SKILLS AND APPROACH OF A COUNSELLOR

SKILLS AND APPROACH OF A COUNSELLOR

Grady Bukishie

Introduction

The study is going to shed light of the micro skills of a counsellor in CPCAB Counselling. A critical analysis of the micro skills regarding rigorous observation, questioning, attending behaviour, influencing, and above all focusing are highlighted. Apart from that, the current mental state of the client, who has been facing challenges from his violent mistress, opted for the counselling is also highlighted.

Thesis statement:

The thesis statement of the study is agreeing to the skills and approaches of a counsellor in psychotherapy.

Skills of the practitioner

It is evident from the video that the counsellor, Steve has begun the ice breaking round with a good hand by showing a calm and cool disposition (Youtube.com, 2021). As per the view of Asri et al. (2020), skills of the counsellors have become pivotal and there is no alternative of traditional or face-to-face counselling. In the video, listening from the horses mouth has become paramount to delve into the minute details of the clients suffering from some sort of issues. At the beginning, the counsellor attended the counselling process with a whole-hearted effort to make the client get accustomed with the situation. Katz et al. (2021), exploration of the essential micro skills helps in connecting and engaging with an engrossing counselling to help the client with the concepts of prosody. Mindfulness was embodied in this practice while attending the client and a counter transference was seen. [Refer to Appendix 1]

It is important that the counsellor has assured the client to provide a free session for consecutive six weeks which was promising in a psychotherapy counselling (Youtube.com, 2021). Moreover, there was a requirement of supervision every month as directed by the counsellor which was praiseworthy. In addition, the boundaries of safety were empowered by a counsellor that was shown at the early part of the video, which is praiseworthy to give utmost safety. As mentioned by Jorgensen-Graupner & Van Zyl (2019), the psychological practices, and human behaviour are inextricably linked where the competency-based approach is supposed to be taken. In the video, the counsellor attended and observed the client cautiously and later summarised all the issues step by step.

A more heart-to-heart approach was taken by Steve when he inquired about the sleeplessness and the reasons behind the loss of appetites of the client in a fruitful manner. As demonstrated by Wright (2020), in EPs or Educational Psychologies, a reflection of one's own feelings is of immense significance where the experience and life values are depicted by the counsellors. In the duration of (5:12) of the video, the counsellor had stated that he is happy within the single blessedness which, on the other hand, could heighten the confidence of Martin who underwent violence several times from his partner (Youtube.com, 2021). On the other hand, Dislere & Vronska (2020) opined that career counselling, career service managing competencies, and generic competencies are important in heightening the own capacity of the clients. Steve was all ears while fathoming the reasons behind a low morale of Martin as he asked to give details of their relationship since its beginning.

Almost all the skills were shown by the counsellor in an effective manner as he was able to stop his client from leaving the room abruptly. Steve diligently handled the issue which has made the client feel low all the time. As a result, the impact was great as the client could share the details of his issues to Steve or else those could have remained unanswered, and the counselling process could not take place properly and in a right direction. A critical analysis of the existing social issue and making Martin comfortable in the room went well (Youtube.com, 2021). On the other hand, Steve did not assure his client about complete recovery where mental harmony is concerned (1:07, 1:11). This could have the entire process as this may have demoralised the counsellor to some extent.

Apart from these, Steve did not start the conversation with small talks and he directly began with the issue which, on the other hand, significantly contributed to the counselling relationship. This might have not worked so well in the entire session as some talk shops could have been made at the ice-breaking stage (Youtube.com, 2021). The most important thing was the jovial nature of the counsellor that made him go on with the counselling to foster a significant relationship. Moreover, the attending behaviour could have been made in a different way where a few other topics could have been included (Prasath et al. 2021). It was evident that the client was infuriated in the beginning (3:50) where the role of Steve might have been changed.

Positive and negative aspects of the session

Communication and listening

It is evident from the video that Steve was inclined to actively listen to his client specially when he came to know about the violence (6:58). According to Prez-Rosas et al. (2022), verbal persuasion, and emotional arousal are important in the psychotherapy counselling while social factors are inextricably attached with. In the middle of the video, (10:25, 11:13), Steve made his client aware that such types of violence are common these days where the male counterparts feel shy to share that. Contrastingly, as commented by Watt et al. (2019), self-efficacy, scale development, and resilience building are important in the counselling process that can heighten the PCES or the psychologist and counsellor self-efficacy scale in a positive manner. In the video, Steve was successful in these aspects as the counselling freedom was given to the client, Martin from the early stages of the counselling (Youtube.com, 2021). Additionally, Steve encourages and applauds Martin for braving the taunts several times (Youtube.com, 2021).

Analysing skills were excellent as Steve made vivid examples regarding the current issue of Martin in a structured way to make him feel comfortable in the session. As claimed by Jacobs (2020), mhGAP or mental health gap action programme is of immense significance in psychotherapy to retreat mental illnesses. The present social issue was addressed by Steve fruitfully to give added advantage to his client though the issues seemed trivial to him. In addition, Steve was successful in evaluating the mods of the client and his wife where fickle mindedness was writ large by his wife (5:55). Moreover, as a counsellor, he never blamed his client's wife for being excessively rude for some straw issues.

It was evident that Martin was inconsolable at that time as the memories seared his memory for one and a half years. It is significant that Steve appreciated the bonding of the parents of his client and assured him recovery (Youtube.com, 2021). A dedicated and designated approach is worthy to deal with patients who are suffering from serious mental stigma (Katz et al. 2021). Besides, ones complete attention can be brought on a moment-to-moment basis with the present experience. In this way, the body-mind integration originated where emotional interaction was inevitable beyond simple communication. In addition, Steve appreciated the apologies that were made from the client's end which shows the sympathetic nature of the counsellor.

Another important thing was the introduction of the self-help group who explicitly help to get rid of domestic violence in a proper way (10:11). As imprinted by Dogan (2022), social oriented approach and moral obligations are invariably linked with one another. This was carefully helmed by Steve in the counselling room (12:22). Moreover, an added layer of enthusiasm was provided to Martin where mens victimisation from fair sex or women was clear and IPV or Intimate Partner Violence was seen (Youtube.com, 2021). A series of open-ended questions were placed with keeping in mind the mental state of Martin where psychological aggression was evident.

While dealing with the negative aspects of the session, it is obvious that the counsellor was slightly over-hasty at the beginning where he almost forced the client regarding his present issues. As stated by Prez-Rosas et al. (2019), behavioural health problems, behavioural counselling might have been improved with turn-by-turn interaction where the counsellor slightly faltered. Moreover, he apologised for making Martin angry which needed to be improved.

Moreover, the counsellor jumped to a conclusion not being aware with the actual facts of the client which has been acknowledged by him (2:40). This phenomenon could have been improved to carry on the conversation in a different manner where the client could get significant interest and encouragement in the process (Youtube.com, 2021). The client tried to hide the skeleton in his closet by stating that he was fine which was not supposed to happen (3:50). For this reason, it was clear that Steve got slight collywobbles at the beginning stage of the counselling. Lastly, Steve asked his client to deal with the happenings which may have been improved through facial expressions, and the tone of voices was decent. The client was slightly hesitant to open up about anything.

Development of my own micro skills

An undeterred focus is highly influential which is paramount in any kind of counselling process. As per the notion of Mawani & Nderu (2020), cultural responsiveness is needed to be fostered throughout the counselling process to refrain from any sort of stigma. Moreover, being all ears to the client and summarising all thoughts to provide a conclusion is necessary. Additionally, there were clarifying questions other than open ended ones which made the client feel comfortable. It was also clear that the questions must not be asked not only to satisfy the curiosity and it helped to frame the entire process which was relevant (Mawani & Nderu, 2020). Besides, silence was another fruitful aspect which was maintained throughout the entire session. Lastly, interruption, and judging the client must not be made which on the other hand, could make the receiver uncomfortable.

An active listening and then summarising is highly essential where the client made a slight hasty approach. Without proper listening, summarisation can never be made, and the counselling process moves in the wrong direction. In addition, addressing the issues with pepper and realistic examples are bound to give an overall feeling to the client that he or she is not alone to deal with this. Other than that, icebreaking could have been made in another way where other than the issue; different topics could be introduced to the client to get into his mental state in an appropriate manner. Other than that, bypassing the professional relationship with the client is of immense importance (Mack et al. 2021). From the video, the client made the statement of professionalism at the starting of the entire conversation (1:42). This needs to be improved as it can divert the client from his focus as he is already in a state of mental dilemma.

Apart from these, the counsellor was slightly apprehensive in sharing the details of the self-help group which had demoralised the client to a certain extent. The feeling of the client was not clarified by this as he was prone to take such help by all means. Moreover, a deeper understanding and a relaxed posture is highly essential in psychotherapy counselling (Mack et al. 2019). Steve was unable to state about the victimisation and made it clear to the client for its happening of late. In other words, Steve could not place himself in the shoes of his client which could have been fostered. Lastly, despite genuineness, the questioning style could have been improved to delve into the minute details of the present issues of the client.

Conclusion

Psychotherapy counselling and its importance have been demonstrated in the above essay where the helplessness is shown with the principal focus on the men's victimisation. Hence, the thesis statement of the study has been achieved. Various skills of the counsellor in the form of listening, attending, observing, summarising, and above all a reflection of feeling is conferred. All the skills are necessary to build a robust relationship between the counsellor and counselee. The effectiveness and impact of the micro-skills and positive and negative aspects of the same have been highlighted. Lastly further developmental strategies are mentioned which could be helpful for the counsellor to go with the flow of the counselling.

References

Asri, A. S., Zainudin, Z. N., Othman, W. N. W., Yusop, Y. M., Ahmad, N. A., & Hassan, S. A. (2022). A Comparison of Counselling Self-Efficacy across Social Factors among E-Counsellors in Malaysia. Journal of Positive School Psychology, 3475-3489. Retrieved on 18th march, 2023 from: https://www.journalppw.com/index.php/jpsp/article/download/3889/2555Asri, A. S., Zainudin, Z. N., Wan Othman, W. N., Hassan, S. A., Ahmad, N. A., Abu Talib, M., & Mohamad Yusop, Y. (2020). E-counselling process and skills: A literature review. Journal of Critical Reviews, 7(13), 629-643. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.31838/jcr.07.13.110Dislere, V., & Vronska, N. (2020). Evaluation of career counsellors competences in career guidance. In The Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference Rural Environment. Education. Personality (REEP) (Vol. 13, pp. 385-399). DOI: 10.22616/REEP.2020.046

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Wright, R. (2020). Navigating blackness in educational psychology: Reflections of a trainee educational psychologist. Educational Psychology Research and Practice, 6(1), 1-9. Retrieved on 18th march, 2023 from: https://repository.uel.ac.uk/download/71078e77d3b5702956e1b637b1c304f0d5f17b5878e4f9c869c781340dd05470/127868/Educational%20Psychology%20Research%20and%20Practice%206%201%20Wright.pdfYoutube.com. 2021. Behind Closed Doors' CPCAB counselling studies mock exam film. Youtube.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE0Q_e-Y3ao

Appendices

Appendix 1: Counselling framework

(Source: https://cafetarjome.com/wp-content/uploads/3900/translation/4cd02d54212b92a4.pdf#page=389)

Appendix 2: Competency-based approach

(Source: https://cafetarjome.com/wp-content/uploads/3900/translation/4cd02d54212b92a4.pdf#page=389)

Appendix 3: Counselling leadership model

(Source: https://www.apa.org/education-career/ce/socially-just-culturally-responsive-leadership.pdf)