PSY102
The Counselling Relationship
1
Humna Azhar
h.azhar@mdx.ac.ae
Module delivery
Alongside workshop handouts the following
on-line reading materials will be accessible
for free via Kortext (linked on the module
page on Unihub):
Paul, S. & Charura , D. (2014). An Introduction to
the Therapeutic Relationship in Counselling and
Psychotherapy. London: Sage. Publications. ISBN:
9781473908710
Online Reading List, including specific items relating to Essay 1 can be
Counselling as talking therapy
• The talking therapies are relatively new
• Until the Freudian era mental health
was a domain of doctors, who applied
medical model approach
• Medical model approach (diagnosis,
treatment)
• 19th century brought deeper
understanding of human mind which
continues till now
Psychopathology and
Treatment History
• Psychopathology refers to problematic
patterns of thought, feeling and behaviour.
– Disrupted functioning at home, work, and in
the person’s social life
– Patterns that cause distress in the person or in
others
– Psychopathology literally means sickness of
the mind
• Psychopathology varies between and
within cultures.
Roots in philosophy Confucius,
Descartes, Buddha
Roots in medicine
Hipokrates, Gall, Broca, Wernicke,
Kraepelin
W. Wundt and W. James
S. Freud
Psychoanalysis
Behaviourism
Person Centered Therapy
About the Module:
Learning Outcomes
• Identify the core conditions for
counselling (Rogers, 1957)…
– Empathy
– Congruence
– Unconditional positive regard
• Understand the nature of confidentiality
– and its limitations
• Demonstrate a knowledge of attending
behaviour (‘active listening’)
About the Module:
Learning Outcomes
• Distinguish counselling skills from other
helping activities
• Apply counselling skills to different
interpersonal relationships/contexts
• Give and receive constructive
feedback
• Increase mindfulness, self-awareness,
and understanding of the self-concept
About the Module
Skills Workshops
• Skills workshops are an important part
of the learning in this module
– They are what distinguish this programme
• They are an opportunity to develop,
practice and reflect on counselling skills
• Workshops are every week
– Attendance is essential
– Engagement is essential
About the Module - Attendance
• Attendance is VERY important for this
module
• Participation and engagement is very
important to the learning experience and
assessment of this module
• You will need to attend every session
– and let me know when unavoidably you can
not attend
Important!
• This programme will not qualify you
to offer counselling to others!
• It is intended to develop some of
the skills and knowledge that are
important for counselling practice
– The experience should really help you
decide if a career in some form of
psychological therapy is for you
Group Discussion
What is Counselling?
Your Views…
What is Counselling?
BACP definition:
“Counselling takes place when a counsellor
sees a client in a private and confidential
setting to explore a difficulty the client is
having, distress they may be experiencing or
perhaps their dissatisfaction with life, or loss of
a sense of direction and purpose. It is always
at the request of the client as no one can be
properly sent for counselling.”
www.bacp.co.uk
Advice, Guidance & Counselling
(from Sutton & Stewart, 2008)
• Advice --> Mainly a one-way exchange
– Giving an opinion
– Making a judgment
– Making a recommendation
• Guidance --> Mainly a one-way exchange
– Educating/Instructing
– Influencing/Showing the way
• Counselling --> A 2-way collaborative exchange
– A supportive relationship that enables clients to
• explore and understand problems
• to resolve (or come to terms with) their problems
• to be active in understanding themselves and deciding
what course of action to take
Advice, Guidance & Counselling
• Advice --> Persuasive
– Giving an opinion
– Making a judgement
– Making a recommendation
• Guidance --> Encouraging
– Educating/Instructing
– Influencing/Showing the way
• Counselling --> Facilitative
– A supportive relationship that enables clients to
explore and understand problems; to resolve, or come
to terms with their problems; to be active in
understanding themselves and deciding what course of
action to take.
Counselling vs Advice
Giving
• Advice often entails telling people what to do -
This has no place in counselling
• Counsellors help clients to see what is possible,
but do not say what course of action should be
taken
• Advice is appropriate at times but counsellors
should be wary of requests for advice
– Why do you think this is?
• Counsellors need to be wary of imposing their
own point of view on others
Counselling vs
Persuasion
• Counselling is not about persuading or
prevailing upon another person in order
to ‘save them from themselves’
• An important goal of counselling is self-
direction
• Potentially imposing choices or views
on a client can damage their self-worth
– And you might just be wrong
Counselling is Different to
Other Forms of Helping
• One central difference between counselling and
other forms of helping is in the way that a
counsellor listens
• This is a process called active listening - a skill
that we will spend a large part of the module
developing
• Active listening seeks to demonstrate to a client
that you are fully engaged with what they say by:
– communicating verbally and nonverbally
– practicing “uninterrupted” listening
– restating the message
– observing the sender’s nonverbal signals
Counselling and
Psychotherapy
• Counselling helps people to identify crises and problems in their
life and encourages them to take positive steps to address
them.
• Counselling is a short-term process that encourages people to
understand and change their behaviour.
• It is probably the best option for people who understand the
concept of well-being and for someone who is perhaps more
adapt at problem solving.
• Psychotherapy is more likely to help people with psychological
problems that have built up over a long period of time; it helps
people to understand their thoughts, feelings and actions
more clearly.
• Psychotherapy helps people identify emotional issues
and uncover the reasons for problems and difficulties.
• During this module we will however not differentiate between
them both.
An Integrative Skills
Model
• Workshops & lectures on this module
introduce an integrative approach to skills
development
• For now we will focus on Process rather than
Content in the counselling relationship.
– Process: Phases and dynamics of the counselling
relationship. How counselling proceeds
– Content: What the client brings to counselling & the
theoretical frameworks that the counsellor applies to
select specific skills & strategies
Summary
• Counselling is a collaborative relationship that
enables clients to explore and understand
problems; to resolve, or come to terms with their
problems; to be active in understanding
themselves and deciding what course of action to
take.
• Counselling is different to giving advice or
guidance (and that is why it takes some time to
train as a counsellor).
• We will take an integrative skills model approach
to counselling on this module.
• Attendance is very important!
Starting Your Learning &
Reflective Journal
• The purpose of the learning and reflection
journal is to express and reflect upon your
thoughts about, understanding of, and
progress with the concepts and skills that
are covered
• It should not be a re-hash of material from
texts,
papers, lectures and workshops… this is
your own personal account of the activities
that took place, what you learned from them
and what they mean to you, and any
Reflective Journaling
• Reflection is a mental process
• It is contemplation or a long
consideration
• Unlike reflection in mirror it is an
interpretation of what is going
on between learning and
thinking
Why do we write Reflective
Journal
• To be able to reflect on our practice
• To be able to apply theory to practice
• To chart our own personal growth
• To analyze how are you meeting your
own goals
Starting Your Learning &
Reflection Journal
• Each individual will have a different way of
keeping a reflective journal. There are,
however, some general points to consider in
producing your log:
• It should be:
– A record which is useful to you
– A cue to memory
– Honestly written
– Enjoyable to you in its production (although at
first it can seem a little threatening and/or a bit
of a chore)
Reflecting writing involves
• Looking back at events
• Analyzing the event or idea
• Thinking carefully what an event or idea
means to you personally and on your
ongoing process as a learner
References
• Rogers, C. R. (1957). The necessary
and sufficient conditions of therapeutic
personality change. Journal of
consulting psychology, 21(2), 95.
• Sutton, J., & Stewart, W.
(2008). Learning to Counsel (3rd Ed.):
Develop the skills, insight and
knowledge to counsel others. Hachette
UK.
