Essential Skills for Counseling

Communication Techniques

Counseling skills have become vital in today’s society given the various kinds of issues face in their daily lives. These skills are needed in the workplace, home environment, customer service, and social work practice. Given the significance of counseling skills in promoting the health and well-being of people, there are various counseling techniques that are utilized to assist individuals or clients. In their book on assessment, intervention and prevention of crisis, Jackson-Cherry & Erford (2013) mention several counseling skills as part of essential crisis intervention skills. One of the counseling skills mentioned in Chapter 4 of the book is observation or assessment, which involves examining the issues or challenges facing the individual or client as part of the counseling process. The second counseling skill mentioned in the book is active listening, which entails understanding the verbal and nonverbal communication. Assessment is an effective counseling skill since it enables the counselor to understand the client’s issues/problems while the effectiveness of active listening is reflected in the fact that the counselor demonstrates undivided attention to the individual.
Apart from the skills mentioned in the book, there are counseling or communication skills that can be utilized to help clients. These essential skills can be divided into three categories i.e. core counseling behaviors, road map, and style mix. Examples of core counseling behaviors that can be used to help clients include making eye contact, nodding and avoiding distractions, observing feelings, showing empathy, and questioning skills. Road map skills can be used to help clients help by directing them towards the desired goals of the counseling process through problem-formulation and identification of the solution. On the other hand, style mix counseling skills include providing advice to the individual or client as well as the question style, which engages the client in formulating the solution to the issue.
Reference
Jackson-Cherry, L.R. & Erford, B.T. (2013). Crisis assessment, intervention, and prevention (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.