Identify the stages of a series of counselling sessions Essays

In this step, it is extremely important for the counselor to see if the situation that the client is facing contains ethics. The counselor must be able to gather all the required information and get more understanding about the problem the client is facing. This can only done by strengthening the relationship with the client, if the client is able to trust you, he/she would be willing to tell you what they are facing. After the client is done describing the problem that they are facing, the counselor

I understand counselling to be a helping practice that differs from other helping activities, such as teaching for example. Counselling requires professional training and is specifically contracted or explicitly agreed. It has a theoretical base and uses specific methods within an ethical framework. The relationship between the counsellor and the client is built upon mutual expectation and is central to the process of the client under-going significant change in their lives.

After I left the counselling session, I felt relieved as though I had a load off my chest. I realised the counsellor let me express what I wanted to but used history as a guise. I spoke freely about all aspects of my life and the counsellor didn’t need to say too much. She quietly, but professionally took notes when a point of interest arose but didn’t let the note-taking affect the flow of talk. I noted that expressions on people’s faces can greatly determine the nature of the conversation. If someone looks easy to talk to, then they probably are as their body language can emphasise and express feelings (Egan, 2007, p .84). I noticed the importance of simple and respectful questioning and how it promotes more talking. If the question requires the client to think and reflect on the situation at hand then I believe it is a worthy question to ask (Egan, 2007, p. 95). Open questions that my counsellor asked such as “how do you think you will react when your wife comes back to Australia?” challenged the way I was thinking at the time and promoted reflection (Egan,

However, it is not always that simple and there may be some instances when it is not possible to maintain total confidentiality and the counsellor my have to pass on certain information that was revealed. For example, if a crime has been committed or if there is a risk of harm to another person. In this case the counsellor must be clear with the client what information they may have to pass on and to whom.

The process involved in establishing a counselling relationships includes many factors to ensure that a client feels safe and comfortable with a counsellor to explore his or her feelings with them.

Allowing for our ethical codes of conduct, if the client is someone we feel we can proceed with, then as always, the first stage would be to develop a good rapport and gain the clients trust to develop an honest and open relationship with them. The client centred approach as always is the best method for this – to put the client at ease in a non-judgemental space where they can express their emotions and explore what it is they want to achieve with therapy. In giving the therapist an

Moving further on in the counselling session, the counsellor must be able to "tune in" with client. Being on the same wavelength is important aspect of "joining". By tuning in to the other individual past experiences that made them who they are today, we will be able to understand their beliefs and principle is life whoich resulted from their each unique experiences. By doing so, we will be able to respect and value our client as an individual thus building mutual respect between us and the client in the relationship. This will also refrain us from talking down to our client but instead will be able to get along well. This is what we need to acheive as counsellors.

A counselling relationship is likened to being on a journey - a beginning, middle and end (Smallwood, 2013). During the beginning phase the client develops sufficient trust in the counsellor and the relationship ‘to explore the previously feared edges of his awareness’ (Mearns and Thorne, 1988, p.126).

Feeling that the counsellor accurately understands you, what you are saying or trying to say and what you are feeling or experiencing

To be able to help a client to access their deepest thoughts and open up for discussion that is both helpful and meaningful, there are several specific microskills to know about to enhance the communication with the client (Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors, 2009). These communication skills are built through different stages and may feel a little unnatural at the beginning. However, counselling is not about giving advice, but about supporting and helping the client to find his/her own solutions. This makes counselling challenging on many levels as you need to be aware of your own behaviour (Perinatal Mental Health Project, n.d.).

The term counselling facilitates personal and interpersonal functioning across the lifespan with the main focus on emotional, vocational, social, educational, health related and developmental concerns this encompasses a broad range of practices that help people to improve their well being, alleviate stress and maladjustment, reslove crisis and increases their ability to live more fully functioning lives. Counselling is unique in its attention to both normal developmental issues as well as the problems associated with physical, emotional and mental disorders. The BACP states that “counselling takes place when a counsellor see a client in a private and confidential

We’ve seen above that it is essential that the client is engaged in the process and not being coerced. Further to this, the most effective inductions are when the client is able to relax. The ‘first impression’ initial consultation is the time when trust of the therapist is born for the client, and so this is an incredibly important session. Trust can be gained or lost on a number of criteria including dress, authority, body language,

Working within an ethical framework like this will help both client and counsellor to achieve the most from the relationship. Empathy, good listening, and appropriate nonverbal communication coupled with good language skills are developed alongside being able to divorce personal beliefs in order to accept how the client looks at the world.

I made sure I used a welcoming tone as the way a counsellor greets their client will influence the clients feeling towards the counsellor, and their confidence in the counsellor. It is equally important to be friendly so that the client feels at ease and valued as a human being. However counsellors need to refrain from putting on an act and remain congruent and true to themselves from the beginning, while trying to meet them in a person to person encounter to avoid intimidation Geldard and Geldard (2005).

As everybody is different and comes from different backgrounds, therefore give us all different values and beliefs, it is important to have an effective client-counsellor relationship based on four main areas of duty of care 1. Helper competence, 2. Client autonomy, 3. Confidentiality, 4. Client protection (Nelson-Jones, 2008). There will be times throughout the sessions with clients that your own values and belief creep in, and you do make judgement, therefore you as a counsellor have to know and acknowledge this happen and understand why it is happening.