Evaluation And Critical Analysis Of A 25 Minute Counselling Session

The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) define counselling, along with psychotherapy, as being “umbrella terms that cover a range of talking therapies” (BACP, 2012: 1). In addition, counselling is provided by practitioners who “work with people over a short or long term to help them bring about effective change or enhance their wellbeing” (BACP, 2012: 1). Those who practice counselling in a professional manner undergo intensive training and personal development, the latter of which has been “defined in terms of self-awareness and change” (Wheeler, 1996: 75). These changes, according to Johns, “influence the

The decision to take this course was rooted in a deepening interest in psychotherapy, self–development, the welfare of other people and in a desire to gain a theoretical base to enrich my current arts and health practice.

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

In this reflective essay I will provide an analysis of the counselling session I conducted and recorded. This will include a summary of the session. I will also describe the micro and advanced counselling skills utalised, as well as a critical evaluation of their effectiveness. A discussion of my application of these skills, as well as areas of possible improvement will supported by reference to relevant literature.

Carl Rogers, Born in Chicago in 1902 as the 4th of 6 children in a strict Fundamentalist Christian household.

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).

To be able to help a client to access their deepest thoughts and open up for discussion that is both helpful and meaningful, there are several specific microskills to know about to enhance the communication with the client (Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors, 2009). These communication skills are built through different stages and may feel a little unnatural at the beginning. However, counselling is not about giving advice, but about supporting and helping the client to find his/her own solutions. This makes counselling challenging on many levels as you need to be aware of your own behaviour (Perinatal Mental Health Project, n.d.).

There are 3 main outcomes needed within this assignment. The fist outcome is to distinguish and describe the main principles needed for effective communication and interpersonal communication skills which will ensure the counsellor works with the client successfully. The second outcome is to identify practical and ethical issues needed which would create a safe environment when a

Therapeutic approaches to counselling have evolved over the last century as therapists’ attempt to help their clients’ resolve negative patterns of thoughts and emotions. Whilst fear and sadness are said to be naturally occurring human emotions that evolve and form part of ‘life and living’, society is becoming increasingly aware of the negative physiological implications of stress caused by changes in environmental conditions, and clients’ are encouraged to seek professional help before their emotions spiral out of control leading to anxiety and depression, and in some cases mental health concerns.

Counselling session can facilitate the process of overcoming or working through personal issues from everyday hardship as well as potentially life threatening situations. This reflective essay will analyse a counselling session that I have attended with a professional counsellor. Her name was Hend. The session was to be recorded so I can refer to particular examples during the session. In this reflective essay I will give an overview of the counselling session as well as a discussion of my feelings before, during and after the session. Key skills used by the counsellor such as active listening, reflective skills and empathy will be explained, supported with verbatim examples from the session. Furthermore, the overall experiences and

By definition; counselling interventions and techniques can be described as a unique interrelationship between a client and a counsellor, with the sole aim to promote a change and growth and encourage a shift in behaviour towards fulfilling his or her human potential. (Feltham & Horton, 2006) It is the responsibility of the counsellor to contribute to the process of change during the counselling process, to enhance his or her client's personal development. The current essay will critically evaluate three counselling intervention / techniques and use this evaluation to reflect on the application of the humanistic theory in counselling practice and how they contribute to the effectiveness of the process.

The most frequently utilised evidence based psychotherapy intervention is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT; Beck, 1995). CBT is a goal-orientated intervention strategy, derived from learning theory with principles of cognitive theory (Arch & Craske, 2009). The efficacy of CBT, for a wide range of psychological concerns, is demonstrated extensively in the literature. CBT’s empirical validation has made it a well-accepted choice for psychotherapists seeking evidence-based approaches (Dobson & Dobson, 2009; Granvold, 2011). Therefore, this essay will evaluate a CBT counselling session with a client who presents with a fear of flying. The essay will critically evaluate the advanced micro-skills of challenging, reflection of meaning, and influencing, and how these skills influence the process of therapy. The essay will further utilise Hill’s (2004) Helping Skills Model to evaluate these advanced micro-skills within the stages of exploration, insight, and action, which is based on cognitive behavioural techniques.

For this essay there will be a critical evaluation of the counselling approaches and skills that are used which can guide the practice of education professionals and benefit relationships with children/ young people in supporting their social and emotional well-being. The approaches that will be looked at and compared are the Person-centred approach and the Psychodynamic approach. The approaches will be discussed and linked to the use in an educational context by teachers with children and young people. The strengths and weaknesses of these approaches will also be examined. It is important for teacher to support children and young people’s social and emotional development right for the start of their educational experiences in the early years. The statutory frame work for the early years published by the department for education in 2014 makes sure that every practitioner follows by law the learning and development requirements of every child. The DFE 2014 suggests educational programs have to include activities and experiences involving the children as suggested: personal social and emotional development entails assisting children to develop an encouraging view of themselves, and others; to make positive relationships and develop respect for others, progress on their social skills and acquire the skill how to deal and control their feelings, to know how to behaviour correctly in groups and to have self confidence in what they can do. From this practitioners can pick up on

Ego: In this second developmental stage, compromises in instinctive responses to environmental circumstances begin to develop. The ego mediates with the id by considering the rules of the real world and the consequences of actions taken in that world.