Active Listening Skills

Counseling is relational; it involves communication between the counselor and the client. Counseling calls for the counselor to have an understanding of the client and to also empathize with the client. This would allow the counselor to be effective in counseling his client. The ultimate goal of counseling is to empower the client to succeed in dealing with problems in life and to live a much adequate life too (Sheppard, n.d.). Counseling provides clients with an environment for the client to be opened and it ensures discretion.
As a trained counselor, he should possess a set of skills to counsel his client. Out of this set of skills, five of them are, attending skills, active listening skills, responding skills, questioning skills and unconditional …show more content…
It is to be actively listening to the client and not passively listening. It involves listening with all senses, giving the client our full attention. Being an actively listening also includes being able to show the client whether we are interested in what is he talking about or not interested. Active listening can be shown through verbal and non-verbal cues like, nodding, maintaining eye contact, smiling, leaning forward and agreeing to encourage the client to continue speaking. This would usually allow clients to feel more comfortable to share easily, openly and truthfully. Being an active listener also requires patience, we should not be cutting in with questions and comments while the client is speaking. Clients should be given ample time to sort out their thoughts and feelings. Appropriate responses are appreciated (“Active listening”, …show more content…
The first limitation I faced was regarding the place and setting of where I held the counseling session. We did not have the luxury of having a room to ourselves to hold the counseling session. Therefore, we had to use an open space which was available and no one was there. Even though the setting was relatively quiet, the sounds from the surrounding were pretty distraction for us, at least for me. I could not give my full attention to my client during the counseling session. It was not a comfortable to be in too, it was pretty stuffy and hot at the same time. I felt that the counseling session was a little confrontational as we were sitting on a table bench which required us to have the session face to face. In the future, maybe it would be good for me to source our some places that are good for a counseling session despite not having a room. This may have limited my client’s sharing.
The second limitation was the not being relaxed during the counseling session. I was afraid that I do not have the abilities to help my client and walk him through his situation. I was pretty nervous throughout the session as it was kind of like my first time really counseling someone. Not being relaxed played a part in me not being able to be fully attentive and actively listening. At some point of time, I found myself rehearsing what I am going to say during the