A good counsellor has to engage in several basic skills of interview including attending behaviour, questioning, encouraging, paraphrasing, summarising, and reflection of feelings (Achanta, 2014). These skills are obtained through practices and supervisions. Therefore, one has to evaluate the micro skills that he or she applies in counselling sessions to gain a better insight of his or her interviewing style, strengths, and limitations. Role-play sessions are considered effective in helping counsellors to practise their micro skills in a variety of situations that they might face (Ivey & Ivey, 2007). This essay is a self-reflection of my interviewing style and the skills that I used in a role-play session which helps me to understand my own strengths and limitations in counselling.
A ten-minute role-play interview was conducted on 29th May 2014, in which I played as a counsellor to work with a student client on her study issues. The client revealed the difficulties she faced when she was trying to work on her assignments. I tried to imply the micro skills that I had learnt in the previous counselling classes to help the client as much as possible in a limited amount of time. The session was recorded, under the client’s permission, in order for me to evaluate and improve my interviewing skills.
After watching the video tape, I realised that I was quite good at using questioning skill to help the client. The closed and open questions used in the interview were considered to be acceptable and appropriate. I believe that my personal experiences have shaped my ability to appropriately apply this skill in counselling. When I was younger, I used to listen to my grandmother talking about her past and the old tales that she had heard of. I...
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...d show empathy. I have to be more aware of my own limitations and biases in order to deal with similar circumstances that may appear in the future more effectively.
In conclusion, the role-play interview helped me have a better view of my interview skills, including skills that I am able to apply appropriately and those that I have to keep practising. Through this session, I came to know that I am good at using questions to know more about my clients. However, I need to improve my listening skill in order to understand my clients’ points of view. This may also help me to respect their values after learning more about the situations. Therefore, I will be less led by my biases after understanding my clients’ perspectives. Hence, I believe that self-reflections help counsellors to be aware of their strengths and improve their counselling skills in order to help others.
This method is grounded in the strengths perspective, a perspective in which the worker center’s their sessions around the clients’ abilities, gifts, and strengths (Shulman, 2016). Instead of focusing on what is wrong with the client, the worker highlights what is right with the client building on their strengths instead of emphasizing their deficits: the client already has what they need to get better or solve their problem (Corcoran, 2008). The role of the worker in this model is to help the client recognize their potential, recognize what resources they already have, and discuss what is going well for the client and what they have been able to accomplish already (Shulman, 2016). Techniques commonly used in this model, although they are not exclusive to this model, include an emphasis on pre- and between-session change, exception questions, the miracle question, scaling questions, and coping questions (Shulman, 2016). These questions are used for many reasons: for example, the miracle question is used because “sometimes asking clients to envision a brighter future may help them be clearer on what they want or to see a path to problem-solving.” (Corcoran, 2008, p. 434) while coping questions are used to allow the client to see what they are already accomplishing, rather than what they are transgressing (Corcoran, 2008). All
In this paper, the readers will learn that I, Chantiara Johnson, played the role of a therapist. My friend, who is a college Sophomore played the role of client. I will use the techniques that I learned during the first three weeks of this course; these techniques will help me conduct the interview with my client. Throughout this interview, I will mock and reflect a therapy session of a client who is facing the feeling of loneliness and the feeling of not being enough.
...actice in social work interviewing – keeping the child in mind”. Milton Keynes. The Open University.
The counselling process is one that may last for as little as one session or for years, it is within the middles stages of the helping relationship that particular counselling skills such as a focusing, challenging and immediacy can be implemented, as well as use of advanced empathy that can be applied due to increased familiarity with a speaker. Many actions may occur within middles stage of the helping relationship such as transitions that occur for a multitude of reasons and the outcome of which can vary based on the attitude of the speaker. Self-awareness remains vital throughout the entire counselling relationship due to the continual influence of empathy in the helping relationship and remaining aware my own motives and values when using advanced empathy and specific counselling skills. Ethics and boundaries are also involved within the counselling process as within a counselling relationship, I as the counsellor, must be careful with the balance or expenditure of power when challenging.
...ing silence, paraphrasing and reflection of feelings, as well as non-verbal skills such as body-language and active listening are all used in order to allow the client to introspect and work with their problems in a safe environment, the role of the counselor within the relationship being to support the client and help them to reach their true potential by expressing emotions and thoughts that they can’t express outside of the helping relationship, whether it be for fear of rejection or some other reason.
The counselor accomplishes the above by expressing empathy, developing discrepancies, going along with resistance and supporting self-efficacy. Moreover, the counselor guides the client toward a solution that will lead to permanent posi...
A helping interview is a conversation between a health care professional and a person in need and is a common tool of communication in any health care setting. Three components of the helping interview are 1) the orientation of the professional and the client to each other, 2) the identification of the client’s problem, and 3) the resolution of the client’s problem (Tamparo & Lindh).
Interviewing and research skills are needed within the social work profession. Effective communication skills are one of the most crucial components of a social worker’s job. Every day, social workers must communicate with clients to gain information, convey critical information and make important decisions (Zeiger, 2017). This interview experience was an opportunity to explore the daily challenges and rewards of a licensed social worker. I was excited for the opportunity to interview a social worker in the gerontology sector as this is a specialty I am considering. This meeting allowed me to explore the educational steps of being a social worker, practices of the agency, the clients who are served, and the challenges the agency has.
3. Interviewing skills, which are used daily in the field of social work. Questioning clients is a very important part in assessing the client. Learning how to use open-ended as well as close-ended questions at the appropriate times is crucial when assessing the client. Asking questions is a powerful tool in focusing conversational attention and guiding interaction with others. There are many creative possibilities in using interviewing skills.
The technique has encouraged the client to become empowered by engaging in a non-threatening confrontation with a difficult self and/or other figure. However, this technique not only promotes self-awareness it also has promoted personal growth with clients. The process of growing and understanding others feelings and emotions are truly examined and understood during the role reversal portion of the technique. The introduction and process of this technique is important because it can elicit feelings that may help the client gain insight or may force the client to withdraw. As a p...
Cormier, S, Nurius, P & Osborn, C 2012, Interviewing and change strategies for helpers: fundamental skills and cognitive behavioural interventions, 7th edn, Brooks Cole, Belmont, California.
When we were first given this assignment I had not put much consideration into it. I thought we were to ask a couple of questions, it would all work itself out and I would be done. But this was not the case. The thought and reflection put into interview questions really surprised me. There was far more factors other than the questions you were asking, because you were also dealing with people, people who are giving you there free time, their attention and opening themselves up to you a stranger, so there were far more responsibilities then what were initially at hand.
Michael is participating in a two-month internship as a mental health counselor under the tutelage of Janet, the clinical director. Janet utilize the teacher role as the primary role to teach Michael specific concepts and techniques to deal with his insecurities and to handle clients whom unappreciated statements by assigning reading material to address such issues .” (Young & Basham, 2014). Therefore, I would use the conceptualization skill to understand and identify what is occurring when Michael feels insecure in his counseling abilities and identify his pattern of repeating himself saying “I just don’t know what to do.” (Young & Basham, 2014) Although, the teacher role is the primary role, Janet chose to implement
The counseling session began with the introductions where I introduced myself as the counselor and later introduced my client. This stage is important in any counseling session since it is the time of exploration and focusing according to Gerard Egan as quoted by Wright (1998) in his essay on couselling skills. It is in this session that I was able to establish rapport and trust with my client in order to come up with a working and fruitful relationship with him. During this stage I made use of skills like questioning, where I would pose a question directly to my client, sometimes I would choose to just listen to what the client wanted to speak out while in some instances I would be forced to paraphrase the question if I felt the client did not understand the question I had asked previously. There were also other times when I would reflect through silence. During such a period, I got time to study the client and the information he had given. This being a difficult area, since some clients may not be able to volunteer information to you as the counselor, I decided to assure the client of confidentiality of any information he was willing to share with me with a few exceptions which I also told him about. Being open to him about the only times the information may not be confidential was part of my building rapport and establishing trust with him. I therefore, decided to ask the client what information he wanted to share with me and lucky enough he was ready to speak to me about different issues that he was going through.
Personality is the expression of a person’s traits according to ones feelings, mentality and behavior. It involves understanding individuals’ traits such as withdrawal and willpower and how various parts of an individual link together to form personality. Personality expresses itself from within an individual and is comparatively regular throughout in an individual’s life. Different people have different personalities dependent on factors such as environment and genetic composition. Our personality is dependent on the success or failure of our development in the eight stages of life. This is proposed by Erik Erikson. Success in the development stages lead to virtues while the failure leads to malignancies.