Essay about Counselling in the Polish Community

The narrative therapy approach allows the client the freedom to present their story and then to verbally rewrite the story in a more positive, healthy way.

The way the counsellor approaches the client in this infant stage is vital for the client to gain trust and has the willingness to open up in later sessions. Some clients may just rush into what is troubling them or say nothing, in both cases the counsellor will need to be patient, observe and listen to what is being said as there will be vital information given and without understanding this it could damage

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.

By discussing this particular experience in detail, I can begin to understand the specific skills a counsellor may use in many different situations in order to help others (Egan, 2007, p. 13). In this reflective

Before a counselling session starts it is important that the client understands confidentiality. To be able to understand this the counsellor must explain to the client that anything they say within the

However, it is not always that simple and there may be some instances when it is not possible to maintain total confidentiality and the counsellor my have to pass on certain information that was revealed. For example, if a crime has been committed or if there is a risk of harm to another person. In this case the counsellor must be clear with the client what information they may have to pass on and to whom.

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.

Decision making techniques can provide invaluable help to someone that is confused by helping them to paint their scenario options and then looking into the future and imagining them playing out. The client can then predict how their will manage this type of situation, how they would feel and how successful this option may be. The counsellor should also explain how unproductive it is to stay tortured about things and not come to a decision. Counsellors should help the client to sort through what they need to consider and make a date in order to meet a certain and effective decision. Counsellors should also analyse decisions and make sure the client has the necessary commitment to carry them out. Counsellors should make client’s realise that not all decisions will feel great, sometimes they are the best of two painful outcomes and may involve a loss. If a decision is delayed or must be delayed for any reason, a new date must be made for finalising it.

A counselling relationship is likened to being on a journey - a beginning, middle and end (Smallwood, 2013). During the beginning phase the client develops sufficient trust in the counsellor and the relationship ‘to explore the previously feared edges of his awareness’ (Mearns and Thorne, 1988, p.126).

Due to Marks very depressed state, the initial interaction required a great deal of empathy and high degrees of compassion. When first engaging a client, it is important to be compassionate and empathetic and listen without interrupting, prompting or advising (Berg-Weger, 2013). Reflecting and summarizing content delivered in the session is a valuable way to let the client know that you are actively listening to what they are saying

What this means is that the counsellor puts himself in the client’s shoes and sees things through the client’s eyes, (his internal frame of reference). When a counsellor does this, he knows and feels what the client is feeling as if he himself is feeling it, and so creates empathy and

It is confirmation that a counsellor validates the client, by acknowledging what is being said, and by providing further opportunity to talk. A client may find that they are unable to express themselves freely, due to fear, lack of confidence or other overwhelming feelings.

I beleive that if I cannot be open and honest with myself then how can I expect the client to be open and honest with me. Through experience I Understand how daunting it is to express your thoughts and feelings, not knowing how you will be judged or how others may react towards you. Personally by offering my clients a safe place to be listened to, showing them unconditional positive regard by showing them understanding and respect and helping them to gain back their locus of evaluation has had a positive effect on me also. I feel reassured that I am a good person that i am useful and happy in the knowledge that i have given my clients a positive experience that I have helped them through a difficult and sometimes dark confusing time I am being who I truely am as this is what I have wanted to do for some time now.

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

The first step would have involved the counsellor to create a psychological contact with Felicia. The second step within the process would be the counsellor needs to ensure that Felicia is in a state of incongruence. Incongruence is the difference of the client’s self-image and actual experience. If Felicia’s self-image and actual experiences don’t match it could lead her to feeling vulnerable and create anxiety. On the other hand, the counsellor needs to be congruent. This would mean the counsellor will be himself 100%. This will involve the counsellor being honest and transparent of who they are and not putting up a façade. The counsellor should show unconditional positive regard (UPR) to Felicia. Unconditional positive regard is the counsellor accepting and supporting the client without judging them. The fifth condition the counsellor should actively use would be empathy. Empathy is the skill to understand another individual’s feelings. This is vital within therapy. The counsellor should be able to experience the client’s feelings without it having effect on their emotions. The final condition would be the counsellor and the client have a minimal degree understanding of