Report on Simulated Intervention

 

The five-stage counseling session is made up of a relationship, story and strengths, goals, restoration, and action. In stage one, the main focus is on relationship building whereby the counselor establishes a rapport with the client that is founded on trust, understanding, respect, and care. Sessions are bound to be productive when there is a strong relationship between the counselor and the client. In this stage, the counselor is genuine to the client, shows empathy, listens to the client, and shows that they understand them and they are ready to go through the journey with them. This starts by welcoming the client and introducing yourself to them and making them feel comfortable (Ivey, Ivey & Zalaquett 2018). Offering them anything that they would like to have to show hospitality is important at this stage. You should make the client feel known by addressing them using their name and to reduce any anxiety that they may be feeling, having a social conversation will be helpful. You should allow the client to talk and tell you the reason he/she has decided to open up and make them feel that you are interested in helping them. Being patient and sensitive to the client is part of building a relationship.

Stage two: stories and strengths

In this stage, the counselor conducts the problem assessment. This involves gathering information about the client and finding out how those problems impact their lives. It also involves finding out how long the problem has existed. This can be done by using closed and open-ended questions. Closed-ended questions require specific answers and this helps the counselor to gather specific information (Ivey, Ivey & Zalaquett 2018). Open-ended questions allow the client to speak more and dwell a little bit on the question giving the counselor plenty of time to gather more information. In this stage, the counselor gathers information about the client’s personal and family history, their age, contacts, and other important data that may be helpful to the counselor. The counselor at this stage should make the client feel like they are engaging with someone who wants to know who they are, how they feel, and not feel like they are being interrogated. Through the assessment, the counselor can make a summary of whether is a connection between the problems the client raised and the information gathered.

Stage three: collaborative

This is the stage where goals are set for them to have a focus. Goals help in giving direction during the sessions. The counselor’s focus is on the problem, the counseling process, and the overall goal which is leading the client towards change (Ivey, Ivey & Zalaquett 2018). The goals should be clear and attainable and should be associated with the desired result that the client is seeking. When setting the goals, the counselor helps the client to identify specific ways to move towards change. It helps them to structure their lives in a manner that makes reaching the goals more practical.

Stage four: Restoring

In stage four, the counselor summarizes the problem and identifies a strategy for solving the problem. This is the stage where intervention is selected and implemented. While making the summary, the counselor should consider questions such as how the problem makes the client feel, their desire to change, what behavior the client exhibits amid the problem, and how this behavior sustains the problem (Ivey, Ivey & Zalaquett 2018). The counselor should also consider the thoughts that are going in the client’s mind, their relationships, and if family relationships have an impact on the problem.

Stage five: action

This is the stage where the client applies the conversation and goals that they set to their current life situation. In this stage, the goals that were agreed upon by the counselor and the client are achieved or the problem in question becomes more manageable or is resolved. This is an important stage because the aim of the counselor which is helping the client to get to a place where they can depend on themselves is reached. The action stage is a great and hopeful stage for both the client and the counselor (Ivey, Ivey & Zalaquett 2018). I chose the five-stage counseling because, through the five stages, the counselor gets to know more about the client. Through the stages, the client develops trust and a strong relationship with the counselor which is important in the counseling process because they feel comfortable and safe.

I used the micro-skills technique which included attending, empathy, observation, focusing, questioning, and reflective skills. These specific skills help the counselor to enhance their communication with the client. The attending skill allows the counselor to develop a rapport with the client encouraging them to speak out about their problem. This skill allows the counselor to create an environment that the client feels safe to share what they are feeling. Empathy skill which is composed of cognitive and affective empathy helps to understand the client better. Through empathy skill, the counselor understands the client’s emotions by getting to know their emotional state (Ivey, Ivey & Zalaquett 2018). Observation skills help the counselor to notice any irregularities through the client’s conversation and how they express themselves. Through this skill, the counselor can make observations on the client’s facial expressions, body language, and the tone they use when communicating. Focusing skill is used by the counselor to focus on specific information such as the client’s demographics, history, and the reason for seeking help. The questioning skill which is composed of open and closed types of questioning allows more clarification to information. Open questions encourage the client to speak more while the counselor gathers information. Closed questions require the client to give specific answers to questions. The reflective skill enables the counselor to understand what the client is feeling by capturing emotional tones and phrases.

My practice strengths are genuineness, active listening, empathy, and creating rapport with the client. Being genuine to myself and the client makes the client feel that you care about them hence feel comfortable to share their problems. Active listening allows the client to talk and as the counselor, I can gain a lot of helpful information. Building a relationship creates an environment where the client feels safe to share all their sentiments and with empathy I can emotionally connect to the client (Ivey, Ivey & Zalaquett 2018). I need to practice growth in the area of stepping out of my assumptions and include the client. Sometimes what I might think is helpful may not fit all the clients. I need growth in becoming aware of my vulnerability to better connect with clients. Being able to become vulnerable as a counselor makes the client not feel alone which is a humbling process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Ivey, A. E., Ivey, M. B., & Zalaquett, C. P. (2018). Intentional Interviewing and Counseling:

Facilitating Client Development in a Multicultural Society. Boston, MA: Cengage.