized.
Unfocused goals
Goals defined by either counsellor or client that include happiness, perfection, progress, being number one, and self actualization. They have merit but are not easily obtained or sustained
Unrealistic goals
Goals that may be incompatible with one another or with the personality of the client
Uncoordinated goals
What are the seven specific criteria for judging effective goals in counseling?
- Goals are mutually agreed on by client and counsellor
- Goals are specific
- Goals are relevant to self-defeating behaviour
- Goals are achievement and success oriented
- Goals are quantifiable and measurable
- Goals are behavioural and observable
- Goals are understandable and can be restated clearly
The motivation to change
Initiative
Blaming a person when the problem was not entirely his or her fault
Scapegoating
A client who has been referred by a third-party and is frequently unmotivated to seek help. Many terminate counselling prematurely and report dissatisfaction with the process
Reluctant client
A person in counselling who is unwilling, unready, or opposed to change. Such an individual may actively seek counselling but does not wish to go through the emotional pain, change in perspective, or enhanced awareness that counselling demands. Instead, the client clings to the certainty of present behavior, even when such action is counterproductive and dysfunctional
Resistant client
The most common form of resistance is the simple statement “I don’t know”
Discuss six ways to overcome resistance
- Anticipate the anger, frustration, and defensiveness that some clients display. Counsellors who realized that some of their tclients are reluctant or resistant can work with these individuals because they are not surprised by them or their behaviours
- Show acceptance, patience, and understanding as well as a general nonjudgmental attitude. This stance promotes trust, which is the basis of an interpersonal relationship
- Use persuasion. To direct persuasion techniques employed in counselling are the foot in the door and the door in the face technique. In the first technique, the counsellor asked the client to comply with a minor request and then later follows with a larger request. In the second technique, the counsellor asked the client to do a seemingly impossible task and then followed by requesting the client to do a more reasonable task
- Confrontation-pointing out to the client exactly what the client is doing.
- Use language, especially metaphors, to soften resistance or reluctance. Metaphors can be used to teach and reduce threat levels
- Use mattering, the perception that as human beings we are important and significant to the world around us and to others in our lives
May also use pragmatic techniques such as silence, reflection, questioning, describing, assessing, pretending, and sharing the counsellors perspective
Highlighting the last few words of the client
Accent
A simple mirror response to a client that lets the client know the counsellor is actively listening
Restatement
Similar to a restatement, but it deals with verbal and nonverbal expression.
Example: this counsellor response to a client who is silently sobbing over the loss of a parent: “you’re still really feeling the pain”
Reflection of feeling
The act of paraphrasing a number of feelings that the client has conveyed
Summary of feelings
Example: John, if I understand you correctly, you were feeling depressed over the death of your father and discouraged that your friends have not helped you work through your grief.
A response that does not interpret the meaning of the nonverbal behaviour a client exhibits
Acknowledgement meant of nonverbal behaviour
Example: I noticed that your arms are folded across your chest and you’re looking at the floor
Preaching or a disguised form of advice giving. It sets up a power struggle between the counsellor and client that neither individual can win. Counsellors are probably doing this when they say more than three consecutive sentences in a row to their clients
Lecturing
Where the counselling occurs
The physical setting
What physical settings promote the process of counselling better than others?
The room should not be overwhelming, noisy, or distracting, but should be comfortable and attractive. Soft lighting, quite colors, and absence of clutter, harmonious comfortable furniture, and diverse cultural artefacts
The distance between counsellor and client
Proxemics
A distance of 30 to 39 inches has been found to be the average range of comfort between counsellors and clients of both genders but this optimum distance may vary because of room size and furniture arrangement
Explain the acronym SOLER
Summarizes five nonverbal skills involved in initial attending. Squarely, open, lean, eye contact, relax
S is a reminder to face the client squarely
O is a reminder to adopt an open posture
L reminds the counsellors to lean toward the client
E represents eye contact
Are is a reminder to the counsellor to relax
A joint understanding between the counsellor and client regarding the characteristics, conditions, procedures, and parameters of counseling. Helps clarify the counselor-client relationship and give it directions; protect the rights, roles, and obligations of both counsellors and clients; and ensures the success of counselling
Structure
Practical guidelines such as time limits, action limits, role limits, and procedural limits are part of building structure.
Structure promotes the development of counselling by providing a framework in which the process can take place and is especially important at the beginning of counselling
What are the five important factors that can influence the counselling process
Structure, initiative, physical setting, client qualities, and counsellor qualities
Identify and provide original examples of four micro skills for facilitating the gathering of information in the first interview
- Probe: a question that usually begins with who, what, where, or how and requires more than a one or two word response
Example: what problems do you see in your marriage? - Accent: highlighting the last few words of the client
Example: client-my marriage is making me feel like I’m losing control
Counselor- Losing control? - Closed question: requires a specific and limited response such as yes or no and often begins with the word is, do, or are
Example: do you enjoy going on dates with your husband? Client- no - Request for clarification: a response the counsellor uses to be sure he or she understands what the client is saying and requires the client to repeat or elaborate on material just covered
Example: I don’t understand the connection between your marriage and your job
Identify and provide original examples of four microskills to facilitate relationship building in the first interview
- Restatement: a mirror response to a client that lets the client know the counsellor is actively listening
Example: client- i’m not sure I can stay in this relationship, I am upset all the time and it’s affecting my sleep
Counselor-you don’t know if you can stay with your spouse because of the negative feelings and physical effects - Reflection of feeling: deals with verbal and nonverbal expression
Example: client- sobbing over the termination of a relationship
Counselor- this is still very painful for you - Summary of feelings: the act of paraphrasing a number of feelings that the client has conveyed
Example: counsellor says you are feeling depressed about the termination of the relationship and feel rejected because her family has not contacted you. - Acknowledgement of nonverbal behavior: noticing but not interpreting nonverbal behaviour
Example: counselor’s might say you cannot look me in the eyes and you are fidgeting
An action that usually blocks counselor-client communication and should generally be avoided except in crisis situations.
Providing a solution which may deny a client the chance to work through personal thoughts and feelings about a subject and may ultimately curtail his or her ability to make difficult decisions
Advice giving
