I.  ATTENDING NONVERBAL BEHAVIORS:

  A. Maintaining Eye Contact

  B. Adopting an Open Posture (uncrossed arms/legs)

  C. Facing Counselee Squarely (without desk or table)

  D. Leaning Slightly Forward

  E. Assuming a Natural and Relaxed Position
 
 

II. BASIC COMMUNICATION SKILLS:

  A. Open-ended leads:  e.g. “Where would you like to begin today?...Could you tell me more about that?...How are you feelings
                                                        about that?”

  B. Silence or Passive Listening

  C. Restatement of Content/Paraphrasing, e.g. “You’ve just about reached your patience limit”

  D. Reflection of Feeling, e.g. “It must be pretty scary for you to live with such uncertainty”

  E. Summarization of Content, e.g. “Let me see if I have understood some of your main concerns. They seem to be...”

  F. Summarization of Feeling, e.g. “On the one hand you resent her intrusion but on the other you appreciate her help”
 
 

III. ADVANCED COUNSELING SKILLS:

  A. Advanced Empathy (Empathy plus deeper feeling and meaning), e.g. “It’s depressing to put in as much effort as you did and still
                                                                                                                        not pass. Maybe it even makes you feel sorry for yourself”
 
  B. Theme Identification ( a “red-flag” issue, e.g. need for control ), e.g. “I notice that when you’re in many different situations, you
                                                                                                                        have a need to take charge”
 
  C. Self-Disclosure, e.g. “I think I can appreciate what you’re dealing with. My mother-in-law...”
 
  D. Perception Check, e.g. “John, it seems to me that you are less involved with today’s session than you usually are”

  E. Interpretation, e.g. “Mary, I could be wrong but it seems to me that ...
 
  F. Clarification, e.g. “I’m not clear about who is related to whom in this situation...I’m not sure which is the stronger feeling you are
                                        having or whether they are equal”

  G. Confrontation (use sparingly, mildly and well after the relationship has been established, e.g. “Every time we get close to the topic, you
                                                                                                                                                                    change the subject”

  H. Immediacy, e.g. “I think I’m not feeling very helpful today because you are going over old ground and not focusing on issues that
                                        we need to resolve together. Are you feeling this way too?”

 
IV. ACTION STRATEGIES:

  A. Behavioral Techniques:

   1. Systematic Desensitization
   2. Behavior Contracts
   3. Social Modeling
   4. Assertion Training
 

V.  DECISION-MAKING METHODOLOGIES: (Stewart et al (1978); Krumboltz   (1966) )

VI.  PROBLEM-SOLVING STRATEGIES: (Egan, 1975)

VII.  GOAL SETTING: (Process vs Outcome goals)

VIII. TERMINATION AND FOLLOW-UP:

  A. Individual Session (counselee or counselor summarizes main, themes, issues and feelings; counselor may assign “homework” )
 
  B. The Counseling Relationship ( prepare for in advance; make plans for phasing out contact; use mutual regulation; communicate trust in
                                                                client to go on alone; summarize gains made over the course of counseling)
 
  C. Keeping in Touch ( several weeks later  call or send note to the former counselee indicating a continuing interest )

 
      from George, R.L., & Christiani, T.L. (1995). Counseling:Theory and practice. (4th Ed.).Boston: Allyn and Bacon.