SESSION 5: REFLECTIVE COUNSELLING SKILLS

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SESSION 5 REFLECTIVE COUNSELLING SKILLS

• This session will
• Provide a summary of the previous 4 sessions
• Explore the nature of emotions
• Look at ways of working with emotions
• Examine how emotions are classified and
  understood
• Discuss nonverbal behaviour
• Experiential tasks looking at emotions, nonverbal
  behaviour, and metaphors

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SESSION 1

• Outline of the course and purpose a forum to
  discuss issues, to reflect on and become more
  aware of your own personal process, explore your
  strengths/limitations
• Explanation of what counselling is
• Explore the relationship between social work and
  counselling

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SESSION 2

• Examined the relationship between social work and
  counselling
• Present the core conditions of Person-Centred
  Counselling
• Discuss the Core Qualities required for
  counselling to be effective
• Introduce Basic Counselling Skills
  (self-awareness and self-reflection)
• Experiential task looking at what qualities and
  skills you would want/not want in a helper

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SESSION 3

• Examined current understandings of reflective
  practice
• Explored methods of reflection
• Looked at the nature of the self in social work
  education and practice
• Presented the 4 levels of reflection
• Discussed the purposes of autobiography
• Experiential task looking at the connection
  between thoughts, feelings, and behaviours

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SESSION 4

• Explored relationship building in the context of
  counselling
• Introduced the concept of the working alliance
• Examined how the relationship acts as a vehicle
  for relearning
• Presented active listening skills
• Experiential task looking at emotional triggers
  and how they influence listening

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EMOTIONS

• Emotions are defined as
• A state of mind usually accompanied by current
  physiological and behavioural changes and based
  on the perception of some internal or external
  object (Barker, 1995)
• Emotional responses trigger our bodies to
  respond in physiological ways

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EMOTIONS

• Examples of physiological responses
• Anger increased heart rate and adrenaline serve
  to increase energy and power
• Fear increased blood flow to the legs for
  flight the body may freeze for a moment giving
  time to gauge fight/flight response
• Happiness brain activity inhibits negative
  thoughts and fosters increased energy

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EMOTIONS

• Surprise raising of eyebrows expands the field
  of vision, helps to see what is happening and
  plan action
• Sadness a general drop in energy and enthusiasm
  creates an opportunity to mourn (Goleman, 1995)
• Love bodily sensations promote well-being and a
  general state of calm and contentment

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WORKING WITH EMOTIONS

• Social workers work with clients emotions in a
  number of ways (helping clients to explore and
  understand their emotions/feelings, allowing
  clients to express emotions without censorship).
• The overall goal is to support clients gain
  emotional literacy the ability to experience
  ones emotions with appropriate intensity and to
  understand what is causing these feelings
  (Parrott, 1997, p. 260)

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WORKING WITH EMOTIONS

• Goleman (1995) suggests that the ability to
  recognise feelings as they happen is the
  cornerstone of emotional intelligence and that
  people in touch with their feelings/emotions are
  better able to cope with life experiences and are
  more competent decision-makers

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UNDERSTANDING EMOTIONS

• Understanding emotions comes from appreciating
  the interactions of 3 components
• Thoughts
• Physiological changes
• Behaviour

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UNDERSTANDING EMOTIONS

• Feelings are internal physiological reactions
  to your experiences. You may begin to tremble,
  sweat, or have a surge of energy. Your heart may
  beat faster. Tears may come. Although feelings
  are internal reactions, they do have outward
  signs. Sadness is inside you, but you cry or
  frown on the outsidefeelings are always internal
  states, but you use overt behaviours to
  communicate your feelings to others (Johnson,
  1997)

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CLASSIFYING AND UNDERSTANDING EMOTIONS

• EXERCISE 5.1
• In groups of 3 look at the emotion on the left
  hand column. Try to come up with as many words as
  you can for these emotions. Are they comfortable
  or uncomfortable emotions? Are they easy or
  difficult to show? Why?

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CLASSIFYING AND UNDERSTANDING EMOTIONS

• Word Modifiers change the level of emotion
  expressed (e.g., very, extremely, somewhat,
  mostly, little)
• Metaphors are a way of describing something by
  using a symbol as a comparison

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CLASSIFYING AND UNDERSTANDING EMOTIONS

• Exercise 5.2
• In groups of 3 look at the list of metaphors
  below and try to identify the possible feelings
  that each suggests
• tied up in knots about to blow up
• in a pressure cooker on a sinking ship
• tearing my hair out in a sticky situation

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NONVERBAL BEHAVIOUR

• Most people are familiar with the physiological
  reactions that occur in a moment of great fear
  (adrenaline increase, elevated heart rate, rapid
  breathing, dry mouth). Many are clearly visible
  to any observer, even before any verbal
  declaration of fear
• Consequently, we can often trust nonverbal
  communication as a more reliable indicator of
  feelings

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NONVERBAL BEHAVIOUR

• Research has shown that more than 55 of the
  meaning of a message is given nonverbally.
• A persons emotions may be conveyed much more
  accurately by body posture/eyes than by words
• Social workers who are able to respond to
  nonverbal as well as verbal messages project an
  unusual warmth, sensitivity, and perceptiveness
  that enhances the intimacy of the relationship

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NONVERBAL BEHAVIOUR

• Social workers need to interpret nonverbal
  communication cautiously. Typically it can have
  many meanings that vary according to a multitude
  of factors (culture, context)
• Body language is easily interpreted on some
  occasions. At other times, it is ambiguous
  particularly when people communicate
  contradictory messages

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NONVERBAL BEHAVIOUR

• Voice
• Social workers can learn a great deal from their
  clients from their voice tone, volume, and pitch.
  These variables can reveal if clients are
  depressed, euphoric, angry (e.g., anger tends to
  be expressed with speech that is more rapid and
  loud, sadness by more pauses and slowness)

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NONVERBAL BEHAVIOUR

• Spatial Distance
• Halls Model (1959)
• Intimate distance (2 feet)
• Personal distance (2 4 feet)
• Social distance (4 12 feet)
• Public distance (12 feet)

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NONVERBAL BEHAVIOUR

• Exercise 5.3
• In groups of two start out at a social distance
  from your colleague. Move your chair closer until
  your partner says stop. This indicates your
  comfort zone
• Discuss how this will influence how mindful you
  are in relation to space in your work