Counselling Practice

By developing a greater understanding of people, such as their needs, desires, and what they react to we are better positioned to help people overcome issues which cause them stress, anxiety, and frustration. 

Counsellors are neither coaches and they are not psychologists. Counselling is a controlled process of interaction with a subject, based on empathy, with the aim of helping them to resolve issues that are troubling them. Counsellors need to be informed, skilled and cautious in how they deal with their client or subject. This course raised your understanding and appreciation of the counselling process and practices.

The short course in Counselling Practice comprises 7 lessons which provide a useful introduction to this area of psychology.

Lesson Structure

There are 7 lessons in this course:

1. WHERE CAN COUNSELLING BE USED?
   • What Are Counselling Skills?
   • Active Listening.
   • Open Questions.
   • Closed Questions.
   • Paraphrasing.
   • Clarifying/Encouraging.
   • Minimal Encouragers.
   • Silence.
   • Summarising.
   • Reacting.
   • Reflecting.
   • Non-Verbal Communication.
   • Body Language.
   • Electronic Non-Verbal Communication.
   • Empathy.
   • Body Language As Attending Behaviour.
   • SOLER Theory.
   • Influencing Skills.
   • Confrontation.
   • Focusing.
   • Reflection Of Meaning.
   • Consequences.
   • Reframing.
   • Self-Disclosure.
   • Feedback.
   • Advice.
   • Role Of Counselling.
   • Counselling Skills In Different Areas.
   • Personal Relationships.
   • As A Parent.
   • In The Workplace.
   • Teaching.
   • Employer.
   • Work Colleague/Team Member.
   • Health Practitioner.
   • Sales/Marketing.
   • Human Resources.
   • Consulting.
   • Police.
   • Where Can Counsellors Find Work?
2. HOW TO SEE BEHIND THE MASK
   • Defence Mechanisms.
   • Denial.
   • Sublimation.
   • Projection.
   • More On Body Language.
   • Eyes.
   • Mouths.
   • Heads.
   • Arms.
   • Hands.
   • Personal Space.
   • Mirroring.
   • Our Perception Of Others.
   • Trait Theories.
   • Stereotypes.
   • Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.
   • Personal Construct Theory.
   • Primacy Effects and Recency Effects.
   • Halo Effects.
   • Schemas.
   • Scripts.
   • Other Schemas.
   • Attributions.
   • Fundamental Attribution Error.
   • Self-Serving Bias.
   • Locus of Control.
   • Covariance Theory.
   • Lay Epistemology.
   • Are You Stressed?
   • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
   • Treatment of PTSD.
   • Dangers of intervention.
   • Is Stress Always A Bad Thing?
   • Stress is Good For Us.
3. EMOTIONS AND ATTITUDES
   • Emotions.
   • Problems With Subjective Reports.
   • Attitudes.
   • The Range Of Emotions.
   • Love.
   • The Range Of Attitudes.
   • Attitudes And Behaviour.
   • Reasoned Action.
   • Values And Attitudes.
   • Heider’s Balance Theory.
   • Social Judgement And Attitudes.
   • Assimilation And Contrast Theory.
   • Accentuation Theory.
   • Attitude Change.
   • Cognitive Dissonance.
   • Adolescent Crisis.
   • Interventions.
4. HOW TO COMMUNICATE BETTER WHEN ALL YOU HAVE IS WORDS?
   • Counselling In Non Face-To-Face Situations.
   • Telephone Counselling.
   • Online Counselling.
   • Other Issues.
   • Case Study – Telephone And Online Help – The Samaritans.
   • Counselling Via Email.
   • Video Communication.
   • Social Implications.
   • Crisis Counselling - Crisis Intervention.
   • Principles of Crisis Intervention.
   • Who Provides Crisis Intervention?
   • Responding to a Crisis - Urgent or Routine?
5. THEORY VERSUS PRACTICE
   • Individual Differences.
   • Client-Centred/Person-Centred (Rogerian) Counselling.
   • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
   • Existential Approach.
   • Psychoanalysis.
   • Strength-Based Counselling.
   • Putting Theory Into Practice.
   • Putting Theory Into Practice – Helping A Grieving Child.
   • Case Study – Child X.
   • Grief Counselling.
   • How Do You Deal With Grief?
   • Depression in Childhood.
6. DIFFUSING DIFFICULT SITUATIONS
   • Timing In Counselling.
   • Case Study: Counsellor Wishes To End Counselling.
   • Case Study: Client Wishes To End Counselling.
   • Some Examples.
   • Diffusing Difficult Situations.
   • Case Study I.
   • Case Study II.
   • Conflict.
   • The Suicidal Client.
   • The Chronically Depressed Client.
   • Anger Management.
   • Understanding and Helping People with an Alcohol Problem.
7. GOLDEN RULES OR TIPS
   • Empathy.
   • Respect.
   • Case Study – Euthanasia.
   • Listening.
   • Client’s Wishes And Needs.
   • Case Study I.
   • Case Study II.
   • Understanding Oneself.
   • Focus On Client Strengths.
   • Adhering To Ethical Codes.
   • Competence.
   • Informed Consent.
   • Confidentiality.
   • Balance Of Power.
   • Maintain Professional Boundaries.
   • Multicultural Awareness.
   • Burnout and Debriefing.
   • Relationship and Communication Counselling.
   • Final Assessment

Who is this course for?

• Anyone exploring the possibility of working in counselling - this is an excellent first course
• Volunteers providing counselling or other advisory services
• People with related training or experience (eg. studies in psychology, sociology, welfare) who need to fill in some gaps to be more effective in counselling
• People working in associated jobs that may incorporate shades of counselling in their daily work: eg. medical receptionist, massage therapist, careers advisor, sports coach, teacher)