Counselling Skills: Practice and Reflections

What do counselling skills look like, and what goes on for the counsellor during the work.

This video presents a brief demonstration of counselling practice with a client, 'Tara' (played by an actor), who has come to counselling with low mood and problems with studying. The practice is based on 'person-centred'/'Rogerian' principles but with a change-focused emphasis. In particular, the work aims to help the client REFLECT on their issues, RE-EVALUATE how they are doing things, and RE-DECIDE their choices and actions--so that the client can find more satisfying and fulfilling ways of being. As part of the reflection process, there is a particular emphasis on 'resonating with'--and helping the client connect to--feelings and emotions. This is so that the focus of the work is on the issues that are of most importance to the client.

The demonstration is interspersed with reflective comments from myself, as counsellor. I describe what I'm thinking, feeling, and experiencing as the counselling is going on; what I am trying to do; how I evaluate my own practice; and how my interventions and responses relate to counselling theory and practice.

The video is aimed at students just starting out on counselling and counselling skills practice, as well as more experienced practitioners interested in seeing the 'nitty-gritty' of how other therapists work. It may also be of interest to counselling clients and other lay-people who are intrigued in understanding more of the aims of counselling and the counsellor's own inner process.

Many thanks to Tara Ahmed for playing the role of the client. Her spotlight number is 9410-7863-9529

[shannonw]

So refreshing to see a practice video that isnt 'perfect'. I'm a counselling student dealing with major anxiety and imposter syndrome so this is so helpful to see someone struggle like me too. Really reassuring and helps me to stop viewing other therapists as 'perfect'

[charlottedavey]

I'm in my early days of training to be a Counselling Psychologist and I have been feeling a bit lost with where I should be at this stage. It's so refreshing to see such an authentic video of a professional who is trying to figure it out, making mistakes and constantly learning. It has really given me the confidence to accept my own fallibility in this learning process.
I hope you continue to make these videos, Mick. So interesting to hear your reflections.

[Eidixiaoandbdm]

psychology student here, thank you! i don’t get a lot of practice or demonstration in my classes yet so these videos really help!

[persistencemagaya]

This video has been so helpful for my own sef confidence, I am a trainee therapist and seeing a professional make mistakes and be open and reflective helps to take the pressure off a little bit. thank you for being so authentic!

[franklinval]

Hey Mick,

I wanted to drop you a quick note to say thanks for sharing your thoughts. I really enjoyed listening to you talk about the things you would have said differently. It was encouraging and reassuring to know that even with your experience and knowledge, you still acknowledge that things can be imperfect. Keep up the great work!

[gulliver]

I love the level of practicalness and authenticity of this video. It was very helpful, thank you.

[kendallsaxton]

Thank you Mick and Tara, just beginning skills sessions and this really helped put my mind a little more at ease!

[subhasharma]

Thank you for existing and showing me a good example. My intuition always picks up empathy and I am so glad to meet a very humane psychologist. Your humility is inspiring for a new counselor. ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[mos.]

This is so helpful - as a student starting out on my 100hrs of supervised counselling this video is immensely helpful in seeing examples and the understanding behind the process. Vulnerabilities and all - Thank you.

[MarkMcDermottOtismojo]

Thanks for this, Mick. I really like this because you're showing true congruence in every sense - that an experienced practitioner such as yourself still struggles at times to connect with the client and with their phenomenology. There's hope for us all...!!

[sarahlabbett]

I love your videos, as a therapist I doubt myself frequently. I sometimes feels so clumsy with my questions, you have made me see this is normal. Thank you 😊

[melcarella]

Thank you Mick for making these demonstration of counselling practice videos. I found them very useful. I respect you for being genuine, humble and courageous to put your face out there to show others how to hold a counselling session. I appreciate your comments between interventions. It is eye-opening and helps compression.

[yanfenhuang]

6’24”, I think THE SMILE is very genuine, in the sense that: mentioning her friends is something that makes her happy, as versus to earlier talking about stressful exams!

[kierancbr]

Thanks Mick for another insightful video, as someone starting out I'm still in the rescuer thinking but it's really grounding to hear your thoughts and advice. Love that ending statement we're not necessarily there to be the savior but rather helping the client by being a catalyst for change.

[catherineflynn]

Thanks Mick, I really appreciate how this video makes the counselling process explicit. I lke the fact that the is no big movement forward in the session - that sessions don't have to be like they are in theory books - which tend to show the most juicy bits of therapeutic work. Reading theory books as a training counsellor can give the impression that you alway need to be doing 'great work'. This video shows a 'typical counselling session', no big revelations, just being alongside the client in the small nuances of their story. I also like your comments throughout, and your phrases e.g. "therapeutiv leverage"., "embodied empathy". This video has helped me to check in with how I'm doing with my counselling practice, so thank you!!

[kkirk]

Really helpful to watch. I'm a L3 student approaching an external skills assessment and this session has made me feel a little less anxious. Think its your congruent humanness! Thanks Mick.

[Elaine-tknx]

This is such a helpful video, Mick, and I learnt so much from your honest self-appraisal and particularly underlining the mechanism of your thought process, like looking under the bonnet of a car! I like the way you follow Tara’s reflections and I particularly like the image of the spiral which perfectly sums up the process of gradually honing in on a client’s core feelings. I am in my final year of a Level 4 Diploma in Integrative Counselling and watching your videos is immensely helpful to my learning. Here are my thoughts on the video:

I sense a contradiction at the heart of what Tara is saying - she has expressed her hurt that her friends seem to have excluded her and seems to base this on some insecurities about her personality, ie not being fun enough (for example). However, she also feels that she has not challenged her friends enough about ways they have acted (she does not define this) and needs to “call them out” on their behaviour but fears that, by doing so, she risks alienating them further and yet she has already said that they are not including her in activities. Her fears seem to stem from a basic sense of not being “good enough” to retain friends and that she needs to find a way to hold on to friends. Her belief that making friends at uni is hard also struck me as an uncompromising phrase, and I wondered what a gentle challenge such as: “I’m curious as to why you feel it would be hard to make friends at uni” would produce. Does she mean, rather, that fears SHE will find it hard to make friends and is this an example of her core belief about herself? She bats away your suggestion that she is “caring” and it reveals a fear that, no matter how caring she may be, her friends have alienated her, so perhaps she too does not value such a quality in herself if it does not attract friends. The overall impression I get from what she is expressing emotionally is that she is trying to find a key to fit the friendship lock. If only she could find what it is, she could solve the puzzle. Deep down, she seems to be expressing an implicit belief that others have something to offer that she does not. Perhaps it is simply that she is not attracting the friends that value her and this is what she is working out - how to remain true to herself and accept that not everyone will want her as she is, but that it is entirely possible for her to make connections with people who will value and love her for herself.

[imranlakhi]

This is really helpful, am studying level 2 in counselling am a new student, I like how you were moving away from the more structural method, and focused on a conversation, I like this method

[rubymchapman]

i am working towards my level 2 qualification in counselling skills, and this is really helpful to watch you explain the impact of each skill alongside self-evaluation and improvements you would give. you have given me more confidence in my execution of skills, thank you so much i will for sure be checking out your channel more to support my work !!

[avihalberthal]

Absolutely great demonstration of skills, so helpful, thanks!! Can you make more of those please??