Unit 1 Assessment Answers
Q1. Identify what the core counselling skills are and then describe how they are used. Include nine examples.
Unconditional positive regard refers to the counsellor's ability to suspend all judgement when interacting with the client. They
must display an attitude of acceptance, regardless of whether or not they agree with the client's beliefs and actions.
Genuineness is also referred to as congruence, and comes from a desire to help the client find solutions to their problems. When
a counsellor is deemed ingenuine, a client may lack trust in them and the counselling relationship. They may therefore be less
willing to share or divulge issues of concern, and progress can be hindered.
Empathetic understanding refers to the counsellor's ability to understand sensitively and accurately what the client is feeling.
This is shown to the client when the counsellor listens and responds to them, in a way that shows they have seen the situation
from the clients perspective, and not their own.
Active listening involves orienting all of your attention towards a client so that you hear and 'pick up on' everything, including
words and phrases, a client's accent, volume and pitch, as well as their body language, posture and facial expressions. Dr Egan
developed a non-verbal listening process, often referred to as SOLER, in order to enhance and develop a counsellors' active
listening skills.
Questioning helps to open up new areas for discussion, pin-point specific issues, and clarify information that may originally seem
ambiguous. Closed-ended questions are typically used to obtain specific information, break into narrative, or identify the
parameters of an issue. Open-ended questions cannot be answered with a simple yes or no, and are instead used to explore
thoughts and feelings, encourage a client to elaborate, and motivate the client to communicate. Depending on the counsellors
aim, they will word their questions accordingly.
Paraphrasing involves a counsellor rephrasing the content of a client's message, and is used to convey understanding, and help
the client by simplifying what they are saying. It is also used to provide a check on the counsellor's understanding and give the
client an opportunity to correct any misunderstanding.
Reflecting is also used by the counsellor to help the client feel understood, and is done by listening to the client closely, observing
non-verbal behaviour, and identifying a feeling with a word and reflecting this back to the client. To achieve rapport, a counsellor
may also mirror a client's body language, making them feel safer and more comfortable.
A counsellor may provide a summary, to condense the content and messages expressed in a session. The purpose of this is to
identify common themes, draw out points and pull them together, and bring the session to a close.
Challenging is used to identify discrepancies in a client's story as well as move a client on, but it must be used sensitively as it can
be interpreted as confrontational and can therefore provoke unpleasant responses.
Q2. Describe what boundaries you would need to take into account when starting a new helping relationship with a client.
According to Carl Rogers (1961), a helping relationship is "a relationship in which at least one of the parties intends to promote
the growth, development, maturity, or improved functioning of the other". In order for a helping relationship to be effective,
boundaries must be negotiated and agreed upon prior to the relationship commencing. In a counselling relationship these
boundaries can include the duration of the relationship, the duration of each session, limits of confidentiality (what is disclosed
in a counselling session will remain confidential unless the counsellor feels there is a significant risk of harm to the client or
another individual), appropriate touching (usually kept to a minimum), appropriate duration of phone calls (if it has been agreed
that contact outside of counselling sessions is necessary), sending and responding to emails, as well as strategies for managing
episodes of self-harm (this may often result in a client being referred for extra support).
Q3. Describe how to agree objectives with the client for a new helping relationship.
It is sometimes difficult to agree objectives with a client at the beginning of a new helping relationship because the client may
not have realistic goals for what they want to achieve in the time frame they have. Objectives should therefore be negotiated
with the client, taking into account what the client states they want from counselling, what their long-term aims are, and the
time and resources available to the helper in order to facilitate these aims. It is also important to consider any boundaries that
have already been agreed upon.
Q4. Describe what kind of strategies you might use when the helping relationship is coming to an end.
The termination of a counselling relationship should be built into the initial contract because the purpose of any helping
relationship is to reach a point where the client no longer requires the support of the helper. Regardless, ending a counselling
relationship should be done with sensitivity and respect. Various strategies can be used to make this transition easier for both
the client and counsellor. If the relationship has taken place over a long period of time, a period of distancing is often
Q1. Identify what the core counselling skills are and then describe how they are used. Include nine examples.
Unconditional positive regard refers to the counsellor's ability to suspend all judgement when interacting with the client. They
must display an attitude of acceptance, regardless of whether or not they agree with the client's beliefs and actions.
Genuineness is also referred to as congruence, and comes from a desire to help the client find solutions to their problems. When
a counsellor is deemed ingenuine, a client may lack trust in them and the counselling relationship. They may therefore be less
willing to share or divulge issues of concern, and progress can be hindered.
Empathetic understanding refers to the counsellor's ability to understand sensitively and accurately what the client is feeling.
This is shown to the client when the counsellor listens and responds to them, in a way that shows they have seen the situation
from the clients perspective, and not their own.
Active listening involves orienting all of your attention towards a client so that you hear and 'pick up on' everything, including
words and phrases, a client's accent, volume and pitch, as well as their body language, posture and facial expressions. Dr Egan
developed a non-verbal listening process, often referred to as SOLER, in order to enhance and develop a counsellors' active
listening skills.
Questioning helps to open up new areas for discussion, pin-point specific issues, and clarify information that may originally seem
ambiguous. Closed-ended questions are typically used to obtain specific information, break into narrative, or identify the
parameters of an issue. Open-ended questions cannot be answered with a simple yes or no, and are instead used to explore
thoughts and feelings, encourage a client to elaborate, and motivate the client to communicate. Depending on the counsellors
aim, they will word their questions accordingly.
Paraphrasing involves a counsellor rephrasing the content of a client's message, and is used to convey understanding, and help
the client by simplifying what they are saying. It is also used to provide a check on the counsellor's understanding and give the
client an opportunity to correct any misunderstanding.
Reflecting is also used by the counsellor to help the client feel understood, and is done by listening to the client closely, observing
non-verbal behaviour, and identifying a feeling with a word and reflecting this back to the client. To achieve rapport, a counsellor
may also mirror a client's body language, making them feel safer and more comfortable.
A counsellor may provide a summary, to condense the content and messages expressed in a session. The purpose of this is to
identify common themes, draw out points and pull them together, and bring the session to a close.
Challenging is used to identify discrepancies in a client's story as well as move a client on, but it must be used sensitively as it can
be interpreted as confrontational and can therefore provoke unpleasant responses.
Q2. Describe what boundaries you would need to take into account when starting a new helping relationship with a client.
According to Carl Rogers (1961), a helping relationship is "a relationship in which at least one of the parties intends to promote
the growth, development, maturity, or improved functioning of the other". In order for a helping relationship to be effective,
boundaries must be negotiated and agreed upon prior to the relationship commencing. In a counselling relationship these
boundaries can include the duration of the relationship, the duration of each session, limits of confidentiality (what is disclosed
in a counselling session will remain confidential unless the counsellor feels there is a significant risk of harm to the client or
another individual), appropriate touching (usually kept to a minimum), appropriate duration of phone calls (if it has been agreed
that contact outside of counselling sessions is necessary), sending and responding to emails, as well as strategies for managing
episodes of self-harm (this may often result in a client being referred for extra support).
Q3. Describe how to agree objectives with the client for a new helping relationship.
It is sometimes difficult to agree objectives with a client at the beginning of a new helping relationship because the client may
not have realistic goals for what they want to achieve in the time frame they have. Objectives should therefore be negotiated
with the client, taking into account what the client states they want from counselling, what their long-term aims are, and the
time and resources available to the helper in order to facilitate these aims. It is also important to consider any boundaries that
have already been agreed upon.
Q4. Describe what kind of strategies you might use when the helping relationship is coming to an end.
The termination of a counselling relationship should be built into the initial contract because the purpose of any helping
relationship is to reach a point where the client no longer requires the support of the helper. Regardless, ending a counselling
relationship should be done with sensitivity and respect. Various strategies can be used to make this transition easier for both
the client and counsellor. If the relationship has taken place over a long period of time, a period of distancing is often
