Gerald Egans book is about the philosophy of helping, interlacing the beliefs, values and norms that should drive the helping process. The skilled helper according to him must understand the diversity of human nature and be aware of personal cultural values and biases that help him get a good understanding of the client and administer proper care.
The second part of the book is where Egan addresses the communication skills needed to be an effective helper. According to him conversation between the helper and the client must be therapeutic. The requirements for this include exchange- the helper and the client take turns to speak in an interactive way; connecting-this involves finding a mutual common ground amidst different views, this is followed by influence-the conversation should be such that there is room for mutual influence and finally a collaboration in defining conclusions- the helper is not dictatorial, instead he is assisting the client to find his own solutions.
…show more content…
This can be achieved by effective dialogue. The skilled helper must be aware that non-verbal mannerisms such as bodily behaviours, eye movements, facial expressions, tone of voice, space and general appearance can affect the client in good ways and bad ways. He therefore proposes a ‘guide’ in the SOLER theory. SOLER is an acronym that represents Squarely, Open, Lean, Eye, and Relaxed. The skilled helper will face the client ‘Squarely’ if it suits the situation, he will maintain an ‘Open’ posture, He will ‘Lean’ toward the client as appropriate, he will maintain an appropriate ‘Eye’ contact with the client and stay ‘Relaxed’ to increase the quality and comfort of the sessions. In summary, the SOLER theory helps the skilled helper create an easy environment by which he keeps a focused attention on the
Knowing that humans are complex individuals, I know it is essential to listen and watch client behaviors. Therefore, I currently can assist individuals by helping people realize their nonverbal cues. For example, if a client stated, “I am happy.” But the
This method is grounded in the strengths perspective, a perspective in which the worker center’s their sessions around the clients’ abilities, gifts, and strengths (Shulman, 2016). Instead of focusing on what is wrong with the client, the worker highlights what is right with the client building on their strengths instead of emphasizing their deficits: the client already has what they need to get better or solve their problem (Corcoran, 2008). The role of the worker in this model is to help the client recognize their potential, recognize what resources they already have, and discuss what is going well for the client and what they have been able to accomplish already (Shulman, 2016). Techniques commonly used in this model, although they are not exclusive to this model, include an emphasis on pre- and between-session change, exception questions, the miracle question, scaling questions, and coping questions (Shulman, 2016). These questions are used for many reasons: for example, the miracle question is used because “sometimes asking clients to envision a brighter future may help them be clearer on what they want or to see a path to problem-solving.” (Corcoran, 2008, p. 434) while coping questions are used to allow the client to see what they are already accomplishing, rather than what they are transgressing (Corcoran, 2008). All
Many believe the Dust Bowl was caused solely by bad weather, but Egan shows a multitude of factors that led to the catastrophe. In Timothy Egan’s book, The Worst Hard Time, Egan believes that the syndicate and government, overproduction of the land, and drought were all factors that caused the Dust Bowl.
The therapeutic aspect is focussed on the care received, and how it creates a positive outcome for the service user, this includes good communication, building strong relationships, person centred planning and the choices available to the person in receipt of care. (Miller, J, 2015) (Gibb and Miller, 2007)
The Egan model of counseling is used when the client is assisted by the helper to see possible solutions by a three step process. All three steps are gone through in the order in which they are laid out but the order can be varied with specific situations. An individual can move forward and backwards throughout the steps as the story changes. The first step of the process is to find out what is going on with the client. It is where the counselor helps by establishing a trusting relationship with the client in order to hear the story. The quicker that a confidential relationship is built up the easier it is for the client to establish trust in the counselor and the easier the story is to tell. It makes the start of the process easier for the client and the counselor.
The relationship between the person seeking help and the nurse/counsellor should be appropriate for producing therapeutic change, to ensure that the patient maximizes from the therapeutic relationship. The health care provider should ensure that they communicate effectively to the patient/client. The skills explained in the above essay are the relevant skills that nurses in the contemporary hospital environment should adhere to and respect.
The counselor accomplishes the above by expressing empathy, developing discrepancies, going along with resistance and supporting self-efficacy. Moreover, the counselor guides the client toward a solution that will lead to permanent posi...
Counseling skills has provided me with a valuable insight into the helping relationship and how it is both created and maintained in order to encourage growth and development in the client. The factors involved within the helping relationship include considering Roger’s core conditions, congruence, unconditional positive regard and empathy as the three main characteristics necessary in a helping relationship. In order to fully incorporate all three of Roger’s core conditions, I as the counselor must be self-aware, as a lack of self-awareness may inhibit truly listening and understanding the client; self-awareness can be enhanced through exercises such as Johari’s window. Counseling skills such as body language and active listening also plays a role within encouraging the client to open up and can help me as the counselor convey empathy.
The counselling process is one that may last for as little as one session or for years, it is within the middles stages of the helping relationship that particular counselling skills such as a focusing, challenging and immediacy can be implemented, as well as use of advanced empathy that can be applied due to increased familiarity with a speaker. Many actions may occur within middles stage of the helping relationship such as transitions that occur for a multitude of reasons and the outcome of which can vary based on the attitude of the speaker. Self-awareness remains vital throughout the entire counselling relationship due to the continual influence of empathy in the helping relationship and remaining aware my own motives and values when using advanced empathy and specific counselling skills. Ethics and boundaries are also involved within the counselling process as within a counselling relationship, I as the counsellor, must be careful with the balance or expenditure of power when challenging.
I was able to talk to my client without being visibly nervous. I am proud to say I handled my client’s problems as they came up without fear that I may say the wrong thing. In the first video, I found myself repeating things, for what reason I do not know. I can say my nonverbal skills need improving. One specific aspect of the interview was my hand gestures and motions. I really got involved with my client’s problems, and the way I tried to help her understand what I was saying and to get an understanding what she was saying, so I used my hands. I tried to keep by body in a position that would let the client know that I was using attentive listening skills. I cared about why she came to the facility for help. Each session, I adjusted my seat to make eye contact so my client could like she could trust me with her information and that I cared enough to listen to her
The counseling session began with the introductions where I introduced myself as the counselor and later introduced my client. This stage is important in any counseling session since it is the time of exploration and focusing according to Gerard Egan as quoted by Wright (1998) in his essay on couselling skills. It is in this session that I was able to establish rapport and trust with my client in order to come up with a working and fruitful relationship with him. During this stage I made use of skills like questioning, where I would pose a question directly to my client, sometimes I would choose to just listen to what the client wanted to speak out while in some instances I would be forced to paraphrase the question if I felt the client did not understand the question I had asked previously. There were also other times when I would reflect through silence. During such a period, I got time to study the client and the information he had given. This being a difficult area, since some clients may not be able to volunteer information to you as the counselor, I decided to assure the client of confidentiality of any information he was willing to share with me with a few exceptions which I also told him about. Being open to him about the only times the information may not be confidential was part of my building rapport and establishing trust with him. I therefore, decided to ask the client what information he wanted to share with me and lucky enough he was ready to speak to me about different issues that he was going through.
Effective crisis intervention must follow ethical principles which ensure that client is not placed in further harm also that the decisions and opinions of the client are respected throughout the process and the intervention upholds a rights-based approach. This involves good listening communication skills, observing, understanding, genuineness, respect, acceptance, non-judgment and sensitivity demonstrating empathy, among other support provided by counselor. A number of specific strategies can be used to promote effective listening during crisis intervention. These include using open-ended questions - “what” or “how” questions. They are used to encourage sharing of information from a client about their feelings, thoughts and behaviors, and are particularly useful when exploring problems during a crisis.
In order to help client to felt at ease, I attempted to establish a safe atmosphere for client to disclose his issues and also to develop a sense of trust between us by conveying a non-judgmental and non-critical attitude. I use open questions, to invite client to elaborate on information. At the beginning of the session, I manage to use open question to explore more about client issue. Client presenting problem will be financial
The start of the conversation can be seen as a strength because the skilled helper introduced who they were and then they told the client about the confidentiality statement. This could be seen as a strength because the client would know what the boundaries are in the session and what the skilled helper has to do when they are aware that the client may be in danger of harming themselves. Making the client aware about the confidentiality statement can increase the chance of the
Counselling is the use of skills and training to create a relationship with ones client in order to allow for the client to form insight into their lives, accepting their feelings as their own and allowing for growth to occur. It is the aim of the helper to create a state in which the client can perform more contently and with their own self.