SEMINAR WORKSHOP

ON
BASIC COUNSELING

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 1
Development
 WHAT IS COUNSELING?
 Counseling is the
means by which
one person helps
another through
purposeful
conversation

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 2
Development
  Counseling is a
method of
identifying
practical solution
to an identified
problem

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 3
Development
 Importance of Counseling
 Behavior change

 Helps the client understand and deal with

her/his specific, personal health concerns

 Empowers clients to make his/her own

decisions about his/her problems/difficulties

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 4
Development
 Help the client achieve and maintain
abstinence from addictive chemicals and
behaviors

 Help the client recover from the damage

the addiction has done to the client's life

 Support client while they are undergoing

the different phases of treatment and
when they are already in a life-long
recovery

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 5
Development
 Guidelines in Goal-Setting

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 6
Development
 Important Factors in Counseling

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 7
Development
 STRUCTURE
- “The joint understanding
between the counselor PHYSICAL SETTING
and client regarding the
- Counseling can happen
characteristics, conditions,
procedures, and anywhere, but the
parameters of counseling” professional generally
works in a place that
provides:
 PRIVACY
 CONFIDENTIALITY
 QUIET and
Directorate for Inmates Welfare and
10/15/20 8
Development
 CLIENT QUALITIES

READINESS/RELUCTANCE/RESISTANCE

Readiness: can be thought of as the motivation that the

client brings into the session. How motivated are they to
work?

Reluctance: is generally seen in those clients who are

referred for help by a third party and are unmotivated

Resistance: is generally seen in those clients who are

forced into counseling. They bring a motivation to cling to
their issues through various sorts of actions.
Directorate for Inmates Welfare and
10/15/20 9
Development
 COUNSELOR QUALITIES
1. EMPATHY

- The ability to enter the

client’s phenomenological
world, to experience the 2. GENUINENESS OR
CONGRUENCE
client’s world as if it were your
own. - The quality of “real
presence”; the counselor must
be authentic and integrated,
without a false front, and their
inner experience and outward
expression of that experience
match.
Directorate for Inmates Welfare and
10/15/20 10
Development
 COUNSELOR QUALITIES

3. Unconditional Positive Regard

- Genuine caring for the client as a
person and non-judgmental attitude of
the client’s feelings, thoughts, and
behaviour as good or bad.

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 11
Development
 COUNSELOR QUALITIES
 The ability to convey the belief that the client is capable,
trustworthy, respectable, worthy and dependable.

 Demonstration of a positive belief in himself/herself as a

counselor and demonstration of positive self-esteem

 Has self-awareness and knows his or her own biases or

prejudices (good or bad) and is able to analyze his or her
own feelings

 Is sensitive to cultural differences

 Has tolerance for ambiguity

10/15/20
Directorate for Inmates Welfare and
12
Development
 II
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN
COUNSELING

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 13
Development
 The Right of Informed Consent

 Informed Consent: is an ethical and legal requirement

that is integral part of the counseling process
 Informed Consent involves the right of clients to be
informed about their therapy and to make autonomous
decisions pertaining to it.
 By educating your clients about their rights and
responsibilities, you are both empowering them and
building a trusting relationship with them.
 The challenge of fulfilling the spirit of informed consent is
to strike a balance between giving clients too much
information and giving them too little.
Directorate for Inmates Welfare and
10/15/20 14
Development
 Confidentiality
“What is said between the walls, stays between
the walls” except in four situations:
 Children are being neglected or abused.
 The Court subpeonas client’s chart/records.
 Client is leaving with the intent to commit
serious physical violence against another
person.
Client is leaving with the intent to commit
suicide or serious violence against herself.
Directorate for Inmates Welfare and
10/15/20 15
Development
 Transference occurs when a client’s
emotions from a previous experience are
projected, displaced, or transferred, onto the
counselor and the counseling relationship.

 Countertransference occurs when the

projection of beliefs, emotions, or experience
is from the counselor to the client.

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 16
Development
 Handling Transference

 Feelings can be productively explored so

client becomes aware of how they are keeping
an old pattern in present relationships

 Ask client to tell more about how the

therapist has affected them to elicit additional
information about how the client developed
the transference.
Directorate for Inmates Welfare and
10/15/20 17
Development
 Carefully take on a symbolic role and allow
the client to work through their unresolved
conflict.

 Use interpretation, but only when the client

can understand and use it

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 18
Development
 Managing Countertransference
 Recognize
 Monitor your feelings during therapy
sessions and use your responses as a source
for increased awareness
 Seek therapy and supervision if you become
too entangled in the emotions and issues of
your client
Directorate for Inmates Welfare and
10/15/20 19
Development
 FAMILIAR PATTERNS OF
COUNSELING SESSIONS

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 20
Development
 FIRST VISIT PATTERN

 1ST 10 MINUTES: Introductions

- assurance of confidentiality
- filling out of forms
 2nd 20 MINUTES: Information Gathering
- “what brings you here today?”
- “Start anywhere” if your client does not know where to start

 3rd 10 MINUTES: Discussion/Counselor Inputs

- development of concerns/clarifications
- priority setting of concerns to work on (according to client’s
rating)
Directorate for Inmates Welfare and
10/15/20 21
Development
 - giving a week-long assignment like “mapping” (write down when
the problem happens and what is going out at the time)

 4th 10 MINUTES: Conclusions

- assure client that she/he can dot, if client honestly feel she/he
cant, maybe it is a sign to refer
- client is provided with printed copy of services and emergency
numbers
- The client should be able to list a few things that she/he has to
look forward to over the next few days.
- If the client seems to have nothing to look forward to, this is a red
flag for suicide
- You will need to ask her/him, “Are you thinking of suicide?”
Counselor should be aware of suicide protocol of the organization

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 22
Development
 MIDDLE VISIT PATTERN
 1ST 10 MINUTES: Introductions
- Greetings
- give the client to get things off her/hisnchest
- explain the purpose of the second visit
- If client is not feeling better or in fact feels worse, this may
not be your scope of practice. Set up referral. It can always be
cancelled.

 2nd 20 MINUTES: Information Gathering

- review what happened the last time
- review the homework if there is one. If not done, ask why?
- Work on primary concerns, let client do the talking, if
working to talk about concerns, bring her on track
Directorate for Inmates Welfare and
10/15/20 23
Development
 3rd 10 MINUTES: Discussion/Counselor Inputs
- counselor’s time to provide input
- avoid counselor-client relationship outside of counseling
setting or any behavior with may violate professional boundaries

 4th 10 MINUTES: Conclusions

- restate what has happened and what the client is hoping to
achieve- getting approval at each assertion
- assure client that it is “doable”
- homework
- End in a positive note. Set the next appointment

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 24
Development
 FINAL VISIT PATTERN

 1ST 10 MINUTES: Introductions

- same as second visit
 2nd 20 MINUTES: Information Gathering
- same as second visit
- in a “final visit” the client may express concern of feeling
orphaned
 3rd 10 MINUTES: Discussion/Counselor Inputs
- provide input
- Hopefully by now the client is very good at coming up with her
own strategies
 Last 10 minutes: Conclusions
- same as second visit
10/15/20
- client must have the contact
Directorate details
for Inmates Welfareshe
and needs
25
Development
 DETERMINING WHEN TO REFER
CLIENTS TO OTHER
PROFESSIONALS

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 26
Development
 REFERRALS
At times, a counselor needs to make a
referral. When this is done, specific issues need
to be addressed with the client:
Reason for the referral.
Note specific behaviors or actions which
brought the need for a referral.
Have the names of several other counselors
ready for referral.

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 27
Development
 Working with people to facilitate
personal growth and achieve goals can
sometimes trigger emotional or
pathological issues that require
professional intervention.

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 28
Development
 RED FLAG SIGNS
• Depressive symptoms:
 including sadness, hopelessness, lethargy, lack of
pleasure, weight loss or appetite change, irritability,
insomnia or sleeping too much, feelings of guilt,
and/or poor concentration
 particularly when symptoms endure for more than 2
weeks
 when symptoms are accompanied by suicidal ideation
 and/or when there is a history of suicide or suicide
attempts in client’s family

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 29
Development
• Periods of euphoria (“natural high”)
 accompanied by decreased need for sleep;
 poor judgment and impulsivity;
 distractibility;
 racing thoughts;
 and/or agitation and enthusiasm for goals

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 30
Development
• Self-harming behavior,
 including cutting, pulling hair, excessive piercing
or tattooing, picking at nails or skin to bleeding or
other self-injurious actions

• Panic or anxiety attacks

 which occur suddenly and include physiological
symptoms such as rapid heart rate, sweating,
difficulty breathing and a feeling of impending
doom

• Behavior dangerous to self or others, including

quasi-accidental incidents
Directorate for Inmates Welfare and
10/15/20 31
Development
• Despite the fact that spiritual breakthroughs
can be positive, hallucinations should always
be referred for assessment.

• Primary relationship that causes client

excessive fear; keeps client isolated from
friends, family or you as a helping
professional; or involves signs of abuse.

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 32
Development
Addictive behavior, including drugs, alcohol, sex
(including pornography), emotional eating, and
gambling, even if it seems minor or infrequent

•Issues born of trauma and anxiety, including

fears, aversions, phobias and agoraphobia

•Paranoia, misreading the motives of others,

and persistent, irrational fear

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 33
Development
Frequent sleepwalking
can be a symptom of
epilepsy or a seizure
disorder; client should be
referred to an MD for
evaluation

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 34
Development
 BASIC COUNSELING
SKILLS

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 35
Development
 Most Important Counseling Skill

LISTENING
When working with a client, you want
to send a message that you are listening.
This can be done by being attentive both
verbally (responding to the client) and
nonverbally.

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 36
Development
 S.O.L.E.R.
acronym which
reminds us of how to
listen appropriately in S - Face the client
the context of SQUARELY; that is,
counseling adopt a posture that
indicates
involvement.

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 37
Development
 O - Adopt an OPEN
posture. Sit with
both feet on the
ground to begin L - As you face your
with and with your client, LEAN toward
hands on your lap in him or her. Be
a relaxed manner aware of their space
needs.

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 38
Development
 • E - Maintain EYE
contact. Looking away
or down suggests that
you are bored or
ashamed of what the
client is saying. R - As you incorporate
Looking at the person these skills into your
suggests that you are
interested and
attending listening
concerned. skills, RELAX.

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 39
Development
 Some Non-Helpful
Behaviors
• Advice Giving
• Lecturing
• Excessive Questioning
• Storytelling
• Asking “Why?”
• Moralizing
• Ordering

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 40
Development
 • Threatening
• Arguing
• Disaggreeing
• Over-interpreting
• Sympathizing
• Judging

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 41
Development
 What to do during Counseling
• Show respect to the client
• Ensure confidentiality
• Give full attention to the client
• Listen more than speak
• Use open-ended questions

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 42
Development
 What to do during Counseling
• Allow clients to express emotions but do
not show negative reactions
• Do not rush things
• Acknowledge each answer of the client

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 43
Development
 CLARIFYING
• Simplifying client
statements by focusing on
the core of the message;
saying in slightly different
words what the client said
to clarify its meaning
• “Medyo marami ka nang
nasabi..titingnan ko kung
tama ako. Ang ibig bang
sabihin ay…” Directorate for Inmates Welfare and
10/15/20 44
Development
 Questioning

Asking open-ended questions

that lead to self-exploration
of “what” and “how” of
behavior.

“Nalulungkot ka sapagkat?...”

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 45
Development
 SUMMARIZING
• Pulling together the important elements
of an interaction or session.
“ Babalikan natin ang mga sinabi mo. Kung tama
ang pagkaintindi ko..mahalaga ang mga
sumusunod na punto: una, ikaw ay nababagot
na sa loob ng kulungan. Pangalawa, ikaw ay
natatakot sa kahinatnan ng iyong kaso at
pangatlo, nalulungkot ka dahil hindi ka na
dinadalaw ng iyong pamilya.”

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 46
Development
 INTERPRETING
• Offering possible
explanations for certain
behaviors, feelings, and
thoughts.
“ mukhang nagagalit ka sa
iyong asawa dahil…
pinapabayaan niya ang mga
anak niyo…”
Directorate for Inmates Welfare and
10/15/20 47
Development
 Supporting

Providing
encouragement and
reinforcement

Encourage the flow

of conversation and
show respect by
taking an accepting
attitude. 
Directorate for Inmates Welfare and
10/15/20 48
Development
 Giving Feedback
Expressing concrete
and honest
reactions based on
observation of the
client’s behavior.

Mirroring the client to

provide him for
insight.

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 49
Development
 Suggesting
 Offering information, direction and
ideas for new behavior or possible plan
of action

Supplying data, opinions, facts, resources or

answers to questions

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 50
Development
 Allowing silence
 Helps the client think
about the statement,
he/she previously said.

 Giving the client the

time to linger on a
certain feeling which
you think is therapeutic
or helpful for him/her
Directorate for Inmates Welfare and
10/15/20 51
Development
 Blocking
Intervening to stop
counterproductive
behavior or
statements

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 52
Development
 Terminating

Preparing the person to

end and finalize the
session

Directorate for Inmates Welfare and

10/15/20 53
Development
 Termination of a Session
There is no great secret to ending sessions. There are
some guidelines:

 Start and end on time.

 Leave 5 minutes or so for a summary of the
session.
 Introduce the end of the session normally (“Our time
is coming to a close.”).
 Assign homework.
 Set up next appointment.
Directorate for Inmates Welfare and
10/15/20 54
Development
Do not turn the
counseling
conversation  Note taking 
into an
interrogation. • Writing down pieces of
information, often in an
shorthand.

• The counselor needs to

be discreet and not disturb
the flow of thought, speech
or body language of the
speaker.
Directorate for Inmates Welfare and
10/15/20 55
Development