BASIC COUNSELING SKILLS

TRAINING FOR DIRECT SERVICE STAFF AT ST.LUKE’S HOUSE,THRESHOLD UNITED

INC.

Goals of thisTraining

Learn how to work with challenging clients without getting into power struggles

Build rapport with clients while maintaining appropriate boundaries

Using client strengths and goals to drive interactions

All interactions are interventions

THERAPEUTIC ALLIANCE

To be an effective counselor, a therapeutic alliance must be established with the client.

To develop this alliance requires a series of purposeful interactions that acknowledges the worth, competency and importance of the consumer as well as the respect and interest of the counselor.

Every action is an interaction.

Core Concepts Acceptance or unconditional positive regard Attending behavior Empathy Reflective listening Simple reflection and paraphrasing back Affirm Genuineness, self disclosure and boundaries Transference and counter transference Strength based counseling, solution focused and

client centered Power struggles and how to avoid them

ACCEPTANCE OR UNCONDITIONAL POSITIVE REGARD

Carl Rogers believes that this is central to positive human development. It is central to non directive, client centered therapy.

Allows a person to be themselves without feeling judged or criticized.

Allows the counselor to maintain objectivity and accept the client regardless of their past actions or behaviors

ATTENDING BEHAVIOR

Body Posture Tone of Voice Proximity Conveys empathy Encourages the other

person to talk Eye Contact Level of Relaxation

EMPATHY Empathy is the ability to name the emotions you

are observing and being able to ask the speaker if you are accurate in your perceptions

Empathy is different from sympathy which implies pity and maintains distance from another’s feelings. It is more a sense of feeling with a person rather than feeling sorry for them

It is not, “I know how you feel.” It is paraphrasing the content and

reflecting it back to the client It is always about the client The skills involved in empathy: listening/reflecting

REFLECTIVE LISTENING

“I am listening.” “I want to listen.” “I want to understand more about your

experience.” Use body language here, nodding, leaning in “Can you tell me more about that?” Reflective listening is a way of CHECKING

rather than ASSUMING that you know what is going on.

SIMPLE REFLECTION AND PARAPHRASING BACK

Client: “I know that it doesn’t help my depression to just stay in the house all day and not go out.”

Counselor: “It sounds like you know that you should avoid staying in the house all day and that you have some good insight into what might help your depression.”

BARRIERS TO REFLECTIVE/EMPATHIC LISTENING Cultural differences Gender Seeing the client as an object Not understanding your role as a counselor Your preconceived beliefs and ideas Discomfort in the presence of the client’s strong

emotions of grief, anger or pain Asking too many questions Giving advice

GENUINENESS AND SELF DISCLOSURE

Both verbal and non verbal behavior of the counselor is congruent

It is not the same as self disclosure It does not mean you express your feelings It is finding a comfortable level of sharing

without violating boundaries

ETHICS

According to the APA, and a consensus among psychologists and psychiatrists, any relationship between the therapist and client that causes harm is unethical and thus prohibited in the workplace

BOUNDARIES

The most important thing to remember when entering into any helping field, is that professional boundaries are necessary.

What if professional boundaries are not maintained?

Why are professional boundaries crossed? Counselors need to consider professional

boundaries as they relate to other behaviors on the job.

TRANSFERENCE AND COUNTER TRANSFERENCE

Transference is generally thought of as the redirection of a client’s feelings from a significant person in their life to their counselor and is mostly unconscious.

Counter transference is defined as a counselor’s feelings toward a client and depending on the counselor’s self knowledge and experience, may or may not be conscious.

STRENGTH BASED, SOLUTION FOCUSED, CLIENT CENTERED COUNSELING Focus on building client’s strengths, not

weaknesses Focus on what client would like to accomplish

– less focused in the past – more present and future oriented

Understands and develops the intrinsic ability of the client to be part of their wellness

POWER STRUGGLES Once a power struggle begins, there are no

winners It takes two Put your fears and ego away – remember that

you are working for the client It is their life and the choices they make are theirs Allow time and choices for a person to respond

differently This is where flexibility and

creative thinking come into play

Avoid arguments

Arguments are counterproductive Defending breeds defensiveness Resistance is a signal to change strategies

Rolling with resistance

Perceptions can be shifted New perspectives are invited but not imposed The client is a valuable resource in finding

solutions to problems

GROUPS

Social/Skill Building Groups – Provides social skills training

Participant Driven Groups - Peers create the subject matter and share a common area of interest. They are support groups and the facilitator is mostly involved in keeping the group feeling safe in sharing and encouraging everyone’s participation.

Decision Making Groups – Intended to complete a specific task

GROUPS (continued)

Support Groups – Intended to offer support for specific issues, eg. grief, dealing with mental illness, etc.

Education or Informational Groups – Topic focused eg. Medication management

House Groups – May be used in residential settings as a way to keep communication flowing among housemates

LEADERSHIP FUNCTIONS FOR GROUP FACILITATORS

Executive Function – Setting limits, providing rules and managing time

Caring – Showing warmth, support, acceptance, etc.

Meaning Attribution – Explaining and clarifying the group’s goals and objectives

Emotional Stimulation – Challenging, at times confronting and modeling behaviors

GROUP LEADERSHIP TECHNIQUES

Facilitating Communication – Providing constructive feedback and preventing members from engaging in negative behaviors

Set rules and limits – Address confidentiality, keep the flow of the group going, make sure everyone participates. This may involve interrupting if one person is dominating group.

Model Appropriate Behavior