THEORIES AND TECHNIQUES OF

COUNSELING
BASIC COUNSELING SKILLS
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, the students will be able to:

➤ Understand the Five Bedrocks of Counseling

➤ Understand the Code of Ethics of Counseling
➤ Know and understand the Basic Counseling Skills

CODE OF ETHICS IN COUNSELING

Focusing on the Five Bedrocks of Counseling
These are each vital to a healthy counseling relationship.
 AUTONOMY

➤ It is the principle that

addresses respect for
independence and self-
determination.

➤ The essence of this

principle is allowing an
individual the freedom of
choice and action.

 JUSTICE

➤ It does not mean treating all

individuals the same.

➤ If an individual is to be treated
differently, the counsellor needs
to be able to offer a rationale that
explains the necessity and
appropriateness of treating the
individual differently.

 BENEFICENCE

➤ It re ects the
c o u n s e l l o r ’ s
responsibility to
contribute to the welfare
of the client
➤ It means to do good, to
be proactive, and also
prevent harm when
possible.
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.

 NON-MALEFICENCE

➤ It is the concept of not

causing harm to others.

➤ Often explained as “above

all, do no harm,” this
principle re ects both the
idea of not in icting
intentional harm, and not
engaging in actions that
risk harming others.
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 FIDELITY

➤ It involves the principles

of loyalty, faithfulness,
and honouring
commitments.

➤ Clients must be able to

trust the counselor and
have faith in the
therapeutic relationship
if growth is to occur.
➤

MAJOR SECTIONS OF THE AMERICAN COUNSELING ASSOCIATION 2014 CODE OF ETHICS

The Counseling Relationship

➤ It involves the principles
of loyalty, faithfulness,
Counselors must: and honouring
commitments.
• Work hard to create and sustain a relationship with their
clients based on trust.
• Obtain informed consent ➤ Clientsfrom must
clientsbe able toa
entering
counseling relationship. trust the counselor and
• Respect a client’s confidentiality and privacy.
have faith in the
• Explain to clients what the counseling relationship entails
therapeutic relationship
(which could include fees, group work, and termination).
if growth
• Be cognizant of client’s culture, values, is
andtobeliefs.
occur.
➤

MAJOR SECTIONS OF THE AMERICAN COUNSELING ASSOCIATION 2014 CODE OF ETHICS

Confidentiality and Privacy

Counselors must:

• Communicate the concept of confidentiality with their clients

on an ongoing basis and do so in a culturally sensitive way.
• Inform clients about the limitations of confidentiality regarding
what situations information must be disclosed (e.g., to protect
clients or others from harm).
• Discuss if and how information may be shared with others.
• Understand legal and ethical issues involved in working with
clients who cannot provide informed consent (such as minors
or clients with impairment).
• Maintain and store records in an approved way.
MAJOR SECTIONS OF THE AMERICAN COUNSELING ASSOCIATION 2014 CODE OF ETHICS

Professional Responsibility

Counselors must:

• Adhere to the ACA Code of Ethics.

• Practice within one’s boundaries of competence.
• Participate in associations that help improve the
profession.
• Practice counseling based on scientific foundations.
• Be mindful when advertising and talking with the media.
• Engage in self-care activities so they can work at their
highest capacity.
MAJOR SECTIONS OF THE AMERICAN COUNSELING ASSOCIATION 2014 CODE OF ETHICS

Relationships with Colleagues, Employees, and

Employers

Counselors must:

• Develop relationships with colleagues from other

disciplines and be respectful of those who have different
theoretical approaches.
• Provide consultation services within areas of competence.
• Provide appropriate consultation referrals when requested
or necessary.
MAJOR SECTIONS OF THE AMERICAN COUNSELING ASSOCIATION 2014 CODE OF ETHICS

Evaluation, Assessment, and Interpretation

Counselors must:

• Understand the use of assessments as an important part

of information gathering and to assist in conducting clients’
treatment and evaluation.
• Use educational, mental health, forensic, and career
assessments (among others) on which they are trained
and have had comprehensive supervised experience
administering and interpreting.
• Diagnose clients and interpret assessments accurately
and in a culturally sensitive manner.
BASIC COUNSELING SKILLS
CORE COUNSELING SKILLS
Core listening skills are basic counselling skills,
or practiced techniques, that help the
counsellor to empathetically listen to the
speaker.

Skills include:
• active listening
• being aware of nonverbal communication
• building rapport
THE CORE COUNSELING SKILLS ARE AS FOLLOWS
1. Attending
Attending in counselling means being in the company of someone else and
giving that person your full attention, to what they are saying or doing, valuing
them as worthy individuals.

2. Silence
Silence in counselling gives the client control of the content, pace and objectives.
This includes the counsellor listening to silences as well as words, sitting with
them and recognising that the silences may facilitate the counselling process.

3. Reflecting and Paraphrasing

Reflecting in counselling is part of the ‘art of listening’. It is making sure that the
client knows their story is being listened to.
This is achieved by the helper/counsellor by both repeating and feeding a
shorter version of their story back to the client. This known as
'paraphrasing'.
CORE COUNSELING SKILLS ARE AS FOLLOWS:
4. Clarifying and the Use of Questions
Questions in counselling are classed as a basic skill. The counsellor uses open
questions to clarify his or her understanding of what the client is feeling.
Leading questions are to be avoided as they can impair the counselling
relationship.

5. Focusing
Focusing in counselling involves making decisions about what issues the client
wants to deal with.
The client may have mentioned a range of issues and problems and focusing
allows the counsellor and client together to clear away some of the less important
surrounding material and concentrate on the central issues of concern.

6. Building Rapport
Building rapport with clients in counselling is important, whatever model of
counselling the counsellor is working with.
Rapport means a sense of having a connection with the person.
CORE COUNSELING SKILLS ARE AS FOLLOWS:
7. Summarising
Summaries in counselling are longer paraphrases. They condense
or crystallise the essence of what the client is saying and
feeling.
The summary 'sums up' the main themes that are emerging.

8. Immediacy
Using immediacy means that the therapist reveals how they
themselves are feeling in response to the client.
According to Feltham and Dryden (1993: 88), immediacy is ‘the key
skill of focusing attention on the here and now relationship of
counsellor and client with helpful timing, in order
to challenge defensiveness and/or heighten awareness’.
HOW TO USE EFFECTIVE COUNSELING SKILLS?

a. Be genuine.
If you don't understand, it's OK to check and ask for further
information.

b. Try to be brief when reflecting back.

The speaker should do most of the talking.

c. Use your own words to reflect back.

To avoid sounding like a parrot, it's better to use your own
words when summarising or paraphrasing.

d. Avoid using a shocked or disbelieving tone of voice.

This may indicate that the speaker is unacceptable or odd.
ATTENDING SKILLS
SOLER is mainly focusing on your attending skills in a counseling session.
Gerard Egan created this theory and acronym to assist new counselors in a
therapeutic setting, understand how to put their clients at ease through their
body language.
SOLER THEORY
SOLER theory 1: Squarely

The first important part is how you posture yourself in

relationship to your client. Your face facing the clients face
shows that you are engaging, interested and actively listening.
You can have your shoulders turned a little away to dispel any
feelings of intimidation, but your face should be square onto
the clients face.
SOLER THEORY
SOLER theory 2: Open

This openness refers again to posture. Ensuring that arms

and legs are not crossed will convey a sense of ease to your
client. As mentioned above, this openness in body posture
will stop feelings of intimidation from occurring.
SOLER THEORY
SOLER theory 3: Lean

By leaning towards your client, a sense of care and

genuine interest will be conveyed to the other party.
Simply leaning forward will automatically make them feel
that their concerns are being heard and understood and
this will instill further ease and facilitate openess.
SOLER THEORY
SOLER theory 4: Eye

This interest is further enhanced by eye contact. Maintaining

eye contact shows interest and concern. However, it is
important to vary the eye contact so that the other party does
not feel threatened or intimidated.
SOLER THEORY
SOLER theory 5: Relax

This is an obvious, but sometimes forgotten aspect. One must

relax before your client. If you are fidgeting or showing any
anxiety that this will be conveyed. They will either think you are
not interested in them., or they will take on your tension; or
possible both!

Soler theory  then is a simple way to remember these core

listening skills to enable anyone to become a better listener and
carer.
 VIDEO ON ATTENDING SKILLS
(APPLYING THE CONCEPT OF SOLER)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U01xdd5C9S0
REFERENCES:

American Counseling Association (2014). ACA Code of Ethics.

Alexandria, VA: Author.

Corey, G. (2014). Theory and practice of group counseling (9th

ed.). CENGAGE Learning Custom Publishing.