MICRO SKILLS OF COUNSELLING

Micro skills focused on alternative perception and construction of reality.

Micro skills model is not linked to any theoretical approach but to the premise
that the skills are useful in multiple theories and settings (corey & corey 2002)
ATTENEMPT TO PRACTICE SKILLS, NOT SOLVE PROBLEMS
Micro skill hierarchy
1. Determining personal style
2. Skill integration different theory different skill
3. Influencing skills/strategies
Interpretation, logical consequence, self disclosure, feed back, information/advice
4. Reflection of meaning
5. Focusing
6. Confrontation
7. Five stage interview structure
A) rapport B) gather data C) mutual goal setting D) working exploring alternatives and
confronting incongruity E) terminating and generalization to daily life
8. Reflection of feeling
9. Encouraging, paraphrasing and summarizing
10. Client observation skills
11. Open and closed questions
12. Attending behaviour ECTC, vocal qualities, body language
13. Ethics and multicultural competence

ATTENDING BEHAVIOUR
BASICS TO COMMUNICATION
VISUAL
eye contact
Facilitating
Staring
Avoiding
look at the client when talking
ATTENDING BEHAVIOUR BASICS TCOMMUNICATION VOCAL
QUALITIES

Tone
Speech rate
Accent
Speech hesitation
pitch

ATTENDING BEHAVIOUR BASICS TO COMMUNICATION

Verbal tracing and selective attention

the client has come with a topic of concern

Stick with the clients story.
Was the client able to tell the story?
Stay on topic
Number of major topic jumps
Did shifts seem to indicate interviewer interest pattern
Did the client have the majority of the talk time?

ATTENDING BEHAVIOUR BASICS TO COMMUNICATION ATTENTIVE

BODY LANGUAGE

Leaning
Facial expression
Number of facilitative body movements
Use encouraging gesture

When client is uncomfortable talking about a topic, it may at times be better to

avoid eye contact
BASIC LISTENING SEQUENCE
Open and closed questions as one basic listening sequence
OPEN ENDED
Are those that cant be answered in a few words. They encourage others to
talk and provide you with maximum information.
could, what, how, why, what else BASIC QUESTION STEM
BASIC LISTENING SEQUENCE
CLOSED QUESTIONS
Can be answered in a few words as sentences. They have the advantage of
focusing the interview and obtaining the information.
Is, are, do..

OBSERVATION SKILL
one of basic listening sequences observing ones own and the clients verbal
and non-verbal behaviour as well as discrepancies and incongruities that may
occur in the session
OBSERVATION SKILL- NON VERBAL
Visuals
Vocals
Body language
ETEC
Body movement
Alterations of eye contact during confusion
Stammering, speech hesitation while pursuing difficult topics
Facial expressions- frowning
Flushing
Inappropriate smile
Lips tight or loose
Breathing
Hand & arm gestures random indicate confusion
Smooth, flowing gestures suggest openness
Movement synchrony unconscious complex hand movements together
(People sitting in identical position
Movement complementarity - e.g. one person talks & the other nods

Movement dissynchrony lack of harmony in movement between people who

disagree

OBSERVATION SKILL -VERBAL

Language is basic to interviewing and counseling
Selective attention clients tend to talk about what we are interested in and
willing to hear
Verbal underlining through vocal emphasis keywords are underlined. It is
another helpful clue to determine what is most important to the client
Concrete/situational clients provide specifies & examples of their concerns
& problems
Abstract/formal operational have strengths in self analysis &reflection on
their issues
OBSERVATION SKILL
DISCREPANCIES AND CONFLICT
E.g My son is perfect. But he doesnt respect me.
I really love my brother. But I cant get along with him

With high awareness of verbal and non verbal behaviour high ability to notice
conflicts is possible

ENCOURAGING
AS THE SKILL OF ACTIVE LISTENING
Varity of verbal and non verbal means- to prompt client to continue talking
Open hand gestures
Phrases- un-huh
Simple repetition of key words the client has uttered
Re statement- repetition of 2 or more words exactly as used by the client
Appropriate smile
Interpersonal warmth
PARA PHRASING
AS THE SKILL OF ACTIVE LISTENING
Feed back to the client the essence of what has just been said.
The listener shortens and clarifies the clients comments.
Para phrasing is not parroting- but using some of counselors words + important
main words of the client

SUMMARIZATION
AS THE SKILL OF ACTIVE LISTENING
Similar to paraphrase, but used over a long time span. Attention to feelings is often
part of an effective summarization.
Beginning
In between the session
Ending of session
REFLECTING FEELINGS
as a foundation of client experiences involves observation of emotions,
naming them, and repeating back to the client
Recognize key emotional words expressed by client
Recognize unspoken feelings expressed non verbally
Check out for accuracy
Observing feeling

Verbal feeling
Non-verbal indications
Implicit feelings not actually spoken by the client

Paraphrasing and reflection

the two are closely related and often will be found together in the same
statement, but the important distinction is emphasis on content (paraphrase)
and emotion (reflection of feeling)
REFLECTING FEELINGS
Sentence stem it looks like, sounds like
Feeling label/emotional word happy, Really down
Context/brief paraphrase
Tense of reflection present-tense more useful than past-tense
Check out - am I hearing you correctly
Meena I hear that you are really angry with them because they didnt help
you.
What name would you give to that feeling
EMPATHY AND MICRO SKILL

As integrated listening skill enter the world of the client and communicate that we
understand the clients world as the client sees and experiences it.
Empathy:
Try to drop our own preconceptions and really listen to the other person in order to try to
enter their frame of reference. We do not empathize if we constantly compare the other
persons situation with our own. Empathy involves a certain forgetting of self in order
to give ourselves up to the other person.
Without some appreciation of the other persons world-view, we run the danger of
moralizing, advising and of generally getting the wrong end of the stick.