Counselling Skills II

In this course we look at how it is possible to combine skills to both facilitate and improve the likelihood of change. Obviously no two situations will ever be the same, but certain patterns will emerge. It should be recognized that the different stages of the counselling process may overlap, repeat, or occur in a different order, though generally speaking they emerge in the following order.

Learn to demonstrate how micro-skills can be combined in the counselling process. Students will also be able to demonstrate methods of telephone counselling and techniques for dealing with specific crisis situations.

This course builds upon your knowledge developed in Introduction to Psychology and Counselling Skills I.

Lesson Structure

There are 8 lessons in this course:

1. The Counselling Session: How Micro-Skills come together
2. Focus on the Present: Present experiences; Feedback; Transference; Projection; Resistance
3. Telephone Counselling: Visual v non-visual contact; Preparation; Initial contact; Use of micro-skills; Overall Process; Debriefing; Types of Problem Callers
4. Dealing with Crises: What is a crisis?; Types of crisis; Dangers of Crises; Counsellor’s Responses and Intervention; Post-Traumatic Stress
5. Problem-Solving Techniques I, Aggression: Assisting the Client to Express Anger; Encouraging Change; Role-Play; Externalising Anger
6. Problem-Solving Techniques II, Depression: Counselling Depression; Blocked Anger; Referral Practice; Chronic Depression; Setting Goals; Promoting Action
7. Problem-Solving Techniques III, Grief and Loss: Loss of Relationships; Assisting the Grieving Client; Stages of Grief
8. Problem-Solving Techniques IV, Suicide: Ethics; Reasons for Suicide; Perceived Risk; Counselling Strategies; Counselling Skills; Alternative Approach

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

• Demonstrate the application of micro skills to different stages of the counselling process.
• Role-play the dynamics of the counselling process including such phenomenon as present experiences, feedback, transference, counter-transference, projection and resistance.
• Demonstrate telephone counselling techniques.
• Develop appropriate responses to crises, both emotional and practical.
• Show ways of encouraging the client to deal with aggression.
• Demonstrate different ways of encouraging the client to cope with depression.
• Discuss strategies for dealing with grief.
• Develop different strategies of helping suicidal clients.

What You Will Do

• Identify clearly the stages in the counselling process.
• Explain how a counsellor might encourage the client to relax in the first session.
• Demonstrate at what stage the counsellor should bring in micro-skills other than those of minimal responses and reflection of content and feeling.
• Demonstrate at what stage the counsellor should focus attention on the client’s thoughts and why.
• Demonstrate control techniques in conversation, in a role play.
• Correlate certain types of non-visual cues with feelings in a case study.
  • Show how a counsellor could assist a client to consider the present and how this could facilitate the counselling process.
• Demonstrate appropriate use of feedback in the counselling situation.
• Demonstrate inappropriate use of feedback in the counselling situation.
• Distinguish between transference and counter-transference.
• Demonstrate telephone counselling techniques in a role play.
• Describe how to deal with a distressed client (male/female) through telephone counselling.
• Show how to terminate a telephone counselling session.
• Explain the main advantages of telephone counselling.
• Describe techniques to effectively deal with nuisance callers in telephone counselling.
• Evaluate how a crisis was managed by a person, in a case study.
• Outline the main crisis categories.
• Demonstrate different practical responses that might be applied to a crisis.
• Show when it is appropriate for a counsellor to conclude crisis counselling.
• Analyse an aggressive/violent outburst (physical/mental) by an individual; in a case study.
• Explain an aggressive/violent outburst (physical/mental) by an individual; in a case study.
• Demonstrate how a counsellor might encourage a client to appropriately express their anger.
• Explain why it is important that clients become aware of the physiological effects of anger.
• Identify the origin of depression in a case study.
• Explain the origin of depression in a case study.
• Explain the relationship between depression and blocked anger.
• Demonstrate how a counsellor could encourage a client to explore their anger.
• Identify risks involved in dealing with someone with chronic depression.
• Explain the benefits of goal-setting to the counselling process.
• Identify when depressed clients should be referred on to other professionals.
• Evaluate the grieving process in a case study.
• Compare the grieving process in a case study, with the 7 classic stages of grieving.
• Determine which stage of grieving was most difficult in a case study.
• Explain the significance of denial in the grieving process.
• Demonstrate how a counsellor could combat feelings of denial in grieving.
• Explain why it is important for both the client and the counsellor to understand the grieving process.
• Research into suicide, to determine attitudes, information and support services available in the student’s country.
• Discuss a variety of different people’s views on suicide.
• Describe high risk factors to be looked for when assessing the likelihood of a person committing suicide.
• Demonstrate alternative strategies that a counsellor might use to become more aware of a depressed client’s risk of suicide.
• Explain how a counsellor might learn to challenge their own irrational beliefs in order to help a suicidal client.
• Compare working with and working in opposition to a client.

Recommended Reading

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Trainee counsellors or psychologists who develop their communication skills develop their own self-awareness. This is because developing communication skills requires taking a look at your present communication style and being brutally honest with what currently works and what needs improvement.

Communication skills are grouped as:

Hearing verbal messages- these messages are the apparent and underlying cognitive and affective content of the person's statements.

Perceiving nonverbal messages- are sent via body language, vocal tone, facial expression, and other cues that accompany verbal messages. The emotion the sender is experiencing can be picked up at this level so that empathy can be conveyed. Perceiving the non-verbal messages can also assist the trainee recognise inconsistencies between verbal and non-verbal messages.

Responding- immediate genuine, empathic reaction is required for verbal and nonverbal messages. The response should consider apparent and underlying content of messages and perceived non-verbal messages.

Verbal and non-verbal communication

Verbal communication involves the use of words: spoken or written. Even a person who thinks they are not communicating can be sending messages. Non-verbal communication involves other signals or messages ‑ pictures, music, body language (the way the body moves or is held, gestures, facial expression, eye contact etc.). Many communication experts assign greater importance to non-verbal communication in ordinary conversation, than what they assign to verbal communication.

Albert Mehrabian suggests in his book Communication Without Words, the following breakdown of impact in a normal conversation: · 7% verbal (i.e.: From what you say) · 25% vocal (i.e.: From how you say it) · 68% facial (i.e.: From the way you move · your eyes, raise the eyebrows, smile or frown etc). Other non-verbal elements of communication can include behaviour, such as the distance you stand or sit from the other, whether and how you touch the other person, your actions before, during and after the communication. All these can be interpreted by the other person. For instance, if your words do not seem to match your actions or body language, the message will be confusing, contradictory or simply inauthentic.    

Our bookshop offers a range of counseling and psychology courses which you may find useful. You can see our range of books at – http://www.acsbookshop.com/books_productcategory.aspx?id=14

Not sure whether counseling is the right career for you or if you would like to know more.

You can find out more about careers in psychology and counseling at - http://www.thecareersguide.com/articles.aspx?category=14

We also offer the following courses which may be of interest to you -

Life Coaching - http://www.acsedu.com/Courses/product.aspx?id=477

http://www.acsedu.com/Courses/product.aspx?id=366

Conflict Management http://www.acsedu.com/Courses/product.aspx?id=475

Counselling Skills I http://www.acsedu.com/Courses/product.aspx?id=481

Crisis Counselling http://www.acsedu.com/Courses/product.aspx?id=503

Multicultural Awareness http://www.acsedu.com/Courses/product.aspx?id=360

Psychology and Counselling http://www.acsedu.com/Courses/product.aspx?id=491

Relationship and Communication Counselling   http://www.acsedu.com/Courses/product.aspx?id=363

Sports Psychology http://www.acsedu.com/Courses/product.aspx?id=367

Stress Management