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Counselling Skills I
Counselling Skills I Level 3 100 Hours Certificate
Course Code:
BPS109 CLD
Level:
3
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Learn About Counselling Skills I
Level 3 Counselling Skills I course online. Gain basic counselling skills. Develop your ability to support or counsel others through the processes of personal growth and change. This course introduces you to the kinds of problems and issues that a person might face in overcoming stresses and limiting attitudes.
Learn about the counsellor’s role and the counselling process, and gain basic practical counselling skills. Recommended for parents, teachers and others who want to communicate in a more supportive, empathetic manner.
This Counselling Skills course is accredited by ACCPH and allows you to join as a professional member after completion. Membership allows you to add the letters MACCPH after your name (post-nominals).
The Complementary Medical Association is a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting the very highest standards of complementary medicine and natural healthcare.
ADL is a CMA Registred Training School, registration No. ADL270511.
This Counselling Skills I course will help you to develop your listening skills and enable you to help people work through life’s challenges. It will be a valuable addition to your CV and almost anyone will benefit from completing the course. But it will be especially helpful if you work in or wish to work in:
Counselling
Psychotherapy
Psychology
Health Professions
Teaching
Caring Roles
Life Coaching Roles
The role of the counsellor is to facilitate the person’s resolution of these issues, whilst respecting their values, personal resources, culture and capacity for choice.
Counselling can provide people with a regular time and space to talk about their problems and explore difficult feelings in a confidential and dependable environment.
Counsellors do not usually offer advice, but instead give insight into the clients’ feelings and behaviour and help the client change their behaviour if necessary. They do this by listening to what the client has to say and commenting on it from a professional perspective.
Counselling covers a wide spectrum from the highly trained counsellor to some one who uses counselling skills as part of their leadership role or career, for example, a nurse, youth leader, personal trainer or teacher.
Student comment:
“Thanks Andrew for checking up on me, things are going great, my teacher is awesome and I love the content of the course. My experience so far is outstanding.”Isabelle Z, Counselling Skills, Canada
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Therapies and Counsellors
Case Studies
Methods of Learning
Micro Skills
Triads
Modelling
Online and Telephone Counselling
Telemental Health
Clinical Considerations
Listening & bonding:
Scope of Listening and Bonding
Meeting and greeting
Creating a Safe Environment
Location
Time and Duration of Sessions
Privacy in Telephone and online counselling
Showing warmth on the phone
The contract
Helping the client relax
Listening with intent
Minimal Responses
Non Verbal Behaviour
Use of Voice
Use of Silense
Case Studies
Active Listening
Dealing with Silent Phone Calls
Reflection:
Non Directive Counselling
Paraphrasing
Feelings
Reflection of Feeling
Client Responses to Reflection of Feelings
Reflection of Content and Feeling
Case Studies
Questioning:
Open & Closed Questions
Other types of Questions (Linear, Information seeking, Strategic, Reflectivew, Clarification, etc)
Questions to Avoid
Goals of Questioning
Identification
Assessment
Intervention
Case Studies
Interview techniques:
Summarising
Application
Confrontation
Reframing
Case Studies
Perspective
Summary
Changing beliefs and normalising:
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Changing Self-Destructive Beliefs
Irrational Beliefs
Normalising
Case Studies
Designing a Questionnaire
Finding solutions:
Moving Forward
Choices (Reviewing, Creating, Making choices)
Facilitating Actions
Gestalt Awareness Circle
Psychological Blocks
Case Study
Ending the counselling:
Terminating the session
Closure
Further Meetings
Dependency
Confronting Dependency
Chronic Callers
Terminating Silent Phone Calls
Silent Endings
Case Study
Other Services
Learning Goals
Learning Goals: Counselling Skills I BPS109
Explain the processes involved in the training of counsellors in micro skills.
Explain how to commence the counselling process and evaluation of non-verbal responses and minimal responses.
Discuss both content and feeling, and their appropriateness to the counselling process.
Demonstrate different questioning techniques and to understand risks involved with some types of questioning.
Demonstrate how to use various micro-skills including summarising, confrontation, and reframing.
Demonstrate self-destructive beliefs and show methods of challenging them, including normalising.
Explain how counselling a client can improve their psychological well-being through making choices, overcoming psychological blocks and facilitating actions.
Demonstrate effective ways of terminating a counselling session and to explain ways of addressing dependency.
Practical (Set Tasks)
Set Tasks and Practice: Counselling Skills I BPS109
Report on an observed counselling session, simulated or real.
Identify the learning methods available to the trainee counsellor.
Demonstrate difficulties that might arise when first learning and applying micro skills.
Identify why trainee counsellors might be unwilling to disclose personal problems during training.
Identify risks that can arise for trainee counsellors not willing to disclose personal problems.
Discuss different approaches to modelling, as a form of counselling
Evaluate verbal and non-verbal communication in an observed interview.
Identify the counsellorâs primary role (in a generic sense).
Show how to use minimal responses as an important means of listening with intent.
Explain the importance of different types of non-verbal response in the counselling procedure.
Report on the discussion of a minor problem with an anonymous person experiencing that problem.
Identify an example of paraphrasing as a minimal response to reflect feelings.
Discuss the use of paraphrasing in counselling.
Differentiate catharsis from confused thoughts and feelings.
Identify an example of reflecting back both content (thought) and feeling in the same phrase.
Demonstrate/observe varying responses to a variety of closed and open questions in a simulated counselling situation.
Evaluate your use of open and closed questions in a counselling role play.
Identify the main risks involved in asking too many questions,
Explain the importance of avoiding questions beginning with why in counselling.
Explain how the application of different micro-skills would be useful in counselling in observed communication (written or oral).
Give examples of situtions when it would be appropriate for the counsellor to use confrontation
Discuss appropriate use of confrontation, in case studies.
Show how reframing can be used to change a clients’ perspective on things.
Develop a method for identifying the existence of self-destructive beliefs (SDBs).
Identify self-destructive beliefs (SDBs) amongst individuals within a group.
List methods that can be used to challenge SDBs.
Explain what is meant by normalising, in a case study.
Demonstrate precautions that should be observed when using normalizing.
Determine and evaluate optional responses to different dilemmas.
Explain how the âcircle of awarenessâ can be applied to assist a client, in a case study.
Explain why psychological blockages may arise, and how a counsellor might help a client overcome them.
Describe the process through which a counsellor would take a client to reach a desired goal, in a case study.
Identify inter-dependency in observed relationships.
Explain why good time management is an important part of the counselling process.
Compare terminating a session with terminating the counselling process.
Demonstrate dangers posed by client-counsellor inter-dependency, and how dependency can be addressed.
Explain any negative aspects of dependency in a case study.
Many people use counselling skills in their daily lives. However, sometimes it may be inappropriate for people to use their usual methods of support. They may not want to discuss their problems with a friend or family member.
They may feel that the person is too close, that they donât want them to know their confidential problems or the person they would usually confide in might be part of the problem.
Counsellors are trained to be effective helpers in difficult or sensitive situations. They should be independent, neutral and professional, as well as respecting our privacy.
Counselling can help people to clarify their problems, identify changes they would like to make, get a fresh perspective, consider other options and look at the impact that life events have made on their emotional well-being.
More Information
SOME THEORIES OF COUNSELLING
Empathy
Empathy is the ability to understand someone else’s point of view and to share their emotions, almost “to stand in their shoes”. Empathy is a centrally important ingredient of any therapeutic situation. Without empathy, the client is unlikely to trust the therapist, and without trust, will be unlikely to explore deeper levels of problems and effect changes.
To practice empathy, a therapist must continually be in touch with the client’s feelings and values, without intruding their own set of values. The therapist must in a sense imagine being in the “client’s shoes”.
Part of empathy is the practice of reflection.
The therapist becomes like a mirror, constantly reflecting the client’s attitudes back to him/her; for example:
Client:
He makes me mad. I just want to lash out at him.
Therapist:
You feel angry and frustrated.
Client:
Yes, and I don’t know what to do -how to end it
Therapist:
It’s confusing for you and you don’t know how to end the frustration.
One might ask why reflection can help a person -the therapist doesn’t appear to be adding anything to the clients understanding. The client however, in this way learns to accept their feelings. They then find it easier to express their feelings. They are making sense of a confused world through verbal articulation. All of these factors form a basis for problem solving.
Transference
Although the concept of transference originated in psychoanalysis, it has been proved to be of profound relevance to any therapeutic situation.
Transference involves the projection of feelings towards people in your life, onto the therapist. If the client perceives her husband of being a cold aloof person, she brings this attitude into the therapeutic situation, and projects it onto the therapist.
Thus she perceives the therapist as being cold and aloof. In this way the therapist acts as a sounding board for the clients feelings. Since people’s problems are often about loved ones, clients often experience feelings of love and attachment toward their therapists.
A good therapist will not encourage OR suppress such feelings. Instead they will work with them during the therapy session to broaden the clients self awareness. He/she will help the client realise that these feelings come from other relationships, for example:
Client:
I don’t know what’s wrong with you today. You’re not listening to my silly problems.
You’re not even listening.
Therapist:
You’re mistaken about that. I’m listening very closely. I begin to feel that someone at home perhaps, hasn’t been listening to you. Is that so?
Transference can be a positive key to finding out what the client’s central hidden problems are.
A client cannot openly admit anger to her husband, who perhaps doesn’t even know that she is angry; but she might project those feelings onto the therapist.
DIRECTIVENESS/NON-DIRECTIVENESS
The use of empathy or reflection might be referred to as a non directive approach.
Here the therapist is not actively leading the client to a solution.
This is a necessary part of therapy as it guides the client to learn to express his/her hidden feelings.
Once the client’s world is opened to the therapist willingly, and the client has trust in the therapist, then a more directive technique can be used.
Directive techniques include:
Introducing the client to open ended questions which require a greater level of trust & honesty.
E.g. Why do you stay with your husband when he hurts you so much?
Introducing a level of interpretation
Instead of merely reflecting the client’s feelings, an element of interpretation is added. This is not to say that you will take wild guesses. Your interpretation of the client’s verbalisation must be grounded in your knowledge of their feelings and attitudes.
Greater Intervention as regards the direction of discussion.
Often when the client has revealed a greater part of his/her experiences in therapy, a new level of defensiveness sets in, and the client might experience mental blocks.
BEHAVIOUR THERAPIES
The basic assumption of behavioural therapy is that maladaptive behaviour is a learned way of coping with stress, and that these learned behaviours can be unlearned and replaced with more efficient forms of behaviour.
According to the behaviourists, it is not enough to simply change a person’s attitude in therapy, for even if one develops healthier mental attitudes, one’s behaviour does not necessarily change.
I might develop the attitude that violence and aggression are abhorrent and counter productive ways of dealing with stress, yet as soon as I am stressed I might still automatically have violent outbursts.
The behaviourist’s main aim therefore is to modify behaviour through therapy.
The therapist’s technique of modifying the client’s behaviour is largely based on learning theory, such as classical and operant conditioning
SYSTEMATIC DESENSITISATION
This is a method used to eliminate fears and phobias. The individual is taught that they cannot be anxious and relaxed at the same time.
Relaxation training is provided and then used by the client whenever they encounter stress. Smaller fears are eliminated before greater fears are tackled.
Since one cannot be anxious and assertive at the same time, the person is also taught how to assert themselves. The individual learns how to act assertively in situations which usually produce passivity and timidity in the client. For instance, a depressive might be trained to overcome learned helplessness
Both relaxation and assertive training are practiced in a therapeutic situation, and then the client is encouraged to employ the learned methods on his/her own, in real life situations.
Role modelling is a particularly important therapeutic tool in this respect (e.g. If a client is having problems with the boss at work; the therapist may pretend to be the boss in a work situation and ask the client to act out the situation in his own role as if he were at work.
Full of interesting case studies, this ebook is a wonderful introduction to the complex world of the human psyche. Expand your mind and learn about what makes people tick.
Are you a good listener? Hone your skills by learning popular counselling theories and techniques.
You will learn about:
Listening skills
Non-verbal communication
Influencing skills
Defense mechanisms
Our perception of others
Attributions
Convariance theory
Lay epistemology
(and many more such things that may not make sense now but will by the end of the book).
Contents:
1. Where can counselling be used?
2. How to see behind the mask.
3. Emotions and attitudes.
4. How to communicate better when all you have is words.
5. Theory versus practice.
6. Diffusing difficult situations.
7. Golden rules or tips.
8. Appendicies.
Extract from book:
We don’t know for sure how much of our communication is non-verbal. Estimates vary from 50% to the 80%. Non-verbal communication becomes more significant, the more mixed the messages are. So if a person is saying one thing, but their body is saying something else, we will tend to pay more attention to what their body is saying to us. Most of us are aware that this is a sign of attempted deception.
Meharabian (1971) carried out a study to see how people decide if they like each other. They looked at facial expressions and spoken words. Participants had to listen to a recording of a female saying one word “maybe” in three tones of voice – neutral, like and dislike. The subjects were then shown photographs of a female face with three expressions – neutral, like and dislike. They were asked to guess which emotion the person in the photograph, the person on the recording and both together were experiencing.
The participants were more accurate in guessing the emotion of the photographs than the voice at a ratio of 3:2. Meharabian also carried out another study where participants had to listen to nine words. Three showed liking (dear, thanks, honey), three showed disliking (brute, terrible, don’t) and three showed neutrality (oh, maybe, really). The words were spoken in different tones. The participants were asked to guess the emotions behind the words. They found that tone carried more meaning than the word.
They concluded that:
■ Without seeing and hearing non-verbal messages, there can be more chance of misunderstanding.
■ A lot of communication does come through non-verbal communication, but we are still unsure as to the exact amount.
■ When we are not sure about a particular word, we pay more attention to non-verbal communication.
■ When we do not trust a person, we pay more attention to non-verbal communication.
There are many myths about body language. For example, crossing your arm means defensiveness, covering your mouth means you are lying and so on. But we should rely more on other factors such as:
■ Clusters of factors (showing more signs of non-verbal communication).
■ Non-verbal behaviour at the time a question is asked, particularly if the question is embarrassing or difficult.
■ Situations where the other person may not be trying to control their non-verbal behaviour.
As we said above, it is important to consider your own non-verbal communication. BUT not to such an extent that you try to control it all the time, which can make it appear false or give mixed messages from you.
Assessment
Assessment is based on a combination of completing all assignments and sitting for a final short one and a half hour exam, in your own location.
If you don’t cope well with exams then you may elect to undertake a project instead. This is a popular option.
In addition, most modules have a Set Task at the end of each lesson placed before the assignment. This is an opportunity to undertake practical work to help you acquire knowledge and skills and practical experience. This ADL feature is an added bonus not found at most online schools. Set Tasks are not required for assessment.
Some courses also have optional Self-Tests which are available on our online learning platform. These are not available by correspondence or by USB, and do not form part of your overall grade.
How our courses work
Choose Your Learning Method You choose how you would like to receive your course material, i.e., Online, USB or Correspondence. The choice is yours. You may also work on online or offline.
Tutor Allocation Every student is assigned their own dedicated tutor who is an expert in their subject area. They provide as much or as little individual contact as you require. You can contact your tutor whenever you need – your hours are not limited.
Feedback and Assignments Tutor Feedback is an essential component in helping you understand the subject matter. Tutor feedback is given in the form of notes written on the assignment. We encourage you to contact your Tutor where help with clarification and understanding of course material may be required.
Your assignments are located at the end of each lesson. You submit them for marking whenever you are ready. There is no time limit.
Set Tasks and Self-Tests Most modules have a Set Task at the end of each lesson before for the assignment. This is where you get the opportunity to undertake practical work to help you acquire knowledge, skills and practical experience. Many modules also have short Self-Tests.
Exams Once all assignments have been completed you may then elect to sit for a one and half hour exam in your own location. If you prefer not to take the exam you do have the option to undertake a project instead. Once the exam or project part of the course is completed, your Certificate is then processed. Please allow approximately 4 weeks for this.
Design Your Own Qualification ADL offers students the flexibility to self-design their own qualification – bundling together a combination of 100-hour modules into a qualification higher than a certificate.
FAQ
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Here is a list of the most often asked FAQ’s.
General
Q. Why should I enrol with the Academy for Distance Learning? A. Here at ADL, our students are our priority – we treat everyone as a unique individual.
Q. Do I need to buy text books? A. No, as each module has been written by highly qualified industry professionals. The content of the material is presented in such a way that text books are not required. However, if you require additional reading your tutor will be able to supply a list.
Q. What happens if I have to stop studying for a while? (eg. become sick, go on holidays, have a baby, move house, etc) A. It’s OK to take a break and start up your study at a later point in time. Just let us know.
Q. Is there an age limit? A. There is no maximum age limit. We do however, have a minimum age limit of 18 years. Below that age parental consent would be required.
Q. Are your courses up-to date? A. Our courses are revised and updated on a rotation system.
Q. Do you have a Cancellation policy? A. Yes. We have a cancellation policy that is fair and equitable. For further details please click here.
Q. Will I have any opportunity to engage with other students? A. We have a Student Community group based on facebook! If you don’t have a facebook account already, you could make one just for talking with fellow students on the group.
Enrolment
Q. When can I enrol/start? A. You may enrol and start at any time of the year – it’s all self- paced.
Q. Can I study from anywhere in the world? A. Our courses are available to anyone, anywhere in the world from the comfort of your own home. The course content is relevant to any country, culture or economy.
Q. How long do I have to complete the course? A. You complete the course at any time that is convenient for you.
Q. Completing a 100 hour module – how long will it take? A. For some students a 100 hour module will take approximately to 3- 6 months to complete. Others take less time and some even longer.
Assessment
Q. Assessment – how does it work? A. For each 100 hour module you are assessed by assignments (at the end of each lesson) and a final one and a half hour exam (or you may elect to complete a Project, instead of sitting the exam) – the choice is yours – you sit for the exam in your own location.
Q. I don’t cope well with exams – what can I do? A. You may elect to undertake a Project (set by your tutor) instead of sitting the exam. Projects are completed from your home and can usually take a couple of weeks to complete.
Q. If my assignment is not up to standard is there an opportunity to resubmit my work? A. Yes –
Q. How many assignments do I need to complete for each module? A. At the end of each lesson, there is an assignment – so if a course has say, 10 lessons, there would be 10 assignments.
Q. I am having difficulty attending workshops/industry meetings, what can be done? A. If your course requires attendance at workshops, conferences, or industry meetings; alternative arrangements can be made in your country.
Qualifications
Q. What qualification will I receive? A. For individual modules, you would be awarded a Certificate endorsed by TQUK (Training Qualifications, UK), providing you complete all assignments and the exam. If you just want to complete only the assignments and not sit for the exam or finish a Project, then a Letter of Achievement would be awarded. For more details on qualifications available please click here.
Q. Can I customize my diploma/higher qualification? A. Not all educational institution’s certificates /diplomas meet everyone’s needs. The opportunity to Design Your Own Diploma at the Academy (subject to our approval) is an added bonus, not found at other colleges. You choose modules that you think will help you in achieving your goal.
Q. What do I get when I complete the course? Will I receive a transcript? A. At the completion of all courses and providing all assignments and exam requirements have been met, you will receive your Award and a Transcript.
Tutors
Q. Our tutors – who are they? A. We appoint Tutors and require that they must be currently active in their industry, with at least 5 years’ experience in their chosen profession.
Q. Can I contact my tutor at any time? A. Yes – you have unlimited access to your tutor via email through our Online Classroom. You can always leave a message with ADL requesting your tutor to contact you. You decide on how much or how little contact you wish to have.
Q. Practical work – How is this done? A. To find out more about this part of the course please visit the section on How Our Courses Work here.
What's Included
What your tuition fees include
All Course Material via Online, USB or Correspondence
Assignments Marked
Professional Tutor Feedback
Set Tasks - Practical Exercises to help you develop skills
Self-Tests – multiple choice questions at the end of lessons in most modules
Unlimited Personal Tutor Support – via our student classroom
Committed and Friendly Admin Support – vital to your success
All ADL Exam or Project fees (exception RHS exams)
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By submitting this form, I provide my consent to ADL to contact me via email or telephone, regarding the course I selected. All information provided is protected in conformity with our Privacy Policy.
This Counselling Skills course is accredited by ACCPH and allows you to join as a professional member after completion. Membership allows you to add the letters MACCPH after your name (post-nominals).
