COUNSELLING PROCESS AND SKILLS

Counselling is a dynamic process involving relation building and progressing in stages. Many practicing
counselors see counseling process as consisting of three stages. These are:-
 Exploration
 Understanding and
 Action

Self - exploration is aimed at helping the counselee identify the real problem. After the client presents the
problem to the counselor, the counselor may use his expertise. i.e. skills and attitudes to find out whether the
presented problem is the real problem. The counselor takes time to explore. The following two questions assist
the counselor in the exploration stage.

(i) What is the presenting problem?

(ii) What is the real problem?

Self - understanding helps one get insight into the nature of the problem once one understands the root cause of
the problem.

Action refers to counseling plan on how to deal with the new insight gained from exploration and self-
understanding. Example:- James realized that he is losing temper too often and he wants to control it. In
exploration he asks what makes me get angry so many times? This helps him understand where he is in his
world with respect to where he wants to be i.e devices the steps to take in order to control his anger i.e action.

When a counselee comes for help with a personal problem he wants to change something in himself, e.g
attitude:- perception of self of others, or general change of behaviour.

There is no permanent solution to a problem without some change in the counselee. (Fuster, 1998). To change
one has to go through the learning processes.

EXPLORATION
Exploration means helping the clients articulate their concerns. It involves searching oneself or looking within
oneself to search for hidden motives, thoughts or feelings that clients may not be aware of.
To explore the client has to be helped to talk about themselves and their concerns in a specific and focused way.
The main questions in this stage are:-
 What is the presenting problem?
 What is the underlying/real problem?
- The client is encouraged to focus on self and not others.
- The counselor puts aside his/her own curiosity, interest and interpretation to allow the client to explore.
The aims of exploration stage are:-
 To establish a working relationship
 To clarify and define problems
 To make an assessment
 To negotiate a contract

The stage involves application of the foundations skills:-

 Maintaining the working relationship
 To clarify and define problems
 To make an assessment
 To negotiate a contract.
The stage involves application of the foundations skills:-
 Attending skills.
 Core conditions:
o Unconditional positive regard and genuineness.
o Empathy
o Genuinenness

UNDERSTANDING
The understanding stage involves helping the clients develop insight into their issues. Clients are helped to free
themselves and their concerns in a near and more empowering light. Client is challenged to review and
question their current frame of reference and embrace more liberating perspective. Challenging helps client
face aspects of themselves and their concerns which they may be avoiding or overlooking. This stage involves
journeying deeper into oneself to clarify the impact of feelings, values and beliefs on the current behaviour.

The question here is:-

What is the root cause of the real problems?
The aims of understanding stage are to:-
 Reassess(helping client see other perspectives in their problems)
 Maintain the working relationship (relationship should be free for the client to engage in deeper
exploration).
 To pursue the work of the contract (counseling is a contractual relationship and clients should be helped
to fulfill their contract goals.

ACTION

The action stage involves helping the client to plan the course action, implementing it and if necessary reefing
it. After self-exploration and understanding the client is more clear about his/her concerns. The client is then
ready to plan and take effective action.

Action planning involves a careful evaluation of alternative goals/strategies to reach the goal set. The action,
plan is initiated in the counseling session, but more of the implementation is done outside the session. The
transfer of learning to other settings is critical if the counseling goals are to be achieved.

The question here is:-

 What does the client plan to do as the result of this new insight?
 The aims of the appropriate change
 To decide on the appropriate change
 To implement the change
 To transfer learning
 To end the counseling relationship(termination)
 BASIC COUNSELLING SKILLS

Skills refer to the ability to do something well.i.e the expertise to perform an activity well (NB. Techniques are
more intellectual than skills. Therefore one has to be taught how to do or use the techniques.

ATTENDANCE
Attending is paying attention to another person. It includes:-
a) Social Skills such as :-
 Greeting skills:- Use customary ways at greeting people nicely as you do mutual self introduction e.g. Good
morning: My name is ………………..
 Politeness skills:- Is an expression of one’s sensitivity to the feelings, gratitude to others e.g. use
expressions of courtesy like “excuse me please”, “thank you” “how kind are you”
 Kindness skills:- Expresses ones good wishes for others and readiness to do something for others.

These social skills facilitate interpersonal interaction and provide a chance for counselee and counselor explore
each other. They communicate interest, guidelines and trust. Appreciate and practice them daily.

b) Skill of Attending Physically and Psychologically

The counselor must be aware of the body language. We communicate more non-verbally i.e with body
language. “80% of your interpersonal communication is through our body language and 20% with words”.
To attend physically- welcome counselee warmly, show interest and place of the meeting, ensure the room
is clean, well ventilated,

 Be relaxed, sit facing the counselee, keep eye-contact lean forward.

 Avoid distracting behaviour like yarning, fidgeting etc
 Consider cultural practices/norms.

c) Observing Skills of Responding

Responding is the first essential step in effectively helping a client. It is regarded as the first stage in counseling
process. Responding helps the counselor to enter into the clients frame of reference in order to accurately
understand how she experiences the world. It is giving feedback to what client said.

The accurate response becomes a mirror-image of the clients experience and leads to more self exploration. It
shows the client that counselor is full in tune with the client experience and has understood where the client is and
the psychological need one has. After collecting the nonverbal data through the eyes and the verbal data through
the ears, capture the feeling experience and the reason for the feeling and communicate this to the client thus:

i) Respond to feeling and content use the format:-

You feel………………..because …………………” for example a client says: I cant concentrate on
my studies all the time the thoughts of that girl come into my mind and cant get “rid of them”
Counselor responds

“You feel frustrated with yourself because you cannot succeed in brushing aside those thoughts and
study well as you would like to”

ii) Respond with a summary (summarizing or paraphrasing summarize whatthe client has expressed
through feelings and words to stimulate him to more self-exploration. Let the client approve the
summary or modify it for any omissions.
 d) Questioning

The counselor may respond using questions to assist in deeper self exploration. The counselor may ask”how,
when, where, who but avoid “why” as it has a judgemental connotation or it may put the client on the defensife.
Ask open-ended question that is relevant to the client e.g. how does that make you feel? What plans do you have?

e) Unconditional Position Regard (UPR)

This is an attitude of positive regard, its an attitude of “no strings attached”.
You cant set conditions for the relationship. (You don’t say, I will only help if ….). This means that you
respect the client as he is, respect implies that the counselor recognizes the clients freedom and his right to
determine and make his own decisions. Respect also means acceptance of the clienas he is and appreciate at
him as a person of worth. If counselor is able to communicate respect, then the client won’t feel isolated, will
create a situation of confidence and trust in. You give some warmth to the client but it has to be non-possessive
warmth

f) Genuineness
Genuineness means being congruent. As a counselor, you need the
characteristics of being genuine as you have to be 3 levels.

In counseling one has to be honest or transparent. Your non-verbal and verbal communication is in accord.
Genuineness is being at one self. It means having no façade mask, having no defenses, you are an integrated
person. It involves being spontaneous.

You proceed from your natural feelings, dispositions or particular mood without constraints. You can share
personal experiences with clients though it is very confidential. You become a model for someone to imitate
but disclosure for a counselor should be done carefully only if it will help client.

g) Empathy
Its good as a counselor to have empathy for some one going through problems. Its sharing the problem
with the other person and you feel with them but you are not doing anything to correct the situation so as to
help the client feel his load has been lifted. It can be referred to as “walking a mile in a client’s experience
in an intellectual way.

Roger says empathy is sensing the client’s private world as if it were your own Without ever losing the “as
if” “quality”. You ask client what he is feeling so that you can feel with them and understand how they are
feeling. Ask the client whether what you are seeing is what the person is feeling. A counselor tries to enter
client’s frame of reference.

h) Self-Disclosure

This is an attitude that consists in the counselor’s willingness to reveal to the counselee his own personal
feelings, attitudes, opinions and experiences for the benefit of the counselee. This helps the client to open
up as the counselor is authentic and the client feels his case is not isolated since the counselor had a
similar experience.