Question

What is counselling skill?

Hint:

When defining counselling skills, emphasize that it's a {set of skills}, not just one. Core skills like {Active Listening}, {Empathy}, and {Open Questioning} are essential to mention.

Answer 1

Counselling skill is not a single ability but a set of interpersonal and communication competencies that a counsellor uses to build a therapeutic relationship and help a client explore their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. These skills are used to facilitate positive change and personal growth.
Key counselling skills include:

Active Listening: Paying close attention to what the client is saying both verbally and non-verbally, without judgment. This involves giving the client one's full attention.
Empathy: The ability to understand and share the feelings of the client from their frame of reference. It involves communicating this understanding back to the client.
Effective Questioning: Using open-ended questions (e.g., starting with "What," "How," "Could you tell me more...") to encourage the client to explore their issues in depth, rather than closed questions that elicit a simple "yes" or "no."
Reflecting and Paraphrasing: Restating the client's words and feelings in a concise way to show that they have been heard and understood, and to clarify meaning.
Summarizing: Periodically pulling together the main themes and feelings discussed in a session to provide focus and show progress.
Unconditional Positive Regard: A concept from Carl Rogers, it involves accepting and valuing the client as a person, regardless of their choices or behaviors.