Advanced

Counselling Skills
Feb 26-27 and March 12-13, 2021
What are the timings we will
keep?
What will the day be like?
What resources do I need to
have?

contracting

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 contracting
Why am I here?
What do I expect?
• Coachee doesn’t know where the issue is; How to get to the core of the
issue?
• How do we stop ourselves from coming in the way?
• Sharpen my saw
• Unearth the core issue with simplicity, ease and respectfully
• How do I create protection for the client?
• Where I stand with the client? Build a relationship, exploring boundaries
and risks (contract)?
• Taking care of client issues one by one

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 contracting
What am I willing to risk?
What do I want in return?
What can go wrong here in this session for me?
What are my fears about this training?
What do I usually not ask for in training but expect?

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 Objectives
✘ Understand Transactional Analysis as a theory and
coaching/counselling tool to facilitate change and development in
others
✘ Learn the basic techniques of contracting, diagnosis and
treatment planning for our clients
✘ Understand the value of relationship in coaching and counselling
✘ Practice the skills
✘ Get live supervision on our counselling work

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1. Realization (Decontamination) Autonomous (Deconfusion)
1. Stand up for herself (stand up? Be strong?
Important? Myself? Angry? Comfortable?)
2. Move out (be independent? Powerful? Make it alone
as a woman in this man’s world? Myself? Think?)
3. Hit him back

Depression,
Anxiety, Trust
Issues

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 What does this client need to integrate –
now, at this time in his life?

✘ Be important, do all the things, make it

✘ Make it, enjoy, be myself
✘ Be important, be myself, make it, feel
✘ Be a child, be important, make it, enjoy
✘ Make it, be yourself, be important
✘ Be myself, grow up,

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 Our primal desires

✘ Live or be ✘ Belong
✘ Do all the things ✘ Enjoy
✘ Be a child ✘ Be sane or be well
✘ Feel (love, joy, scare, sadness, anger, ✘ Grow up
fear and sexuality) ✘ Think
✘ Be close ✘ Be important
✘ Make it or be successful ✘ Be myself
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Coaching and counselling

Live Belong
Do all the things Be sane
Be a child Grow up
Feel Think
Be close Be important
Make it or be successful Be myself

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Coaching and counselling

The Treatment Plan

Be important
Make it
Feel The Diagnosis

The Contract

Grow up Think Be myself

Live Do all the Be a child Be close Belong Be sane
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things
 Transactional Analysis Counselling
✘ Transactional Analysis Counselling is a professional activity within a
contractual relationship.
✘ The counselling process enables clients to develop awareness,
options and skills for problem management and personal
development in daily life through the enhancement of their
strengths and resources.
✘ Its aim is to increase autonomy in relation to their social,
professional and cultural environment.
(Cognitive and Social Functions of Emotions, Wiliam F. Cornell and Jennie Hine)
 What is Transactional Analysis
Transactional Analysis is a theory of
personality and behaviour and a systematic
psychotherapy tool for personal growth and
personal change.
Transactional Analysis gives us a picture of
how people are structured psychologically.
TA also provides a theory of communication;
how people communicate and why
communication breakdowns occur.
TA offers a theory of child development – the
concept of life script explains how our
present life patterns originated in childhood Eric Berne, MD (1910-1970)
– how decisions made in childhood may
continue to influence behaviour later in life
despite painful consequences

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 Philosophy of Transactional Analysis
✘ We all are born OK, as princes and princesses (I’m OK, You’re OK)
✘ All of us have the capacity to think except the severely brain
damaged.
✘ People decide their own destiny and these decisions can be
changed.
 Areas of Application
Psychotherapy / clinical
Counselling
Education
Organizational Development
 Cure

Client’s increasing
What the client wants and
ability to stay out of
what you’re willing to work
script under stress
with (Stewart)
(Woolams)
Coaching and counselling

The Treatment Plan

The Diagnosis
The Contract

Grow up Think Be important Be myself

Live Do all the Be a child Feel Be close Make it Belong Be sane
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things
 What we need
✘ Observe
✘ Interpret
✘ Conceptualize
✘ Act
 contracting

✘ Did the counsellor contract? (Yes)

✘ If yes, what was the contract or contracts? (So, what do you want in
these 25 min? So, is it okay for us to talk about and understand your
anxiety and your idea of peace?
✘ How do I know? Why did he contract? (He saw enough Adult
available)
✘ If the counsellor didn’t contract, why?
✘ How do I know?
✘ Was the contract executed in these 20 min? Yes
✘ How do I know? (
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 Observation
✘ Laughing while talking about her anxiety ✘ His future
✘ Initially, the speed of speech was high and it came ✘ His health
down later ✘ His performance is down
✘ Counsellor’s speed was slow and deliberate /calm ✘ He is doing very well
✘ Helicopter parenting (tabs on him) and that ✘ We got his ticket booked without his consent
helping at some point
✘ He wasn’t okay but he is now excited about
✘ Itna comfortable jaise ho gaya ke vapis nahin coming back
aana chahta
✘ My peace is happiness of my son
✘ Mera ek hi beta hai
✘ Tum bohot brave ho; medal; how did you
✘ Husband: want to talk but there’s a dynamic (his manage/send him away?
anxiety) (she is trying to manage it alone)
✘ May be I need to detach myself
✘ Resources + pressure
✘ Co-dependent behavior
✘ Fear: may not want to go back
✘ We could be okay in our own space (happiness)
✘ His brilliance; his accomplishments
✘ When he feels down, I feel anxious
✘ If I had my way…gurugram university
✘ He’s so far, I won’t be able to reach out to him
✘ I remotely take care of him; amazon
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 Wind
CONTRACT
Client’s increasing ability to stay out of What the client wants and what
script under stress (Woolams) you’re willing to work with (Stewart)
Presenting
Problem 1. Parent and/or Child beliefs Outcome
Physis

Awareness, Permissions
Strokes, Structure
Challenge, Protection
2. Injunctions ‘Contact’ with their strengths
(Core Issues that ‘Contact’ with their DESIRES
need breaking OK-OK (their freedom to choose)
free from)

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 The three P’s

Permission

Protection Potency
Contracting
The cornerstone of TA work!
 CONTRACT
✘ An explicit bilateral commitment towards a well-defined outcome

Berne, 1966

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THREE CORNERED CONTRACT

Organization

Counsellor Client English, 1975

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS
Mutual Consent

Valid CONTRACT Competence

Consideration

Lawful Object

Steiner, 1990

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LEVELS OF CONTRACTING
Administrative

Professional

Professional
Psychological

Berne, 1966

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 Administrative Contract
✘ Also known as Procedural or Social contract
○ Dates
○ Times
○ Tasks
○ Responsibilities
○ Payments
○ Other considerations
✘ Getting the administrative contracts clear provides protection for all
parties

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 Professional Contract
✘ Relates to the aims and objectives of the project/programme
✘ Implies that all involved are competent for the task and can be
trusted to undertake it responsibly
✘ Getting this contract clear gives permission for all parties

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 Psychological Contract
✘ Also referred as secret, hidden, or undiscovered contract
✘ Refers to the underlying dynamics between parties
✘ More difficult to make overt as often outside the conscious
awareness of all involved
✘ If not clarified objectives will not be met and unhealthy situations
might develop
✘ Clarification at the psychological level gives power to all parties

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 For effective contracting…
✘ Keep boundaries
✘ Give feedback
✘ Adapt to others and situations
✘ Have fun
✘ Express your feelings
✘ Think and feel in the here and now

Newton & Napper, 2000

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 Wind
CONTRACT
Client’s increasing ability to stay out of What the client wants and what
script under stress (Woolams) you’re willing to work with (Stewart)
Presenting
Problem 1. Parent and/or Child beliefs Outcome
Physis

Awareness, Permissions
Strokes, Structure
Challenge, Protection
2. Injunctions ‘Contact’ with their strengths
(Core Issues that ‘Contact’ with their DESIRES
need breaking OK-OK (their freedom to choose)
free from)

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 Process

Understanding your
Professional and Overall
Psychological struggles. Contexts,
Screening (Tests, your story, how you Contract
contract
Administrative Contract referral possibility, (confidentiality, (sensory,
allocation) define problem, and visible,
respect, dignity, open
communication) some idea of what you quantifiable)
want

Diagnosis Treatment
(Meaning Contract Execution
Priorities Making, (One key Contract
exploration primal Termination
ABCD and desires that (Steps?
connecting needs to be Priorities)
the dots) integrated)

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 Observation
✘ Laughing while talking about her anxiety ✘ His future
✘ Initially, the speed of speech was high and it came ✘ His health
down later
✘ His performance is down
✘ Counsellor’s speed was slow and deliberate /calm
✘ He is doing very well
✘ Helicopter parenting (tabs on him) and that
✘ We got his ticket booked without his consent
helping at some point
✘ He wasn’t okay but he is now excited about coming back
✘ Itna comfortable jaise ho gaya ke vapis nahin
aana chahta ✘ My peace is happiness of my son
✘ Mera ek hi beta hai ✘ Tum bohot brave ho; medal; how did you manage/send him
away?
✘ Husband: want to talk but there’s a dynamic (his
anxiety) (she is trying to manage it alone) ✘ May be I need to detach myself
✘ Resources + pressure ✘ Co-dependent behavior
✘ Fear: may not want to go back
✘ We could be okay in our own space (happiness)
✘ His brilliance; his accomplishments
✘ When he feels down, I feel anxious
✘ If I had my way…gurugram university
✘ He’s so far, I won’t be able to reach out to him
✘ I remotely take care of him; amazon
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Diagnosis
What’s happening here and so, what needs
to be done?
 Diagnosis
✘ Behavioral
✘ Social
✘ Historical
✘ Phenomenological
 What goes wrong?
Parent
✘ Trauma What is
happening
✘ Crisis here?

✘ Abuse Adult

✘ Stress
What is
happening
here?
✘ Interpersonal relationships
Child
 Concept of Cure
Parent
✘ Social Control What is
happening
✘ Symptomatic Relief here?

✘ Transference Cure Adult

✘ Script Cure
What is
happening
here?

Child
 Counselling
✘ Confronting the Script and inviting Autonomy!
Social Control
Parent Symptomatic Relief
Parent Transference Cure
Decontamination
Awareness
Script Cure

Adult
Adult Spontaneity
Intimacy
Child
Child
 Counselling
✘ Confronting the Script and inviting Autonomy!
Social Control
Parent Symptomatic Relief
Parent Transference Cure
Updating Beliefs
Decontamination Script Cure
Demonstrating
Adult Authentic Feelings
Adult
Redeciding to change
life

Child
Child
 Contract

The
treatment
triangle

Diagnosis Treatment Plan

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