After completing the final counselling video for this class, there was a great sense of relief. Looking at the first video and comparing it to the last one, there was improvement. Beginning with my first video I was quite nervous and did not feel like I was equipped to properly assist my client. An item that really stood out to me in my first session was that I asked questions that did not give my client much opportunity to speak. As the counsellor I felt I had to keep speaking because awkward silence was a sign that I was not doing my job properly. I similarly found myself trying to find a solution for my client. I was more focused on what question I was going to ask next and how I would respond then the topic my client was talking to me about.
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Topics that really stood out to me was the idea of change talk. An individual is more willing to change a behaviour if they say this themselves then if someone else is telling them to do it. Scott Janssen gave us students the opportunity to practice what he was teaching us while also showing us videos on positive and negative counselling techniques. The five early methods of motivational interviewing ; open-ended questions, affirmations, reflective listening, summaries and eliciting change talk were something we were able to apply during out session with Scott Janssen but also something I thought about when preparing for my second counselling session (Janssen, 2015). An important method that I needed to work on was reflective listening. I wanted to ensure that my client felt heard by actively making eye contact, nodding my head, and reflecting back to my client while asking questions when appropriate (Ivey et al., 2015). Speaking about change talk this topic can be very hard to portray to individuals and have them lead the change instead of the …show more content…
By doing this it allowed for us to effectively communicate with a common goal in mind. Since my client was referred to me there was definitely the beginning tension but I wanted my client to see the benefit of talking to someone who is outside of their life. Reflecting on both session I would say the second session went a lot smoother. I felt a lot more prepared going in with having information from class lectures, Scott Janssen’s presentation and Lindsay Currie’s presentations. This being said I still think there will always be room for improvement. Sometimes when asking questions or inquiring about certain information I almost sounded like I was doubting myself by saying things like “uhm” and “Yeah”. Moving forward, I think one of the most important things I will take away is to allow the client to tell their story, they are not going to change if you tell them to. Instead they will change if it is something they see as a benefit and have admit resources to do so. This course allowed me to foster many personable skills that I will take with me into my future
Topics that really stood out to me was the idea of change talk. An individual is more willing to change a behaviour if they say this themselves then if someone else is telling them to do it. Scott Janssen gave us students the opportunity to practice what he was teaching us while also showing us videos on positive and negative counselling techniques. The five early methods of motivational interviewing ; open-ended questions, affirmations, reflective listening, summaries and eliciting change talk were something we were able to apply during out session with Scott Janssen but also something I thought about when preparing for my second counselling session (Janssen, 2015). An important method that I needed to work on was reflective listening. I wanted to ensure that my client felt heard by actively making eye contact, nodding my head, and reflecting back to my client while asking questions when appropriate (Ivey et al., 2015). Speaking about change talk this topic can be very hard to portray to individuals and have them lead the change instead of the …show more content…
By doing this it allowed for us to effectively communicate with a common goal in mind. Since my client was referred to me there was definitely the beginning tension but I wanted my client to see the benefit of talking to someone who is outside of their life. Reflecting on both session I would say the second session went a lot smoother. I felt a lot more prepared going in with having information from class lectures, Scott Janssen’s presentation and Lindsay Currie’s presentations. This being said I still think there will always be room for improvement. Sometimes when asking questions or inquiring about certain information I almost sounded like I was doubting myself by saying things like “uhm” and “Yeah”. Moving forward, I think one of the most important things I will take away is to allow the client to tell their story, they are not going to change if you tell them to. Instead they will change if it is something they see as a benefit and have admit resources to do so. This course allowed me to foster many personable skills that I will take with me into my future