Modifying Traditional Counseling Skills Paper
Modifying Traditional Counseling Skills for a Crisis
Some of the normal skills a counselor would use with a client are attending, open ended questions, mirroring body language, paraphrasing, and summarizing. Those clients who have been involved in a crisis, need the same skills, but in different ways. According to Cooper (2014) the essential skills are attending, listening, open-ended questions, reflecting and summarizing. The most important difference is letting the client know that they are safe and out of harm’s way. When using closed-ending questions, do not interrogate, this can cause the client to shut down and withdrawal, only use it for more details (Cooper, 2014). With open-ended questions, instead of using what, or why, use a phrase such as “How can I assist you today?” (Cooper, 2014). It is important to express empathy with all clients, but those who have experienced a trauma the LAPC (listen, assess, plan, commit) crisis intervention model should be used (Cooper, …show more content…
2014). Cooper (2014) states a counselor needs to listen to the client and let them tell their story and let them know they are the authority. Assess the client’s cognitions, conduct, by using verbal and non-verbal cues. Help the client establish a plan of action and impart faith. Finally, help the client commit to the plan that is developed. Helping the victim find something they can control when their world has been turned upside down can help with strength to continue on (Cooper, 2014).
Insight I Gained
Comparing normal counseling skills to essential counseling skills the one insight I gained was how to display empathy.
The “do say” and “don’t say” examples were eye-opening. I would say “I understand “but, I should say “I am sorry it happened”. I would not have considered how important the use of language can be in a crisis situation. I immediately thought back to different times I have offered the words “It will take some time, but it will pass” in various life situations my friends have went through. According to Cooper (2014) telling that friend who just lost her father “it was not your fault” sounds so much better. I learned so much from that section that I have written all the correct ways to reply to someone down on an index card. Someone I know could experience a crisis or trauma tomorrow, and I want to say the right things to them to help them through the situation. I am surprised at how much different a few words can make to someone who has just been sexually assaulted or
worse.
Challenges
A challenge for me will be flexibility. I prefer a structured environment, so I feel that if I were on the front lines helping those affected by Hurricane Matthew, it would be difficult at first, for me to adapt to the surroundings. When a situation rapidly changes, like a client who is fine one moment and hysterical the next, would leave me unprepared of what to say or do. I believe with hands on experience I can learn how to navigate those type of situations. A strength I possess is resiliency and I think that could be beneficial in the crisis counseling arena.
Some of the normal skills a counselor would use with a client are attending, open ended questions, mirroring body language, paraphrasing, and summarizing. Those clients who have been involved in a crisis, need the same skills, but in different ways. According to Cooper (2014) the essential skills are attending, listening, open-ended questions, reflecting and summarizing. The most important difference is letting the client know that they are safe and out of harm’s way. When using closed-ending questions, do not interrogate, this can cause the client to shut down and withdrawal, only use it for more details (Cooper, 2014). With open-ended questions, instead of using what, or why, use a phrase such as “How can I assist you today?” (Cooper, 2014). It is important to express empathy with all clients, but those who have experienced a trauma the LAPC (listen, assess, plan, commit) crisis intervention model should be used (Cooper, …show more content…
2014). Cooper (2014) states a counselor needs to listen to the client and let them tell their story and let them know they are the authority. Assess the client’s cognitions, conduct, by using verbal and non-verbal cues. Help the client establish a plan of action and impart faith. Finally, help the client commit to the plan that is developed. Helping the victim find something they can control when their world has been turned upside down can help with strength to continue on (Cooper, 2014).
Insight I Gained
Comparing normal counseling skills to essential counseling skills the one insight I gained was how to display empathy.
The “do say” and “don’t say” examples were eye-opening. I would say “I understand “but, I should say “I am sorry it happened”. I would not have considered how important the use of language can be in a crisis situation. I immediately thought back to different times I have offered the words “It will take some time, but it will pass” in various life situations my friends have went through. According to Cooper (2014) telling that friend who just lost her father “it was not your fault” sounds so much better. I learned so much from that section that I have written all the correct ways to reply to someone down on an index card. Someone I know could experience a crisis or trauma tomorrow, and I want to say the right things to them to help them through the situation. I am surprised at how much different a few words can make to someone who has just been sexually assaulted or
worse.
Challenges
A challenge for me will be flexibility. I prefer a structured environment, so I feel that if I were on the front lines helping those affected by Hurricane Matthew, it would be difficult at first, for me to adapt to the surroundings. When a situation rapidly changes, like a client who is fine one moment and hysterical the next, would leave me unprepared of what to say or do. I believe with hands on experience I can learn how to navigate those type of situations. A strength I possess is resiliency and I think that could be beneficial in the crisis counseling arena.