Analyse Egans 3 Stage Model of Counselling Essay

The main principles of person centred model are the core conditions of empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard. They are vital for building a safe therapeutic relationship, in which the client can explore fully.

In this assignment I intend to define ‘counselling skills and knowledge’ and then show how I actively employ these qualities during my everyday life. These include informal helping interactions with family and friends, in a supervisory capacity at work and during skills practice sessions as part of my counselling course. Finally I’ll analyse the effects that these helping interactions have on me personally and the various ways in which I deal with those effects.

The main focus of this essay has to be on the three ‘core conditions’, as utilised by the counsellor to promote a positive movement in their client’s psychology. They are intended for maintaining a focus on the client’s personal growth, and detract from the therapist’s own outside world. The three core conditions are the professional apparatus or tool-kit of the therapist, and the use of each is a skill in itself but the combined forces of all three in an effective manner requires an abundance of skill or experience. These are, as have already been mentioned, congruence, unconditional positive regard and empathy. They are separate skills but are intrinsically linked to each other. If used correctly, they can guide the client to a state of self-realisation, which could lead to the development of a healing process.

 Solution focused therapy is a model of therapy developed by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg in the late 1970's (Dolan, n.d.). This model has become well known for its non-traditional approach to client problems as it does not explore clients issues in relation to their cause and affect but rather the goals and solutions to achieving a future free of any present issues. i will be discussing the evident concepts, principles and intervention techniques of this particular model. it will be explored in the context of a case scenario of a therapy session to observe how the model can be actively applied to therapy sessions and why this is the best model to meet the client's needs. The effectiveness of the model

Culley and Bond's Integrative Skills Model is another example of a counselling approach. This is important primarily due to the fact that the person-centred approach was developed in counselling. The focus is on developing skills and using them effectively. Subsequently, we may become competent in an 'unconcious' way in applying these skills in a counselling approach to guidance. This is a 3-stage model with a beginning, middle and end. As with Egan's model, Culley and Bond aim to bring structure to an activity which could be seen as' random or chaotic'. When talking about the exploratative aspect of the model, Culley and Bond (2004) suggest:

The counselling process is based on the exchange of emotions between the client and the counsellor which aims to form an alliance (Hough, 1998). It involves the counsellor using skills in which they possess in order to communicate effectively with clients (Hough, 1998). This reflective essay clearly articulates my application of counselling skills used in this practice session and suggestions for improvement. It will provide a summary of the session, identification of a range of skills used and a brief explanation of the reasons for using the skill. It will also provide an evaluation of my application of the skills chosen, including verbatim examples, suggestions for improvement, also including verbatim examples to demonstrate what could

Cognitive-behavioural therapy is widely short-term and concentrates on enabling clients to deal with very particular problems. Often six weeks to six months sessions of course depending upon the problem it is pacifically goal directed and places great weight upon self-help as a long term coping tool that the client can take away with them and successfully use. Cognitive-behavioural therapy believes that clients can learn the wrong ways of developing and making sense of information during their cognitive development. This can often lead to distortions in the way they identify reality, it’s the job of the therapist to enable them to work this out.

P1 & M1 – Describe processes for initiating, maintaining, developing and conducting a helping relationship and assess how integrating counselling skills should support clients.

Gerard Egan’s 3 Stage Skilled Helper Mode 1994, provides a basic guideline on how helping relationships should be carried out. It is important that helpers take into consideration the steps provided in the Egan’s mode as it provides structure and positive support to clients.

Throughout this essay I will illustrate the similarities and differences between the three core theories by looking at the theory behind each concept, the nature of the client/counsellor relationship and the techniques used. The three core theories to be considered here are Humanistic,

Sanders, Frankland and Wilkins. (2009) Next Steps in Counselling Practice. 2nd Edition: Ross-on-Wye: PCCS Books Ltd

This is the ‘how’ stage. How will the client move forward with the goals that they have identified in the previous stage? The counsellor will assist the client in finding ways of achieving their goals and how to focus on those that are practical in terms of the client situation and needs. The basic goals in the skilled helper model is relating to the clients is managing their lives more effectively and general ability to manage problems and develop opportunities. The view of the client in this model is that they are central to the therapy. (The client is the focus and the theory is the background and to use the model for the client, rather thee reverse).

The interview took place in a small room. There were four members from the Interviewing and Counselling class that were present; myself the counsellor, the client and the two others were technical support. The client gave permission for the other two members to be present because they helped to tape and time of the session. The setting was not very ideal, since there were two additional members and the room was available for a limited time. Nevertheless, it worked because it was a familiar setting where we practice our counselling most of the time. The setting encouraged comfort and disclosure because the door of the room was closed and the client and I trusted the other members. At the

Solution-focused helping focuses on creating solutions rather than on the current problem. The sessions are typical brief and client driven and lead, According to Egan (2010), the helper focuses on common sense and caution against letting theory get in the way of helping the client. In most cases, the helper-as-expert is replaced with the client-as-expert mindset. The helper becomes a consultant, guide, or facilitator by assisting the client to identify and apply existing resources to the temporary and changeable specific problem. In this therapy, it is believed that client has the resources and strengths to resolve complaints. There are four steps for Solution-Focused: First, what does the client want and try to secure that sense of happiness. Second, do not look for pathology. Third, always encourage the client to try something different. Fourth, keep the sessions brief. One criticisms of the approach is that it’s not realistic. People are used to dealing with problems, so this approach might be disorienting to some clients, Egan (2010). It is said that change comes from dealing with problems not ignoring them.

There are many theoretical models of counseling. Often, a diverse approach or the use of several approaches is best for the resolution of problems. I utilize several different theories and strategies in my role as a counselor. However, it is the Individual personal theory and the Family theory model that anchors my orientation to counseling as a Christian counselor.