counselling skills 2
Experiencing
I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine regarding his out of control gambling habits as well as the level of debt he is quickly finding himself in. My friend hasn’t approached anyone else about this issue and thought because of my current study that I could help. I explained to my friend that I am not qualified to deal with issues such as these as I am not counsellor yet and only a student but would hear what he had to say as a friend.
I listened to what he had to say with empathy and understanding while he told me his problems. After he had explained his situation to me I assessed what was going on and uncovered that he is suffering from depression, loneliness, helplessness and has thoughts of suicide. I told my friend that I think that he should talk to a counsellor about his problems and he told me that he didn’t want to and wanted me to tell him what he should do. Knowing that he wouldn’t seek professional help worried me greatly and I was finding myself trying to find solutions.
Reflecting
Upon reflection of my conversation with my friend I realized numerous things I shouldn’t have done such as:
Find solutions for his problems Give advice as to what actions he should take Telling him the consequences of his actions Going through the Possibilities of his future without professional help Pushing my own point of view across
The things I thought I do right in this situation were:
Advice professional help
Give support
Showing empathy and understanding
Explore possibilities
Conceptualising
After my friend had told me that he would not seek professional help and I knew there was no way I could persuade him to I started to give advice which felt like a lecture. After sometime I saw that he was losing interest in the discussion which made me feel helpless in helping him and was not the way I wanted the conversation to go.
Planning
In the future as a counsellor faced with this situation I think it
I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine regarding his out of control gambling habits as well as the level of debt he is quickly finding himself in. My friend hasn’t approached anyone else about this issue and thought because of my current study that I could help. I explained to my friend that I am not qualified to deal with issues such as these as I am not counsellor yet and only a student but would hear what he had to say as a friend.
I listened to what he had to say with empathy and understanding while he told me his problems. After he had explained his situation to me I assessed what was going on and uncovered that he is suffering from depression, loneliness, helplessness and has thoughts of suicide. I told my friend that I think that he should talk to a counsellor about his problems and he told me that he didn’t want to and wanted me to tell him what he should do. Knowing that he wouldn’t seek professional help worried me greatly and I was finding myself trying to find solutions.
Reflecting
Upon reflection of my conversation with my friend I realized numerous things I shouldn’t have done such as:
Find solutions for his problems Give advice as to what actions he should take Telling him the consequences of his actions Going through the Possibilities of his future without professional help Pushing my own point of view across
The things I thought I do right in this situation were:
Advice professional help
Give support
Showing empathy and understanding
Explore possibilities
Conceptualising
After my friend had told me that he would not seek professional help and I knew there was no way I could persuade him to I started to give advice which felt like a lecture. After sometime I saw that he was losing interest in the discussion which made me feel helpless in helping him and was not the way I wanted the conversation to go.
Planning
In the future as a counsellor faced with this situation I think it