Transcript Advanced Counseling Skills

Advanced Counseling Skills – Part 1
MCFC/MHC/CC Residency 1
Learning Objectives
• From this presentation, you will be given
information to:
 Utilize skills of challenging and confronting
 Explain the purpose of immediacy and self
disclosure
 Practice advanced skills
May 2011 Revised
Advanced Counseling Skills
Advanced skills help move from the
introduction stage to exploration and action
stages of counseling
 Focus primarily on feelings and communication
 Help to establish trust in the relationship
 Facilitate rapport between counselor and client
May 2011 Revised
Skill: Challenging/Confronting
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Although this may hint of condescension this is not the
intent. If delivered in a subtle manner, a client will not
perceive your efforts as confrontational.
Invite clients to challenge themselves to change ways of
thinking and acting that keep them mired in problem
situations and prevent them from identifying and
developing opportunities.
If they do not accept the invitation, then challenge them
directly to change. Examine what the benefits and costs
(logical consequence) there are for the client if they do not
choose to make change.
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Skill: Challenging/Confronting
• Goals
• To increase participation in the counseling process
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To increase client’s awareness of blind spots and
develop new perspectives
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To identify responsibility for problems and unused
potential
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To enhance the client’s problem solving ability
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To challenge distortions, excuses, games
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To explore consequences of client’s actions
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To move beyond discussion and inertia into action
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Skill: Challenging/Confronting
Challenging/Confronting is a logical step
in listening:
Attending > listening > understanding >
empathy > probing > challenging
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Skill: Challenging/Confronting
• What to Challenge
• Between what is said now vs. earlier
• “Earlier I thought I heard you say that you did not want to quit your
job, now I am hearing you say that you are planning to quit.”
• Between verbal and nonverbal cues
• “I hear you say that you are not angry with him, but I can’t help but
notice that your fists are clenched, you are talking faster, and you
are using strong words when you talk about him.”
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Skill: Challenging/Confronting
What to Challenge (cont.)
• Between what the client says s/he wants and what s/he is
doing to achieve it
• I understand that you want to not be dependent on your parents
any longer, however I don’t see that you are planning to get a job
to make this happen.
• Blindspots
• lack of awareness
• self-deception
• choosing to stay in the dark
• knowing but not caring
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Skill: Challenging/Confronting
What to Challenge (cont.)
• Disputing Beliefs when thinking is distorted,
irrational, or illogical
• Help the client explore underlying beliefs that might be
leading to self defeating patterns
• Listen for exaggerated, hyperbolic language (e.g.,
“never”, “always”, “only”)
• Listen for absolutes
• Listen for sense of entitlement
• Listen for overgeneralizations
• Listen for “musts” and “shoulds”
• Listen for shirking of responsibility
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Skill: Challenging/Confronting
What to Challenge (cont.)
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Problems they are avoiding
Opportunities they are ignoring
Things they are overlooking
Things they are refusing to see
Things they don’t want to do
Assumptions they are making
Dishonesty with themselves
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Activity
Practice challenging these clients:
 A woman who takes care of everyone else
except herself
 A student who says s/he plans to go to med
school, but has only a 2.0 GPA
 A client who professes to hold strong religious
values, but disparages people of other racial
and ethnic groups
 A client who is crying while stating that
everything is fine
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Skill: Immediacy
Immediacy – using a moment in counseling to deal
with an issue, whether it be b/w you and the client
or you are challenging the client
Situations for Immediacy
 lack of direction
 tension
 trust
 diversity
 dependency
 counterdependency
 attraction (be very careful in this discussion)
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Skill: Counselor Self Disclosure
Formula:
 Must be appropriate and purposeful, not burdensome to client
 Use personal pronouns (I, me, my)
 Use verb for content, feeling, or both (I think… I feel… I have
experienced)
 Use feeling words and expression of feeling (My experience was
similar to yours and I felt betrayed and sad over the loss of my job;
or, I know what it was like for me to be in that situation. I really had to
adjust to _____. What is it like for you?)
 Remember, it is ALWAYS about the client, so don’t change the focus
to you
 Attend to your client’s story
 Assess the appropriateness of your story and share it BRIEFLY
 Return the focus to the client and pay attention to client’s reaction
to your story
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Skill: Counselor Self Disclosure
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Be genuine
Be selective
Do not share too often
Do not interrupt your client to share your
story
• Always ask yourself how this will benefit
your client
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Activity
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Your 15-year-old client recently experienced the
breakup. He is very upset about the loss of this
significant relationship and doesn’t believe he will ever
fall in love again because this person was so special.
• You also remember how sad you were with your first
breakup. How can you appropriately disclose to your
client information about your experience in a way that
facilitates the client’s counseling process?
May 2011 Revised
References
Egan, G. (2010). The skilled helper: A problem management
and opportunity development approach to helping (9th ed.).
Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole (Cengage Learning). ISBN: 9780-495-60189-0 or 0-495-60189-6 hard.
Egan, G. (2010). Exercises in helping skills: A manual to
accompany the skilled helper (9th ed.). Belmont, CA:
Brooks/Cole (Cengage Learning). ISBN: 978-0-495-80632-5
or 0-495-80632-3 soft.
May 2011 Revised