Instruction: The extended application essay has to be at least 700 words in leng
ID: 3454111 • Letter: I
Question
Instruction: The extended application essay has to be at least 700 words in length with at least 2 books/journals used (in-text citation needed and no plagiarism allowed).
Textbook reference: Cormier, Sherry. Counseling Strategies and Interventions for Professional Helpers, 9E (2012) Person
Question:
Egan (2010) state that "all effective helping is some kind of mixture of support and challenge." Explain ways you can effectively support and challenge your clients with valid examples.
*Action skills
Explanation / Answer
There are a number of situations when a client may benefit from gentle challenging. There are multiple skills from which a counselor can choose when challenging a client. Challenging should always be done with empathy. Immediacy is useful for strengthening the therapeutic relationship, bringing the counseling session into the here-and-now, increasing client awareness, and addressing maladaptive relationship patterns that are occurring between the counselor and client. Process comments are one form of immediacy that involve the counselor cueing the client to focus on the interpersonal process in the session rather than the session content. Self-disclosure is an advanced microskill that requires self-awareness on the part of the counselor. Considering how self-disclosing will benefit both the counselor and the clients can reduce inappropriate self-disclosure.Counselors can use self-disclosure to give clients feedback about how the counselor experiences the client. Counselors use reframes to encourage clients to see a situation or problem in a different, often more positive, light. Reframing often involves recognizing a client's positive intentions and communicating an understanding that they are doing the best that they can, given their unique life circumstances. It is important that confrontations be gentle and empathetic, and using this microskill requires the counselor to be aware of the ways in which their personal culture might bias the confrontation. A counselor might confront a client who is chronically late to session or who repeatedly violates the counselor's boundaries. The way in which a counselor confronts a client depends on the client's culture as well as the theory or theories the counselor is using. Confrontation and challenging skills are often utilized in combination with immediacy and are essential communication skills across a wide range of disciplines including counseling, nursing, and teaching. Analytic-strategic challenging is engaged when therapists work more cognitively or aim to give honest feedback or when inviting the client to take responsibility for their life choices. Showing respect for client's emotions and feelings is important.