MOUNT KENYA UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

BACHELOR IN SPECIAL EDUCTION

NAME: OBONYO OCHIENG SALVINE

ADM. NO: BSNE/2022/56684

UNIT CODE: BSE 4218

UNIT NAME: GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING

FOR LEARNERS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

MAY/AUGUST 2024

LECTURES NAME:
Question 1.
Effective Counselling is highly dependent on skills and techniques
used by the counsellor. Counselling go beyond reading, writing and
talking. Discuss the techniques a competent counsellor must employ
in Guidance and Counselling. (15mks)

A competent counsellor in guidance and counselling utilizes a range of techniques and

skills to effectively support individuals facing personal, social, academic, or career

challenges. Here are some key techniques that a competent counsellor employs:

(Active listening, Empathy and understanding, Effective Communication,

Attending skills:

Structuring: - This a process of establishing the working patterns with the client. This

includes establishing time, frequency, payment, duration, and general out-plan of

counselling. It should also aim to spell out the roles of both the counsellor and the

client during the counselling session.

Active Listening:- This involves giving full attention to what the client is saying,

understanding their perspective, and demonstrating empathy and understanding

through verbal and non-verbal cues. It means listening, encouraging and prompting

the client to go in talking in establishing the facts surrounding the issue at hand.

Empathy and Understanding:- Showing empathy allows the counsellor to connect

with the client's emotions and experiences, creating a supportive and non-judgemental

environment. Empathy is the ability to enter the place of the other human being and

understand the problem they are undergoing in their world perspective.

Questioning: - Questioning involves asking questions with the skill of interrogating

to get more elaborate answers leading to a clear understanding of the client’s problem.

The probing should not go beyond as to invade the privacy of the client.

Self Disclosure:- This is a technique of sharing similar stories which draws similar

emotions and feelings to what exactly present what the client is experiencing. Self

disclosure make the client to be more relaxed and encourage him to share more details

of the issue at hand.

Effective Communication:- Using clear and concise language to convey information

and ideas, as well as asking open-ended questions to encourage clients to express

themselves fully. An Effective Counsellor needs excellent verbal communication

skills to effectively talk to a range of different people. Counsellors will often have to

question clients and conduct interviews, and they need to be skilful in doing so as to

not further upset or cause stress to clients.

Confronting: - This is a technique used to point out inconsistencies in what the client

narrates or say in his/her story. This involves correcting lied and re-mediations of

what is said with the versions if the story not adding up to connect smoothly with the

issue at hand.

Goal Setting:- Helping clients identify specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and

time-bound (SMART) goals related to their personal, academic, or career aspirations.

Assessment and Evaluation:- Conducting assessments to understand the client's

strengths, challenges, interests, and needs, and using this information to tailor

counselling interventions.Cognitive-Behavioural Techniques: Employing techniques

such as cognitive restructuring, behavioural activation, and problem-solving strategies

to help clients challenge negative thinking patterns and develop coping skills.

Reflecting Feelings: This technique involves going back to what the client has said or

expressed in regard to facts or feelings. Reflecting is good in in encouraging the client

to understand the progress you have made in the process of counselling session.

Summarizing: Reflecting session helps the counsellor in summarizing the counselling

process and preparing the client for final feedback. It should describe details of the

next development.

Giving Feedback: This technique is used to give the clear picture of the achievement

during the counselling session. It evaluates the development and progress made. It

should lead to termination of the counselling session.

Other Techniques and skills of guidance and counselling are:

Solution-Focused Approaches:- Focusing on identifying solutions and building on the

client's strengths rather than dwelling on problems or past issues.

Motivational Interviewing:- Using techniques to explore and resolve ambivalence

within clients, helping them to find intrinsic motivation for change.

Cultural Competence:- Recognizing and respecting cultural differences and diversity,

and adapting counselling approaches to meet the unique needs and values of clients

from different cultural backgrounds.Ethical Practice: Adhering to ethical guidelines

and standards of practice, ensuring confidentiality, informed consent, and maintaining

professional boundaries.
Collaboration and Referral:- Collaborating with other professionals, such as

educators, healthcare providers, or career specialists, and making referrals when

additional support or specialized expertise is needed.Self-Care and Reflective

Practice: Practising self-care to maintain personal well-being and preventing burnout,

as well as engaging in reflective practice to continuously improve counselling skills

and approaches. An Effective counsellors need to be able to work effectively with

different groups of people, other professionals including clients and colleagues. You

may have to work with a client for months or even years, so having the talent for

building relationships with other professionals will be very important.

Qualities of An Effective Counsellor

Good communication skills, Interpersonal skills, Understanding of ethics, Patience,

Compassion, Active listening and responsiveness, Questioning ability.

In addition to these, a counsellor should show: (Ability to interpret information,

Trustworthiness, Empathy, Sympathetic, Emotional stability, Knowledge of laws and

regulations, Open-mindedness, Trustworthiness, Research skills and specific problem-

solving strategies or skills.

A competent Counsellor should know how to use a computer so that he/she can take

notes and download and save large reports and client files. The counsellor also need

to know how to use medical software for recording client information, spreadsheet

and word-processing programs for writing reports, and billing programs for

submitting and tracking invoices of clients and insurers.

In Conclusion,these techniques enable competent counsellors to provide effective

guidance and support, empower clients to make informed decisions, and facilitate

positive changes in their lives.

Question 2
In Guidance and Counselling explain the steps you would use to
resolve family conflicts. (15mks)

Resolving family conflicts in guidance and counselling involves a systematic

approach to understanding the issues, facilitating communication, and promoting

reconciliation.

The Counselling process involves the following steps: (Creating rapport, Exploring,

Understanding, Action, Termination).

Creating Rapport:- When conducting a counselling session, a counsellor should aim to

create a rapport with the clients to make them open up. The client should be helped to

over come insecurity uneasiness, uncertainty, isolation, fear of untrustworthiness,

privacy confidentiality and interpersonal skills. Creating a warm and welcoming

situation minimizes these fears and uncertainty in emotions build-up.

Exploration: - This is the disclosure session. The time when the client open up to

reveal or discuss openly his or her issues. During this session, the counsellor should

aim to create a safe confidential environment for the client by exploring attending

skills, listening skills and show empathy.

Understanding:- This step enables the client to understand his/her weakness. The

client should be made to be concise and aware of the main issues in his/her situation.

It helps the client identify the underling perspective about self and the issue at hand.

At this understanding stage, the client is made to see the reality and justify the favts

and opportunities available.

Action Stage:- during Action stage, the counsellor helps the client formulate a plan in

a step by step towards resolving the problem; (a step by step procedure for reaching

the goal). Help the client to brainstorm on the possible helpful ideas and available

options and strategies of actions to be taken towards solving the problem.

Termination of Counselling by a Counsellor or Termination of Counselling by a

Client. Termination can occur when the client has gained insight into his or her

problem and has been able to cope up with it or has been able to resolve it.

Termination can also be when either the Counsellor or the Client or both feel that

either of the side has become uncooperative and is likely to end the entire counselling

session abusive or unprofessional way.

Other possible steps in counselling process can be simplified as follows:

Identify and Define the Conflict:- Begin by clearly identifying the nature of the

conflict. This involves listening to each family member's perspective and

understanding their concerns, emotions, and points of contention.

Encourage Open Communication:- Create a safe and non-judgemental environment

where each family member can express their feelings and viewpoints openly.

Encourage active listening and respectful communication among all parties involved.

Explore underlying Issues:- Help family members explore the underlying causes or

triggers of the conflict. This may involve discussing past experiences,

misunderstandings, unmet needs, or differing expectations.

Generate Possible Solutions:- Facilitate brainstorming of potential solutions or

compromises that could address the conflict. Encourage creativity and openness to

different perspectives while focusing on mutual goals and interests.

Evaluate and Select Solutions:- Assess the feasibility and effectiveness of each

proposed solution. Guide the family members in evaluating the pros and cons of each

option and selecting the most appropriate solution that meets everyone's needs to the

extent possible.

Develop an Action Plan:- Once a solution is agreed upon, assist in developing a

concrete action plan outlining specific steps, responsibilities, and time-lines for

implementation. Ensure that the plan is realistic and achievable.

Implement the Plan:- Support the family members in implementing the action plan.

Provide guidance on effective communication strategies, conflict resolution skills, and

methods for managing emotions during the implementation process.

Monitor Progress and Adjust: Monitor the progress of the conflict resolution process

and the implementation of the action plan. Encourage regular feedback from family

members and be prepared to make adjustments or modifications to the plan as needed.

Reflect and Learn:- Facilitate reflection on the conflict resolution process and

outcomes. Help family members identify lessons learned, strengths gained, and areas

for further improvement in communication and relationship-building.

Follow-Up and Support:- Offer ongoing support and follow-up sessions to ensure that

the resolution is sustainable and that any emerging issues or concerns are addressed

promptly. Encourage the family members to continue using effective communication

and conflict resolution skills in their interactions. By following these steps, guidance

counsellors can effectively assist families in resolving conflicts, promoting

understanding, and fostering healthier relationships within the family unit.

REFERENCES

1. Gichinga. E.M. (1999) , Basic Counselling Skills. Nairobi: Faith

Communication.

2. Mutie E. K. & Ndambuki P. (1999) , Guidance and Counselling for

schools and Colleges. Nairobi: Oxford University Press.

3. Gerald C. (2000) , Theory and Practice of Counselling and

Psychology.

4. Collins G. R. (1989) , Christian Counselling . A Comprehensive Guide

on Guidance and Counselling.

5. Benjamin B. L (1995) Psychology, An Introduction to Profession of

Counselling. Macmillan Publishing company 2nd Edition.