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Core Counselling Skills<\/h2>\n\t
Core listening skills are basic counselling skills, or practiced techniques, that help the counsellor to empathetically listen<\/a>\u00a0to the speaker.<\/p>\n Skills include:<\/p>\n The core counselling skills are described below.<\/p>\n\t Attending in counselling<\/a> means being in the company of someone else and giving that person your full attention<\/strong>, to what they are saying or doing, valuing them as worthy individuals.<\/p>\n\t Silence in counselling<\/a> gives the client control of the content, pace and objectives.<\/p>\n This includes the counsellor listening to silences as well as words<\/em>, sitting with them and recognising that the silences may facilitate the counselling process.<\/p>\n\t Reflecting in counselling<\/a> is part of the ‘art of listening’. It is making sure that the client knows their story is being listened to.<\/p>\n This is achieved by the helper\/counsellor by both repeating and feeding a shorter version of their story back to the client<\/strong>. This known as ‘paraphrasing<\/strong>‘.<\/p>\n\t Questions in counselling<\/a> are classed as a basic skill.\u00a0The counsellor uses open questions to clarify his or her understanding of what the client is feeling.<\/p>\n Leading questions are to be avoided<\/strong> as they can impair the counselling relationship.<\/p>\n\t Focusing in counselling<\/a> involves making decisions about what issues the client wants to deal with.<\/p>\n The client may have mentioned a range of issues and problems and focusing allows the counsellor and client together to clear away some of the less important surrounding material and concentrate on the central issues<\/strong> of concern.<\/p>\n\t Building rapport with clients in counselling<\/a> is important, whatever model of counselling the counsellor is working with.<\/p>\n Rapport means a sense of having a connection with the person<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\t Summaries in counselling<\/a> are longer paraphrases.\u00a0They condense or crystallise the essence of what the client is saying and feeling<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The summary ‘sums up’ the main themes that are emerging.<\/p>\n\t Using immediacy means that the therapist reveals how they themselves are feeling in response to the client.<\/p>\n According to Feltham and Dryden (1993: 88), immediacy<\/a> is ‘the key skill of focusing attention on the here and now relationship of counsellor and client with helpful timing, in order to\u00a0challenge<\/a>\u00a0defensiveness and\/or heighten awareness’.<\/p>\n\t\t Examples of Counselling Skills<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tClick Here to Download Free Handout\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\n
1. Attending<\/h3>\n
2. Silence<\/h3>\n
3. Reflecting and Paraphrasing<\/h3>\n
4. Clarifying and the Use of Questions<\/h3>\n
5. Focusing<\/h3>\n
6. Building Rapport<\/h3>\n
7. Summarising<\/h3>\n
8. Immediacy<\/h3>\n
Free Handout Download<\/h3>\t\t\n\t\t\t