Reflective essay -Counselling session Essay

In this brooding test I will provide an analysis of the counselling seance I conducted and preserve. This will include a summary of the sitting. I will in any case describe the micro and advanced counselling skills utalised, as healthy as a critical evaluation of their effectiveness. A discussion of my application of these skills, as well as beas of possible improvement will supported by reference to relevant literature.Summary of the session.Leesa is a 37-year-old woman who I select seen around four months previously. At the previous session Leesa wheel spoke of her frustrations at run for and of her hopes of securing a promotion. Leesas presentation was one of lethargy consistent with person who was suffering feelings of depression. I began the session by welcoming the lymph gland and reminding her of the confidentiality discernment. Leesa had previously worked in the hospitality industry but condoneed that had decided to terminate her drill after being over timbree d for a promotion. She ilkwise explained that she had felt a lack of fairness and respect from her employer and fellow employees. Since leaving her position in hospitality Leesa had sought workplace through an agency that provides office work opportunities. Leesa explained that she had had four different jobs in the past three months and that she was experiencing a same feeling of being dis respected.Leesa spoke of experiencing a lack of self-confidence at the moment and a feeling of being stuck as well as frustration and unsealedty around her future direction. However the client was able-bodied to rank that she would the likes of to be more financi completelyy secure, feel respected at work and to achieve a greater sense of confidence. Leesa spoke of a beat when she enjoyed her work and private life more, and was able to rival some of the key differences that contributed to her feeling more respected and confident in general. The client identified that she would like to se ek alternative employment that whollyowed her to curb on grater responsibility and that involved less travel. Leesa believed that her employment agency whitethorn be able to assist her, but admitted that she had not been discerning most the kinds of roles that she alikek recently due(p) to herfinancial situation.She also disclosed that she had been isolating due to her current state of mind. Accepting a homework challenge Leesa agree to glide path some friends to see if she could catch up with them at the future(a) weekend. She also concur to compile a list of the sorts of jobs that she felt she was strung- fall out for and believed that she could achieve a greater feeling of responsibility and respect. Leesa regularize that she would approach her employment agency to see if they could help, and that she would bring her list to the next instruction session.Counselling skills application.Reflecting upon the counseling session it is clear that I utalised a domain of conve rsational micro skills.Attending BehaivourHackney & Cormier (2009) & McLeod (2007), explain that a counselling leads by following the client, which is done by encouraging the client to grade their story using verbal and non-verbal encouragers. Another way to explain what go to is that it allows the client to strain talking with minimal interruption (Armstrong, 2006). When watching the recorded session I could observe numerous occasions where examples of attending behaivour are present. For example my posture was relaxed and I leant forward. My tone of voice was moderate and consistent, and I maintained eye contact. I constantly nodded my head and aid mm hmm or, oh really. This combination of skills conveyed that I was interested and empathetic to what the client was formulation. as well as Egan (2010) describes an effective guideline for turning into clients as represented by an acronym SOLER, which is crucial in the beginning of any counselling session. This meansS slip the client squarelyO maintain open postureL lean towards the otherE good eye contactR relaxed and natural in these behavioursMinimal responses.Throughout the session I apply a celestial orbit of minimal responses that let the client know that I was interested and engaged in what she had to say. It also conveyed that I was empathetic towards her situation. Geldard and Geldard (2009) explain that minimal responses not only convey that the counselor is listening, they can also be used to convey a message, such as surprise, agreement or even to challenge what has been said. The meaning of these minimal responses is also influenced greatly upon the delivery of them. Tone of voice, facial expression, posture and eye movement all help to determine the way in which these messages are received. An example of a minimal response I made that conveyed empathy would put up been when the client was describing her feelings of not being respected in her workplace and I responded by saying sounds horrible. This short response did not interrupt the flow of conversation, and encourage the client to continue. My tone of voice and facial expressions were also congruent with mortal who empathized and was interested in what was being said.Reflective Listening.Summarising, paraphrasing and reflection of feelings are all examples of counselling micro-skills that let the client know that the counselor is listening and brain them correctly. Although it is important to try to respond accurately it is not essential as an incorrect response can encourage the client to re-think what they turn in said and then clarify it, possibly resulting in a ruin accord for both parties. Geldard and Geldard (2009) explain that these reflections also serve as deepening the therapeutic human relationship. And that the most important to be genuinely yourself and aim to create a real, trusting, caring empathetic relationship with the person seeking help. Examples of when I utalised reflective list ening techniques would include When the client had explained the reasons why she had left her previous employment, I reflected covering by saying So youve left there you werent riant with that job, you felt like you were unfairly treated, is that..? Another example would have been after the client had explained that she had experienced a number of negative employment situations within a short period of magazine. I reflected back Would I be right to suggest that perhaps you are feeling a bit stuck, youre not really sure what you are doing? . teasing Techniques and AdvancedCounselling Skills.During the session I used a clutches of open and closed incredulitys. I opened the session by referring back to the subject of her difficulties at work covered in the previous session and then asked How has that been red ink? Later I asked the client Can you tell me a little more about the situation, what was going on for you? overall I was happy with the mix of open and closed questions . It felt like I was getting the education I needed, without interrupting the client. The counseling modality I used was ancestor focused. I tried to structure the session with Egans Three Stage Model in mind. Egan (2010) provides a structured and solution focused approach that can be broken into 3 study sections. The initial part of the session saw me ask a aim of questions designed to ascertain what was going on? For the next section What do I want instead? I used a range of questioning techniques. For example scaling questions. At a point in the session it had been identified that the client had become stuck and was uncertain of what direction to include due to a series of negative experiences at work.The client had agree that a pattern had emerged she felt disrespected at work. At this point I also felt a little stuck. It felt as if I should explore this as a theme and try to help the client to let on her blind spots. However I also felt like it magnate be counterproduct ive to challenge the client at that stage, as she appeared to have a low self-image. At the conviction, although uncertain it felt a little dangerous to examine her role in the situation. In suppose to firstly establish that the clients self esteem was low, and to then help her to find out what would have to change for her to feel better I asked her to rate her direct of self-esteem, or confidence on a scale of one-to-ten. Her response was a three. This strategy was useful in establishing that the client was unhappy and felt stuck in her situation, and therefore provided a platform to work with.However it was not favored in helping the client to identify what she wants instead (Egan 2010). I was unsure at this point as to weather the client was genuinely uncertain of what she would like to change or if she was reluctant to say. It was this feeling that led me to self-disclose. This gave me the opportunity to express empathy indirectly and to help the client feel like the relat ionship was equal. Geldard and Geldard (2009). It was also usefulin clarifying that she felt frustration and not the anxiety that was present in my disclosure. In an effort to move to Egans second stage I chose to ask a variation of the miracle question. De Jong and Berg (2008), propose that the miracle question allows the client an opportunity to step out of their current situation for a moment and consider the possibility of something better (as cited in Corey 2013). Although the clients response was not immediate she could identify that she wanted to be more financially stable, to have more confidence, and to be respected.I then asked the client Has there ever been a time in your functional like, that you can remember where you felt respected and happy at work? This question had an almost immediate positive reaction, as evidenced by the clients change in posture and facial expression. This coincided with what might have ordinarily been the negative situation of a refrigerator reservation a loud noise. However this situation added a useful constituent of humor that would probably not been possible. Both clients and counselors can enrich a relationship through humor (Corey 2013 p.31). Having identified that there was a time when things were different, coupled with the comfortableness achieved through humor, it felt like I had licence to ask what was different in her personal life at that time. The responses gave me the information I needed to begin to help the client look at Egans (2010) third stage of how do I get to what I want? This also gave me the opportunity to work with the immediacy that was evident in the change of mood when the client reflected upon a time when her life was going well. This person-centered approach added a real sense of genuiness to the relationship and allowed the client to identify emotionally connect with the difference in her life at that time (Corey 2013).During a summary of what was different, when the clients life was go ing well new information was disclosed that the client had not been discerning about the jobs that she took due to her financial situation. I made the comment that that was understandable, we all have to pay our bills, thus normalizing the clients experience, Normalising a clients experience can help them to look at their situation more positively Geldard and Geldard (2009). This was useful as the session moved into the third stage of the framework provided by Egan (2010). During this stage we brainstormed shipway in which the client could access alternative employment, and also how to achieve greater life balance throughrecreational activities. The client agreed to continue to develop this list and to approach some employment agencies. She also agreed to contact some friends socially the following weekend as a homework tasks. Tompkins (2006) suggests that there are clear advantages to the counselor and client working in a collaborative manor in negotiating mutually winsome homewo rk tasks. (as cited in Corey 2013). I felt that overall the session went well. At times I think I could have injected more nix into my responses. It is strange, as I felt more enthusiastic inside than what was conveyed. I was happy that I could work to a framework and I represent that I enjoy the positivity of the solution-focused modality. It did seem a little too perfect at times, which is difficult to avoid in a role-play situation.References.Armstrong, P. (2006). The enforce of counselling. Melbourne Thomson Higher Education Corey, G (2012). Theory and Practice of Counselling and Psychotherapy. 9th.Ed. Melbourne. Canage Learning. Egan, G. (2010). The practiced Helper 9th Ed. Belmont, USA Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.Geldard, G & Geldard, K (2012) 7th Ed. canonical Personal Counselling A Training manual for counsellors. N.S.W Australia. Pearson.