Diploma of Counselling & Community Service Work CHCCSL502A Apply Specialist Interpersonal & Counselling Interview Skills

Learning Objectives

The focus of this session:

• Confrontation skills

• Focusing skills

• Influencing skills

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Confrontation Skills

Definition

Confrontation involves:

“Raising the awareness of the person seeking help by presenting to

them information that in some way they are overlooking or failing

to identify.”

(Geldard & Geldard 2012 p 184)

When to use Confrontation

Confrontation should be used:

• When you see a discrepancy between what a client’s words &

actions, eg: self-contradictory statements, agreeing to change

something then not carrying through, mixed messages

• To help clients become aware of feelings/beliefs they are avoiding or

do not understand

• When the client doesn’t recognize their own patterns or destructive

behaviours, and is repeating them

When to use Confrontation Cont’d

Confrontation should be used when:

• The client cannot stop talking in a circle about the past or future,

thus they cannot be in touch with the present

• The person does not recognize the serious possible consequences

of their actions

• The relationship between counsellor & client needs clarifying, eg: if

client withdraws or shows inappropriate emotion toward the

counsellor

When to use Confrontation Cont’d

Confrontation should be used when:

• There is a lack of motivation in the client

• The client shows resistance: a form of incongruence between

counsellor and client. Rather than ‘breaking down’ resistance, see it

as an opportunity to work on using supportive challenging

• What the client says and what you observe in their body language

or tone of voice is not consistent, eg: saying they are not feeling an

emotion when their body language shows you otherwise

Before Using Confrontation

Examine yourself and make sure you’re doing this for the client:

• What are your feelings and motives?

Confrontation should be used:

• carefully

• occasionally

• only after establishing good rapport & trust

How to Confront

1. Identify the issue

2. Reflect back

3. Evaluate the change

How to Confront (continued…)1. Identify the issue by observing mixed messages, discrepancies or any incongruence

using reflective listening skills

2. Reflect back to the client in a brief, non-judgmental summary so the client feels

understood. You can use model confrontation statements like:

• “On the one hand….but on the other…“• “You say…….., but you do…….”• “Your words say……..,but your actions say……..” • “How do you put these two together?”

• Follow this by a checkout: “How does that sound to you….?”

• Leave the client feeling empathy, not attacked nor put down.

3. Evaluate the change. Be aware the client may move through stages of awareness, from

denial to just examining the issue, to recognising it without changing, then to acceptance

and finding new behaviours or solutions.

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Focusing Skills

What is focusing?

Definition –

“Focusing is a skill that enables you to

direct the conversational flow to the

areas you want.” (Ivey & Ivey)

Focusing: 7 key focus areas

Seven key areas that a counsellor can focus on in the counselling have been

identified. Each focus area can offer fresh insight and generate meaningful

discussion.

These seven areas include:

1. Client focus

2. Problem/issue focus

3. Other focus

4. Family focus

5. Mutuality focus

6. Counsellor focus

7. Cultural/environmental/context focus

Click on each of key areas to learn more.

Focusing: 7 key focus areas

1. Client focus - Focus on the client by asking a question, such as, “Helen,

could you tell me more about how you’re feeling?’

2. Problem/issue focus - Focus on the problem or issue that brought the client

to counselling. Eg. “Derek, you’ve told me you are having trouble sleeping. Can

you tell me more about that?”

3. Other focus - Focus on an issue/person/idea connected to the presenting

issue, such as, “Is your manager aware of your concerns?”

Focusing: 7 key focus areas (continued…)

4. Family focus - Focus on relevant family members. Eg. “What does your partner think about

the amount of time you spend at work?”

5. Mutuality focus -This means focusing on how the client and counsellor could work

together. Eg. “Tell me, what do you think would be the best way for you and I to work on that

together.”

6. Counsellor focus - Focus on the counsellor by expressing a useful observation you have

made regarding the client’s situation or provide an appropriate self-disclosure (use sparingly).

Eg. “I tend to feel energised when I talk about things that are important to me. I have noticed

that you become more energised when you talk about visiting your aunty. Am I right in

assuming that that is important to you?”

7. Cultural/environmental/context focus - Focus on contextual issues (such as culture, sub-

cultures, environment) that are relevant to the client’s issue. Eg. “I heard you say that you

grew up in an environment that esteemed financial achievement as the only measure of

success. Can you tell me more about that?”

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Influencing Skills

Definition

“Being heard by another person greatly influences the way all of us

think about ourselves and organize our lives.”

(Ivey, Ivey & Zalaquette 2010 p 326)

Using Influencing Skills

All of the counselling micro-skills and communication strategies that

have been discussed in this unit can be viewed as ‘influencing skills’

because they are aimed at client change.

Summary of Micro-SkillsObserving Matching language & metaphor

Joining (attending) & listening Verbal & non-verbal encouragers

Reflection of content (paraphrasing) Reframing

Reflection of feelings Self-disclosure

Questions Normalising

Summarising Confrontation

Focusing Influencing

Principles For Influencing

Selective attention (focusing on specific topics and ignoring others), whether this is conscious or unconscious, influences your client.

Therefore, the following principles are important:

• Be aware of the power relationship (ethical practice)

• Remember the foundations of listening and empathic understanding

• Keep in mind you are there for the client

Resources

• Egan, G. 2010 The Skilled Helper, 9th ed., Cengage Learning, USA.

• Ivey, A. Ivey, M. & Zalaquette, C. & Quirk, K. 2012 Essentials of

International Interviewing: Counseling in a Multicultural World, 2e,

Cengage Learning, USA.