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Micro-skills in Effective Counselling

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Introduction

A broad range of specializations within professional psychology are available in

counseling psychology. Counseling psychology employs psychological concepts to improve and

promote positive development, well-being and mental health in people, families, communities,

and society as a whole. Because of the importance of counseling psychology, there are some

counseling characteristics that are essential to the profession's operation. Micro-skills are crucial

in the development of good counseling, and that is exactly what I'll be talking about in this

article.

Role of Basic Counselling

Despite the ambiguity about empathy, the term generally relates to two conceptualizations.

To put yourself in someone else's shoes and see things from their point of view is termed

perspective-taking or role-taking. Compassion and sympathy are under the umbrella of emotional

empathy or empathic concern (depending on the theory).

Empathy is both a prerequisite for successful therapy and a critical component of the

therapeutic alliance. A therapeutic alliance is formed when the therapist and client agree on the

therapy's goals, cooperate on specific tasks, and develop an emotional connection. In order to

establish a therapeutic connection with a client, the therapist must demonstrate empathy in order

to fully grasp their point of view and goals, as well as their unique personality type and

preferences (Sale, R. et al., 2018). Clients' trust, non-defensiveness, and willingness to disclose

are all fostered when the therapist reacts in this way early in the therapeutic relationship.

In the early stages of therapy, empathy is more critical than at any other time. Most likely,

this is related to the need of developing an early connection and rapport when disclosing
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unsettling worries or being really unwell When therapist and client are in a therapeutic

relationship, the therapist's and the client's psychological processes are affected by empathy.

Many often, therapists misinterpret their clients' feelings and make little effort to be there with

them at the most fundamental level. Further, the therapist's in-the-moment sensitivity to their

patient's point of view means that they actively work on their client's ability to express

themselves verbally as well as nonverbally.

Their client's perspective is taken into account by the therapist in order to understand and

explain the problem. Through the use of evocation, the therapist helps the client experience and

express their emotions and situations more fully. It is the therapist's job to help the client focus

on aspects of their situation that had previously been overlooked. After this, the therapist may

provide an interpretation of the client's experience (conjecture) or a new piece of knowledge to

the client, based on the therapist's own perspective.

The words said by the client are mirrored back to them in a manner that they just said. The

reflection on the content "Your parents and you have recently argued," for example, might be

used to describe a young individual who has been talking about their recent disagreements with

his or her parents (Beck, K., & Kulzer, J. 2018). Because of all you've told me, I'd want to ask,

"So, your parents and yourself have been bickering a lot lately?" Rather of just repeating what

the client has said, counselors should pick out the most essential elements and explain them to

the client in their own words while reflecting on the content of the session. The term "reflection

of emotions" refers to the process through which the client's emotional state is reflected back to

the therapist.

Some of the client's ideas may be based on what he or she says to the therapist, but other

thoughts may be based on nonverbal behavior such as body language. For example, the
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therapist's tears or a change in tone of voice might have been seen by the patient. "You're

depressed," "You're depressed," and "You're depressed" are all methods of expressing one's

emotions. A good illustration of how content and emotions are related is the sentence "You're

sad because you've lost your best buddy." When dealing with teenagers, we must be cautious not

to overthink things. Instead, we should limit the use of reflection to ensuring that the young

person is heard and understood by the adults involved. Because adolescents infrequently engage

reflection in peer dialogues, we warn against overusing it when engaging with them.

It is essential for us as counselors that we communicate in a manner that young people can

comprehend if we are to have a good connection with them. Young individuals who are outgoing

and talkative may be more susceptible to self-reflection than their more introverted counterparts.

A large number of kids, unfortunately, react to self-examination by keeping mute and refusing to

engage in further discourse. Proactive micro-skills will assist us in persuading them to continue

communicating (Neophytou, K. 2021). Apart from these, there are a number of other sorts of

questions that may be used to stimulate the attention of a youngster in a discussion and push

them to participate.

Reflecting on feelings is the process of recognizing and acknowledging another person's

emotions and then repeating them back to them. Reflection of feelings, as well as its purpose in

treatment, is covered in detail. Emotional mirroring is a common practice amongst mental health

professionals. This is an easy-to-understand yet very effective treatment method. Recognizing

and conveying a person's innermost thoughts and feelings via their body language and speech is

known as mirroring feelings. When a counselor expresses their client's feelings, it's as if the

counselor is acting as a mirror or reflection of the client's emotional state.

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There's a good reason why counselors and social workers use this simple but effective

technique when interacting with clients. A client may feel validated, understood, and heard if he

or she just expresses his or her feelings. Look at these objectives in more detail. When one

expresses one's feelings, they are validated. When you mirror someone else's emotions, you're

demonstrating your understanding and acceptance of their feelings by validating or "okaying"

their thoughts (Sale, R. et al., 2018). If you or a client are struggling with bad feelings, this might

be comforting to them. Reflecting one's feelings helps one to feel understood and heard, as well.

In today's world of constant interruptions, it's difficult to find people who are good listeners. As a

consequence, when someone not only listens to us, but also reflects our feelings back to us, we

feel really heard and understood.

In order to ensure that they comprehend the client's claims completely, counselors ask

clarifying questions. Clarification is utilized to avoid the counselor from misinterpretation the

client's frame of reference during the counseling session. Any clarification question from the

therapist provides the client the option of correcting or assuring the counsellor in his or her

position. First and foremost, one must put oneself in the shoes of the consumer in order to

sympathize with him.

It is possible that clients who are agitated may benefit from clarification since they may be

unable to communicate their views adequately. In the course of learning more about a client's

life, it may be beneficial for a counselor to have this information readily available. It is

sometimes necessary to provide a more detailed explanation in order for someone to properly

appreciate specific facts or events. It is possible for consumers to learn more about a certain topic

by using this function.

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When a counselor brings up a subject that they believe is significant to the client, but that

the client does not comprehend, it is conceivable that the client may get defensive. Each session

portrayed as if it were on a certain subject (of your choice) might assist the client in seeing the

links and interconnections between different areas (Tannen, T., et al 2019). Customers who find

it difficult to maintain concentration when discussing a broad variety of subjects at the same time

may benefit from this. Students may be able to better organize their time in class as a result of

this, making it more productive. It is also possible to highlight any problems that have not been

resolved or any last-minute discoveries so that the client may digest this information between

sessions.

Bringing up fresh subjects of discourse during the therapy session may be made easier by posing

questions to the counselor. It is possible that they may assist the counselor in identifying a

problem and clarifying information that may be unclear to them at first. Clients may benefit from

queries that prompt them to think or remember relevant information.

There are several questioning techniques that counselors should be acquainted with, as well

as when and how to use them and what results to anticipate. Keeping an eye out for excessive

probing is also essential. If the therapist asks too many questions, it creates a situation where the

client feels the counsellor understands everything about the issue at hand. Questioning strategies

should be used based on the personality and ongoing relationship between therapist and client as

well as specific problem(s) at hand.

Open-ended questions allow you to provide as much or as little information as you desire,

rather of just answering "yes" or "no." Questions that ask you to describe your life, your ideas,

and how you think are more likely to get you to open up. An emotional reaction is often elicited

from a client when a "How" question is asked. When people ask "What" questions, they're more
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likely to find new information. " in the case that "Events and information that took place before

or after an incident may be gleaned through enquiries into the problem's timing. Whereas

therapists may learn more about an incident's environment, circumstances, or location by asking

"Where," patients can learn more about what caused the incident by asking "Why," and so on.

Conclusion

As shown in the article, micro-skills are key counseling abilities that aid in the

development of rapport and the initiation of the therapeutic process. These include abilities like

as listening, nonverbal communication (including silence), empathy, and reacting to a variety of

situations. Students practice the competencies that they will need to comprehend and offer

therapy in order to prepare for mastering theory-driven, evidence-based practice in the future.

Micro-skills are important but not sufficient for professional counseling and therapeutic

transformation; evaluation, strategies, and evidence-based treatments are also required.

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References

Bailin, A., Bearman, S. K., & Sale, R. (2018). Clinical supervision of mental health professionals

serving youth: Format and micro skills. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and

Mental Health Services Research, 45(5), 800-812.

Beck, K., & Kulzer, J. (2018, February). Teaching counseling micro skills to audiology students:

Recommendations from professional counseling educators. In Seminars in Hearing (Vol.

39, No. 01, pp. 091-106). Thieme Medical Publishers.

Neophytou, K. (2021). CLINICAL COUNSELLING MICROSKILLS FRAMEWORK©

Observation & Self-evaluation.

Tannen, T., Daniels, M. H., & Koro-Ljungberg, M. (2019). Choosing to be present with clients:

an evidence–based model for building trainees’ counselling competence. British Journal

of Guidance & Counselling, 47(4), 405-419.