{"id":35081,"date":"2019-08-01T06:22:40","date_gmt":"2019-08-01T05:22:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/counsellingtu.onpressidium.com\/?page_id=35081"},"modified":"2021-11-13T12:19:41","modified_gmt":"2021-11-13T12:19:41","slug":"immediacy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/counsellingtutor.com\/basic-counselling-skills\/immediacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Immediacy in Counselling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Immediacy in Counselling<\/h1>\n\t

What is\u00a0Immediacy?<\/h2>\n\t

Feltham and Dryden<\/a> (1993: 88) describe immediacy as ‘the key skill of focusing attention on the here and now relationship of counsellor and client with helpful timing, in order to challenge<\/a> defensiveness and\/or heighten awareness’.<\/p>\n

Using immediacy means that the therapist reveals how they themselves are feeling in response to the client.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"Counsellor\n\t

Feltham and Dryden (1993: 89) explain, however, that immediacy is ‘not the same as simply saying whatever comes into one’s head, but a rapidly calculated disclosure of the counsellor’s present experience in relation to the client’.<\/p>\n\t

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Risks of Immediacy<\/h3>\n\t

If the use of immediacy backfires, it can (hopefully only temporarily) rupture the counsellor-client relationship, with the client feeling misunderstood.<\/p>\n

Because established trust and a sound therapeutic relationship are needed in this situation to rebuild the connection (i.e. relational depth<\/a>: Mearns and Cooper, 2005), immediacy should not be used too early in therapy.<\/p>\n

It is one of the advanced counselling skills<\/a>, and is therefore best tried once the therapist has built some experience in counselling.<\/p>\n\t

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Using immediacy means that the therapist reveals how they themselves are feeling in response to the client.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Benefits of Immediacy<\/h3>\n\t

If immediacy does go well, however, the benefits can be huge, with the client feeling strongly that they have been heard and understood. It can also really help with focusing\u00a0in counselling<\/a>.<\/p>\n\t

Immediacy in Person-Centred Counselling<\/h4>\n\t

Immediacy may seem at first sight to sit poorly with person-centred theory, which advocates the therapist being completely in the client’s frame of reference<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It is the one time that a person-centred counsellor will speak from their own frame of reference, expressing an instinctive feeling that feels important to share with the client.<\/p>\n\t

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It is not only outside the client’s frame of reference; but it is also probably not even on the client’s edge of awareness. It comes from your own frame of reference as the therapist – a gut feeling so strong that you are drawn to share it.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Example of Immediacy<\/h3>\n\t

Imagine that you’re working with an adult male client (Kelly, 2017: 61). As he speaks about his experiences, he suddenly appears to you very much like a small boy who is lost.<\/p>\n

In this situation, you might observe: ‘As you say that, I sense that you look like a lost little boy.’<\/p>\n

This is not only outside the client’s frame of reference, but it is also probably not even on the client’s edge of awareness<\/a>. It comes from your own frame of reference as the therapist – a gut feeling so strong that you are drawn to share it. As such, it keys into implicit processes\u00a0in counselling<\/a>.<\/p>\n\t

When the client processes your observation, he might do one of the following:<\/h4>\n