Skills Practice Experience

This nervousness made me breeze over asking the client if they had any questions about the confidentiality agreement. It is crucial to make sure you give the clients an opportunity to ask questions. Still, if this is not done it can discourage the client from opening up and potentially set a bad stage for the session. Additionally, I found myself unable to maintain eye contact at times with my client, due to uneasiness and a loss for words. When stuck on what to say next, I more often than not would look away from the client to collect my thoughts. Yet, this seemed to create some discomfort within the situation toward the client themselves. Eye contact is important to make sure the client realizes you are in the moment with them, making them a top priority. A loss in this concept can create animosity towards the goals of the session. Likewise, without affirmation there can be negative consequences to your session and the emotional state of the client. Often clients are coming to social workers in crisis and are emotionally unbalanced. Therefore, affirmations of the client’s strengths help them grow in confidence in figuring out a treatment plan for their situation. This attribute is something I almost completely disregarded because I was so focused on analyzing the situation that I forgot to acknowledge the strengths within the client. I was very intent on trying to find the root of the

After I left the counselling session, I felt relieved as though I had a load off my chest. I realised the counsellor let me express what I wanted to but used history as a guise. I spoke freely about all aspects of my life and the counsellor didn’t need to say too much. She quietly, but professionally took notes when a point of interest arose but didn’t let the note-taking affect the flow of talk. I noted that expressions on people’s faces can greatly determine the nature of the conversation. If someone looks easy to talk to, then they probably are as their body language can emphasise and express feelings (Egan, 2007, p .84). I noticed the importance of simple and respectful questioning and how it promotes more talking. If the question requires the client to think and reflect on the situation at hand then I believe it is a worthy question to ask (Egan, 2007, p. 95). Open questions that my counsellor asked such as “how do you think you will react when your wife comes back to Australia?” challenged the way I was thinking at the time and promoted reflection (Egan,

The second statement of the counselor that was a good characteristic was when he stated “Great. That is a good start. Let’s talk some more about where that frustration comes from.” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2012). The counselor used an open-ended question to allow the client to give an answer with a more elaborate answer than just yes or no. Also the counselor was supportive of the client’s choice to focus on himself at this point in his counseling. According to Cooper (2010) “open questions will allow for a more meaningful response and give more control to the client.” If a client is guarded in their responses open-ended questions will allow them to disclose what they feel comfortable disclosing without them feeling so pressured to give information.

In my opinion, I did a good job about open ending and close ending questions. I tried to ask what I need to know about the client’s issue which was Depression. I used reflection, paraphrasing and summarizing during this session. I had a tendency to ask questions fast, I need to work on that. I will need to use more silence time after each question to give the client more time to think. When I watched the video, to me it seems like I push him to answer the questions fast.

The skill that i need more practice in is the open questions. I know what an open ended question is and the benefits are, I could use more examples. I find that i fall back on close ended questions due to a lack of practice. The other skills arent solid but i feel i do them a little better then asking open ended questions. Affirming requires the counselor to hone in on the person in front them and the strengths they bring to the table (Miller and Rollnick, 2012). I am good at that. I am also good at reflective listening and I am able to ask if I heard something right. The last two, summarizing and informing and advising are ones I could use the help with but not as much as open ended

In order for me to comprehend I have to do it or see it physically. What I learned about myself after completing the exercises is that I think about others more then I think about myself. Also, I learned is that when dealing with clients, I go with how the atmosphere is in the room. I do not have a sent agenda on how my sessions will go I just go with the flow of things and make sure that all the key points I have a reached by the end of the session with my

When I was in the social worker role I made sure to look at my client in the eye when they were speaking to me to validate that I was listening. While listening I made sure to listen actively by summarizing what the client was saying and remembered to say things that could reassure the client that I am trying to understand what they are feeling. Examples of this are phrases such as: “I hear what you are saying that you felt this way” and “I don’t know what you’re feeling but it must be hard on you to feel this way”. Which in turn also helped me create open ended questions to ask the client. By being an active listener and empathizing with the client it makes it easier to ask open ended questions because I have more information to work on than if I was not really listening or being sympathetic instead of empathetic. I can ask questions that can fill in any loop holes that might be able to help to understand my clients’ strengths or what their needs are. I am glad that I learned that I have these strengths as a social worker and how these strengths will be great tools to help my future

I also feel this assignment prepared me in a way for when I am working with clients when I am in placement next year or when I finally have my degree and if I decide to counsel people. I learned when people come in with one problem they may actually have many more problems that have to lead to this one big problem they have come to counselling for or have been referred to go to counselling for. I feel in a way this assignment has shown me how difficult it can be to work with specific clients because it could take sessions before I get all the answers I should be able to help a client, but I may not have enough sessions. This assignment also taught me that sometimes one theory to treat a client is not enough sometimes two or more theories are what is needed depending on the client and their problem they are

The second skill I demonstrated was complimenting at the 4:30 minute mark. Complimenting is important because it can help discover client’s

There is some of the basic counseling skills that I learned in EDCE 505 that I see applied in this application. One basic counseling skill is finding out some background knowledge about the client during the first session. For instance, the counselor, Dr. Anika Warren, asked the client, Erika, about why she wanted career counseling and about her educational past (2006). Erika spoke about her family’s love of education and how she was looking to change career and more on from a nonprofit job. This will aid the counselor in how she should progress in the sessions and any areas they might need to cover. Another skill Anika used is summarizing and paraphrasing what Erika told her as a way to seek clarity and move on to another part of the discussion.

I also reviewed my counseling skills text to ensure that I demonstrated all the counseling skills such as empathy, active listening, and unconditional positive regard to name a few. I enjoyed partaking

If I had been asked this journal entry question year ago, I would have responded that I would be hesitate, nervous, and bothered. However, I have had two courses in which a video of me demonstrating my counseling skills, on the assessment level of a client-therapist session and in the client-therapist form. I interviewed a client with a domestic violence issues. I was beyond nervous, although I had my instructions, and understood what was the what was xpectpec of me was clear, I was still hesitant and unsure. After the completing of both assignments I found a confidence I did not know existed.

It is quite remarkable to see the skills I have learnt put into action with individuals I encounter in my every day dealings. By implementing the basic counselling skills learnt, it has aided me in being a better person and also laid the foundations for my future career. Many skills were used in a variety of situations in the past quarter of a year, however, only a brief description of a few will be discussed below. It is simpler to learn a core skill from a textbook however it is more complex to apply that skill in practise; every individual is different and so are each of their issues. It is important as a student to familiarise ourselves with the key skills needed to become a successful skilled helper. In the beginning we are taught

Also, I learned how to disengage from the consumer and how to detect client readiness.

I was surprised that I was able to accomplish the techniques, and I know I need more practice but I am willing to keep practicing for the better of myself and my clients. I did not like that I was still thinking too hard of how to respond to my client and I was doubting myself if I was doing well. After so many sessions, my anxiety of being in front of someone that is expecting to receive the great guidance for their solution has removed a little but it is still there only because I want to respond to them correctly. Therefore, that is when my doubtness enters because I want to be the best for the client. I also learned that it is okay to make a mistake during the session but to just respond towards the client by apologizing for