Reflective Counselling Practice Session Evaluation - Essay Example

Reflective Counselling Practice Session Evaluation Name: Unit: Course: Professor: Submission Date: Counselling is a psychological processing activity that involves active listening. Counselling aims at supporting and empowering a client to come up with his/her own solutions. Counselling is actually not providing advice as many people think, but walking through the client’s problems to find a sustainable solution in regards to the issue at hand. More often than not, many people find counselling assistance when they hit a rock and cannot cope with a particular issue on their own and or they need professional support to offer guidelines (Introductory Education Counselling, 2013). Counselling process encompasses, opening, exploring, understanding, intervention decision, problem exploration to find solutions, helping the client to come up with their own plan to solutions and maximizing and monitoring resilience (Perinatal Mental Health Project, 2010). Thus, counselling is a relationship that is initiated by a needy client and a counselling professional (Introductory Education Counselling, 2013). This essay will give a reflective analysis on various micro-counselling skills that I did apply during a counselling process with a stressed and anxious client (Hayley). Some techniques includes summarizing, empathy, reflection of feelings, paraphrasing and questioning. Blind spot will be explored in this critical analysis as a vital advanced skill applied during the counselling session. Case summary Hayley, has been on work cover for 6 weeks after fantasizing to have thoughts of a car crash to prevent her from going to work. She is a case manager for young people in out-of-home care. She was feeling stressed from her new recent manager whom was not supportive and did not give her space to allow her to debrief over cases which made her feel anxious to go into work and be in a work environment where for her it was important to be heard and to receive support. On realizing her state she sought help with her GP doctor, the Sunday before work and explained her state and her anxiety of not wanting to go to work the following day. Her GP doctor asked her to take a break from work and to go on a work cover and did put her on a mental plan for 6-weeks. During the 6-weeks breaks, Hayley has been seen by psychologist who did prescribe some meds to help relieve and manage her anxiety issue of which the client reported it was working. Also, she has been practicing some mindfulness and attending classes on yoga which she reported were also helpful. The day before our session she had actually gone back to work from the support and motivation she was receiving from her HR and her boss who have offered her another position with less responsibility and stress. She felt she was grateful for having a boss whom was willing to meet her half way by offering her another position to comfort her and manage her stress. She felt anxious going into work because she was having thoughts that her boss might be disappointed that she let the team down for leaving previously. But now she feels much less anxious and feels she was over anxious for no good reason. Micro-skills critical reflection Normally, when am attending my client for a counselling session I do apply the SOLER style for good kinaesthetic and visual attending skills. Queensland Government Australia, (2013) these is fundamental as it help in creating rapport with the client. Rapport building is the cornerstone of any counselling session as it is the first thing that may enable a client to share what she/he is going through or depending on the rapport application scare the client and fail to disclose some fundamental information that might enable holistic approach to the issues at hand. Applying SOLER strategy I did seat squarely facing Hayley, had an open posture as a gesture of my unlimited availability to attend to her, leaned forward towards her, maintained warm eye contact and I was relaxed to avoid destructing the client. Further, I ensured that Hayley had relaxed prior to beginning our session. This I did by asking her, “How was your morning today?” we went on with some short dialogue here and there until she expressed sign of relief and comfort. Observational skills were highly used from the beginning of the session to the end. According to Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors, (2009) observational non-behavior skills for instance, when a client enters a counselling room enables the counsellor to understand some feeling from the client. During the session, the counsellor can gauge how the client perceives their words by observing the eye contact and the facial of the client carefully. Before the session went on further, upon gathering the Hayley background information, I did let her realize that the session was going to remain confidential and what we share was made for her own good. Further, the client was informed that any information disclosure will be upon her request and her will and only for her own health goodness. During the session, Hayley was playing with her fingers and hands, distress was evident in her face and she had pink face. Despite having had a 45 minutes, session, by the end of the session she was still in tension. Observational skills did help in getting what was going on with Hayley situation during the session, and at the end of the session, thus realizing the need to have counselling intervention in the next session that might leave my client relaxed. Micro skills used during the session Reflection of feeling Among micro-skills applied in counselling reflection of feeling is one of them. Queensland Government Australia (2013) reflection of feeling is used as an indicator of the counsellor’s ability to empathize with the client. Reflection feeling entails the counsellor reflecting on the emotions coming through the client expression. Such feeling can be expressed via single word like tense, miserable, frustrated or a string of words. Feelings reflection helps the counsellor demonstrate that she/he understand the current experiences the client is going through. In most cases, client are unaware of their underlying feelings. When a counsellor successfully applies reflection of feeling precisely, she/he may help the client aware of them, and help them to go through their feeling in details. During the counselling session reflection feeling was applied on various occasion. I asked her “what caused you to feel anxious at work” Hayley: - stressful job, recent new manager, no support to debrief or Work through those tough times, I don’t feel she provides that for me; which caused me to burn out Me: I agree that in a stressful work environment you need the support and space you have stated as these facts makes you feel also stressed and anxious affecting your work. “ Paraphrasing In counselling practice, motivational interviewing is practically focused. Motivational interviewing employs more persuasive modalities unlike being coercive, less argumentative with more supportive structures in place. The motivational interviewer need to continue the session using a strong skill to pursue, set purpose via clear strategies application (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, (1999). As a motivational aspect, paraphrasing encourages an open and continued talk from the client enabling deep exploration of the issues the client is facing. Use of paraphrases gives the client a notion that the counsellor is attentive, has accurately heard the client and is following the client on what she says. Paraphrasing is an active modality of communicating to the client that you have actually listened to them (AIPC’S, 2009). During my session with Hayley, I did employ paraphrasing skill severally. For instance, Me: “tell me about your background” Hayley: - works in out of home care, recently went on work cover, difficult times at work and have been anxious and really struggling. “Am I right to say that you’re anxious due to difficulties you’re facing at work and you’re actually struggling?” This made her realize that I was actively listening to all she told me. Questioning Questioning is a fundamental tool employed during counselling sessions to allow the counsellors explore the client’s concerns. Questioning skill must be through practice and disciplined. Thus, counsellors need to ask the right question, at the right time and in orderly manner of the needs at hand so as to guide the client in disclosing more and valuable information. This helps both parties achieve efficient solution. When is used as a useful tool for gathering information within the interview environment. It is also an important tool applicable throughout the session (Introductory Education Counselling, 2013). Questioning can be inform of open or closed questions. While open questions allow for more exploration on the issue the client expresses, closed question can be used where little information is needed like ‘yes’ or ‘no’ y(Queensland Government Australia, 2013). During my session with Harley I used open questions throughout the session and closed questions to open and close the session. “Before ending the session I asked Hayley if her anxiety dropped down Hayley: “yes I do think so” Me: complementing Hayley for going to see her GP doctor when having car crash thought. Making her feel grateful, listing to her support network she has. Me: I asked her if there’s anything else that’s bothering her. Hayley: mindfulness and yoga that’s getting me through this stage of my life. Me: “Are you happy with today’s session” Hayley: yes, it’s good to piece everything together. Empathy On a counselling session empathy is expressed when the counsellor understands the client accurately and is sensitive to the client’s experiences and feelings. That means the counsellor grasps the client’s subjective world by comprehending the situation of the client, the choices made and show consideration in regards to developed outcomes. Not only does empathy create safety, but also trust within the therapeutic relationship as well as offering rapport building platform. This skill involves, understanding, listening and communicating what has been understood to the client to help him/her comprehend the situation they are in in a broad manner, to facilitate constructive change (Queensland Government Australia, 2013). During my counselling session with Hayley I did express empathetic skills on many occasions. I showed empathy by agreeing to her and normalizing that what she went through is normal. For instance, “Me: what triggered you to make the decision to leave Hayley “I was driving to pick up a young person from school, while I was driving, sort of started to fantasize about having a car accident and I thought to myself, if I do have a car accident, I wouldn’t have to go to work tomorrow, and that kind of will give me a sense of relief not having to go to work”. Me: I apologized to hear that she had to go through that.” Advanced counselling skill Blind spots For someone to effect change and be able to view things differently, should start seeing something differently. Therefore, the person need to be open and embrace challenge by both events and people, come up with fresh, more creative, more realistic perspectives on the current issue. This process is termed as uncovering blind spots. During my session with Hayley blind spots uncovering was used frequently to help the client understand her self-worth and relieve her of the current stress burden (Wosket, 2006). For example, I made Hayley realize that she has self-awareness of what is going through her and understands the solution. “Hayley: she thought it was crazy she had to have those fantasy thoughts That was it from there that she realized she needed a break Me: told her she is self-aware” Me: I asked her why she felt anxious going back to work Hayley: anxious about how her previous boss was going to react Guilt That she left them Worried how her first day was going to go Me: I reflected back to her how important it is for her to have a good relationship with her work colleagues and to receive support from them Hayley: after she left she realized it wasn’t scary after all. That it was in her head Me: so making assumptions caused you to have anxiety Reflection The whole session went on well. However, I think I need to focus on a few areas to ensure efficiency in future. Despite having employed a rapport building skill, my client did conclude the session still feeling a bit anxious. Thus, there is a need for thorough counsellor-counselee relationship building to prevent some challenges in future. To achieve this, in the future I would want to add intervention to facilitate the session and allow Hayley to gain something new from the session for a sense of relief. Such models like solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) and crisis intervention would be of benefit in deciding the intervention. SFBT enables the client to explore desired vision and various resources that may help in meeting the client-specific vision. Therefore, each client explores different models that may help address her problem in reference to resources, strengths, strategies and emerging goals. Regardless of whether the client outsources resources, it is her/him who leads in defining the kind of resources needed and their usefulness (Trepper, McCollum, De Jong, Korman, Gingerich & Franklin, n.d.). Crisis intervention will be of use as well. Crisis intervention looks into the immediate process of acting systemically and listening, continuously assessing and intentionally, assertively and actively assisting the client to regain as much as possible his/her autonomy, mobility and pre-equilibrium to ensure she/he can again resume normal thought process (Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters, 2009). In conclusion, counselling process requires the counsellor to try and extract as much as possible information on the issue the client is facing. Various techniques are used to guide the client through the healing journey and good decision making on the issue affecting them, their friends, and or families and their work. Use of various micro-skills and macro-skills by the counsellor is fundamental to help the client-counsellor relationship grow and promote healing. References Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters, (2009). Module 6: Crisis Intervention. Retrieved 5/3/17 from, https://acws.ca/sites/default/files/documents/6-CrisisIntervention.pdf Australian institute of professional counsellors, (2009). AIPC’s Counsellor Skills Series Report 1. Verbal And Non-Verbal Communication Skills. Retrieved 5/3/17 from, http://www.counsellingconnection.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/report-1-verbal-and-non-verbal-communication-skills.pdf Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, (1999). Enhancing Motivation for Change in Substance Abuse Treatment. Rockville (MD). Retrieved 5/3/17 from, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK64967/ Introductory Educational Counselling, (2013). Reflective Report of Basic Counselling. Retrieved 5/3/17, from, http://www.portaldoconhecimento.gov.cv/bitstream/10961/2517/1/INTRODUCTORY%20EDUCATIONAL%20COUNSELING.pdf Perinatal Mental Health Project, (2010). Basic Counselling Skills: A Guide for Health Workers in Maternal Care. Retrieved 5/3/17 from, https://open.umich.edu/sites/default/files/downloads/pmhpbasiccounsellingskills.pdf Queensland Government Australia, (2013). Introduction Module 3 Micro-Counselling Skills. Retrieved 5/3/17 from, http://insightqld.org/Micro12/story_content/external_files/Micro-Counselling%20Skills.pdf Trepper, T.S., McCollum, E.E., De Jong, P., Korman, H., Gingerich, W. & Franklin, C. (n.d.).Solution Focused Therapy Treatment Manual For Working With Individuals Research Committee Of The Solution Focused Brief Therapy Association. Retrieved 5/3/2017 from, http://www.sfbta.org/research.pdf Wosket, V. (2006). Egan’s Skilled Helper Model: Development and Implication in Counselling. Routledge. Read More

Rapport building is the cornerstone of any counseling session as it is the first thing that may enable a client to share what she/he is going through or depending on the rapport application scare the client and fail to disclose some fundamental information that might enable a holistic approach to the issues at hand. Applying SOLER strategy I did seat squarely facing Hayley, had an open posture as a gesture of my unlimited availability to attend to her, leaned forward towards her, maintained warm eye contact, and was relaxed to avoid destructing the client. Further, I ensured that Hayley had relaxed before beginning our session. This I did by asking her, “How was your morning today?” we went on with some short dialogue here and there until she expressed a sigh of relief and comfort. Observational skills were highly used from the beginning of the session to the end.

According to the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors, (2009), observational non-behavior skills for instance, when a client enters a counseling room enables the counselor to understand some feelings from the client. During the session, the counselor can gauge how the client perceives their words by observing the eye contact and the facial of the client. Before the session went on further, upon gathering Hayley's background information, I did let her realize that the session was going to remain confidential and what we share was made for her own good. Further, the client was informed that any information disclosure will be upon her request and her will and only for her own health goodness. During the session, Hayley was playing with her fingers and hands, distress was evident in her face and she had a pink face. Despite having had 45 minutes, session, by the end of the session she was still in tension. Observational skills did help in getting what was going on with Hayley's situation during the session, and at the end of the session, thus realizing the need to have counseling intervention in the next session that might leave my client relaxed.

Micro skills used during the session

Reflection of feeling

Among micro-skills applied in counseling reflection of feeling is one of them. Queensland Government Australia (2013) reflection of feeling is used as an indicator of the counselor’s ability to empathize with the client. Reflection feeling entails the counselor reflecting on the emotions coming through the client's expression. Such feeling can be expressed via a single word like tense, miserable, frustrated, or a string of words. Feelings reflection helps the counselor demonstrate that she/he understands the current experiences the client is going through. In most cases, clients are unaware of their underlying feelings. When a counselor successfully applies reflection of feeling precise, she/he may help the client aware of them, and help them to go through their feeling in detail. During the counseling session, reflection feeling was applied on various occasion.

In counseling practice, motivational interviewing is practically focused. Motivational interviewing employs more persuasive modalities unlike being coercive, less argumentative with more supportive structures in place. The motivational interviewer needs to continue the session using a strong skill to pursue, set purpose via clear strategies application (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, (1999).  As a motivational aspect, paraphrasing encourages an open and continued talk from the client enabling deep exploration of the issues the client is facing. The use of paraphrases gives the client a notion that the counselor is attentive, has accurately heard the client, and is following the client on what she says. Paraphrasing is an active modality of communicating to the client that you have actually listened to them (AIPC’S, 2009). During my session with Hayley, I did employ paraphrasing skills severally. For instance, Me: “tell me about your background”.

Questioning is a fundamental tool employed during counseling sessions to allow the counselors to explore the client’s concerns. Questioning skills must be through practice and discipline.

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